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Intermittent keyboard and trackpad freezes in 10.5.2 (not again!)

Hi all,

I'm having a major issue with my MacBook Pro built-in keyboard and trackpad. This issue is incredibly reminiscent of the previous widespread keyboard/trackpad freeze problems, documented in a number of threads, such as here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5860606
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1196400
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6103438
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1190210&tstart=0

What's special about this case is that these issues began very recently, well after I installed Mac OS X 10.5.2, which I recall is supposed to provide a fix for exactly this issue. I've never had a problem with this MacBook Pro notebook before, so this is incredibly unnerving.

The issue is frustratingly intermittent, but frequent. Sometimes the entire keyboard and trackpad locks up (freezes) and won't acknowledge any input whatsoever. Other times the keyboard and/or trackpad appear to get "choppy", sometimes the keyboard will miss a key causing a typo while typing or the trackpad will suddenly stop moving the cursor. Other times the keyboard will repeat keys by accident, causing maaaaajor typos (kind of like that).

What's really weird is that I'm seeing the floating "eject" bezel appear (the symbol that you see when you hit the keyboard's eject button) very frequently, when my fingers are nowhere near that key and I'm sure it's not pressed. This even happens sometimes when I'm not using the keyboard at all, just the trackpad (most often while scrolling with the two fingers gesture).

I've troubleshot this in a number ways. Here is one such troubleshooting session's activity log that I kept while performing the troubleshooting:

---- CLIP ----
MacBook Pro Keyboard Freeze problems troubleshooting log

* Symptoms are a frozen keyboard and trackpad, that is, no input being recognized by the keyboard or trackpad. Not even the light of the caps lock key lights up when the issue is present.
* Restarted computer. Issue recurred moments after logging back in and beginning to type.
* Restarting, zapping PRAM. Issue is gone for a little while but has recurred.
* Found a single line at the time issue began again in the "All Messages" log shown by Console.app that reads as follows:

4/24/08 Apr 24, 8:58:15 PM kernel USBF: 551. 7 IOUSBCompositeDriver[0x65b7280](IOUSBDevice) GetFullConfigDescriptor(0) returned NULL

* Restarting computer again, trying to boot in verbose mode. Can't!! Keyboard wasn't recognized even at this stage! Can't log in either, keyboard unresponsive at login screen.
* Restarting again (via external USB mouse). Login window comes up and keyboard input is acknowledged. Very strange.
* Keyboard input lost once again after using the keyboard for a short period of time.
* Restarting, zapping PRAM again, and Logging in as Leopard's "Guest" user to try and isolate issue...no good, just seconds after logging in, the keyboard and trackpad freeze again.
* Restarting once again, this time everything works. Noticed that the keyboard backlight is not lighting up in low-light situations. Trying to change the light level with the keyboard keys always results in the keyboard backlight bezel showing up with a prohibitory symbol. This is looking more and more like a keyboard driver issue.
* Repairing disk permissions, no problems reported. Verifying disk itself, no issues reported. Issue persists.

Observations and Lessons learned:

* This issue began slowly, with freezes sometimes happening hours apart from one another, however it accelerated quickly. Now sometimes only mere seconds after logging in, my keyboard is frozen and sometimes the keyboard is even frozen at boot time, so that start up modifiers are not even recognized!
* Zapping PRAM helps, sometimes, but only for a short period of time.
* No other traditional Mac fix seems to affect the issue (repair permissions, etc.)
* The issue occurs regardless of whether or not any peripheral devices are attached to the system.

Perhaps unrelated, but interesting (and new!) to note:
* The Bluetooth menu item reports that "Bluetooth: Not available", the Bluetooth System Preference pane is not visible, and System Profiler reports that "No information found" about Bluetooth.

---- END CLIP ----

I've yet to try resetting the SMC, or doing a clean install, but from the copious amounts of users who reported similar errors in the threads I linked at the start of this post, those options only sound marginally hopeful.

Some of these issues (like the weird eject key suddenly firing on its own) have been present for a little under a week, but the freezing is brand new. The only system-wide change I've made in the last week was installed the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1, which was successful (verified in System Profiler; my boot ROM version reads as MBP31.0070.B07).

