Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

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It seems generally known that the cause of this problem is heating and swelling of the battery that is affecting the orange ribbon cable, or the connection betweeen the orange ribbon cable and its connector underneath the trackpad. Here are some things people have done to solve the problem (either permanently or temporarily):

• Depressing and flattening the bulge (if present)
• Putting in a piece of paper/tape between the battery and ribbon
• Replacing the battery
• Replacing the ribbon cable
• Putting tape underneath the ribbon cable (to prevent shorts) solves
• Replacing the entire top case assembly

I think in many cases the ribbon cable has not gone bad, but that it loses proper connection. The presence of a bulge in the cable, for example, might indicate that the ribbon has partially pulled out of the connector thus losing contacts (or has shifted within the connector.) Or perhaps the swelling of the battery has put stress on the connector, so that over time the ribbon contacts can lose connection with the contacts in the connector. Or quite possibly a combination of both.

If this is the case, even replacing the ribbon may only be a temporary solution, as the new ribbon will still be subject to the same stresses as the old one. And if the connector is being stressed as well, then that failure point is still present as well.

One other solution that might work is to add a very small amount of thickness to the ribbon cable connector, to improve the connection within the connector. This might keep the contacts flush against the connector and prevent the sporadic failures. Another idea might be to use a relatively weak adhesive underneath the ribbon cable to prevent it from bulging.

I just started seeing this issue on my 2008 MBP, very rare but it still happens. So for now I have cut a small piece of cellophane tape and stuck it underside at the end of the orange ribbon (obviously on the other side of its metal contacts!) to add a small amount of thickness so it is seated more securly inside the connector. The cable still slid in smoothly into the connector, we'll see if that improves the contact.

If it helps, this solution may only be temporary as well. But it might work longer since it is applied closest to the point of failure (connection of orange cable contacts within the connector.)

Having received a MBP from a friend last friday showing exactly the symptoms discussed in this thread, I have just finished reading it all through. Awesome! And kudos to all contributors!

Nevertheless, I honestly believe I may offer some more detailed information/ conclusions in this case.

I started off with the assumption the intermittent internal USB dropout might indeed be caused by a faulty printed film cable. As corroborated by the overall (be it temporary) succes of the cardboard fix here, as wel as the less temporary succes of replacing the flatcable in question altogether.

On p. 19 of this thread, Computerix posted a neatly presented manual of a more permanent fix by soldering a single strand of copper from the trackpad component board to the main board connector.

Interesting, only one connection out of 4 which make up USB. This made me think, and have a closer look at the hardware on my table.

Whereas it seemed likely to me the brute and fairly unlocalized force applied by the cardboard fix might be able to temporaryly join a broken strand of copper, it seemed highly unlikely those copper strands could at all be severed by battery heat or not too extensive stressing/ bending obvious in the MBPs at hand here.

So my conclusion was this: it is not the copper strands in the ribbon cable that get damaged, rather the copper joining the "rivets" or "islands" on both sides of the ribbon cable close to the trackpad connector. Indeed, 5 of those rivets are in place to allow copper strands to jump to the other side of the ribbon cable, common enough in electronics these days.

Copper joining the rivets on both sides of the cable, will be ultra-thin. And as such easily damaged by the slightest stress ( being flexed all the time between battery and topcase metal framework) or undue heat caused by battery charging and/or adverse thermal conditions prevalent in a laptop.

If you take a close look at Computerix's picture you will see these rivets as small circular islands on the copper-coloured cable ( there are 5 of them, but two of them are a ground bridge):

From left to right, rivet ( not connector) pinout is probably: ground/ data - / data +/ ground / +5V. Note that the data connection rivets are slightly bigger.

What I did as a first test, is pierce the data rivets with a sharp pin and wiggle it around a little bit in order to spread the copper from the upper to the lower layer of the ribbon cable. Then I scratched the two connections with a fingernail. Et voilà, keyboard and trackpad are up and running again, QED.

Next step would be to pierce the holes with a strand of copper wire, and gently solder them in place. All you really need to do is reconnect the upper and lower parts of the ribbon cable near the trackpad connector, i.e. the most stressed point in it. Mind you, I will be using old fashioned resin core solder for this, not ROHs compliant!

I wouldn't be surprised this fix would be more lasting than putting in a new ribbon cable every 6 months or so.

