keyboard temporary malfunction 10.8.4

Hi Andrea,

I'm running 10.6.8.

Have you considered having the top case replaced? I'm at that point now if only to see if it's a mechanical faulure or something else.

Does your external keyboard never make the problem happen?

Regards,

Ty Ford

Hi Ty Ford,

in Macbooks like mine, which has a "unibody" aluminum encasing, replacing the top case is so expensive that I didn't consider the possibility: it's almost like buying a new (PC) laptop.

It's not just the cost of the part: it is quite difficult to do the replacement oneself, the Mac needs to be almost entirely disassembled, with a real risk of breaking some wiring.

I believe that your model is more serviceable, but I have no direct experience!

With the external keyboard the problem never occurs. I bought on Amazon an original Apple bluetooth keyboard, but any keyboard would do. The good of the keyboard I bought is that it fits nicely on top of my laptop, in the area over the internal keyboard, so that I can type and use the trackpad almost as conveniently as before. This solution costs less than 1/10th of replacing the top case!

Best

Andrea

Add me to the list of people with tyuio working intermittently on their MBP. I started experiencing the issue about two months ago. At first, it was very occasional, and things like resetting the PRAM or SMC would seemingly solve the issue, but now it is unaffected by those tricks and stops/starts working completely at random. Currently typing with a bluetooth keyboard that I had laying around for my iPad. I'm currently running 10.6.8 on a 2012 MBP. Taking it to the Apple Store today to have it diagnosed.

Following Andrea's lead, I headed out to a microcomputer store. There I found a hardwired USB keyboard from Genius. The Luxemate i200. It fits over the macbook keys without pressing them if you slide it down past the space bar. Yes, it's a bit funky, but it's workable.

Several days now and no problems. This seems to indicate a mechanical dysfunction of the keyboard. Replacing the top case or continuing to use the Genius keyboard seems to be the only ways to go.

$130 for a new top case + installation probably comes in at @ $200 or more. I'll find out just for kicks.

Hope this helps someone.🙂

Regards,

Ty Ford

I took my MBP into the Apple Store yesterday. Turned out that the keyboard is bad, and it wasn't a software issue. My computer is under an Applecare warranty, so I'm getting it replaced for free.

Getting this too now. 10.7.5. Macbook Pro. Just started out of nowhere. Pressing all the TYUIO keys together so far brings it all back. Maybe a day in between before it goes. Bizarre.

Its more than likely a bad keyboard.

Started happening to me too. 2 year old MBP running 10.9.5. Pressing all 5 keys tyuio restores them temporarily but only for 5 mins.

I bought an Anker bluetooth keyboard from amazon (13 GBP) so I could at least work. Have booked appointment with Genius bar.

I had the same problem - tyuio keys not working. If I pressed all 5 it temporarily fixed the problem, but not for long. I bought a bluetooth keyboard from Amazon (£14) which also fixed the problem but was awkward to use.

It's a hardware issue. I took my Late 2011 MBP to the Apple Store and they replaced the top case. The Genius ran some diagnostic tests and it is not a software issue. He explained there are small 'nipple' sensors behind the keys which can get worn out. Since the case was replaced the problem has completely gone. Cost £168 and took 3 days. Annoying but cheaper than buying a new £1,600 MBP.

Hi,

I confirm it was an hardware issue: a couple of weeks ago also the GPU broke down (it's a common issue with early 2011 Macbook Pro's, the GPU is buggy and with a tendency to get burned) so I had no option but repairing the Mac or dumping it.

Thanks to the Internet I found a independent repair lab (not Apple affiliated) which would replace the GPU at a reasonable price. They offered to fix the keyboard as well, replacing just it and not the whole upper case. This solution allowed me to save quite some money: I paid 190€ for the keyboard and 180€ for the GPU.

So finally, don't waste any time looking for software solutions like I had done earlier; it's a plain hardware issue, even though a survivable one, at least until something more serious, like the GPU, breaks down.

Regards

Andrea

I have a MacBook Pro with 10.10.3, I buy two years ago and have exactly the same problem as you, when I press all the keys (tyuio) returns to work, but not for long.

I contacted the people of apple and they said they could not fix the problem. I think I also give up and finish using a bluetooth keyboard ... this is very frustrating

Same here ! T Y U I O now ok later NOT ! thread problem or .?!? somebody ....

Yes .. GPU problem ! is a problem with Dynamic Switching ! You can check if your problem is from GPU like this : download gfxCardStatus ... switch between Integrated - Discrete ! Good luck !

I am running Windows 10 with Bootcamp on my MacbookPro 13" i5 2012-2013 edition and I just suddenly get the same problem with the TYUIO keys. They work intermittently. When I press them together a few times, that seems to activate them but then it is like a time-out occurs and they no longer work anymore and I have to repeat this process to somehow cause them to wake up again. They may work for shorter or longer periods before they fail again. It is unpredictable. So this problem has nothing to do with the Mac OSX. I suspect that Apple has built a kill-switch into their hardware because there is no reports of this problem on new machines. This is now getting to be annoying as **** and I have scoured the internet for a solution and it seems like with so many people having the same problem, Apple has still failed to come up with a solution. If anyone has the magic solution, please post your results here.