So mostly I want to know if anyone else using OS X 10.5.2 is also experiencing this problem. Also, though I'm grateful I could actually use my built-in keyboard to type this message (even with occasional missed keyboard presses, GRRR!!!) my only reliable workaround is an external keyboard. Which is a decidedly annoying thing indeed.

Help?!?

Thanks!
-Meitar Moscovitz

P.S. AUGH! Just as I was typing that last sentence the keyboard froze again! So I'm actually finishing typing this post via a VNC session. So, so, so so frustrating!

MacBook Pro (Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1), Mac OS X (10.5.2), 2GB Apple-supplied RAM (tested with AHT)

Posted on Apr 24, 2008 5:47 AM

Reply
18 replies

Apr 24, 2008 5:59 AM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

Okay, immediate followup. The keyboard froze for about two minutes again, this time with two errors showing up in Console.app's "All Messages" log:

---- START LOG ----
4/24/08 Apr 24, 10:47:17 PM kernel USBF: 4187.364 [0x4433c00] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of hub @ location: 0x5d000000)
4/24/08 Apr 24, 10:47:21 PM kernel USBF: 4191.211 [0x4433c00] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
---- END LOG ----

I'm really tempted to believe this is a keyboard driver issue, but I'm also really concerned that it is, in fact, a topcase/keyboard replacement issue. Unfortunately, I'm in Sydney, Australia (even though I bought my MacBook Pro in New York City)…. I hope someone knows some really good Apple techs in Sydney, or else a way for me to get a replacement part myself (I am ACPT certified myself, so I'd just need the parts and tools).

Thanks,
-Meitar

Apr 24, 2008 11:49 PM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

I wanted to post once again with additional information just in case someone else is also having similar problems. Unfortunately, I'm almost certain that this is probably bad firmware or bad hardware, not a software issue at this stage. Here's why.

KERNEL PANIC! Take a look at the backtrace and you can clearly see that the Trackpad is to blame. Also, in the system configuration report, not the boot ROM version string, which indicates that I have indeed updated to the latest firmware provided by the recent release of MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1.

Here's the Kernel Panic log and system configuration I reported to Apple:

----------------
PROBLEM DETAILS:
----------------
Fri Apr 25 14:46:15 2008
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x001A8C8A): Kernel trap at 0x34ba3a1a, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000000, CR3: 0x013e5000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x04f1f800, ECX: 0x00000040, EDX: 0x0bbccd80
CR2: 0x00000000, EBP: 0x3492bbe8, ESI: 0x3492bca0, EDI: 0x3492bca0
EFL: 0x00010202, EIP: 0x34ba3a1a, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x0bbc0010
Error code: 0x00000000

Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x3492b9f8 : 0x12b0f7 (0x4581f4 0x3492ba2c 0x133230 0x0)
0x3492ba48 : 0x1a8c8a (0x461720 0x34ba3a1a 0xe 0x460ed0)
0x3492bb28 : 0x19ece5 (0x3492bb40 0x534500 0x3492bbe8 0x34ba3a1a)
0x3492bb38 : 0x34ba3a1a (0xe 0xba90048 0x10 0x10)
0x3492bbe8 : 0x34bae0c2 (0x0 0xbbccd80 0x0 0x40)
0x3492bc08 : 0x34bac46b (0x4f1f800 0x3492bca0 0x40 0x0)
0x3492bc68 : 0x34baed65 (0x4f1f800 0x3492bca0 0x40 0x40)
0x3492bd38 : 0x34baefc3 (0x4f1f800 0x0 0x0 0x59c159)
0x3492bd68 : 0x5955b3 (0x4f1f800 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x3492bdf8 : 0x823383 (0x4340000 0x43d2d00 0x0 0x0)
0x3492be68 : 0x8248a8 (0x4340000 0x43c9000 0x0 0x0)
0x3492bed8 : 0x8248e0 (0x4340000 0x0 0x0 0x135f38)
0x3492bef8 : 0x8277cf (0x4340000 0x2 0x5396a0 0x42636ac)
0x3492bf18 : 0x41f963 (0x4340000 0x437b180 0x1 0x19d4b1)
0x3492bf68 : 0x41eac0 (0x437b180 0x4257e40 0x3492bf98 0x1369d8)
0x3492bf98 : 0x41e7a2 (0x433c500 0x48c1440 0x4a81a00 0x4257e40)
Backtrace continues...
*Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):*
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTrackpad(1.6.3f3)@0x34b9d000->0x34bb5fff
*dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.0.8)@0x590000*
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily(1.5.2)@0x67b000
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI(3.0.7)@0x81d000->0x82afff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4.1)@0x5bf000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.0.8)@0x590000
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily(3.0.8)@0x590000->0x5b7fff

