Certain keys not working. (backspace, brightness, volume)

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Certain keys not working. (backspace, brightness, volume)

Recently, the keys on my Macbook Air (mid-11') has not been working properly and I'm unsure as to why this happened. I noticed in the keyboard viewer that sometimes when I press the arrow keys or such, the fn keys stick and doesn't unstick until i use my cursor in order to click on the key. The keys such as the delete, brightness settings, and volume are not working as it should. Sometimes it does, other times it doesnt not. For example, my delete key now only deletes from the left to right. Brightness settings only work when I change to setting to when I hold FN to use f1 f2. My volume settings randomly switched me to dashboard and desktop 2. It should be noted that everything works fine when i type, delete, etc when I restart the computer and go

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Jan 29, 2015 5:45 PM

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Answer 1

judysings

Community Specialist

Feb 1, 2015 9:21 AM in response to orangepekoe

Hi orangepekoe,

If the keyboard on your MacBook Air is responding erratically, try the following troubleshooting steps:

OS X Yosemite: Reset your computer’s PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18761

OS X Yosemite: Reset your computer’s PRAM

If your Mac doesn’t seem to be remembering your speaker volume, display resolution, or the disk it should be using during startup, you may need to reset your computer’s PRAM.

Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.

Important: To print these instructions, click the Share button in the Help window, then choose Print.

Choose Apple menu > Shut Down.

Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Option, Command (⌘), P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.

Turn on your Mac.

Immediately press and hold the Option-Command-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Continue holding the keys down until your Mac restarts, and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

Release the keys.

After resetting your computer’s PRAM, you may need to update your speaker volume, display resolution, and startup disk preferences. For more information about PRAM, see the Apple Support article About NVRAM and PRAM.

Last Modified: Jan 6, 2015

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own

Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

Shut down the computer.

Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.

On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.

Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.

Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

I hope this information helps ....

- Judy

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