keyboard issues on macbook pro

Question

Inexplicably my early 2011 MBPr is starting to experience issues with the organic keyboard.The s, a, z, w, q  keys on the left side and k, i, o, p, l, m keys on the right side all routinely stop working since I&#x27;ve upgraded to OS Sierra.I&#x27;ve attempted every searchable fix, including SMC reset, and cannot get the keys to work properly. Sometimes they come back on after I tap on them individually for 30-60 seconds and sometimes they don&#x27;t.Now I&#x27;m forced to borrow a coworkers external bluetooth keyboard in order to even enter my password. Quite a problem and it needs to be fixed ASAP.Does anyone have a solution short of downgrading back to the last OS?

Luis Sequeira1 · Answer

Restart in Safe Mode.Do the keys work there? (I am strongly suspecting they do)Now restart normally again. There is a chance this has fixed it.If not, run Etrecheck and post its report here.You may also add a different keyboard layout in System Preferences-&gt;Keyboard-&gt;Input Sources and test to see if the problem is specific to your own layout (it does not look like it, considering the problem does not seem to occur with an external keyboard).Edit: do you have any Wacom tablet? Make sure the driver is fully updated.

Matador275 · Answer

I do not have a Wacom tablet and restarting in Safe mode did not fix the issue.Here is the Etrecheck report:EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)Report generated 2016-10-19 08:32:16Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.comRuntime 3:37Performance: GoodClick the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.Problem: Other problemDescription:Organic MBPr Keyboard not working properly after OS Sierra updateHardware Information: ⓘ    MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013)     [Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty &amp; Service]    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro10,2    1 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core    8 GB RAM Not upgradeable        BANK 0/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok        BANK 1/DIMM0            4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok    Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported    Wireless:  en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n    Battery: Health &#x3D; Normal - Cycle count &#x3D; 1032Video Information: ⓘ    Intel HD Graphics 4000        Color LCD 2560 x 1600System Software: ⓘ    macOS Sierra  10.12 (16A323) - Time since boot: less than an hourDisk Information: ⓘ    APPLE SSD SM256E disk0 : (251 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)        EFI (disk0s1) &lt;not mounted&gt; : 210 MB         Recovery HD (disk0s3) &lt;not mounted&gt;  [Recovery]: 650 MB         Macintosh HD (disk1) /  [Startup]: 249.80 GB (75.69 GB free)            Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked            Core Storage: disk0s2 250.14 GB OnlineUSB Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)     Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad     Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub         Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller     Logitech USB Receiver Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_busGatekeeper: ⓘ    Mac App Store and identified developersKernel Extensions: ⓘ        /Applications/Tunnelblick.app    [not loaded]    net.tunnelblick.tap (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4582) - 2016-08-30) [Support]    [not loaded]    net.tunnelblick.tun (20141104 (Tunnelblick build 4582) - 2016-08-30) [Support]        /Applications/eqMac.app    [loaded]    com.bitgapp.eqMacDriver (1.5.2 - SDK 10.10 - 2015-09-02) [Support]        /Applications/iSkysoft iTube Studio.app    [not loaded]    com.Perfect.Driver.SystemAudioRecorder (1.1.0 - SDK 10.6 - 2016-10-13) [Support]        /Library/Extensions    [loaded]    com.avira.kext.FileAccessControl (1.2.2 - SDK 10.9 - 2016-10-04) [Support]        /System/Library/Extensions    [not loaded]    com.aliph.driver.jstub (1.1.2 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-10-06) [Support]Startup Items: ⓘ    ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b    Startup items no longer function in OS X Yosemite or laterSystem Launch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    7 Apple tasks    [loaded]    166 Apple tasks    [running]    98 Apple tasksSystem Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [not loaded]    39 Apple tasks    [loaded]    157 Apple tasks    [running]    107 Apple tasksLaunch Agents: ⓘ    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-05-07) [Support]    [failed]    com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2016-10-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.general.agent.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.gjallarhorn.plist (2016-10-04) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.notifications.agent.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.odscan.default.plist (2016-10-17) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.scheduler.agent.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [running]    com.avira.antivirus.systray.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.telemetry.agent.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.avira.antivirus.update.default.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [running]    com.avira.helper.avstats.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-07-12) [Support]    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (2013-08-14) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer.plist (2016-08-22) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer_desktop.plist (2016-08-22) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.Libmacgpg.xpc.plist (2016-06-28) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.enable-bundles.plist (2015-03-08) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid-user.plist (2015-03-08) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.macgpg2.fix.plist (2015-03-08) [Support]    [running]    org.gpgtools.macgpg2.shutdown-gpg-agent.plist (2015-03-08) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.updater.plist (2016-08-08) [Support]Launch Daemons: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2016-10-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2016-10-11) [Support]    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-05-09) [Support]    [failed]    com.avira.antivirus.dbcleaner.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [running]    com.avira.helper.watchdox.plist (2016-01-21) [Support]    [loaded]    com.github.IngmarStein.Monolingual.Helper.plist (2015-11-03) [Support]    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (2016-09-03) [Support]    [loaded]    com.malwarebytes.HelperTool.plist (2016-06-23) [Support]    [loaded]    com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist (2016-08-03) [Support]    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2012-04-02) [Support]    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-12-06) [Support]    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (2013-08-14) [Support]    [loaded]    com.teamviewer.Helper.plist (2016-08-22) [Support]    [not loaded]    com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist (2016-08-22) [Support]    [loaded]    net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist (2016-08-31) [Support]    [loaded]    org.gpgtools.gpgmail.patch-uuid.plist (2015-03-08) [Support]    [loaded]    org.wireshark.ChmodBPF.plist (2015-01-12) [Support]User Launch Agents: ⓘ    [loaded]    com.bittorrent.uTorrent.plist (2015-05-07)    [loaded]    com.citrixonline.