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
9C7010

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.2: Tue Mar 4 21:17:34 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.4.31~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBookPro3,1 (Mac-F4238BC8)

---------------------
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION:
---------------------
*Model: MacBookPro3,1, BootROM MBP31.0070.B07*, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.2 GHz, 2 GB
Graphics: GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, spdisplays pciedevice, 128 MB
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
AirPort: spairport wireless_card_type_airportextreme (0x168C, 0x87), 1.3.4
Bluetooth: Version 2.1.0f14, 2 service, 1 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
PCI Card: pci168c,24, sppci_othernetwork, PCI Slot 5
Serial ATA Device: FUJITSU MHY2120BH, 111.79 GB
Parallel ATA Device: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S10N
USB Device: Built-in iSight, Apple Inc., high_speed, 500 mA
USB Device: Optical USB Mouse, Logitech, low_speed, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, full_speed, 500 mA
USB Device: IR Receiver, Apple Computer, Inc., low_speed, 500 mA
USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, Apple, Inc., full_speed, 500 mA

Very strangely, Bluetooth functionality seems to have magically returned (it disappeared when this issue began occuring).

There are also further log messages possibly associated with these errors:

4/25/08 Apr 25, 2:46:07 PM kernel USBF: 2.411 CSRHIDTransitionDriver[0x445bf80](IOUSBCompositeDevice) GetFullConfigDescriptor(0) returned NULL
[...]
4/25/08 Apr 25, 2:46:15 PM DumpPanic[42] Panic data written to /Library/Logs/PanicReporter/2008-04-25-144616.panic
[...]
4/25/08 Apr 25, 2:46:28 PM kernel E:[AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController][StartInterruptPipeRead] there is alredy a pending read, skipping.
4/25/08 Apr 25, 2:46:28 PM kernel [InterruptReadHandler] Received kIODeviceNotResponding error - retrying: 1.
[...]
4/25/08 Apr 25, 2:48:19 PM kernel USBF: 145.306 [0x442ea00] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of hub @ location: 0x5d000000)

Running an *extended test with AHT, got error: 4SNS/1/40000000: TD0D-85.500*

Also, *while running AHT, the keyboard freeze happened again*, and neither the trackpad nor even the light on the caps lock key was responsive, so now I am almost certain that this is not a software issue.

Sigh. I really don't want to take this to a third-party repair center, but as I'm in Sydney I can't wait for the Apple store to open up—whenever that's supposed to be.

-Meitar

Apr 25, 2008 6:38 AM in response to pimephalis

From my console log, all logs, I get the following:

25/04/08 9:35:41 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Touchpad: family specific matching fails
25/04/08 9:36:12 AM kernel Apple Internal Keyboard: family specific matching fails

Apr 25, 2008 8:05 AM in response to pimephalis

I'm not seeing that error show up in my logs, but I am seeing one that is similar:

----------
4/26/08 Apr 26, 12:51:44 AM kernel GFX0: family specific matching fails
----------

There are quite a few of these littered throughout my log files…don't know if they have any significance or not.

For what it's worth, I tried to do an Archive and Install that downgraded my Leopard install back to Mac OS X 10.5.0. No dice; the A&I went smoothly but the issue persisted. I figured I might as well re-update back to 10.5.2, so I did. On the second login right after updating back to 10.5.2, I got another kernel panic that listed the Trackpad driver as the source. Grr.

Clearly 10.5.2 is not happy with my keyboard and/or trackpad. Looks like I'll be trying to find a cheap top case replacement for my MacBook Pro tomorrow….

Apr 26, 2008 6:20 PM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

Another update: I took my MacBook Pro to a service center here in Sydney and checked in the computer for a top-case replacement. The techs there agreed with my assessment of the situation but they said they've ordered a logic board just in case. They also said that the computer has passed over 10 loops of the Apple Service Diagnostic which gives us quite a bit more confidence that it's probably just the top case. Here's hoping everything is fine when I get the machine back….

