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Steve Eugene Author

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

Top-ranking reply

metaweb

Level 1

40 points

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.

View in context

382 replies

jeiting

Level 1

0 points

Dec 10, 2008 10:53 AM in response to ganarce

I've had this problem for a few months now. I'm actually on my 4th top case. Due to a dropping incident my MacBook's case has a slight bend in it. I think this is somehow causing the battery to rub against the ribbon. For a while I was able to fiddle with the ribbon to get the system working again but after trying to get it work consistently it was like the ribbon gave out. This has happened the 3 different trackpads and my 4th has just arrived, we will see how long this one lasts. I will try to put some sort of padding to protect/hold down the ribbon but I'm wondering if I should just try to re-bend my case or something.

Dec 14, 2008 11:18 AM in response to jeiting

That isn't really reassuring. I got mine switched a few months ago, and the problems are starting to come back. The keyboard will miss keys, and the trackpad will occasionally stop working as well as the MBP randomly ejecting the drive. I'm going to try all the software stuff before sending it back again. But it really ***** if all they're going to do is switch the top case since that's obviously not the only thing that's screwed. It has to be a combination with the top cases and the connectors/casing. Otherwise having it return would be way too improbable.

"Sadly" my current issues aren't 100% identical to the old ones, the freezes are shorter and I didn't get the eject that often before. So I can't check system preferences and see that the keyboard isn't connected. But it's useless as a notebook right now. Can't take it to class and so on. This is ******* me the **** off. I love Apple, and I want to be able to keep using their computers, but there's no way I'm ever buying a MBP again. A Macboook is as far as I'll be able to go after this kind of crap.

Blacktim

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2008 10:41 AM in response to Steve Eugene

OMG!!!! IT WORKS!!!

I've done all (and I do mean ALL) of the software fixes, but NOTHING!!

Not at least, until I tried fondling with the ribbon under the battery. Presto!! it works!

Man! a fully-blown out $2,800 MCP with about another $4,000 worth of software, only to brought down by a 5-dollar ribbon. C'mon Mac!!!

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c64/shadowsurgeon/MBPFIX.jpg

Dec 25, 2008 3:08 PM in response to Steve Eugene

My mouse and trackpad went completely unresponsibe after a reboot. On loggin into apple I discover my MacBook Pro is one week out of warranty. After googling the problem I saw that it was a common issue and was alarmed to see that it some cases it costs $1000+ to fix, including replacement of chips, keyboards, etc. etc.

I read this thread and, although extremely skeptical, I duly taped down a piece of cardboard over the copper bit as described. Un- *ing-believable. It works!

Jim-NH

Level 1

0 points

Dec 31, 2008 6:13 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Steve Eugene:

I have been wrestling with the same, exact problem for two weeks (12/2008). My MBP is over a year old. NH Winters = cold. MBP = hot. On/Off outside, inside = thermal stress on connectors. I noticed that pressing on the flex cable under the battery worked (brought the keyboard back) but, over days, that stopped fixing the problem. Dead keyboard and trackpad. External USB keyboard works fine.

Called Apple Support. That was not worth the energy I used to dial the telephone. Apple says: "We don't know" send to repair. Might be $20 might be $200. Might find nothing. Serial # not recalled, so we don't know.

This morning at 9:06 AM, I tried the napkin trick. Instant success.

DEAR APPLE, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS THREAD. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM TO FIX HERE!

Thank you, Steve!

Jim

Demonkid

Level 1

8 points

Jan 7, 2009 4:38 AM in response to Steve Eugene

i think i started having Macbook pro trackpad and keyboard freezes in September last year. Thankfully my macbook pro is connected to a monitor with wireless keyboard and mouse most of the time. It has been getting steadily worst over the months and i have found no cure. But more and more are reporting the problem. During the macworld keynote i was sat trying to read the blogupdates of the live event. 4 times my keyboard and mouse froze and the only way to fix it is a hard restart via the powerbutton. It's impossible to take to client meetings.

I'd like to take it back to be fixed, but is there anything to be fixed hardware wise or is it a software problem?

Jan 8, 2009 11:01 AM in response to Steve Eugene

I got my Macbook Pro in August of 2007, and just a few months later I began having trackpad and keyboard issues. I could be in the middle of typing something, and suddenly neither would work. The only way to resolve it was to perform a hard restart with the power button. I brought to a Genius bar in the city (I live in Brooklyn) and the guy there said that it had to be a software issue, even though I didn't upgrade to Leopard. He did a Firmware reset and it seemed to help... but now I'm back to where I started and I occasionally go to use my computer and realize that neither work.

As someone suggested, I put a piece of a sticky note in between the battery and where the ribbon cable is, and hopefully this will resolve the issue. However, is it really safe to be placing paper where the battery is though? Is there something else that I can use to put pressure on the ribbon cable (that won't result in the destruction of my precious computer)?