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate.plist (2016-08-15) [Support]    [running]    com.lastpass.LastPassHelper.plist (2016-01-05) [Support]    [running]    com.spotify.webhelper.plist (2016-10-16) [Support]    [loaded]    net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin.plist (2016-08-25) [Support]User Login Items: ⓘ    iTunesHelper    Application  (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)    Mail    Application  (/Applications/Mail.app)    Sync    Application  (/Applications/Sync.app)    Dropbox    Application  (/Applications/Dropbox.app)    iSkysoft Helper Compact    Application  (~/Library/Application Support/Helper/iSkysoft Helper Compact.app)    Degoo    Application Hidden (/Applications/Degoo/Degoo.app)    Google Chrome    Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ    FlashPlayer-10.6: 21.0.0.242 - SDK 10.6 (2016-05-16) [Support]    QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-13)    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.017.20050 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-15) [Support]    AdobePDFViewer: 15.017.20050 - SDK 10.11 (2016-07-15) [Support]    Flash Player: 21.0.0.242 - SDK 10.6 (2016-05-16) Outdated! Update    SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 (2015-11-03) [Support]    Google Earth Web Plug-in: 7.1 (2016-10-17) [Support]    nplastpass: 3.1.89 - SDK 10.10 (2015-11-03) [Support]    Silverlight: 5.1.40416.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-11-03) [Support]    JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 91 build 14 (2016-04-27) Check versionUser internet Plug-ins: ⓘ    CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: 1.0.105 (2013-04-25) [Support]    VSeeHelper: Unknown    WebEx64: 1.0 - SDK 10.6 (2015-11-06) [Support]Safari Extensions: ⓘ    AdBlock - BetaFish, Inc. - https://getadblock.com (2016-05-21)    Grammarly Spell Checker &amp; Grammar Checker - Grammarly (2016-02-15)    iTube Studio - iSkysoft Studio - http://www.iskysoft.com (2016-06-27)    Clean Links for Google - Dennis Umetzu - http://www.umetzu.com (2016-04-19)    LastPass - LastPass - https://lastpass.com (2016-08-25)    Ghostery - GHOSTERY, Inc. - https://www.ghostery.com/ (2016-03-13)3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ    Flash Player (2016-05-09) [Support]    GPGPreferences (2016-10-13) [Support]    Java (2016-04-27) [Support]Time Machine: ⓘ    Skip System Files: NO    Auto backup: YES    Volumes being backed up:        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.80 GB Disk used: 174.12 GB    Destinations:        Backup HD [Local]         Total size: 999.86 GB         Total number of backups: 23         Oldest backup: 9/1/15, 1:21 PM         Last backup: 10/1/16, 1:44 PM         Size of backup disk: Excellent            Backup size 999.86 GB &gt; (Disk size 249.80 GB X 3)Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ        52%    savapi        21%    corecaptured        18%    bird         7%    kernel_task         4%    WindowServerTop Processes by Memory: ⓘ    868 MB    Google Chrome Helper(8)    810 MB    kernel_task    475 MB    savapi    279 MB    avguard.bin    221 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(3)Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ    405 MB    Free RAM     7.60 GB    Used RAM (2.19 GB Cached)    0 B    Swap Used Diagnostics Information: ⓘ    Oct 19, 2016, 08:27:08 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/suggestd_2016-10-19-082708_[redacted].cpu_resou rce.diag [Details]        suggestd    Oct 19, 2016, 08:23:25 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-082325_[redacted].crash        /Applications/Avira.app/Contents/MacOS/avlogwriter    Oct 19, 2016, 08:23:23 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-082323_[redacted].crash    Oct 19, 2016, 08:23:06 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-082306_[redacted].crash    Oct 19, 2016, 08:22:26 AM    Self test - passed    Oct 19, 2016, 07:18:25 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-071825_[redacted].crash    Oct 19, 2016, 07:01:07 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-070107_[redacted].crash    Oct 19, 2016, 07:01:03 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-070103_[redacted].crash    Oct 19, 2016, 07:00:48 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-19-070048_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 09:16:33 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-211633_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 09:16:22 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-211622_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 09:16:12 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-211612_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 09:16:02 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-211602_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 08:46:00 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-204600_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 08:45:41 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-204541_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 08:45:29 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-204529_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 08:45:18 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-204518_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 03:42:31 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-154231_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 03:42:17 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-154217_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 03:42:07 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/avlogwriter_2016-10-18-154207_[redacted].crash    Oct 18, 2016, 02:13:10 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.Databases_2016-10-18-141310_[r edacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]        /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.We bKit.Databases.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.Databases    Oct 18, 2016, 01:14:43 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iPhoto_2016-10-18-131443_[redacted].cpu_resourc e.diag [Details]        /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto    Oct 18, 2016, 12:34:15 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.Databases_2016-10-18-123415_[r edacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]    Oct 18, 2016, 07:15:35 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.Databases_2016-10-18-071535_[r edacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]    Oct 17, 2016, 09:06:24 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/FaceTime_2016-10-17-210624_[redacted].hang        /Applications/FaceTime.app/Contents/MacOS/FaceTime    Oct 17, 2016, 12:36:56 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.Databases_2016-10-17-123656_[r edacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]    Oct 17, 2016, 07:57:13 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/com.apple.WebKit.Databases_2016-10-17-075713_[r edacted].cpu_resource.diag [Details]

