Keyboard and trackpad not responding and or detectable by Macbook

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Keyboard and trackpad not responding and or detectable by Macbook

Hi,

So, as far as I know, since the last Catalina update, my keyboard and trackpad have been acting up, meaning they don't seem to be recognized at all by my Macbook. I am literally writing this cry for help with an external keyboard and mouse since the internal ones aren't working.

I have tried resetting the SMC, with no luck. But it does reset the settings, while pressing Command+Option+Shift changes the colour of the adapter. Nevertheless, upon reboot, my keyboard and trackpad are still not responding.

They do seem to work in recovery mode though. I reinstalled the latest version of Catalina, and it did the trick, and so I thought.

I also tried running a diagnostic of my SSD, but everything is fine. Also tried the hardware analysis (pressing D on boot) but it only found that I have a "battery" problem, which I am aware of.

Anyway, when it does work (and I am not sure why and when it works), if I let my Macbook sit there for a while, my keyboard and trackpad won't be responding when I return. And I have tried the previous mentionned steps several times. And "when it does work" is NOT often.

Please help?

Alexis

I am using a Macbook Pro early 2015 13" retina display, running macOS Catalina 10.15.5.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 29, 2020 5:58 AM

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Answer 1

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AlexisCoteRemy Author

Level 1

4 points

May 29, 2020 7:39 PM in response to AlexisCoteRemy

EDIT: I wiped out my SSD and uninstalled Catalina and reinstalled Mojave. It did the trick (for now).

It didn't seem to be a hardware problem since I can confirm my trackpad and keyboard work in Recovery Mode, every time.

Anyway, so far, my guess is Catalina was the problem. I reinstalled Catalina before wiping out my drive and it didn't solved my situation. Then again, it might not be Catalina at all, maybe my Mac was just due for a good old wipe.

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Answer 2

Jun 13, 2020 7:51 AM in response to AlexisCoteRemy

OTHER EDIT: Problem is NOT SOLVED. When my keyboard and trackpad are working, this is a matter of time before it stops working. I never shutdown my Mac because it seems to work for a longer period. Also, when it stops working, I cannot enter ANY Recovery mode. I can reset SMC presets, no problem though.

The only way to make my keyboard and trackpad working again, is to plug an external keyboard and mouse, boot normally, then restart my Mac. THEN, on my mac keyboard (with still the external keyboard and mouse plugged in), I can enter any recovery mode. While entering recovery mode, I can unplug the external devices, and restart my Mac from the Recovery screen (without doing any options offered in Recovery mode).

This is really weird, and kind of frustrating. I might go to my nearest Apple Store, but if anyone has any insight on this, it would really help. Thanks!

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Keyboard and trackpad not responding and or detectable by Macbook

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