Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED

I have been having this same problem for a month now. With Apple Care I ran the gamut of checks and verifications. No luck.
As I am in Italy now the problem persisted and the Italians at the Apple store here loaded me up with 4 gigs of new RAM. Thanks! But the problem persists!
So..is this napkin under the battery the only solutions? Is it that curled copper ribbon that is causing the trouble? As of this month why does Apple Care call center not have operators ready for this problem?

I have had this exact problem twice. I found that a temporary fix could be had be exerting pressure 25% of the way from the left edge of the track pad to the right edge, between the trackpad and the keyboard. This usually let me log in (when my USB keyboard wasn't at hand). I too found the folded bit of paper (I used the sticky bit off a post-it note) until I could get the machine back to an authorised repair centre. It has been fixed by Apple twice - both times very efficient and effective (thank you Albion, on the Strand in London). I now always carry a mini mouse so that at least I have a mouse but if it happens when I need to authenticate then I'm more or less stuffed. Sadly I now have the flickering back-light problem on the keyboard so it looks like this pup is due back in for a repair.

*I have the same problem, that my keyboard is unresponsive.*

*I am a good writer. and the sentences down below is normal type speed....*

the note on the battery dont work...

idears?


have the ssssse prble that y keboard is unrepsnsive

Hae hesame problem that y eyboarddis unresponsv

ave he sme proble, tha my keboarddis unresponsve

I'm beyond frustrated with this problem. I'm currently living in a country supported by Apple Russia, who basically dragged their feet for 5 months supposedly ordering the part. The post-it note fix bought me only a few months of relief from this problem last Spring before I needed to switch to an external keyboard and mouse.

By the time I was able to get the computer back to the developed world it was a month out of warranty (my dealings with Apple Russia had given me zero reason to consider dropping the $$$ for AppleCare). Nonetheless, the fantastic staff at The Apple Store in Rome was gracious enough to fix it for me free of charge. Unfortunately, a mere 7 months later it's happening again.

As a long-time Apple user I'm really shocked and disappointed that Apple has failed to address this obvious defect that is affecting so many people.

I haven't contacted Apple about the problem and I'm not looking forward to the call. I'm really just holding out some hope that eventually they'll come clean with this issue.

Hi All!

Thank You for explaining this.....

The problems I was having after replacing my keyboard myself due to wine spillage..... 😉 Were that if you pulled out the magsafe then the system would immediately freeze completely requiring a Hard Reset to recover.

Nothing would work, Force Quit etc etc, the caps lock light would however function.

I removed the battery and used Scotch Tape (sometimes called invisible tape) and taped over all of the ribbon connectors underneath. I also taped around the plastic guard that protects the connection to the trackpad.

Now everything is working perfectly again! No more freezing/crashing!

I didn't use a napkin as you suggested but obviously managed to insulate the cables with the tape.

Barnes

I have been experiencing this freezing of the keyboard and trackpad problem since my machine (bought October 2008) was about 3 months old. I find that the problem is sometimes cured by closing the laptop lid to force a sleep, and then reopening the machine. Increasingly, this seems not be working though, forcing a hardware restart.

I've found that resetting the SMC brings relief for about 5 or 6 days and I've inserted a business card in the battery compartment between the battery and gold-orange trackpad contact wires (the so called 'Napkin cure' described in a previous post) which also seems to bring some relief.

I've noticed that the problem often occurs after I physically move the machine from one place to another, e.g. from my lap to a hard surface - this leads me to think that pressure on the underside of the battery compartment is a factor in leading to the freezing problem.

Five months after the problem first occured I'm still experiencing the problem several times a week and am deeply frustrated by it. I also fear that the increased number or forced hardware restarts may be shortening the life of my laptop.

Worst of all, I live in Central Africa without access to any reliable local repair facilities. (I'm travelling to the UK in September for a brief business trip where I hope to get the problem looked at before the 1 year warranty expires in October).

Please Apple can we get some acknowledgement that there is a serious problem here, either with hardware or software (or combination of those factors), this thread has been running unresolved for over 1 year. We really do expect more.

I am another victim to this issue. I had my battery replaced by apple and one of the tech's suggestions was to remove the battery often since I use my laptop as a desktop more so than a portable. I started to notice the intermittent keyboard and mouse and thought it was because the recent 10.5.7 update. I completely lost all functionality and made a "genius" (my butt) appointment. My 1 year manufactures warranty had ran out by about 6 months. He went to the back to try and reseat the ribbon cables after I had pointed to numerous forums on the net. Came back and said no dice the repair would cost $300+ to replace the top half of the laptop. I complained that it was a defect in the design and placement of the cable. The battery gets pretty hot to have a ribbon like that right under it. He said most people on the forums/discussions spilled fluid on it as his excuse to shun me off. I am really heated with apple. I spend $2000+ on this piece thinking I am getting superior hardware and get some crap excuses and what I would expect from M.S. B.S. I have a 1999 Lombard that still works fine. If you ask me apple is going down the tubes as far as hardware manufacturing and quality as well as customer service. I still believe this is a design flaw and Apple should pay attention to this and fix it or replace it.
<Edited by Host>

I, unfortunately, have had this same issue of my track pad and keyboard not responding and working at all. I have had to take it in to get serviced. I am disappointed with how much money my MBP has costed me with tax. As well, I am curious to see if this issue is caused by a hardware design fault with the wire underneath the battery. If so, I would hope that Apple would be responsible enough, and ethical enough to fix this for their users. If it is not a hardware issue, I wonder if it related to a firmware update.
B

First of All, THANK YOU, Mr. Eugene, for your discovery and fix suggestion. I have had this problem for quite some time now and had been quickfixing it with the close-top forced sleep.

