keyboard problem MacBook Pro

I have the same keyboard problem (it has not really effected the trackpad so far). I don't recall having the problem before I installed 10.5. Ever since I installed Leopard, it has happened more and more frequently. The keyboard will stop working for 5 - 10 seconds at a time (cap lock key will not light up either).

I think that some 3rd party app could be the culprit, but I have quite a few, so it will be hard to check. I do not have any of the apps that were mentioned as potential problems in this discussion. Although I have not loaded anything new recently and the problem seems to be getting worse.

I just checked my console and noticed a lot of messages from DiskWarrior (I have the automatic diagnostic program running that warns of HD problems in advance). I turned if off for now and it seems to have helped. Anyone else using DiskWarrior?

Thanks for all your informative posts.

I'm not quite following what's going on here.. I have a Macbook Pro 2.4, and have been toying with the idea of putting Leopard on it. What I don't get, is how folks seem to be installing Leopard, then and only then getting keyboard problems, then returning the whole unit to Apple for repair...?! Surely it's a software problem? Does anyone actually know the full story of what's wrong with the MBP's or Keyboards, or their connection to Leopard?

Ta :o)

Thanks for the reply, didn't notice the start date of the thread. Still doesnt squash any fears of installing Leopard on my MBP though!

Thanks again.

Hi my caps(shift)t no longer works 😟
Any ideas?
Installed Leopard at the weekend and problem startedd today 3 days later. My Macbook Pro is the 2.33 GHz Core 2.
I have a wacom tablet installed but nothing else that has been mentioned.
Thanks.

Hi, I just posted this fix on another thread regarding my "intermittent keyboard problem" hope it helps:

1) shutdown system
2) boot with while holding down shift key (safe mode)
3) launch Finder | Utilities | Disk Utility
4) select Macintosh HD (your system hardrive)
5) click on "Repair Disk Permissions" (this will take a while)
6) restart system

While waiting upon 5, I notice that my keyboard was working fine in safe mode. Not sure if steps 1,2,6 are needed; it could be that steps 3,4,5 are all that you need.

Mileage may vary. Please post your results. Many thanks to the Apple technician (for case# 86941514) who solved my problem. I was so not looking forward to sending in my macbook, like someone else with this problem has done.

As I write, my keyboard is cutting out (I'm using a rubber roll-up keyboard when it does).

I'm using a first generation MacBook Pro 17", which has operated flawlessly (apart from various strange glitches I'll relate back to the persistent well documented design flaws within Intel Core processors).

Leopard was installed on the day of release, and only today have I experienced these keyboard problems.

In demo'ing Launchd to an engineer this afternoon (and starting a vmware plist for some dumb reason), the keyboard has cut-out intermittently. I've been using a new-model wireless keyboard and had to just resort to using a rubber keyboard.

This may just be circumstantial - I've looked at my system.log, and spotted pcastdagent going crazy - not related I'd guess, but enough of a nuisance nonetheless.

I've also just pressed space bar, and it carried away, inserting 20 or 30 spaces, before I could regain control. This feels like a driver issue related to the keyboard.

I suspect there are two or three different issues at play here:

1) users with hardware faults (generally the internal USB ribbon is damaged or incorrectly fitted)
2) users with Leopard and a vanilla system
3) users with Leopard/Tiger and certain plugins, daemons or kernel extensions

I fall into the 2nd category, as the faults have only occurred whilst Leopard has been installed.

Now, why do I suspect it's software and not hardware? Well, this has happened before to me, on a PowerMac G4 some years back, the course of action was to unplug the keyboard and plug it back in - and like magic all would start working again. In writing the above sentence, the keyboard cut-out again. I unplugged the external keyboard and plugged it back in, the internal keyboard began working again. Effectively it sends an interrupt to the kernel, the kernel unloads and loads the required driver in memory, fixing the problem.

It seems, when I stop typing for longer than 20 seconds, the keyboard cuts out now. (Which is why I'm probably typing too much).

I find it HIGHLY unlikely that fixing permissions solves this issue.

S.

Adthrawn wrote:
I suspect there are two or three different issues at play here:

1) users with hardware faults (generally the internal USB ribbon is damaged or incorrectly fitted)
2) users with Leopard and a vanilla system
3) users with Leopard/Tiger and certain plugins, daemons or kernel extensions

I fall into the 2nd category, as the faults have only occurred whilst Leopard has been installed.

Actually, if you are running VMware then you are in the 3rd category. VMWare installs kernel extensions AND takes co-ownership of your USB.

S.

Stefan, you're right 😟

After having the keyboard work all day, the problem returned this morning. So, I shut down and restarted. Right now I have Finder, Firefox, and Terminal(Bash) open, and it seems that the keyboard is fine.

I am in category 2: Leopard with vanilla system. If the issue is with software, then my suspects, right now, are Colloquy, Safari, and the interaction of context switching that may be exacerbated by Expose.

Hi,
After installing Leopard on my MacBook Pro (June 2006), my keyboard and trackpad no longer work. Only an external mouse and keyboard work. When I go into the Mouse/Keyboard preferences and take out the USB mouse, the Trackpad tab doesn't even show up.
Can anyone help?

Thanks

Same problem here the keyboard work randomly...
😟

I'm experiencing the same problem. Intermittent failure of the keyboard on a 5 day old MacBook pro 2.2 with Leopard. It first started happening yesterday when I installed an Epson scanner driver and plugged the scanner in. Not right after but soon after. Now the keyboard seems to stop working, including the caps lock light every few minutes for about 30 seconds. I haven't played with it a lot but here's what I know:

- firefox and colloquy are installed
- I switch from using a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to using the MBP keyboard and trackpad
- the trackpad hasn't failed
- I have yet to have the keyboard stop working in the middle of typing. It always happens while i'm using the trackpad and then go back to the keyboard to use it
- I put the mac to sleep regularly rather than shutting down
- I believe firefox crashed very shortly before the first the I noticed a keyboard failure

has anyone got an official explanation from apple? They must have seen a pattern by now. Is apple saying that its definitely a hardware issue? Definitely a software issue? More than one root cause with very similar symptoms? Should I waste my one apple support phone call on this issue or is apple likely to send me off with false hopeor just tell me to take it in for repairs?

Everyone who's having the same symptoms please take the time to post here so that apple addresses this issue more quickly.

thanks,
jeff

My intermittent keyboard failure happened after I installed a Canon Scanner.