Some keys not working intermittently r t y u i o

Did anyone find a fix to this? I started having this issue lately too.

Luckily it's working fine now or else I wouldn't be able to type this. My keys from E all the way to O (ERTYUIO) stop working every now and then. And it seems like they're working less and less.

Here's what's weird. When my keys don't work, I have to press my E key really hard and then one of the other keys. So say I want to type the letter Y, I'd have to press E first really hard and then press Y, I'd then have to go back and erase the E. It's really frustrating to say the least.

Anyways, if anyone turned it in for repair and got any answers on where the problem is, please let me know. Thanks!

" keys from E all the way to O (ERTYUIO) stop working every now and then"

Here's how the contact trace is arranged for those keys:

They're backwards since you're looking at them from the bottom. So it's all one trace.

" it seems like they're working less and less."

If there's a tiny fracture in the trace, over time and use it will get worse.

" I'd have to press E first really hard and then press Y,"

My read on that is that the fracture is in the area of the "E" key. When you press hard on the "E" key it causes the fracture to move and then the downstream keys will work.

The keyboard itself can be replaced. Their cost is around $30 on eBay. Make sure to get a new one. The replacement procedure is very difficult however. Everything has to come out and there are around 79 screws holding the keyboard in.

Apples procedure is to replace the entire top case and that's expensive.

Thanks a lot for the response. I'm gonna bring it in and get a quote for service. If it's too expensive, I might just try to replace it myself.

Just to double check, it works fine w/ a USB keyboard?

It does work fine with a USB keyboard. I've been using one to type and do work. Must definitely be a hardware issue.

Yup so most definitely that trace has gone bad.

How did this work out for you "Altme"? My "t y u i o" buttons stopped working today and I also have a MacBook Pro retina mid-2012 (OS X 10.11.1)

Please advise.... :-(

I had the same problem but with Keys d,f,g,h,j,k,l .... after some reviews on apple forum and youtube videos the solution that worked for me was :

1) clean your keyboard

2) remove the left-key in the series, in my case it is key "d".

3) clean the parts underneath and install again.

I did the same wit key "f" just in case.

I attach a youtube video that helped me on that that task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh88cn_rtLo

In any case, even if that solution might work, I am still wondering if there is any other HW issue.

I had this exact problem on a Macbook Air, mid 2011.

I also had a damaged battery -- after replacing it with a new battery from iFixit, and also cleaning the accumulated debris and dust inside the laptop, the keyboard works great again.

I don't know if it was the damaged battery, it looked OK but maybe was curved or something, or it was the dust, or just dismounting it and mounting it again moved something on the inside.

Sadly, it's failing again after 10 days. I guess I'll have to replace the entire keyboard.

If you're up for it, you could replace just the keyboard. That job is a pain in the keyster. Everything has to come out of the computer to access the keyboard. 40 or so tiny screws hold the keyboard in place:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2011+Upper+Case+Replacement /9427

Here's a guide to the whole process:

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/replacing-macbook-air-keyboard-after-liquid-damage /

In the MacBook Pro this replacement is easier because there are only screws, no rivets. So easier but still a pain.

The keyboards are cheap on eBay around $39:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=macbook+air+keyboard+replacement+2011&_osac at=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=m…

You could also just replace the entire top case but at quite a difference in cost:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=macbook+air+keyboard+replacement+2011&_osac at=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xmacbook+air+top+case+rep lacement+2011+new.TRS1&_nkw=macbook+air+top+case+replacement+2011+new&_sacat=0

A new one looks to be in the $170 range.

Make sure you have the right year and that it's new. I always try to order from someone in the states, usually California. There are a ton available from China but that can take a fair amount of time to get to you.

Thanks spudnuty, this might be a solution, I had already seen the iFixit guides, but this one looks particularly complicated. I think I might take the laptop to the shop and ask them to do it, might be much more expensive but easier on my side. Thanks!

I am seeing this problem as well on my MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012). It's almost impossible now to reset the PRAM since the R key is acting up. Now pressing UIO as a chord when keyboard acts up. This is bad. Hard to believe that it's hardware. Suffering.

Any new thoughts on a software fix. All the items on this thread haven't worked, except mashing the UIO simultaneously which I started doing today...

~James

I was having a similar problem where my F2/increase brightness, 2, w, s, x, tilde, and tab keys were intermittent. Over the course of a couple weeks it went from happening occasionally to at least half the time I was typing, and sometimes they wouldn't work for hours at a time. I tried all the resets, etc, but nothing helped. I was ready to accept that it was a hardware issue, and at best I would need a new keyboard. Then by chance I noticed a weird thing with Keyboard Viewer that if I held down the function key, the F2 key, and any combination of the w, s, and x keys, and then pressed any of the other F keys that the corresponding keys under that F key would appear as pressed (e.g. if I held down function, F2, s, and x, and then pressed F5, Keyboard Viewer would show that I was pressing g and b even though I wasn't). That got me back to thinking it was a software issue. I tried booting it into safe mode (holding down 'shift' while booting) and it seemed to work fine, then I booted normally and everything has been working perfectly for 24 hours. Hopefully, this helps someone else.

Don't bother guys, just replace a keyboard. I bought a used keyboard on ebay and replaced it with the help of my friend who is a car electric specialist. I am tech savvy person but this one requires a bit experience and good hands since circuit boards have several very tricky and miniature latches/connectors you have to be careful with. You have to disassabmle everything except for the display 🙂