Control Key not working?

Question

Level 1

6 points

Control Key not working?

Last night I was looking at some photos and decided i would try to go and zoom in using Control+2 fingers, but it wasn't working. I went into the preferences and went into the trackpad options to make sure it was selected. It was selected, so i went into the options and changed it to Option+2 fingers and then Command+2 fingers. both of these work.

Is there any way to fix this or anything? It was working fine like a month ago, but maybe 2 weeks ago i went and got my cracked trackpad fixed by Apple. could they have messed up the key when they were fixing it?

P.S. if it is important or not, i got my 17-in MBP in Feb of '09

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 18, 2010 3:45 PM

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Answer 1

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Apr 18, 2010 11:43 PM in response to jwGary

Is the control key working for other purposes, jwGary?

If you hold it down and click on a link on this page in Safari, for example, does it bring up a contextual menu offering choice of new window, new tab, saving the linked file etc (as it should in the default mode), rather than simply opening the link?

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 2

Apr 18, 2010 8:00 PM in response to jwGary

Hi there,

It's possible that while the work was being done to replace the trackpad that the top case somehow received some damage. As anybody else here should recommend to you you should probably bring the Macbook back to the Apple store that did the trackpad repair. You may want to also check if there are any other keys not working that may indicate trouble with the flex cable used to connect the keyboard to the system board.

Good Luck

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Answer 3

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Apr 23, 2010 6:40 AM in response to hausmeista

If you head to System Preferences > Keyboard, select the "keyboard" tab, and click on "modifier keys", what does it say next to "Control (^) Key:" ?

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 4

Apr 24, 2010 5:50 AM in response to Rod Hagen

I called Apple Care. The guy made me do some diagnostic stuff and came to the conclusion that this one key must be broken. I couldn't follow all of his instructions since the CTRL key is necessary for some resets you can trigger by pressing keys during the start.

I was sent to an Apple Premium Partner to verify the problem. They told me it was either a problem with the unibody/logic board or a mechanical problem with the key itself. Best option would be an exchange. They said this qualifies as 'dead on arrival'.

I called Apple Care again and the they happily arranged an exchange. I'm hoping to get the replacement next week. They usually handle exchanges rather quickly (from my experience).
Let's hope the replacement is undamaged.

Good luck to the rest of you!

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Answer 5

Apr 23, 2010 3:15 AM in response to Rod Hagen

Hi,

I'm having the same problem. The Ctrl-Key doesn't seem to work at all. The virtual keyboard wont light '^' when ctrl ist pressed.
The sad ting: My MacBook Pro is brand new. I unpacked it yesterday. I realised quickly that there was something wrong with that key because it wouldn't zoom. I assumed, however, some other function, e. g. accessibility, was blocking it.
When I tried the virtual keyboard I saw that the key doesn't seem to send any signal...

Any Ideas, other than returning it?

greetings

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