Keyboard randomly stops working after Leopard Install

I just want to chime in that I've now experienced the 'dead keyboard' issue under Leopard on my MacBook Pro. I ran Tiger for 5 or 6 months with no problems. It's been about 4 or 5 weeks with Leopard (and just a week with 10.5.1) and just tonight the keyboard went completely unresponsive. Pounding on it (hey, sometimes this is the best fix) did let a single key through, but I didn't get control of the keyboard back. I was able to save my work with the trackpad but then had to hard shutdown since I had multiple users logged in and couldn't provide my password for a soft shutdown. I was using the built-in keyboard. I'll continue to post if it happens again. Next time I will try holding a key as some have suggested that will return control.

Hoping for a resolution on this, this is kind of a serious bug.

- Matteus

Add me to the list. I did an over-the-top install when my 10.5 disks arrived on my five-week old 2.2GHz MacBook Pro, and this seemed to be a really common problem.

Because of this problem, and a few other issues, I did a complete erase and install a week ago. It's been fine for the last week, until this afternoon, when the keyboard started locking up every few minutes. I've sent a report to Apple, for what it's worth. Putting it to sleep doesn't really seem to solve the problem. What the problem has arisen I've only had Safari and Firefox open. Other than the OS and iLife, all I have installed on this machine are legit copies of MS Office and Adobe CS3.

After two and a half years of absolutely flawless performance from my old 1.5GHz PowerBook, I am really wondering about the viability of my new 10.5/MacBook Pro setup.

Just to follow up... since this bug first appeared for me this evening, and after numerous resets, it continues to occur every 10 to 60 minutes.

** I am however able to regain control of the keyboard by pressing and holding a key for 5 to 10 seconds, as someone suggested. I use an arrow key since for most applications this is relatively harmless. **

This is ridiculous though, and I'm really looking forward to a fix in the very near future.

Yes I get the jumpy mouse on occasions. I usually just reboot, if keyboard doesn't work I just hold the power button.

add me to the list. i'm having the same issue. in addition, my right-side usb port is unable to power an external mouse, though a card reader works. i'm using said mouse and the keyboard viewer to type this, so pardon my lack of capital letters.

Message was edited by: SignOfZeta

One more for the list. Macbook Pro was out of the box for two weeks with no problems before installing Leopard. Works for a few days then gets exponentially worse as time goes on.

Only way to "fix" it is to reboot, and that only lasts a few days.

Add me to the list...

Fairly new MacBook Pro. Using it for several months, just installed Leopard a couple weeks ago.

Every few minutes, the keyboard stops working. I can tell when it comes back by repeatedly pressing the 'caps lock' key and waiting for the light to turn on. Seems to take about 15-20 seconds every time it stops working. It has stopped responding twice since I started typing this.

Very uncool.

Not sure if I'll go back to Tiger or not. I guess it depends on how soon Apple makes a fix...

Message was edited by: coldt

I really does seem to help to shut down and restart. Ever since I've been doing that at night, and not ever putting the MPB to sleep, I haven't had any keyboard troubles.

Obviously this is not a fix, but it's better than losing the keyboard every 5 minutes!

Add me to the list!

I have experienced the "screen goes dim after 3 minutes" problem as well as this "keyboard randomly stops working" problem ONLY after upgrading to Leopard.

I first thought that the problem only occurred when I physically had the computer on my lap. But it has since occurred with the computer sitting on a flat surface. However, it HAS ONLY occurred for me when the computer is running off the battery.

This is incredibly annoying and I'm considering downgrading to Tiger. Wouldn't that be funny in light of Apple's new commercial that lampoons Vista and the users that have downgraded to XP?

I plan to take the computer to the Apple Store this week and present these problems to them. Has anyone else done this?

I have a MBP17" that has been in the care of AppleGeniuses for 12 days now. I had not installed Leopard, but I was having some of the same keyboard problems detailed here that rendered my system useless. The only new installation I had done before the problems started occurring was AdobeCS3 Premium. The Geniuses told me they have been looking to swap in a new hard drive. Since I left it with them more than a week ago, I find it curious that during the busiest selling season of the year they are short of such items and are having so little success finding a replacement.

Although my buddy is having the same symptoms with Leopard on his box, I think the problem is more extensive.

Put me also on the list.. About 1 week after installing Leopard, the keyboard becomes randomly unrespponsive.. I can't identify any reason besides the upgrade to Leopard...

Mine started having "the problem" a few days ago. I've noticed that it only happens when I use the trackpad. So... I can wake it up, put my password in, use the mouse and internal keyboard to surf the web, etc, no problem. But - if I do all of that with the trackpad instead, the keyboard flakes out.

I don't have time to be restarting every five minutes. I'm in college... this computer is a necessity with finals bearing down in a few weeks. I'm going to call Apple later today and see what they tell me over the phone. No Apple Store nearby, so the phone is all I have.

I have a regular MacBook, just a week and a half old (Leopard came factory-installed) and this morning the keyboard stopped working. I must have rebooted a dozen times, all to no avail. So I called Apple and spent more than two and a half hours (no exaggeration) with tech support, an hour and a half of which with the top tech guy they could pass me up to. He had me try everything, even removing and reinstalling the memory modules, and at the end of this very long process the only thing he could say was it's not a hardware problem or a memory problem and is almost certainly Leopard problem. (He was reading the "service bulletins" while we were on the phone and said, yes, reports are starting to come in about this keyboard issue but so far nobody at Apple has a solution.) The best advice he could give me was to plug in the extra keyboard and mouse I have (they work) and sit tight until Apple comes up with a patch. That's a pretty lame non-solution (a MacBook with an external keyboard is basically a desktop with a crappy little screen), but what can I do? I just hope they figure this one out quickly.

UPDATE: So I called Apple and told them that I had tried a full system restore using the install CD and that it worked for a about a week but then I was having the keyboard issue again. I came right out and said "look, seeing as this thing is only 2 weeks old and it seems like a hardware issue, I'd like a brand new laptop." The guy agreed and gave me a case number and told me to head into my local apple store. I did so last saturday and they swapped out my macbook with a brand new one. So I was very pleased with the service. Before I left for the apple store I made sure to backup with time machine. I brought the new Macbook home and viola! It was the same computer as before. I've had it for about 4 days and so far no issues.

I had my brand new MacBook replaced a few weeks ago (only 8 days after I bought it) because of this issue. I called AppleCare twice and finally got beyond annoyed and told them I wanted a new one and after being transferred, the guy gave me a case number and told me to bring it to the store where I bought it.
Three days later with the new MacBook and the same problem. I haven't had the time or patience to spend on the phone or to drive the hour to the Apple store so I've just been dealing with it.
Every person I talked to made it seem like this was a brand new problem they had never heard of until I got to the store and the manager said to the genius that I was the 3rd person that weekend in with that problem. They're full of crap if the say they haven't heard of it.
It's really annoying to try to write a paper when your keyboard dies every 10 minutes and you need to shut and open the lid 3 times to get it to work again.