It's rather distressing that Apple is not reviewing its forums and listening to their customers. It's not as if their hardware is cheap. Isn't a happy customer the best way to do business?

brunus

Level 1

25 points

Jan 9, 2009 5:27 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Hi everybody,
I add myself to the unlucky macusers affected by this problem and not being able to fix it with the sticky-note solution under the battery. I can press the ribbon cable as much as I want, no effect whatsoever. I've also took apart the top case to check whether the connector was loose on the other end, and it wasn't.
So, both my trackpad and keyboard suddendly stopped working and never come back. They don't show up in the system profiler, I've tried all:
-restart
-reset PRAM
-reset SMC
-repairing permissions
-creating a vanilla user
-booting from my external backup clone drive

Nothing!
All I see at reboot is my mouse pointer stuck in the upper left corner of the screen and paralysed there.
External USB mouse and keyboard work.

Any ideas? Should I just resign to the bitter reality of a top case replacement?
Ok, I have Apple Care, but I live and work in Burundi, so the closest Apple Center is a few thousands miles away, mind you?
I had my motherboard repalced just one week ago, during Xmas holidays in Italy, because of the faulty Nvidia GPU 8600M GT acknowledged by Apple.
Before that I had to have my display replaced twice and once the optical drive.

Before this MBP, I owned a PB G4 Alu: had to change the display (myself) once, and the mobo got broken 3 times: yes 3, and even if it was a fault acknowledged by Apple (faulty upper RAM slot) since my PB Serial Number was just a few hundreds out of the official faulty batch, I didn't have it repaired by Apple for free, as it was my right, since clearly the official serials batch was "optimistically" faulty as well.

Before that I had a TiBook G4: both hinges snapped, one after the other, and I had to buy them on eBay, have them DHLed to Burundi and replace them myself with epoxy and all. It was no fun, let me tell you. Then the display started flickering. And then again the trackpad ribbon cable got worn and I luckily found a sticky-note like solution on this discussions, so that I could repair it myself with a little patch of tape.

I'm an enthousiastic macevangelist since 1986, I've persuaded tens of friends to buy a Mac, and I'm providing "24h/24 DIY Apple Tech Service" to all Mac users in Burundi for free... Mother Apple: do I deserve all that?! Are you testing my worship to see if I deserve to seat in the same room as Holy Steve once we will be both in Heaven (where all macusers go, as you certainly already know ;-)?

Brunus

Jan 11, 2009 4:59 PM in response to Steve Eugene

I would add one more MBP "Unresponsive Keyboard...Trackpad" symptom and, its apparent solution for me. I've found that while online, after Minimizing a number (>8-20) of web pages for later reading, my trackpad will not perform "grab" a window (doubletap) or "drag" functions-I discovered this after trying everything logical/intuitive to remedy an unresponsive trackpad. By accident I found that having closed all the open pages, my trackpad normalized. I doubted the "cause and effect" of this but have duplicated the action many times.

MRD

Level 1

5 points

Jan 22, 2009 9:19 PM in response to Steve Eugene

Not resolved. Not fixed.
I did the tape thing and it seemed to work for a week or so.
Then back to unresponsiveness.
MAJ0R BUMMER.
This should be a recall issue.
Or did we all just invest in crap?

Jan 23, 2009 12:34 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Thank you so much steve!
Every time I bring it in for a diagnostic at the apple stores, they always resort to a clean sweep of my MBP. I have spent almost $300 of getting an external hard drive, and extra softwares in hopes of fixing, but still, to this day, the unresponsiveness still occurs. I will bring up your idea tomorrow at another scheduled diagnostic. I hope it works for my MBP as it has for others!
Thank you so much!

mgc425

Level 1

0 points

Jan 23, 2009 1:41 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Steve Eugenius,
Cheers mate.

Jan 23, 2009 7:42 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Worked for me too, thanks for the solution.

Now I am not sure why this isn't a recall...

Jan 26, 2009 11:43 AM in response to R Paladino

Just adding my 2 cents to the discussion. I've had the 'problem' for a little over a month and have seen it apparently escalate - e.g., for a while windows was fine when leopard was having a problem, then it reached a point where windows was not fine and AHT reported an error.

No console error logs though. Began after an update to 10.5 but reading through the thousands of posts I'm assuming that it really is a hardware issue about the top case+trackpad / keyboard battery cable, perhaps BootCamp was initially more resilient and error-correcting when the cable started faulting.

The SMU reset does seem to clear it for a little while, though it takes a few tries sometimes. It doesn't seem to last too long, though.

From totally dead, it take me about 5 tries to get a folded piece of paper with another pressure to where I could get the internal keyboard and trackpad working.

Financially, if like me, your AppleCare just ran out, you might be asking yourself do I spend $370 for the 3 year renewal vs. about the same for a new top case and keyboard
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/product.php?productid=16975&cat=0&page=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc7RLbKhnjc
(your answer likely depends on if you can bear to part with your machine and your level of DIY confidence and access to torx screwdrivers)

This replacement seems like the logical next step if you believe that the rolled up paper trick is not going to work forever. Maybe what we need is a poll of how many people have done the replacement and the figures on how many have seen the problem go away entirely vs. reappear at some point?

Feb 4, 2009 11:17 AM in response to Steve Eugene

Thanks for this post. Mailing my MBP to AppleCare to get fixed. (I have a yet unopened MBP, that I think I better start checking out!)

Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED