Weird mac keyboard behavior

Question

Weird mac keyboard behavior

Hey, guys, I need help.

I have a macbook pro running Lion. It was working fine the other day. But suddenly, yesterday, it started doing weird things.

I can't type properly at all. No matter which key I press, weird characters keep popping up. My settings are in English so that's not the problem. I tried the internal keyboard and the same thing happens so this probably isn't a hardware problem. None of the commands work so I can't adjust the volume nor copy paste anything through the keyboard.

What I find very frustrating is that whenever I press a keyboard key, other weird things happen.

Everything I drag gets copied.
when I minimize or close a window, all windows from the same program also closes or minimizes.
When i click somewhere, everything is highlighted and it doesn't go away.
When I open a link, it either opens in a new window or downloads it.

the above things only happen when I press a keyboard key though. And it goes back to normal after 30 minutes or so. But when I forget about it and accidentally type, the problems show up again.

The problem persists even when I change the keyboarda input language.

My trackpad works fine, though.

The only thingi can think of is that this was caused by a virus or malware. I haven't done nything out of the ordinary though so i'm confused. But if so, what do I do?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 7:10 PM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,021 points

Oct 4, 2015 8:30 AM in response to serenade.deux

Keyboard Doesn’t Work

Keyboard Keys Do Not Respond

Restart the computer holding down the command - option/alt - P - R keys before the gray screen appears. Continue to hold until you hear the startup chime for the second time.

Reset NVRAM/PRAM

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Answer 2

Oct 5, 2015 4:29 AM in response to serenade.deux

Two separate keyboards are doing this? That implies there's something systemic.

Reduce the USB down to the absolute minimum. Preferably just the external keyboard, if you're testing that. There've been cases where something odd is happening on the USB, whether a flaky USB device or too much power drawn from the bus. See if the problem reproduces.

If there are anti-virus tools, performance or I/O accelerators, cache cleaners, disk storage optimizers, anti-malware tools, security-enhancement tools, haxies, or other such packages installed, remove them per the vendor-provided instructions.

If any of that stuff has been installed, or if there's been any cracked software, any torrented files or other such stuff loaded, then there's a decent chance that the box is now infested with adware or malware.

I'd probably also either remove Adobe Flash Player and Oracle Java, or would install plug-in blockers for both of these. These are common paths for infestations, when they have security vulnerabilities.

To see what's installed, load Etrecheck — a tool that dumps out the configuration, as well as common sorts of installed plug-ins and add-ons — and post the output here. Etrecheck intentionally avoids needing the administrative password and also tries to avoid displaying anything sensitive or confidential, but do confirm the output before posting it here. Etrecheck finds the obvious stuff. There are other tools that might find the less-obvious stuff.

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Answer 3

Oct 8, 2015 6:22 AM in response to Eric Root

Can't even do this cause when I tried, nothing happened. I suspect it's because P and R are being recognized as other characters instead. 😟

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Answer 4

Oct 8, 2015 6:32 AM in response to MrHoffman

EtreCheck version: 2.5.3 (206)
Report generated 10/8/15 9:27 PM
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011)
[Click for Technical Specifications]
[Click for User Guide]
MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,1
1 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core
4 GB RAM
BANK 0/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
BANK 1/DIMM0
2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g
Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 937 - SN = 9G204250FD3MA
Video Information: (What does this mean?)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB
Color LCD 1280 x 800
System Software: (What does this mean?)
OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63) - Time since boot: less than an hour
Disk Information: (What does this mean?)
ST9500325ASG disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)
disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 449.00 GB (84.68 GB free)
Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP : 50.25 GB (15.37 GB free)
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N ()
USB Information: (What does this mean?)
Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)
Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Configuration files: (What does this mean?)
/etc/hosts - Count: 15
Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)
/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox
[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (4.3.28) [Click for support]
[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (4.3.28) [Click for support]
[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (4.3.28) [Click for support]
[loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (4.3.28) [Click for support]
/System/Library/Extensions
[not loaded] com.Bandrich.driver.BandLuxe64 (2.1.2 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]
/System/Library/Extensions/BR_USB.kext/Contents/PlugIns
[not loaded] com.Bandrich.kext.BR_USBDiag (2.1.2 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]
[not loaded] com.Bandrich.kext.BR_USBECMControl (2.1.2 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]
[not loaded] com.Bandrich.kext.BR_USBECMData (2.1.2 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]
[not loaded] com.Bandrich.kext.BR_USBMdm (2.1.2 - SDK 10.6) [Click for support]
Startup Items: (What does this mean?)
HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr
MySQLCOM: Path: /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
StartOuc: Path: /Library/StartupItems/StartOuc
Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite
System Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)
[loaded] com.apple.SafariNotificationAgent.plist - /usr/libexec/SafariNotificationAgent: Executable not found!
System Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)
[loaded] com.apple.devicemanager.plist - No signature!
Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)
[running] HWPortCfg.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.epson.epw.agent.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: (What does this mean?)
[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.barebones.authd.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]
[running] com.mysql.mysql.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] org.virtualbox.startup.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: (What does this mean?)
[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.facebook.videochat.[redacted].plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist [Click for support]
[loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: (What does this mean?)
WDDriveUtilityHelper Application (/Applications/WD Drive Utilities.app/Contents/WDDriveUtilityHelper.app)
BRService Application (/Applications/C505 Connection Manager.app/BRService.app)
Viber Application Hidden (/Applications/Viber.app)
EvernoteHelper UNKNOWN (missing value)
TransmitMenu UNKNOWN (missing value)
Other Apps: (What does this mean?)
[running] [0x0-0x14014].com.westerndigital.WDDriveUtilityHelper
[running] [0x0-0x1a01a].com.google.Chrome
[running] [0x0-0x1e01e].com.etresoft.EtreCheck
[loaded] [0x0-0xf00f].com.bandrich.brservice
Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)
FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 19.0.0.185 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.0.0 [Click for support]
Flash Player: Version: 19.0.0.185 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 60 build 27 Check version
QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.1.0 [Click for support]
User internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)
RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown
ZoomUsPlugIn: Version: 3.5.27367.0922 - SDK 10.10 [Click for support]
3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)
Flash Player [Click for support]
Java [Click for support]
MacFUSE [Click for support]
MySQL [Click for support]
Time Machine: (What does this mean?)
Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)
4% WindowServer
2% mDNSResponder
1% fontd
1% Google Chrome Helper(4)
0% WDDriveUtilityHelper
Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)
406 MB Google Chrome Helper(4)
172 MB Google Chrome
66 MB mds
45 MB Dock
45 MB Finder
Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)
1.75 GB Free RAM
2.25 GB Used RAM
0 B Swap Used
Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)
Oct 8, 2015, 09:16:23 PM Self test - passed

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Answer 5

Oct 8, 2015 3:39 PM in response to serenade.deux

Get a complete and current system backup or two, if you don't already have those available. Preserve your data — before making any changes.

See if the keyboard works correctly in Safe Mode. That'll tell you if the basic environment is working.

All sorts of stuff on that box. Some software related to mobile communications cards — Huawei, BandRich and maybe T-Mobile? Microsoft and SharePoint bits, some video conferencing bits, Oracle Java, Adobe Flash, Steam, something reportedly related to Mobile Partner.app (Huawei?), Viber.app (SMS and messaging?), XQuartz, printer bits, and some other bits.

I'd guess that there are problems with or among this menagerie, and I'd start by removing whatever bits you're no longer using, probably starting with any of the 3G mobile communications software. That mostly because there are more than a few USB references among all that stuff. (For testing, you can disable the startup items, and see if that helps.) If removing those pieces doesn't work, I'd look to remove the printer software next, or at least ensure that all of that software is upgraded to current.

Fixing this is either going to be a complete backup — to preserve your data — and then a wipe and reinstallation of OS X and adding in what you want and need, or — and this'll take a while — pruning back what's installed until you determine what's hosing the keyboard.

Unfortunately if the keyboard isn't working, all of this gets problematic. Might involve using a different Mac and Target Disk Mode, or booting in Safe Mode and seeing — if the keyboard is working correctly there — whether the add-on pieces can be removed one at a time, then reboot normally and test after each product removal.

There are no stock or standard or generic directions for removing these various pieces, either. Each vendor can have their own unique removal instructions.

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