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

Jul 21, 2010 7:13 PM in response to aldo007

Who did you talk to, to get them to cover the repair? I've talked to everyone I can think of (apple store, apple care, web forms, e-mails, written letters) and can't even get a response, other than "tough luck." When I brought my computer in under warranty, they said it just needed firmware upgrade; when the problem persisted after the warranty expired, they revised their assessment and said that now it was a $400 repair, which they would not cover. Did your local apple store agree to cover it, or was it someone at applecare? I used to really like Apple, and it would be nice if it turned out I just haven't talked to the right person. Otherwise, my 25 years of Apple use is officially over.

Numeric

Level 1

8 points

Jul 24, 2010 12:53 PM in response to Josh Hinton

Just a note... Downloaded this new OS that was supposed to "fix unresponsive trackpad/keyboard" but it did absolutely squat. Thanks, Apple.

Still no fix for my keyboard. Have just been keeping it grounded and basically accepted the fact it will never be portable again. My laptop is basically now an overpriced desktop computer.

aldo007

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2010 10:36 AM in response to Numeric

So after 6 weeks of problem free computing with our new RAM and new top case, the computer froze last night, and again this morning. So, back to square one. At least we didn't have to pay for the above mentioned repairs, but clearly this computer is a dud.

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Aug 10, 2010 1:43 PM in response to aldo007

aldo007 wrote:
So after 6 weeks of problem free computing with our new RAM and new top case, the computer froze last night, and again this morning. So, back to square one. At least we didn't have to pay for the above mentioned repairs, but clearly this computer is a dud.

Unfortunate, but time to bring it back to repair the repair.

Aug 10, 2010 5:07 PM in response to Steve Eugene

The thing is that no matter how many times you take it to the Apple store, it never comes back solved, not entirely. Top cases have been replaced and it does nothing. This is more than just a hardware issue though. I wet back to 10.5.2 (originally with my mbp when I bought it) and I had zero problems for like a week using it on my desk. I went back to 10.6.3 (the most recent at that time) and it froze within 5 minutes on a desk.

This only happens on OSX though. I've used Windows 7 for days in a row without even the slightest sign of problem. Apple made a truly remarkable Windows machine. Too bad I want to use OSX 😟

Aug 20, 2010 11:40 AM in response to achecht

crazy...I have been getting a message from Adobe about upgrading my flash player, but have been ignoring it because I usually don't take upgrades unless it seems there is a reason to. I never in a million years would have thought this was a software issue, but I have installed the new flash player and all seems well. It was crashing constantly, before I did the tape trick, and now I have no tape and a new flash player and all seems well. Thanks!

aldo007

Level 1

0 points

Sep 2, 2010 10:09 AM in response to Jenny Roye

Its got nothing to do with flash, come on folks! mine will freeze 5 seconds after start up as I open mail............... anyway, I fixed mine permanently, sold for $750 on craig's list to a buyer who knew the issues.

New 15" coming in 2 days, see y'all in the unibody threads! :o(

ianbel

Level 1

4 points

Sep 9, 2010 7:05 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Hey everyone I believe I may have the same issue as everyone else on this newer MBP. The trackpad works but the keyboard is unresponsive and no key will work, not even caps locks. However when I take my battery out it looks different than the picture in this post and before I attempt to dissemble mine looking for the orange ribbon cable I want to be sure. Heres mine http://tinypic.com/r/andmhh/7

Message was edited by: ianbel

FH9999

Level 1

0 points

Sep 23, 2010 12:28 PM in response to Carlos*usmx

I have had the same problem for quite sometime. I own a 2007 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro. The Apple guys are clueless. They wanted to replace hardware € 500 worth with no guarantee that the problem will be solved.

The freezes of my keyboard and trackpad were quite severe; sometimes I had to reset the system 10 times in order to restore my keyboard and trackpad. Sometimes I could not restore them for days.