Data connections seem to be less rugged than power connections, and probably for a reason: their frequency being much more vulnerable than a simple DC power line. The latter you can easily check with a multimeter, and, if need be, you can hardwire ground and +5V connections from anywhere else if you know what you're doing: http://attemptedmaker.blogspot.be/2012/10/converting-macbook-keyboardtouch-pad.h tml

And an afterthought: the MacBook Pros in this thread pose an especially difficult challenge: not less than 3 major family issues are involved here:

- the Nvidia 8600 M GT disaster.

- the issue of batteries swelling and/ overheating; not reporting charge conditions properly/ dying before their time.

- the internal USB device issue at hand in this thread.

Enough to create a lot of interference and confusion.

Good luck to you all!

@ Computerix: thanks for your photo and inspiration!

just bought a new macbook pro retina 15, late 2013. had a mid-2010 macbook pro (not retina). on the 2010, my bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and track pad had co-existed peacefuly and simultaneously for a very long time. now, the new MBPR will only recognize the mouse. can't see the keyboard or trackpad. i could live without the trackpad, but the keyboard not so much. any thoughts on how to get it to recognize the bluetooth keyboard? thanks for any help you can give.

Wow, LB, are you really telling me you have a brand new MBP not responding to its internal KYBD or trackpad?

And cannot pair with your BT KYBD either? Yikes, you've still got plenty of warranty; back to the shop with it like lightning!

For the moment, try to pair your BT KYBD again. Put new batteries in it if need be. And the best of luck to you!

hi hexdiy,

thank you for the kind words. thankfully, internal kybd and trackpad work. Keyboard and mouse batteries are 100%

after double checking for any external noise, many reboots, and patiently clicking back and forth in bluetooth-search setup windows for each external (keyboard and mouse). magic mouse was finally recognized for an instant ... saw it then lost it. once it finally showed up long enough to click 'continue,' the mouse ultimately paired ... this also took a few tries. had to reboot and repeat bluetooth-device-search process multiple times before it finally found the external keyboard. still can't pair the trackpad.

i honestly can't say anything positive about the macbook pro retina 15" late 2013 with mavericks ... i've had at least 10 macs. overall (not just bluetooth), this is worst Apple experience ever ... easily.

I don't know if you're still around but you're a genius, I was all set to buy a new MBP, now hopefully I can squeeze some more juice from my 2008 one. Thanks.

exactly the same problem with rmbp15 2013, unresponsive touchpad and keyboard as well as the audio issue when u sleep ur mac with a headphone plugged in. nightmare...

Just want to add a few thoughts to this ongoing problem which first befell me a couple years ago. (BTW, I have a 17" MBP and a new Air but I still go back to this MBP for many projects since I really like the concave keys much better than the chicklet style.)

Anyway, I have had this problem return very sporadically over the past year but nothing like it was previously, as I've commented earlier. I've found a few things that can give me back the trackpad and keyboard without restarting.

First, if I find the trackpad not responding, I either rub my fingers, warm them or wipe them with a damp cloth. Sometimes it seems as though the pad loses its ability to sense the finger. Most of the time I get the cursor to move again. I also take my finger and give it a push/swipe/flicking movement upward and sometimes this reactivates the cursor.

If those don't work, I've found that using the arrow keys can sometimes bring back the cursor and the rest of the keyboard as well.

Failing all of these attemps, I cast a spell over the Mac and swear a blue streak. Of course that doesn't give me back my cursor or keyboard but it makes me feel better. :-)

I have a 2014 MBP and had a non responsive trackpad right from the start. Having got Apple support, the very easy fix was simply to press the command button and F1 at the same time and hey presto - problem resolved

Thanks, werry63.

Sidenote: I'm working with laptop and cinema display. Command + F1 created a mirror sitch where both monitors displayed as primary. Not sure what that was about, but reentering Command + F1 toggled back to only one primary.

One more thing ...

Re: the original wireless-accessory-response problem

For magic mouse and late-2013 MBPR 15", I want to shut off "Scroll direction: natural - Content tracks finger movement" Deselecting the box in Mouse settings has no effect whatsoever. Every time I grab the mouse, the page/spreadsheet/graphic scrolls. And, I can't turn that 'feature' off. Urg. Does anyone know how to make this stop? I appreciate any help you can give. Annoyed and nauseous ...

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.

Hey LB, if you have no success by posting a new thread, repost here. I have notification by email. But this forum is so huuuge! No way to keep up completely.

Sorry people for the off-topic.