Level 1

11 points

Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

I've been dealing with this issue since early December myself.
I purchased the MBP in November and had nearly a month with out any issues.

I spent nearly two hours on the phone with Apple Care via a specialist trying to diagnose the problem yesterday.
He did mention that they believe neither the 10.5.1 update or the MBP 1.1 update were to blame for occurrence of this issue. (I remain slightly skeptical)

Let me give you a short rundown of my problems and what I've done to help resolve the issue. Hopefully it'll help some of you.. or help me (with some of everyone else insight) if it happens again.

The symptoms:
keyboard and trackpad become unresponsive.
The problem is intermittent but often is completely unresponsive at start up.
USB mouse and keyboards have full functionality.

Kernel panics often occur as well. Usually this occurs just after the keyboard and track pad experience extreme intermittent "on and off" periods.
The only option is to do a hard-restart which my or may not resolve the unresponsiveness.

Things I've addressed in my particular case:

1. The battery recall issue - my battery (6N745288YFTA) is OK.
2. Resetting the PMU - no change.
3. Re-installing both the 10.5.1 and MBP 1.1 updates - no effect.
4. pressing the Function + S key at start up and running /sbin/fsck -fy The HD is said to be OK
5. I just finished an Archive and reinstall of Leopard = this seems to have fixed the issue for the moment. I have not run the Updater to bring the OS back to it's fully updated form yet.

The Archive and Re-install DID NOT WORK.
Even upon downloading and installing the 10.5.1 and 1.1 update, I'm still back at square one.

I've also been experiencing these phantom keystrokes to the eject key and backlight myself lately.

I've resolved to wait for the 10.5.2 official release to see of that helps... If not then I'll break down and send my machine in for service.

_____________________________________
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP31.0070.B05
SMC Version: 1.16f10
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

THE SOLUTION:

This is a HARDWARE problem!

After playing around with removing the battery and noticing that this often returned functionality to the keyboard I surmised that this had some sort of physical aspect.
Sure enough, there is a section of copper colored tape/wiring exposed in the batter slot that is slightly bowed where it's smallest.
When I depressed this with my finger tip on this portion to basically flatten it out flush against the housing; I found that all functionality was restored!

You can see the portion in the picture below.

I haven’t had any problems AT ALL since I took a piece of napkin and taped it down to sustain pressure on this portion of bowed tape/wiring.

I have yet to call AppleCare to see what they suggest I do.
I will post a reply here when I hear their suggestion.

Mac Book Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz SDRAM

Posted on Jan 27, 2008 3:18 PM

382 replies

May 2, 2010 9:34 AM in response to achecht

Yes that could be a reason. Reinstalling always worked for a few days. So far so good. It would explain why no freezing when using Windows. Can you imagine if our macbooks are freezing and having all sorts of problems due to flash?

Numeric

Level 1

8 points

May 3, 2010 2:12 PM in response to Steve Eugene

I have been getting the freezing trackpad and keyboard on-and-off for the past couple of weeks. Same deal with everyone else... Keys and track don't work, but external devices and power button do.

Walked by Apple one day and had it on me so decided to have it checked out. They said they could replace the front panel for $250. Sounds like some kind of scam... I told them about this thread and how repairs weren't always the solution, and they actually suggested that I just save my money and keep using an external keyboard. Actual advice from an Apple Genius!

I am going to try this Flash Gala thing, but I feel like it goes deeper than that.

Very annoying as I am a DJ and can't afford to have my laptop's front panel die in the middle of a show!

May 4, 2010 9:16 AM in response to Carlos*usmx

The solution definitely doesn't work in my case. I find it that is has to be software related though, since I've used it for days on Windows and haven't had a problem. I also think it has to be sort of hardware dependent (if that makes any sense), because I have another early 08 that also presents the same problems as mine and that one has been used for a month on a bed (never on a desk) and hasn't experienced any freezing problems. Once it was taken to a proper desk the freezing problems resumed.

Numeric

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2010 3:17 PM in response to Steve Eugene

Keyboard and trackpad have been working fine since I installed the Flash...

Still concerned though. Even if it works for two more weeks I just never know when it will decide to stop working in the middle of something important.

But for now I am thankful it's working much better than before... Thank you!

May 5, 2010 7:05 PM in response to Steve Eugene

I think it's pretty clear that a similar problem is happening for both software- and hardware-related reasons. There are the people for whom the wedge of paper works (this has worked for me, so far, knock on wood), and those for whom things work fine when booting up in Windows. I don't have a Windows partition, so I can't say if there is any crossover.

All I know is, if the built-in keyboard and trackpad die before I've even had this machine for 2 years, I am going to be VERY cranky.

May 5, 2010 10:31 PM in response to Sandra Guzdek

Exactly Sandra, you raise a very good point. This is obviously software related in the fact that it happens only in OSX and not when working in Windows (I've used Windows for days and zero freezing problems). At the same time it's also hardware since the paper solution has worked for some people. In my case the paper and the new flash have been doing their work, after 2 full days of use in OSX only one (1) freezing problem.

What I'm thinking is booting back to 10.5.2 (my original OS at time of purchase) and use my computer with that for a couple of days and see what happens. I recall my freezing problems starting some time in August/September of 2008 so between February of 08 and Aug/Sept of that year I never had a problem. I'll work with 10.5.2 for a couple of days, if nothing bad happens then we'll know it was some sort of update that triggered an strange behavior in the system and the way it reads some hardware thing. I hope that made some sense.

