Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

Hi techiesteve,

Thanks again for your response, I really appreciate it! Indeed, mine is not completely dead - it occasionally works upon reboot, only to die again. Since the one connector is responsible for power as well as trackpad/keyboard, does this mean it is safe to assume it is not a connection issue? Or would it be possible to still turn on the mac and have these issues with a connection problem? If so, would reseating the connection fix this?

I suppose my other question is, would a faulty topcase possibly be responsible? Originally the company told me it would be 5-7 business days to get the part in, but then the very next morning (and I had contacted them in the afternoon) they had the part for me. I sort of assumed they had one already in stock they didn't know about, since it seemed to be an awfully fast shipment from Apple. If it was being housed at their repair shop, I'm wondering if there is a possibility it could have gotten damaged sitting there...?

Sorry for all the questions! I really appreciateall this info. Thanks again!

Without seeing your Macbook it's impossible to be more precise re diagnosis. There is always the possibility of a faulty top case, but it's rare.

Here in the UK we order Apple parts before mid afternoon and they are shipped overnight, normally arriving the following morning. This is easy in a small country such as ours. Elsewhere in the world shipping times can vary. The top case for your Macbook is the most common one used, so it's likely the service provider had a buffer stock and utilised that. They are securely boxed, the box being suitable for international shipping, so would be in prestine condition.

Hi Steve. Pls I'll truly appreciate your assistance. I am having very similar issues to those stated by lots of people here. My mid 2009 MacBook all of a sudden started typing only in caps and was opening multiple pages. When I shut it down and put it back on it took forever to load then it started to request I put my password. I have never used a password on this computer but somehow I managed to take it to a Mac technician who used an external keyboard to sign me in. After diagnosing my Mac he informed me that it was a top casing/keyboard issue and it will cost me almost the equivalent of $250. I am in nigeria and we do not have an apple store here so my options are limited. I bought my macbook in uk so I was thinking of sending it back there though I am out of warranty I feel it will be cheaper to fix, but now I have seen these solutions here and want to try fixing my self to cut cost. I just need advice on the step by step procedure on what to do and how to do it. I'll truly appreciate your assistance as I feel crippled with my MacBook thanks.

P.s these are the parts I was advised to get.

B661-5855 housing top case non backlight british

922-9014 trackpad

Hi techiesteve,

Just wanted to let you know how it all turned out: I phoned Apple regarding the problem, and after outlining all of the troubleshooting I had done, they felt that I was correct in my assessment that it was likely either a faulty installation or a faulty product. They set up an appointment for me with another service provider and replaced the topcase for me, free of charge! I was very happy indeed - considering my mac is 4 years old, I wasn't sure how amenable they would be to looking into this. I had read somewhere that there was a 90-day warranty or somesuch on the topcase replacement, but wasn't entirely sure if this was fact or simply rumour. In any case (no pun intended), everything is working again, thanks to Apple customer service!

Hi danisirek, good to hear you have resolved the issue. Ideally the original service provider should have been more amenable and looked at it again, and you would have had this sorted much sooner. The warranty on the top case is 90 days. A new bezel and top case makes an older Macbook sparkle again, it's still got plenty of life left.

YES YES YES!!!!!! THE FIX COMPLETLY WORKED!!!!! THANK YOU 🙂 I am now going to call Apple and complain about their defective computers.

Chynadu80, your Macbook "My mid 2009 MacBook" does not match the parts you were advised were defective "B661-5855 housing top case non backlight british 922-9014 trackpad"

The white mid 2009 Macbook was the last of the original style Macbooks prior to the white unibody polycarbonate style, while the parts you list are for a Late 2008 Aluminium unibody.

If you have an aluminium late 2008 Macbook, the parts you listed and labour to strip and rebuild could cost in the region of £240.00 with VAT in the UK, plus insured return shipping to Nigeria would be expensive. Why was the trackpad condemmed along with the top case with keyboard? If you do have a white mid 2009 Macbook, then the part numbers you were given are wrong and the repair cost is much less.

This thread appears to reference just about every model of Macbook Pro and Macbook made, other than their names there are often major differences in design and construction. Additionally, what may appear a major issue on a world wide forum, is in reality very very small compared to the number of Macbook Pro's and Macbook's sold, I suspect no more than normal failures rates. I know anyone experiencing a trackpad or keyboard problem will probably disagree, but the facts are at work I see very few of the problems described here. Hard drives and optical drives fail more, anything mechanical will fail more than purely electronic devices.

Most older Macbook Pro's that lose their keyboard and trackpad requires the flex cable that runs from the trackpad to the logic board replacing rather than the top case. Initially this part was part of the top case, then Apple made it available as a seperate spare part to authorised repairers. Unibody Macbook's and Macbook Pro's are built differently, the odd trackpad fails, usually the clicker, and most keyboard issues I see are caused by liquid spillages, usually backed up by the internal LCI's going red or crunchy keys caused by dried sticky liquid.

I have had the same problem as mentioned over and over again in this line of comments. I was about to get a whole new case for my laptop, but the shop didn't have one in stock. I next went to an Apple store and was told that the battery was old and swollen. They replaced the battery for me, and presto!! no more problem. The swollen battery was pressing on the inside of the track pad and confusing everything.

all is good 3 months later, and I'm happy!

I have had the same problem for a long time on my MBP A1260. It started by the trackpad/keyboard being unresponsive. At that time, I solved the problem by giving a "massage" to the orange ribbon and restarting the computer. I was also not using the battery anymore. But after a while, even those solutions prove to be useless and my trackpad/keyboard stopped working for good. The post-it and the growl tips never worked in my case. I then went on eBay, bought a second-hand trackpad ribbon cable and replaced it myself using instructions found on powerbookmedic.com and iFixtit.com. It now works again 🙂

Do you have a link to the auction?

Thanks,

Nate

Hello guys,

Im late to the party, so excuse me if some of this has been covered previously and i missed it.

My brother recently gave me his old Macbook, pretty sure its a late 2008 early 09 model, with the larger battery compartment, like so:

[img]http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/HT1366/HT1366_1.jpg[/img]

MB403xx/A 13.3"/D2.4G/2x1GB/160/SD-DL (pretty sure thats the model, i dont have it with me atm so i cant check numbers to confirm)

It was working fine, my brother used it heavily for the last 4 years, (graphic designer) until recently upgrading and never had an issue.

He gave it to me and is was working perfectly, until it just randomly stopped about 2 hrs after using it (note: it was just sitting in his cupboard for a few months prior to me recieving it)

it still functions normally with an aux keyboard/mouse attached.

What i want to know is how do i get to the "Ribbon" to see if it is kinked and or broken as my battery compartment is alot different to the one pictured in the original post. Im abit of a Mac noob so please not too technical, im good with electrics but dont know my way around a mac too well.

Any help would be great guys.

Hi N,

Have a look at the illustrated repair manual for that model at ifixit.com.

thanks for the link,

however, its like where do i start, there are so many different catagories within that i dont know which one to follow, as this is such a unique problem to have, even though its not entirely uncommon.

N.Danger wrote:

thanks for the link,

however, its like where do i start, there are so many different catagories within that i dont know which one to follow, as this is such a unique problem to have, even though its not entirely uncommon.

Click on Repair Manuals > Mac Repair > MacBook Pro > and browse through trackpad, upper and lower case replacement, logic board, etc. I'm sure one of them will require removing the the ribbon cable you're inquiring about.

thanks tj,

ill have a go this afternoon after work.

thanks for your assistance 🙂