Apr 29, 2008 7:38 AM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

Hey Meitar,

I am experiencing the same issue with almost identical symptoms:
1. Intermittent keyboard/trackpad freezes
2. Eject icon bezel appears on screen intermittently for no reason
3. Intermittent kernel panics with references to com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTrackpad in the panic.log.

The symptoms appeared slowly, starting about a week ago (similar to your description) - originally once a day or so. In the last week, the symptoms have become worse and more frequent - maybe ever hour or so.

I wonder if the issue is related to the Built-In Keyboard Firmware Update from February.

Let me know if you have any luck with a top case and/or logic board replacement.

PS: Remember me from SoHo?

Regards,
Charlie

Apr 29, 2008 8:02 AM in response to charliemiller

Hey Charlie. 🙂

Times like this I wish I were still at SoHo or Fifth Ave. Finding quality Apple technicians is much easier in a company like, oh, Apple. :P

Anyway, yeah, so far the service center I sent my machine to here is already a day late getting back to my so I've rsynced my stuff over to a temporary account on my work laptop and am using it for the time being. If I don't hear from the techs by COB tomorrow I'm going to raise **** until they give me an update or my repaired machine.

Either way, I'll certainly keep this thread updated to let you all know if the topcase/keyboard replacement solves the issues.

Cheers,
-Meitar

Apr 29, 2008 8:28 PM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

As an update: I just spoke with the techs who are working on my MacBook Pro and they say that the machine kernel panicked again while in the shop. I assume they mean that it kernel panicked after they replaced the topcase, because they are telling me they needed to replace the main logic board, too. The machine is supposedly currently on the bench as I type this getting its MLB replaced, so we'll see if this helps any….

-Meitar

May 1, 2008 7:18 AM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

Another update:

Got my machine back from the techs today. So far, so good, insofar as there being no keyboard freezes.

When I asked for details, the techs reported that my machine had kernel panicked after another run of ASD—while running ASD. (Yikes.) That's why they replaced the top case, and the main logic board, but not the keyboard. This seems okay to me…though I'm still wary.

Currently, my Boot ROM Version string reads as MBP31.0070.B05, which is the version I had prior to my downloading the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1. Coincidentally, both the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1 and the Keyboard Firmware Update 1.0 are now showing up in Software Update when I check for new software…. I'm not sure if I really want to apply either of these updates quite yet…I think I'll wait.

In the mean time, while keeping a close eye on my log files, I'm seeing the following familiar error messages:

----
Jan 1 11:00:46 Perseus kernel[0]: [InterruptReadHandler] Received kIODeviceNotResponding error - retrying: 1.
[…]
5/2/08 12:02:22 AM kernel USBF: 2. 20 CSRHIDTransitionDriver[0x4431a00](IOUSBCompositeDevice) GetFullConfigDescriptor(0) returned NULL
[…]
----

Note that the error from "Jan 1" is really from the other day while my computer was in the shop but after it had its main logic board replaced, because the date and time was reset (obviously).

What is conspicuously absent from my logs now is this error, which leads me to believe this is the most helpful error message when diagnosing this kind of problem:

----
Apr 26 01:45:26 Perseus kernel[0]: USBF: 3263.926 [0x4349c00] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of hub @ location: 0x5d000000)
----

It's been nearly a full day and I've not seen this error crop up, nor have I had any additional keyboard/trackpad freezing issues. Since I have so many important things to get done (and am now way behind on my work), I will probably not apply the keyboard or EFI firmware updates until I have met my most important deadlines. Then I'll re-apply them and see if the problem recurs.

Later, all.

May 1, 2008 7:34 AM in response to Meitar Moscovitz

Dropped my machine off at the Genius Bar yesterday. The "good news" is that the issue worsened to the point where the keyboard and trackpad are completely unresponsive all the time. So it was easy to demonstrate the problem.

I'll reply back to the thread when I get my machine back... I'm getting a new top case for certain due to a sticky power button, but we'll see whether or not they drop a new MLB in there.

C

Intermittent keyboard and trackpad freezes in 10.5.2 (not again!)

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