Numeric

Level 1

8 points

May 7, 2010 9:17 AM in response to Steve Eugene

After installing Flash Gala the laptop was working fine for about four days...

But then the trackpad/keyboard froze last night. So this is not a permanent solution.

Guess it's off to the Apple Store and shelling out $250 for a new panel. 😟

May 13, 2010 5:10 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Had this same problem pop up last Summer. I too have an older 08 MBP. Initially I noticed the track pad was becoming "sluggish", and then everything went downhill from there. Within in weeks, the trackpad and keyboard would become consistently unresponsive (although my Bluetooth Mighty Mouse still worked just fine) and random keys would endlessly repeat when typing emails and documents. I sifted through the posts back then and concluded it was a hardware issue, that the flex ribbon under the trackpad needed replaced. I too it into my local apple store to have them repair it. After a few days they informed me that they had determined it was NOT a hardware issue and that they had simply reinstalled the OS (the guys attitude was a little frustrating... kind of a, "don't bother me with a simple OS reinstall issue" tone). But, apparently the story didn't end there. For almost 7 months now, things have been fine... BUT a couple of weeks ago, the trackpad started acting "sluggish" again, keys started repeating, and now I'm back to using my Mighty Mouse and waiting for the keyboard to lock up again (thus, my journey back to the Apple Discussion pages). I'm planning to reinstall the OS (Snow Leopard) again whenever I have a free day to kill, but I'm not convinced this will "cure" the issue. Anyone else with a REPEAT ISSUE on this? Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

May 14, 2010 4:01 PM in response to ghettoholder

I've recently been having issues with unresponsive trackpad and keyboard. it just randomly happens or whne I use keyboard shortcuts for spaces. I some times just have to wait or tap the trackpad few times. I have noticed as soon as I plug a mighty mouse in the trackpad and keyboard work again. As far as I remember this happened when I installed 10.6.3 on my early 2008 mbp. So apparently .4 has fixed some trackpad issues so will wait and see. All I can say is it's very annoying. Maybe apples concentrates more on their OS working fine on new machines and not odler models but these things are an investment and I cant afford to buy a new mac when it comes out.

May 19, 2010 10:37 PM in response to Numeric

Sorry to hear that. My laptop is still running without incident after two weeks. I also used antistatic tape on the orange ribbon in the battery case. As an added precaution, I bought four self-stick rubber bumpers and taped them under each corner of my laptop. They create a little more room for airflow and took pressure off the battery compartment. I wonder if it's a combination of the physical and software problems.

aldo007

Level 1

0 points

May 28, 2010 2:51 PM in response to jmrSeattle

Sticky tape from the Apple Genius did seem to work. That was a month ago. Now the trackpad freezes, and so does the keyboard - on every start up. That is, if I can get it started. I does a kernel panic or ram alert for 3-4 attempts, then starts up, freezes, then boots up the 5th time.

I hold little hope for 10.6.4. This is a business machine, and I can't wait. I am replacing it this weekend, and will be asking for a discount I know I won't get. If 10.6.4. fixes it, I'll put it on craigs list. If not, I may drive over it with my car.

May 30, 2010 9:17 AM in response to NachtDesign

"genius" bar? That's a laugh. I went to four different stores in three states to get the same job done. Transfer my images to the new HD they sold me. You would think just one of "geniuses" would step up to the plate and "own" my problem. I won't bother going back, ever!

aldo007

Level 1

0 points

Jun 7, 2010 4:12 PM in response to aldo007

Okay, I can share an update with my system with you all. After leaving the machine with Apple for a few days, they still could not diagnose the problem.

Symptoms:
* freezing trackpad and keyboard (usb plug in's wouldn't work)
* ram alarm on subsequent start up after forcing the machine off
* very slow to sleep, would get stuck in sleep mode
* gray to black screen with eventual notice to shut off

They felt the machine had a few problems, and note it is 9 months out of warranty and we have no apple care. Their ram diagnostic, and all their hardware diagnostics found nothing (note they did not initially suggest I replace the top case). As a last resort, I restored from back up to see if that would help - of course it didn't.

I got a call today that said they will replace the ram and top case at their expense. I have the machine back already, and it seems fine so far. So, be persistent and calm and you may get somewhere. We save $700 on these two repairs, and we appreciated the offer and I left a happy customer. My suspicion is that there is some sort of memo saying they need to support folks with these issues, which are clearly related to the design of the computer.

Numeric

Level 1

8 points

Jun 9, 2010 4:08 PM in response to Steve Eugene

Any update on this problem?!

I tried putting a piece of paper on the copper thing and it worked for a bit, but sometimes when the computer falls asleep it will be unresponsive when it wakes up. It seems like it's a combination of both hardware and software.

It's driving me insane.

Jun 9, 2010 9:34 PM in response to Numeric

I think it's entirely hardware related. Since I'm on vacation from school, I've been using it for the past three (3) weeks on my bed, zero freezing problems. Yesterday I moved it to a desk just for a few minutes to print something, guess what happened? Yeah, it froze.

So again, three weeks always on a bed and zero problems. Using it on a desk for 5 mnutes and it froze.

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Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED