Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

Dear LB, I am thinking you are putting your question in the wrong thread. This here thread is getting to be a kind of garbage can/melting pot for every keyboard/mouse/trackpad issue or so it seems.

Originally, it was about a specific MBP problem which involved a generic MBP trackpad and keyboard flatcable failure.

Nevertheless, to accomodate you:

Deselecting the box in Mouse settings has no effect whatsoever.

Have you tried restarting your Mac after altering something in Preferences? Take it from a Mac oldtimer: manytimes this does the trick!

Good luck to you!

You're right about the new thread, hexdiy. Took a chance on a wireless guru saying "just do x"

Yeah, I've restarted countless times ... while invoking seriously foul language. I agree that's always excellent advice ... restarting. Thank you for trying.

Here's a few options for the scrolling problem:

Trash the system prefs found in your user Library that relate to the appledrivers for mouse and bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Restart or log out/in, then if all OK, empty Trash.

There is a Terminal command I found that will supposedly reverse the scroll for all input tools (use at your own risk):

From a Terminal window:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/User\ Template/Non_localized/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences com.apple.swipescrolldirection -bool false

Or you can try the free app called Scrollreverser. No personal experience with it but worth a shot if nothing else works.

https://pilotmoon.com/scrollreverser/

I see this thread has been long and winding, but hopefully I will find the solution I've been looking for here since the thread has recently been revived.

I own a 2009 silver MacBook (which became MBP the following year, I believe) running OS X Mavericks, and all of my important documents are backed up using Time Machine. My 250GB HD is also manually partitioned (no Boot Camp) to run Windows 7 on about 60GB of HD space. I mainly use my Windows 7 partition for PC gaming.

A couple months ago, my internal keyboard started behaving erratically. It remained responsive, but the keys began performing strange tasks, for example, pressing the "D" key would minimize my browser window, the "A" key would open Finder, the "Option" key no longer functioned at startup, etc. The trackpad also began to behave somewhat erratically - using the trackpad to open an app on the dock would instead select the app in Finder, and I would then have click the app in Finder to get it to finally open.

I bought a cheap Logitech USB Windows keyboard to test the issue. Most of the time, the Logitech keyboard works fine for simple typing, but it was still frustrating because the Alt key would not allow me to access the boot screen on my Mac, so I was unable to switch between Operating Systems (apparently this is an unresolved issue for some using a Windows USB keyboard with a Mac). On rare occasions, the Logitech keyboard would also experience the exact same malfunctions that the internal keyboard had been experiencing - the "D" key minimizing the browser, etc. I have been able to correct this issue with the USB keyboard by fiddling with the "Windows" key. (Not sure how relevant this is, but I thought it was a weird coincidence.)

I left my MacBook alone for about a week, powered it off, and upon coming back to it discovered that I could again use the "Option" key to access boot options on startup, and the other keys were also functioning normally again.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, and the same exact problem is back again. I decided to go into my Mac and change my startup disk to my Windows partition and just work from there, but then I didn't have access to all of my iTunes music and documents on my Mac, so that was still frustrating (I did use a free trial version of MacDrive to access them for a while and transfer some things to a flash drive). I also couldn't use my "Option" key, so there was no way to go back into OS X and change my startup disk again.

Then Windows crashed, and I was forced to power off my MacBook and use an old HP laptop for about a week. Today, I went to power on my MacBook just to see - and VOILA! - I could again use the "Option" key to access boot options and gain access to OSX, re-partition and reinstall Windows, etc. Now the internal keyboard and trackpad seem to be functioning normally once again. But I'm afraid that it's only a matter of time before the issue reappears and I'll have to again spend hours trying to fix or work around the problem.

I've tried running command lines and have also tested every other solution I've been able to find online, but nothing seems to work. I've also removed the battery, but I don't think the wire trick applies to my later model MacBook.

I've been told that I could need a new top case, but my internal keyboard was never really unresponsive - it was simply malfunctioning and performing random tasks. In fact, I'm using my MacBook to type this right now and everything is functioning normally. Plus, I can't really afford a new top case right now.

So if anyone knows what else might be causing this issue, please let me know ASAP.

Thanks in advance for any help you are able to provide.

This may be kind of a blast from the past for folks at this point, but I have to say: the index card trick works. (Originally found at http://jasonrobb.com/v2/2008/11/24/macbook-pro-unresponsive-keyboard-trackpad-so lution/.) My early 2008 model 15" Macbook Pro, which I fully expect to live to the ripe old age of 10, recently started losing keyboard & trackpad functionality simultaneously at unpredictable intervals. This was happening about 2-3 times a day and was pretty disruptive to my work/etc. I tried the index card thing over a week ago, and it hasn't happened again since.

(Extra note for anyone having the same problem: I pinpointed the two-finger trackpad right-click as a cause of some temporary loss of functionality, so I disabled that function before trying the index card fix. It didn't solve the problem, but I do believe that it lessened the frequency of permanent functionality loss. As a superstition, I've kept this feature off and re-learned to right-click with the Control key.)

I just blew the dust off of my old Macbook Pro and no keyboard or mouse activity. At first I stuck a piece of paper in the spot described in the first post but no joy. I then folded a thin piece of paper so it would press down on the exact spot when I installed the battery and I couldn't believe it; everything works. Many thanks for this fix!

I saw this solution six years ago and decided to give it a try only with a tiny piece of powerful duct tape. Unfortunately didn't consider the 'napkin part' so no pressure was actually added to the ribbon.

Man, I've just tried it again (w/ a piece of folded paper), and no more freezing, no more struggle.

6 years of struggle, poof! Vanished... You have no idea the relaxing feeling and gratefulness. Way to go Steve!

I had exactly the same problem as yours and tried almost everything: SMC, PRAM, etc.

When I read your post, I didn't have any screwdriver to open my macbook and take out its battery.

However, after trying awhile, I could fix it by this way:

- Connect your Macbook to an external keyboard. If your external keyboard works fine, you may have a chance.

- Then shut down your Macbook.

- Press and hold "shift" on your external keyboard. Then turn on the Macbook while holding "shift".

- We are actually just trying to reboot the Macbook in safe mode. But instead of using the "shift" on the internal keyboard, which shouldn't work as the internal keyboard is unresponsive, we are doing so on the external keyboard. Note that it may take awhile.

- Then check your internal keyboard and trackpad now. If they both work fine, then just shut down your Macbook and turn it on in normal mode.

Hope this helps 🙂 .

I know this is old, but it absolutely worked for me. Applied pressure to the area where the connector is and is now working. Every situation is different, but in my case it was definitely a hardware issue. Thank you