End 2011 MacBook Pro internal keyboard and trackpad not working properly

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End 2011 MacBook Pro internal keyboard and trackpad not working properly

No spills. No drops. No damage of any kind.

A week or so ago, my MacBook Pro (updated to the latest 10.10.2 Yosemite) started going slow. The keyboard started behaving funny, with unwanted characters on most keystrokes. Even the trackpad started behaving unusually (Spoiler: it started working just by itself). Most of the multi-finger gestures and preferences would not work as usual. Any click would result in a right click only. (Note: these exact same issues have been reported one year ago with a similar age MacBook Pro with 10.6.x on this forum with no response).

When I tried to sign back in, the keys would not work ('a', 'l', 'p', etc would not result in anything at all for example) and I could not log in. A foot note on the screen said "if you are facing problems with your keyboard, please power down holding the power key...". I did this, and things just got worse. I cycled through different problems of file vaults and what not to no avail. I connected an external Windows keyboard via USB and everything works just fine, except I cannot do these two diagnostic functions,

(1) SMC reset. Holding shift-control-option on the internal keyboard, or shift-control-alt on the windows keyboard while releasing the power button does nothing

(2) Apple Hardware Test: Apple needs me to hold the 'D' key down while booting up. Again, it works with neither keyboard.

It seems to me like it is a software issue, because different keys are a problem on different days, and the trackpad starts behaving a little funny only when I use the internal keyboard. Goes all OK, when I press ESC on the windows USB keyboard. The Apple service centre said they are unsure, and would just replace the keyboard, and try. I don't want them fixing the wrong problem. Anyone know how to resolve this?

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 9, 2015 4:19 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 10, 2015 7:10 PM in response to BangID

Try reading this thread. It should solve your problems!

Yosemite 10.10.2 Update - Trackpad Not Working Properly

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Answer 2

my ginger

Level 5

4,928 points

Mar 10, 2015 7:31 PM in response to BangID

Hi. When doing a SMC reset, you do not hear or see anything. It is Command/Option/Shift and power button for 10 seconds. With the internal keyboard or if not working the external one do a pram reset. Command/Option/P/R keys at startup for three chimes. If your MBP shipped with snow leopard you will not be able to do AHT from the internet. You would need the install disk that came with it. You can also boot to recovery with Command R or Option R and go to the disk utilities and run disk and permissions repair.

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Answer 3

BangID Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 23, 2015 1:33 AM in response to my ginger

I tried this a few times over. My experience

SMC reset via the keyboard with *just* not work. When I press the 3 keys and try to press power, it just won't start/ boot up. However if I release the three keyboard keys, the laptop boots up with all its problems intact
Same goes for trying to do a PRAM reset. I tried both of these on a colleagues Macbook Pro which pre-dates mine by a few months, but updated to Yosemite only a few days ago. SMC reset and PRAM reset work as stated on that machine
A few days ago, while booting up, the system automatically went to a menu for disk utilities. I ran verify disk (no problem) twice over on all drives, and got no option for repair disk. I did the permissions repair, but that has not helped.
I'm typing this on an external windows USB keyboard. Everything works just fine on this. My trackpad starts behaving funny as before e.g. a single tap or press anywhere brings up 'right click/ option' instead of 'select'. I have to keep hitting Esc on the windows keyboard, and the trackpad starts working fine again.

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Answer 4

my ginger

Level 5

4,928 points

Mar 23, 2015 2:22 PM in response to BangID

When doing a pram reset on your MBP ,you do not get a startup chime? Since you did a verify of the hard drive and found no problems and you repaired permissions. I would have to say that since you can use an external key board, that you keyboard is the problem. Take it into an apple store and have them check it out.

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