Nevertheless, just by accident I noticed that with the battery removed, the keyboard and trackpad would "come back to live" much quicker and moreover they would not freeze.

Coincidentally or not I replaced the original battery with a new one just recently approximately when the keyboard and trackpad started to freeze.

My conclusion is that there seems to be a hardware incompatibility between the battery and the internal keyboard and trackpad.

Sep 29, 2010 10:39 PM in response to FH9999

I work at an Apple Authorized Repair center and I can tell you based off my experience what the deal is that Apple won't admit:

The logic board has a cable that runs through the bottom of where the removable battery is. This cable sometimes gets nudged, (usually on hard surfaces), causing the trackpad to short and stop working. It's neither a problem of the trackpad or the logicboard but rather the location of this cable that causes this problem because the battery knicks the cable everytime it's pushed on slightly.

Unfortunately it's not justified much to replace any of the parts. I always suggest customers to just upgrade to the latest model (Unibody w/o removable battery).

For those with Unibody's and having the trackpad issue, its sometimes caused by this plugin that might be loaded on Safari called "clickforflash". It's unintentionally installed sometimes with the Flash 10 update and it causes the mouse to have sudden slow downs on wake. I would suggest uninstalling it immediately.

Hope this helps some people!

tdslman

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2010 6:42 AM in response to kowyzg0moo

I have a new unibody MBP 13" (7,1) and two days ago I got this problem. I watched some videos on Y**tube and used my external USB mouse. After some time my keyboard and my trackpad got unresponsive, but my external USB mouse did still work. After reboot everything was good again.

As kowyzg0moo mentioned, I'll try to uninstall the clicktoflash plugin, but I personally don't believe that this might be the solution.

Message was edited by: tdslman

zigller

Level 1

0 points

Sep 30, 2010 7:10 AM in response to Steve Eugene

ive been using a macbook black and purchased the 13 pro just last month and since day 2, ive had unresponsive track pad problem. i have long suspected heat or something. yesterday, i went to the iStudio to have this problem fixed. just this evening, it happened again. this time, all the programs were unresponsive. i could move the pointer around but it cant click anything. i

FH9999

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2010 7:07 AM in response to kowyzg0moo

Thanks for the tip!
What I did was to place a sheet of adhesive plastic foil on the back of the battery in order to prevent the contact of the metal case of the battery with the orange contact ribbon running in the back of the trackpad.

No freeze for three days!

Oct 9, 2010 11:03 PM in response to kowyzg0moo

+I always suggest customers to just upgrade to the latest model (Unibody w/o removable battery).+

That's all well and good, but not practical or even doable for the average person in this economy. I've had this computer for a little under two years. I am still making payments on it. I cannot possibly afford to purchase a new one; I could not in good conscience sell this to someone to try to recoup the difference that I still owe; the local store offers 'trade in' towards a new machine, but that does nothing towards the existing balance, and I doubt I would get that much, anyway.

I've done the trick with the paper, with silicone tape, and now with a piece of plastic tie wrap to put pressure on the cable to keep it working. I still get repeating keystrokes, freezes in the middle of a sentence, and this last time, restarting did not do the trick (hence the tie wrap). I see this message in the Console constantly.

10/9/10 10:56:20 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::checkStatus - received Status Packet, Payload 2: device was reinitialized
10/9/10 10:57:22 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 10:57:23 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 10:57:24 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 11:00:32 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 11:01:36 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 11:01:53 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
10/9/10 11:01:53 PM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::checkStatus - received Status Packet, Payload 2: device was reinitialized

I appreciate your saying what no one will officially admit. Overall, however, I am really disappointed.

Sandra

tjk

Level 9

51,192 points

Oct 9, 2010 11:45 PM in response to Sandra Guzdek

Hi Sandra,

Sandra Guzdek wrote:
I cannot possibly afford to purchase a new one;

Why not just replace the ribbon cable? IIRC, the cost was under $50 and the job not too difficult to do.

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Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED