Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: dasyatis
dasyatis Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

MPB 13 early 2015: keyboard, trackpad stopped working

Hello,


I am currently the (not quite happy) owner of a Macbook Pro 13" retina, early 2015, that I bought about one year ago.

After a few months of use, the keyboard and trackpad started to behave erratically:

  • Sometimes the trackpad would stop working.
  • At other times, it is the keyboard which would no work.
  • But most of the time, both the keyboard and trackpad would be irresponsive.

Some observations:

  • The issue would only appear when I boot the computer or when waking it up from sleep.
  • When the keyboard and trackpad decided to work, they worked flawlessly until I put the computer to sleep or shut it down.
  • External keyboard and trackpad do work as expected.
  • At first, the problem would only appear once in a while but it then started to be more and more frequent to the point where the keyboard and trackpad would never work.
  • During the first few week of experiencing the issue, plugging an external USB peripheral, like a USB drive, somehow managed to shake things up and the keyboard/trackpad would raise from the dead. Alas, once the problem has become permanent, nothing seems to fix it.

What I tried or checked:

  • I did tried to reset the SMC, NVRAM to no avail.
  • Booting in single user mode or failsafe mode do not change anything.
  • I did check for misbehaving kernel extensions and found none. All the kernel extensions in use are from Apple.
  • The problem is not linked to the installation of third party software -- the set of installed applications is quite small and rarely changes.
  • Hardware diagnosis do not report any issue.

The problem became really infuriating as I had to tote around an external keyboard and trackpad -- hardly a satisfying "solution".

I ended up going to an Apple Store, where I was recommended to send my machine for repair in a "Premium" authorised Apple service center. That service center could not find the issue

Posted on Jun 4, 2016 2:35 AM

Reply
22 replies
User profile for user: Bjornw
Bjornw
User level: Level 1
4 points

Dec 31, 2017 4:10 AM in response to Mike Dent

My guess (as a hardware designer) is that while I'm sure the power button is wired through the same connector, it does *not* work as a normal key, as it is usually a requirement that it will do a non-OS-dependent complete power cycle if you depress it for a long while. This is the same for all PCs and computers (and gadgets and mobile phones etc) and usually is implemented in a "safe"/redundant way so OS/driver crashes wouldn't lock out this functionality.


So if the keyboard stops working and the power button still works, that shouldn't rule out a glitching cable or connector.


Disclaimer: I don't know the actual wiring of the macbook pro's kbd/touchpad connector harness, this is just a guess.

Reply
User profile for user: Il_Pennero
Il_Pennero
User level: Level 1
14 points

Jan 9, 2018 2:13 AM in response to Bjornw

I’m having the same issues, no keyboard nor trackpad functionality. The power button is definitely connected otherwise, because I can start the machine even without the trackpad cable using the power button.


What I find interesting is that, when I insert the cable again, I’m able to do a SMC reset with shift-option-command and also do this quick shutdown using the same combination with the power button. However, I cannot do a PRAM reset with the internal keyboard.

Reply
User profile for user: dusanfromnovisad
dusanfromnovisad
User level: Level 1
4 points

Feb 4, 2018 4:28 AM in response to dasyatis

I have the same problem with 13" early 2015 retina. Comp was few times in official Apple service. and nothing. They suggested me:

1. we will resset all conectors

if this not solve the problem we will go with system of ellimination , first we will change

2. IPD flex cabel 90$

after that is the problem exsist we will change

3.Top Case 700$ plus 80 for instalation and if that not solve the problrms we will change

4. Logic board 730$


apsolutlley crayzi ..... it is expensive than new one 2015 with better specification.

I'm very dissapointed and probbably I will go on court with local apple seller. I have right for this according with locally with localy low.

Official Apple head office are silent although their problem is know for them

Reply
User profile for user: p_clarence
p_clarence
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mar 17, 2018 3:56 PM in response to dasyatis

So, after being the proud owner of an early 2015 MacBook Pro (Retina display) it happened. First the trackpad stopped working for intervals, and sometimes both the trackpad and the keyboard. This started last November, and I’ve been visiting all authorized repair shops around, ever since. I’ve been going to this “premium service provider”, and today I went there again, to pick up my MacBook for the third or fourth time. Still undiagnosed, and with a non-functioning trackpad. My warranty ended last May, but I’m pretty sure that this should be object to a repair program. I’ve noticed several complaints similar to mine, and apparently not even changing the top case solves the problem. I really need to solve this once and for all, Apple should not turn a blind eye on the subject.

Reply
User profile for user: dasyatis
dasyatis Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Jun 4, 2016 2:58 AM in response to dasyatis

(Apparently hit reply by accident)


That service center could not find the issue and they ended up replacing the entire top case (which includes the keyboard and trackpad). That was less than three months ago.


At first it worked perfectly... until a couple weeks ago when it started rearing its ugly head again. Just once in a while at first but now, I'm back to square one, with a completely non-functional trackpad and keyboard.


A couple of interesting notes:

  • Again, I reset the SMC (using the internal keyboard) without any success. I hold the shift, control, option keys and hit the power key. The light on the magsafe plug changes color for a while, which indicates that the SMC was indeed reset. In other words, the system properly detected that the shift, control and option keys were pressed.
  • I then tried to reset the NVRAM. But not the operation does not succeed. Once the computer is powered-on, it seems that key presses are not even detected. Same thing if I try to boot in single-user mode or failsafe mode. I can only do that using an external keyboard now. Booting in failsafe mode shows me a couple of pretty pictures asking me to turn on my bluetooth keyboard and trackpad.


Let's have a look at system.log.