Matador275 · Answer

Ok, the latest update didn&#x27;t fix the issue either.Any more ideas? I&#x27;m now relegated to using a Microsoft USB keyboard, which is the ultimate irony.

Luis Sequeira1 · Answer

There is the possibility of a hardware problem.You never said if the keys work in Safe Mode or not. If they do, but then in normal mode they do not, it is a software problem. If they fail even while in Safe Mode, then it is almost certainly a hardware problem.You have an antivirus installed. You should uninstall it. You can also try resetting the SMC and NVRAM:Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple ...How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Matador275 · Answer

Luis,As per your guidance I removed the AV software, then did the SMC and NVRAM reset, as well as restarting in Safe Mode.The aforementioned keys did not work in Safe Mode, nor at any time after.Searching through the internet it appears that I&#x27;m not the only one affected by this issue. Other reports regarding Sierra upgrades disabling keys are out there.How can I determine if it is a hardware issue?

Luis Sequeira1 · Answer

If the keys do not work even in safe mode, and an external keyboard works all the time, I strongly suspect it is a hardware issue. You can try to further test this: - Create a new user account, and see if the keys work there- Start in Recovery mode, open Terminal and see if the keys work there- Install another operating system (e.g. El Capitan *) in an external drive, boot from it and see if the keys work. If the keys work in recovery and/or El Capitan, but not while using Sierra, you can rule out a hardware problem, but as I wrote above I think that is unlikely.*) You can still download El Capitan (and other versions of OS X you had previously on your mac) from the Purchases section of the App Store.