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MBP certain keys on keyboard stopped working in Win 7

I most often boot up the MBP to the Windows OS. It used to all work fine. About a week ago, the problems appeared.


The top row of keys on the keyboard are not operating correctly (in particular, the F1 thru F12 keys). And the keyboard-backlighting does not light up at all.


In order for it to register a "F1" keypress, I must press fn+F1 (function-key + F1 key). Same situation for F2 thru F12.


Their alternate functions* do not work at all, no matter what I try.


(*LCD brightness down, up; keyboard-backlight brightness down, up; media <<, >||, >>; audio mute, volume down/up).


When booted up with the Mac OS, everything operates correctly!


I have already checked the Boot Camp settings - no effect.


Could the Apple's keyboard drivers KeyAgent.sys & KeyMagic.sys not getting loaded or be corrupted? If so, where do I find original copies of them?



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System Info

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MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch mid-2012 (MacBookPro10,1)

CPU: i7-3720QM @ 2.6GHz

RAM: 16GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Storage: 251GB Apple SSD SM256E Media

BIOS Version: MBP101.88Z.00EE.B02.1208081132

BIOS Date: 8/8/2012

SMBIOS Version: 2.4

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Mac OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)

Installed on 102GB HFS partition

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Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

Version: 6.1.7601 Build 7601, Service Pack 1

Installed on 130GB NTFS partition

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Keyboard (HID Keyboard Device)

Name: Unknown keyboard

Layout: A0100409

PNP Device ID: HID\VID_05AC&PID_0262&MI_00&COL01\9&3D8E865&0&0000

Number of Function Keys: 12

Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\kbdhid.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 32.50 KB (33,280 bytes), 11/20/2010 10:23 PM)


Description: HID Keyboard Device

Name: Unknown keyboard

Layout: A0100409

PNP Device ID: HID\{00001124-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB}_VID&00020A5C_PID&0001&COL01\B&3796F4 C5&0&0000

Number of Function Keys: 12

Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\kbdhid.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 32.50 KB (33,280 bytes), 11/20/2010 10:23 PM)

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MacBook Pro with Retina display, Windows 7

Posted on Jul 24, 2013 6:04 PM

Reply
11 replies

Jul 25, 2013 6:41 PM in response to Mac_Win

Yes, you are correct. I checked the box that is here:


Control Panel -> Boot Camp Control Panel -> Keyboard

[ ] Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys


Checked or not checked, (and restarting after each change), it made no difference.


BTW the link doesn't work in the text "Refer to keyboard help for more information." The "Help" button also does nothing.


I tried removing the Windws keyboard driver, (and left the Apple driver in place). It would re-install by itself. So I went into Windows' Local Group Policy Editor, and 'enable' the setting 'Prevent Installation of Devices not described by other policy settings', Then when I disabled the Windows keyboard driver, it stayed disabled after re-boot. Unfortunately, the keyboard was completely disabled -- the Apple driver did not take over as I hoped it would. More detective work needed......😠

Jul 28, 2013 9:00 AM in response to R_J_S

correction: Certain keys in the top row ARE still working: F3, F4, and media playback control <<, >||, >>.


F3 and F4 work whether or not the "fn" key is pressed. (The media playback controls only work without the fn key, which is how I had set it).


But as I stated earlier, these others keys (F1, F2, F5 thru F12) are not working unless I use the fn key. The other 'second function' functions (other than the media playbackcontrols) are completely not accessible.


I confirmed all this using Passmark KeyboardTest program. So at ths point I think the keyboard is electronically working, but suspect a defective keyboard driver. I will trying extracting & running the "Apple Keyboard Installer" from the Boot Camp package (v5.0, and previous v4.1).



Tags: macbookpro, keyboard, retina, keys, functionkey , boot camp, drivers, playback

Aug 3, 2013 1:10 PM in response to R_J_S

I found the problem. In the Windows startup, the program "Apple_KbdMgr" was disabled. I don't know how it got disabled, but re-enabling it and rebooting solved the problem.


Before this, I tried re-installing the drivers from the Apple Keyboard Installer (extracted from the Boot Camp package), but it would not successfully complete the install. I guess you have to run it from the Boot Camp installer.

Dec 4, 2013 8:32 AM in response to R_J_S

Argh. It's back! But details are different. Now the following keys are not working:

[F10],[F11],[F12]

[0],[-]

[p],[\]

[;],[return]

[/]


These keys do not respond, or respond very sporadically, ie, 0.1% of the time i press them.


Why these keys?.... I notice they are are in one general area, on right side of the keyboard ... but other keys on the right do work fine. It seems like a hardware problem because Keyboard Tester freeware does not report any output from this keys. I can use the onscreen keyboard to produce those characters.

Apr 24, 2014 7:57 PM in response to R_J_S

I have surmised that it is an intermittent connection between the keyboard and the main logic board. There is a 30-conductor ribbon cable that connects the two assemblies. I removed the bottom panel and pushed gently onthe cable. The keys started to work!


I think this is the actual connector used at the main board connection - there are images in the PDF linked here:

http://www.ddknet.co.jp/English/products...


Since my MBP has an intermittent connection in this keyboard cable, it would be good to know where to buy a replacement!

MBP certain keys on keyboard stopped working in Win 7

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