When the macbook boots or wakes up from sleep and finds the serial peripheral interface, we are greeted with a message looking like:

21/05/16 22:49:27,000 kernel[0]: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad::start Start Succeeded


Those were the nice days. However my logs are now full of messages from the AppleHSSPIController. Since I'm writing this from another laptop, I can't paste the log messages

Reply
User profile for user: dasyatis
dasyatis Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Jun 4, 2016 3:12 AM in response to dasyatis

(Okay, looks like command-S submits the message, UX fail IMHO, anyway back to my message...)


So I can't paste exactly the entire series of log messages since I forgot the external trackpad at work, but those were the usual suspects. I am apparently not the only one experiencing this issue. However, I do remember that I had the dreaded message:


kernel[0] Error: AppleHSSPIDevice::start failed to get device descriptor


every time the computer boots or wakes up.


Looking at the System Report, I notice that the SPI section is empty: this is where one normally find information about the internal keyboard and trackpad.


I am getting completely desperate: the top-case was changed less than 3 months ago so I'm not even sure if this is an hardware problem. Reading about the problem on other forums is not really helpful either.


Here's my message in a bottle. If anyone has some suggestions, please speak up.


Thanks in advance,


D

Reply
User profile for user: dasyatis
dasyatis Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Jun 5, 2016 1:04 PM in response to dasyatis

More information from the logs, in case it can be of any help:


Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::systemWakeCall - messageType = 0xE0000320

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::systemWakeCall - messageType = 0xE0000340

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::wakeEventHandlerThread

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx syslogd[40]: ASL Sender Statistics

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: Previous sleep cause: 5

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleIntelLpssSpiController1::_reset: fDmacService is NULL

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146859.677883: wl0: leaveModulePoweredForOffloads: Wi-Fi will turn off.

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146859.677897: AirPort_Brcm43xx::syncPowerState: WWEN[disabled]

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx CommCenter[218]: Telling CSI to exit low power.

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

[...]

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::systemWakeCall - messageType = 0xE0000340

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::wakeEventHandlerThread

Jun 3 10:09:33 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:35 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:35 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:35 Nyx airportd[56]: __setPowerWithRetry: Retry setting power to OFF, err = -3903 (Operation not supported). Remaining:3.

Jun 3 10:09:35 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:36 Nyx airportd[56]: __setPowerWithRetry: Retry setting power to OFF, err = -3903 (Operation not supported). Remaining:2.

Jun 3 10:09:36 Nyx airportd[56]: __setPowerWithRetry: Retry setting power to OFF, err = -3903 (Operation not supported). Remaining:1.

Jun 3 10:09:36 Nyx airportd[56]: airportdProcessDLILEvent: <en0> FAILED to set power OFF, err = -3903 (Operation not supported)

Jun 3 10:09:37 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 0, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:37 Nyx kernel[0]: [HID] [ATC] [Error] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::getCriticalError Could not get critical error (reportID = 0xe0, Return Value = 0xe00002ed)

Jun 3 10:09:37 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:38 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleCamIn::handleWakeEvent_gated

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: [HID] [ATC] [Error] AppleMultitouchInputHIDEventDriver::unleashDeviceGated Failed to get device leash state. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146866.447003: ChangeVCO => vco:960, xtalF:40, frac: 98, ndivMode: 3, ndivint: 24

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146866.447017: Data written into the PLL_CNTRL_ADDR2: 00000c31

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146866.447064: Data written into the PLL_CNTRL_ADDR3 (Fractional): 0000100e

Jun 3 10:09:39 Nyx kernel[0]: ARPT: 146866.461460: AirPort_Brcm43xx::syncPowerState: WWEN[disabled]

Jun 3 10:09:41 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 0, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:41 Nyx kernel[0]: [HID] [ATC] [Error] AppleDeviceManagementHIDEventService::getWakeReason Could not get wake reason (reportID = 0xc5, Return Value = 0xe00002ed)

Jun 3 10:09:41 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:43 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:43 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:43 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:45 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:45 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:45 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:47 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:47 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:47 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Jun 3 10:09:49 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleHSSPIController::_enqueueSPICommandGated SPICommand timed out. Interface 3, transactionType 64, frameNumber 0

Jun 3 10:09:49 Nyx kernel[0]: AppleActuatorDevice::_setHostClickControl() Failed to set host click control. Error = 0xe00002ed

Jun 3 10:09:49 Nyx kernel[0]: Error: AppleHSSPIController::doSPITransfer ERR received from device

Reply
User profile for user: dasyatis
dasyatis Author
User level: Level 1
19 points

Jun 19, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Mike Dent

Hello,


Sorry for the very late reply.


The top case was changed in late March 2016. The issue started again in late May 2016 and I take care of my laptop as if it were a baby. Still no progress on my side. Internal keyboard and trackpad have been completely non-functional for more than 2 weeks now. I have to carry an external keyboard and trackpad -- hey, more money for Apple I guess, is that a new business plan?


Judging from the number of similar posts, I can only assume there is a serious flaw in a whole batch of machine.


I'm sorry if I sound bitter and angry. Oh wait, that's probably because I am!


Regards,


B

Reply
User profile for user: leroydouglas
leroydouglas
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
183,582 points

Jun 19, 2016 1:42 PM in response to dasyatis

I am getting completely desperate: the top-case was changed less than 3 months ago so I'm not even sure if this is an hardware problem.

You should still be under warranty, take it in.


In or out of warranty you can get a free over the counter 'Apple Service Diagnostics' test


Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/


on-line https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

Reply

MPB 13 early 2015: keyboard, trackpad stopped working

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.
Learn more Sign up