Some keys on keyboard not working.

rensvanlaar wrote:

it does the same thing on all 3 computers.

That would certainly seem to indicate that it is damaged and needs repair or replacement. Keyboards do not have anything inside them that you can modify from your computer.

rensvanlaar wrote:

i don't think it's damaged, i just pushed a few buttons at the same time, i don't think that can give damage to your keyboard. its not like i slammed it. i just pushed it slightly, if that means it can be damaged then it already would be broken because i type on it every day.

I can understand your frustration. But there is no way any key combo you might have done would affect more than one computer. I suggest you take it to an Apple store or other shop for them to test.

Try turning it upside down to shake out any dust/debris that are in it - or vacuum it out.

Sometimes food crumbs can cause problems with a keyboard so a key may be stuck.

If you spill liquid on it the keys will stick when it dries.

You could have broken the parts under the keys - on the not aluminum keyboards sometimes using an unbent paper clip to pry up the keys frees them.

I recently came across the same problem. Had my MacBook 17 (early 2011) repaired twice in a matter of a couple of week due to the infamous AMD graphic chip problem.

It is not linked to keyboard problems but in my case, some keys stopped working F7 m ; and ' (US Int. keyboard).

The weird part is the m key working randomly.

The official apple test software in the repair shop saw the problem ... then it disappeared and reappeared again.

Anyway, after a lot of googling around the only thing that did manage to spring these keys back to life (at least momentarily) is to :

repeatedly and simultaneous use CAPS LOCK + SHIFT + the non working key/s

(might help to display the keyboard viewer as the same time as well).

All other ways (PRAM reset, SMC, single user etc ...) did nothing for me in this case.

I therefore have no idea if is it hardware of software related. typing those keys just now ;;;m;;m''' feels real good 😉

And honestly Apple guys, this AMD chip problem is costing a lot of us a lot of money. Heard it's even there on new 15" laptops!

I suspect the chip get fried after overheating which can happen with flash intensive use ... revenge from Adobe???

Software shutting down the chip when high temperatures are detected even crashing the related applications in doing so would be preferable! This is my 4th main board >500€ repair on this model 😠

Hi. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro running the latest OS X. My a, s and d keys were only working sporadically. Very frustrating! And, in fact, my entire system was running slow. After all sorts of experimentation, switching from the ABC to U.S. International PC cured to the problem – the proof being that I'm typing this with zero problems. Use the Keyboard Viewer to test your keyboard. Good luck. P.S. My MacBook is now running fast, instead of taking its time and showing me the color wheel almost every time I did something. Not sure if the keyboard fix did that too. -Les

LesMacbook wrote:

switching from the ABC to U.S. International PC cured to the problem

Very interesting! It is hard to imagine any way in which switching keyboard layouts like that could cause a difference, but you never know. Did "US" cause the same problem as "ABC"? They are the same except for the name. Have you tried going back to ABC to see if the problem comes back?

Interesting point about ABC and US International PC being the same. Re-selecting ABC doesn't cause the problem, but then it was only sporadic, so there's no way of knowing for sure. I'm staying with US International PC to be safe. (I'm a writer and really, really can't afford for my keyboard not to work – particularly since one of the non-functioning keys is part of my MacBook password.)

Let's assume they're identical – at the risk of being redundant, identical in every respect, not just generally similar. Maybe switching from one to another – to any other – had the effect of resetting the keyboard and its controlling software. Maybe something happened when I upgraded the operating system. In any case, it's not my imagination. When I used the Keyboard Viewer, the a, s and d keys were not working when the keyboard was configured for ABC. Switching to US International PC fixed that and good to go. And my MacBook is generally more responsive.

Over the years, beginning with my first Apple II, I've learned not to overthink these things and just be glad it works.

-Les

LesMacbook wrote:

Interesting point about ABC and US International PC being the same.

It's ABC and US which are the same. US International PC is indeed different from those two -- for example, you can type é by just hitting apostrophe then e, which is useful for typing French, etc.

You are right that the important thing is that you have fixed your problem, which normally might have indicated the need for hardware repairs.

You're absolutely right on the money. I was this close – I'm holding my thumb and first finger very close together. – to driving to the mall this morning and buying a new one as soon as the Apple store opened.

Thanks for the conversation. Maybe our notes will help some other people with keyboard problems.

-Les