Keyboard Backlighting - VERY UPSET

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Level 1

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Keyboard Backlighting - VERY UPSET

Early 2011 MBP with failed GPU, I've posted about this a few times on here since my laptop suffered this fate two weeks ago. I took it in for service the day Apple announced a repair program for it. 11 days later and it's back, yet my keyboard backlighting isn't working now. It worked fine before I took it in, now it doesn't. I didn't think to test it when I was at the Apple Store since it wasn't an issue, I only checked to see the hardware information under About this Mac to insure the correct parts were installed.

So now what the F do I do. I've been without a working computer for over 2 weeks, and it comes back with a problem it didn't have before, albeit a non-mission-critical one, but an annoying one non the less. I don't want to send this away for weeks again to fix a problem that appears to have occurred during the repair.

I've tried to reset the SMC, didn't do anything.

Anyone else have the GPU/Logic board failure, have it replaced, and find their keyboard lighting is dead?

Posted on Mar 2, 2015 2:17 PM

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Answer 1

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Mar 2, 2015 2:44 PM in response to Scolirk

You have one option left.Do a pram reset. Command/Option/P/R keys for three chime at startup. If still no back light,you will have to take it back.

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Answer 2

Scolirk Author

Level 1

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Mar 2, 2015 4:02 PM in response to my ginger

Just tried it out, but didn't fix the problem unfortunately. Unlike some issues I've read about, the F5/F6 keys do change the brightness level on the pop-up on my screen but don't do anything on the backlighting. Anyway I guess I'll be back to the Apple store, and out of a computer for another 2 weeks again 😠😠

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Answer 3

Scolirk Author

Level 1

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Mar 2, 2015 8:20 PM in response to Scolirk

Well, I solved this problem, and am still very unhappy. The backlighting connector wasn't reconnected to the logic board after it was replaced at the Apple Store. Luckily another thread here pointed me in the right direction, and suggested I check iFixit's teardown of the Early-2011 MBP and find the connector. Sure enough nothing was connected, and after removing my fan I found the disconnected keyboard cable underneath the logic board. I get it, we're all human, things happen. But rather than the tech spending time telling me their RAM tests failed, and I need to replace the RAM (which apparently is the cause of the logic board failure...), maybe a quick test of the basic functionality of the computer would have been in order. Thankfully I know what I'm doing and fixed this without waiting days for a Genius appointment, and possibly weeks of another repair.

I'm just glad it's working.. until the GPU fails again.

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