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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

nbx909

Level 1

0 points

Mar 16, 2009 8:21 AM in response to nbx909

Just an FYI, I had my top case and keyboard replaced and now they keyboard and track pad work as expected. Anyone have any suggestions on how to prevent this from happening again?

mistical

Level 1

0 points

Mar 16, 2009 8:33 AM in response to nbx909

@nbx9092 My suggestion to you is to take very, very good care of your trackpad. The problem lies underneath the trackpad. So be gentle with it, do not apply too much pressure to this area or get rough ever. Doing this, I can not guarantee you will not have the problem again but you may be fine with this solution.

Other than that, you would have to take in the laptop again to have a new top-case replaced. All that is necessary is a new top-case but they would probably give you a new keyboard too.

Mar 23, 2009 4:58 AM in response to Steve Eugene

It worked for me also.
However since it was still in warranty I thought this was a bit shabby so I took it into the Genius bar and asked them. Whilst I was there I showed them this thread which they duly noted but said was a bit ridiculous.
They said it needed a new drive and a new logic board (sound familiar?) which they duly replaced and sure enough when I got my machine back it was working perfectly.
Just for the **** of it I just popped out the battery to take a look if they'd done anything there.
No they hadn't; the piece of kitchen roll and tape was still safely in place!

Mar 31, 2009 9:48 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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?

Apr 7, 2009 12:22 PM in response to garyliving

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.

matklo

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2009 4:10 PM in response to Roland Whitehead

I have posted a new possible solution (for some?) for the dead keyboard/trackpad issue in this forum:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8567664#8567664

abborren

Level 1

1 points

Apr 28, 2009 2:36 PM in response to matklo

*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

wirobins

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2009 6:29 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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.

May 30, 2009 10:04 AM in response to Allan Jones

I am experiencing the problem and have also noticed that the problem doesn't occur when I'm running Windows XP. This leads me to believe it's a software/driver issue.

Jun 19, 2009 8:20 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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

Jun 27, 2009 1:39 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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.

DJSUN1

Level 1

0 points

Jul 9, 2009 5:51 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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>

Bob Mitra

Level 2

150 points

Jul 9, 2009 1:38 AM in response to Steve Eugene

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

Jul 9, 2009 8:06 AM in response to Bob Mitra

Same issue here. This is CLEARLY a well-documented defect in production. DJSUN1 is spot on, for those who saw his post before it was edited.

Jul 9, 2009 2:00 PM in response to Steve Eugene

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!

Unresponsive Keyboard and Trackpad problem FIXED/RESOLVED