While I have been reluctant to actually place anything inside of the battery casing itself, I have jerry-rigged a platform for my MBP with and elevated wedge of hard camping foam and find that, when the problem arises, applying just the slightest pressure down gets everything going okay. This is not an especially portable contraption, however. Even though I am a student and normally have my laptop at my desk, I am now stuck holding my machine awkwardly to maintain pressure when I take it to the park or the gym.

Despite this pressure fix--which I have used for the last 3 days since finding this thread--I still maintain one more problem: the pressure allow my trackpad and keyboard to retain functionality, but I have progressively seen the two-finger scrolling feature lose responsiveness more and more. Seeing that quickfixes and repairs are no permanent solution to this from-the-factory hardware issue, will be going directly to the apple store this weekend to request a permanent solution. I do not know how the fact that this is no longer the current 15" MBP model will affect their cooperation, and hope it is not a hindrance to finding a professional answer.

I agree with all of you that Apples unwillingness to address this is appalling. I hope to be met with greater cooperation and have a more customer-friendly and thoughtful experience when I go in this weekend. I will let you all know how it goes. Thanks again for doing all the research and saving me the time and frustration!

I've had the same problem and almost brought my MacBook Pro to an expensive repair but after reading this it's over. What bothers me is that this seems to be a production failure and that there's no sufficient technical response from Apple to this issue. I guess this happens much more often....

This problem is sooooo not resolved!!!

Has anyone had any luck getting this fixed out-of-warranty?

I'll finally be moving back to the states in 2 months and I'm ready to start rioting if I can't get any resolution.

DON'T PAY FOR REPAIRS!

I spent hours on the phone and had two visits to the Genius Bar and nobody would pay for the repairs of this so-called hardware failure. IT'S A SOFTWARE ISSUE.

Just reset the PRAM if the issue ever occurs:

Hold 'P' + 'R' + [Apple] + 'Option'

While holding these push power once, you may do this up to three times, it will start up and shut down again and then start up.

So far this has worked for me. I am told it works with all people who had at first an intermittently unresponsive keyboard or mouse turned permanent. For those whose problem came on full force, then that is probably a hardware issue. Oh thank you to the one Genius who is actually cool like Mac men should be!

I'm also having this problem and this solution has stopped working for me (though it did work for about 2 weeks). My keyboard and track pad are now completely useless, and unfortunately I am no longer covered by warranty. Does anyone know how much apple charges to fix this problem? Has anyone replaced the parts themselves, and if so, what parts did you replace? I've seen that www.macreboot.com will fix this problem for 130$ (15 inch mbp), but i have no way of knowing whether they are a reliable company.

Got the same problem. My MacBook Pro is still under warranty, but I'm very reluctant to send it in when this problem is not really resolved other than by a complete redesign of the clearly faulty connector! Apple this one needs a recall! Sorry!

I used Apple computers for a long time now. The last few years I really got disappointed by the build quality. Had soooooo many problems with my MacBooks and MacBook pro it's almost unbelievable if you look what I pay for these pieces. I think my next computer is going to be a Dell or something with a Hackintosh OS.

Hi all,

Firstly, yes, I've also been through all the grief as well. Surprise, bewilderment, anger, frustration, hope, hope dashed...then finally a solution.

Secondly, apologies for the solution itself - it is not perfect by any means. However it will allow you all to use your computer without any trying to lodge tape into the battery casing whenever the trackpad and keyboard stop working.

1. Remove any tape or other objects you jammed up against the ribbon cable
2. Remove the battery
3. Attach mains power and reboot computer. Use a USB mouse if required in order to log on
4. If the trackpad is currently not working then apply pressure to the cable. Hold it down until you get some response. It may take a number of attempts but after, say half a dozen presses and subsequent responses from the trackpad/kbd, operations will slowly be returned to normal. Sometimes just using the USB mouse for a day or so will be enough to get that **** trackpad/keyboard working again
5. Ok, you're now operating normally but MAKE SURE you don't go and insert that battery again. If you have, then you'll need to start the process again
6. So, you've now realised that inserting the battery somehow interferes with the cable and stops everything in it's track. Again apologies for this clunky workaround, but my solution is based on inserting the battery without touching the cable
7. Turn the computer off and turn it over to reveal the empty battery compartment
8. Carefully align the battery terminals with their main body counterparts - essentially you're lining up the battery power bits with the "bits" on the computer
9. NOTE: You're now only going to insert the batter halfway into the computer. Insert the battery terminal first into the computer. Yes, I know that the bottom of the battery will be sticking out, but hey, I've already apologised before for this workaround
10. You'll find that this is slightly difficult at first, but when the terminals are touching you'll realise that a fair bit of the battery will also slide into the computer. You should finish with the bottom of the battery sticking out and the top (terminal end) firmly into the computer casing. It should go all the way in so the latches both close. Trust me ...it will go that far in.
11. Once in position, just get some clear tape and secure it in position. The battery will probably stay in by itself but better be safe than sorry

You're finished. If it didn't work, follow the instructions again. You've probably missed something.

You will need a DVD or similar to now place below the top end of your Mac in order to make the whole thing sit flat.

All done. Your mac will now charge and work as normal. The ribbon cable will not be touched and in turn caused to stop working.

All this could be perfectly solved if Apple made replacement batterys that are slightly indented near where they hit the cable section of the main body. However they don't appear to do so.

And for all those conspiracy theorists out there. My own humble opinion is that they never intended for this fault to occur. However it does seem like a design flaw, as my solution proves that there is nothing wrong with your mac, instead it just shows that the battery is incompatible with the main body. Note: the really new macs have a completely design...I wonder why... 😉

Happy days.

Adrian