keyboard problem MacBook Pro

Randomly skipped chars here, this is very annoying, the laptop is unusable in this way.

Ok, i saw two thread about the keyboard issue, so i will post this on both. I'm ANOTHER one with the issue, and i have it with TIGER!! My MBP it's a Santa Rosa 2.4ghz. I'm really thinking about an hardware problem here, because i found the same problem over three Santa Rosa MBP, all 2.4ghz, and all with TIGER! So i also found bad the fact that the patch was released only for Leopard, and seems also that doesn't work for everybody.

eriatarka wrote:
fyi: keyboard is dead again if i take the pressure away …

That sure is a hardware problem. No PRAM resetting will cure that...

I was about to purchase a MBP in November but unfortunately now I have to reconsider. Bad quality checking and the poor Apple support makes me cringe...

Message was edited by: widen76

I've been having the keyboard freezes on my MBP, especially the first letter being missed out when I begin to type, on BOTH Tiger and Leopard since I got my machine in August. This is really annoying when you're typing long Word documents and of course anything else. The recent update hasn't fixed that, but has appeared to fix the freezes after waking from sleep. Something I have noticed, and it's to my shame that I have to say it in this forum, but I don't get these problems in Windows XP running via bootcamp on the same machine. Not sure if I'm the only one that's experienced this!? Suggests to me it is a software problem and not a hardware issue. I really would love to find a solution for this problem, I don't want to use Windows more than I have to............. none of the suggestions in this forum so far have worked for me dammit!

I really hope you're right, and also hope that someone could confirm this. I really prefer a software problem instead of an hardware one! Unfortunately i haven't windows under boot camp so i can't check...

Same with me; I do not have the "first character missing" issue when using XP under bootcamp. But under Leopard, I have the FCM issue very frequently. Sounds like a software issue, then?

Hello All. I have been experiencing the same issues as some on this thread. I will be typing or using the trackpad, and my computer will stop working. I have found that if I apply a good deal of pressure to the trackpad, after about 5 seconds of this it works again. Also, it will work if I place pressure to the space on the topcase between the keyboard and the trackpad. Have we determined officially that this is a hardware issue, and if so, is Apple willing to help on this issue?

alright.

got my macbook to the repair service.
they replaced the topcase (remember i had the »apply some pressure in the area above the trackpad« version of the problem).
luckily they had one in their office.

now everything is fine so far. knock on wood though.

cheers

My symptoms upon first erase-and-install of Leopard, nothing on the HD but what Apple put there: built-in keyboard and trackpad of May 2006 MBP-17 stopped working, even when prefs set to keep built-ins active at same time as USB/bluetooths, and they stay off after external devices are disconnected, and through multiple restarts, but reliably work again after a cold restart (turn of bluetooth, disconnect all USBs, shutdown, wait, start back up with nothing connected).

Incidentally, first happened with nothing plugged into the MBP-17 but power, but with Apple Wireless Keyboard and mouse on during installation.

After doing the cold-restart fix, built-in keyboard and trackpad work until either a USB keyboard/mouse is connected, or until bluetooth is turned on, then built-ins are dead (persistently between normal restarts, regardless of pram zaps, and regardless of switching users or deleting prefs. The cold restart steps work for me where nothing else does.

It seems to fail intelligently: when only an external mouse is connected, the built-in keyboard works, but the trackpad doesn't. When only an external keyboard is connected, the built-in keyboard is unresponsive, but the trackpad works. However, once either device is deactivated, it remains deactivated, even after multiple normal restarts without an alternate device connected.

Even if it makes sense to deactivate built-ins when externals are available, it doesn't make sense to leave the built-ins off after externals are disconnected and the machine has been restarted with nothing connected and bluetooth off.

Whatever is causing this, for me it is highly Leopard-specific, so I'm likely to "downgrade" to Tiger for the next few months until this gets sorted.

Message was edited by: Lithmac

It-is-not-related to any operating system
mpb2.2ghz 10.4 here

MBP 10.5.2 and all patches.

I bought a apple keyboard to try to get around the first letter dropping issue on the MBP and to my dismay, the apple usb keyboard has the exact same letter dropping problem. There seems to be no workaround for this at this time. Maybe I need to try Windows in Parallels until this is fixed. I'm sorry I bought this MBP now. I bought into the mac is trouble free hype and I've had worse problems than ever had with windows. I feel conned.

Other problems with similar symptoms may not be Leopard-related, but my particular problem is 100% Leopard-related. I know this for certain because doing an erase-and-install of Tiger eliminates my problem, while a subsequent erase-and-install of Leopard brings it back.

xgman wrote:
MBP 10.5.2 (…)

huh?

Message was edited by: eriatarka

well that’s weird.

i had my topcase replaced some days ago and everything is working fine now.
maybe it is half hardware half software related. or a combination of both …

er, probably not. it’s late over here and i am just talking …

Yeah, that's what I was thinking-- something both hardware-related and software-related, like Tiger allowing slightly different bus power tolerances than Leopard (though I thought that was SMS/PMU stuff, more firmware than OS), and maybe my particular topcase stats happen to be okay under one OS and not the other. At any rate, it seems from other posts that there could be many different problems, each manifesting similar symptoms.

The reason I don't really suspect my topcase is that the MBP-17 just came back from AppleCare circa Dec 29-30, officially with a replacement topcase, HD, and mobo, so I hope the repair center didn't give me a broken/substandard part, though I suppose it's possible. I have evidence enough to suspect the MBP-17 I got back was a completely different refurb with cloned S/N, MAC address, etc., but that doesn't bother me much, and is off topic.

I have some theories as to the source of my problem which I almost posted, but removed them until I've investigated them more thoroughly.

I still hope 10.5.2 (which has been beta-seeded, but not expected for release until a week or so) will fix the ignored-topcase issue, even though it apparently doesn't fix the "ELP" issue (which I haven't experienced, so far).

Having to completely shut down just to switch from Apple Wireless Kbd/Mse 1.0 back to built-ins is annoying, but not the end of the world. It just happened to be the first new "feature" of Leopard I experienced. Ultimately, it's a luxury, so I've decided to keep running Leopard unless something worse surfaces. It's nice to know I can fall back to Tiger, though, if worse comes to worst.

Message was edited by: Lithmac