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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.

User uploaded file

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

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 14, 2017 8:01 AM

Same problem here. It's a design issue. My keyboard and trackpad also stopped responding, couldn't get past login ... The problem is that Apple ran the trackpad cable over the top of the battery. And as Macbooks get thinner and thinner, component are snugger and snugger. So, when the battery heats up, and it will when watching YouTube videos or running video editing programs as many of us do, the trackpad cable gets unseated from the connected to the trackpad board. I have an Early 2015 Macbook Pro, and this problem surfaced just after the 1-year warranty period expired. If I turn my Macbook Pro over and firmly press in an up and down motion over the bottom case (under where the trackpad, trackpad cable and battery are all 3 aligned, then turn on my laptop, I once again have a working keyboard and trackpad and can login as normal. This is not what one would expect from such an expensive laptop. As these things get thinner and thinner ... problems will crop up more and more.


Apple Support will tell you to reset your NVRAM and SMC ... but that is the canned reply. Resetting those do fix other problems: keyboard backlights and other wonky issues ... but it will not reconnect an unseated trackpad ribbon. And if you are out of warranty ... just purchase a replacement ribbon on ebay and install it yourself. Taking it to an authorized Apple Repair Center will cost you an arm and a leg, especially outside of the USA where there's no price regulation.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/821-00184-A-Touchpad-Trackpad-Cable-for-Apple-MacBook-Pr o-Retina-13-A1502-2015-/111975916834?hash=item1a1248e522


The link above is only for the Early 2015 (March) MacBook Pro ... you will need to research your models ribbon for replacement.

User uploaded file

382 replies

Jul 16, 2010 10:56 AM in response to columbus new boy

I left the computer with an 'authorised' ('approved' or whatever Apple calls them) repairer and they replaced the trackpad. While in the repairer's care, someone dropped the computer on a hard surface and badly dented the corner (the same repairer had also damaged the previous computer I'd left for repair). The computer now boots slowly. Ultimately, after a battle they 'repaired' the damage they caused but in the process replaced the keyboard with a foreign language keyboard. It still boots slowly and I'm having problems with headphones automatically starting iTunes when plugged in but I am unable to hear anything through them correctly...

Comeback Microsoft, all is forgiven...?

Jul 17, 2010 3:27 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Is there any permanent fix for this?
I've been getting this issue since about two weeks ago, my keyboard and/or trackpad will go down 4-5 times a day, and I have to open up my battery and push down on the ribbon cable bit, which will bring it back.
But I feel like I'm just waiting for the thing to go completely, and it's very frustrating seeing as how I recently had another major issue with my computer as well (logic board). Will Apple supplement any sort of an extended warranty for this issue?
Apple and its products have been VERY disappointing lately..

Jul 18, 2010 10:14 PM in response to Steve Eugene

So far no solution and I doubt there will ever be one. This is a hardware issue but relates to software in the sense that I can use my MBP for weeks under Windows 7 on a desk and I have zero problems. Also, I can use OSX for weeks on a soft surface like a bed or my lap and have zero issues. But if I'm on a desk and boot into OSX I'll get my trackpad and keyboard frozen within minutes.

It used to happen once ever couple of weeks. Then like a year ago it started happening once a week, then once a day and now it's almost instantaneously I use OSX with the MBP on a flat hard surface.

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.

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!

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

Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

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