Unresponsive Trackpad and Keyboard while using BitLocker Encryption on Win10 BootCamp Partition - 12 Second Delay

Question

Level 1

8 points

Unresponsive Trackpad and Keyboard while using BitLocker Encryption on Win10 BootCamp Partition - 12 Second Delay

Goal:

Encryption of Windows 10 Enterprise Bootcamp Partition on Early 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina (Running Sierra) - Wiping macOS from HD (so that Windows is the only OS) would be ok - but didn't seem to resolve the issue.

Problem:

BitLocker Encryption is successful (after disabling TPM Requirement in Group Policy) but leads to rough user experience.

Primary Symptoms:

Built-in Trackpad and Keyboard become virtually unusable on light blue BitLocker Password/Decryption Screen. There is a 12 second window of time where it is unresponsive followed by a ~1 second window where I'm able to enter characters into the password field, this is then followed by another 12 second window... and so the story goes.

Other Symptoms:

If I have a USB Drive with an LED plugged in it starts flashing during the 1 second window.
If I hold option to try to boot from a different partition or external drive it takes a very long time for them to appear and when the screen finally comes up the same 12 second delay occurs

Video of Symptoms:

https://youtu.be/2lRclze_YEw

Any ideas what might be going on here?

Thinking it could have to do with the MBR (Master Boot Record)

Thanks! (Additional Details below)

Things I have tried, but that did not work:

Using a USB Key - Improved user experience as Keyboard input isn't required, but slow startup persists - best option so far
Having File Vault both Enabled and Disabled
Enabling File Vault Before and After Enabling BitLocker
Using the new and legacy Windows BitLocker encryption methods.
Plugging in a USB Keyboard and Mouse - Seems to resolve the unresponsiveness, but isn't a reasonable solution when on the road.
Wiping macOS and installing Windows only.

Other notes:

After removing the BitLocker Encryption - part of the issue persists - keyboard and mouse are responsive but startup is slower - perhaps by 12 seconds
I have had the delayed (by 12 seconds) Keyboard and Mouse issue on the Mac side when BitLocker was enabled and booted into macOS
Issue exists on both El Cap and Sierra

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12.1), Early 2015

Posted on Nov 30, 2016 10:50 AM

Reply

Answer 1

tdb88

Level 1

18 points

Jan 19, 2017 12:07 PM in response to funk0ff

Hi All,

funk0ff - you are correct this is not 100% Windows related.

I completely wiped the hard drive did a SMC & NVRAM/PRAM reset and installed a fresh copy of macOS on the computer. This resulted in a longer than normal boot time and then when I encrypted the disk using FileVault the 12 second delay surfaced. To try verify that it wasn't hard drive related - I put another computer in target mode and used the troubled computer to boot from that computer's hard drive, I still had the issue.

I've been working with Apple on this issue, as it affects multiple laptops at my company, and they seem to have isolated to the issue to the trackpad flex cable, as soon as they replaced this part things seems to resolve themselves. So after all this it seems as though its a hardware issue

Hopefully this helps!

Please report back if it does.

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Answer 2

Oct 13, 2017 12:56 PM in response to tdb88

We've been having this problem as well. Have you had long-term success with replacing this flex cable on all of your early 2015 13" MBPs? Do you have one of the repair orders handy that details exactly what part(s) were replaced?

We had given up and our strategy was to send the computers to Apple where they would generally replace the logic board and then we'd not issue the computer back to a Windows user thus avoiding the problem but we still have a fair number of users who experience this and it's not fun that we can't deploy these computers to new Windows users.

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Answer 3

tdb88

Level 1

18 points

Dec 19, 2017 12:19 AM in response to QueenBee83

Apologies for the delayed reply - the main fix I've been able to figure out was using a USB Key to decrypt the Bitlocker partition. It takes a little longer sometimes to start up, but it was the only way to get things encrypted that I could figure out. The other option is to use a non-force touch MBP (not sure about the newer MBP w/ Touch Bar if they have this issue).

Also linking to my youtube video of the issue here:

IMG 0007 - YouTube

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:34 PM in response to tdb28

Do you see the same behavior when using an external USB Keyboard/Mouse?

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Answer 5

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:34 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks for the reply.

When I insert a USB Keyboard/Mouse both are responsive, but the built-in keyboard and trackpad remain unresponsive (until it has booted into Windows at which point they begin to work normally)

So it is an effective work around when I'm at work/home, but isn't ideal when I'm on the road...

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:36 PM in response to tdb28

Your BT Windows drivers are not being loaded properly. Have you tried a SMC Reset?

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Answer 7

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:45 PM in response to Loner T

BT meaning Bluetooth?

I have had issues with the Bluetooth drivers in the past (on an unencrypted MacBook Pro - Early 2015 only - early models seem to be ok) and it was difficult to pin down.

I have tried both a SMC and NVRAM reset many times, and they didn't really help. They may have helped temporarily, but the problem has always returned. I'll try it one more time and report back.

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Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:48 PM in response to tdb28

BT is Bluetooth. I have also seen issue in noisy RF environment. Is that the case? Even on W7, on a Mini, I have seen an initial lag when the OS is switched from OSX to Windows. The switch back to OSX is not an issue.

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Answer 9

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 1:56 PM in response to Loner T

The delay does persist after the SMC reset. Our office is definitely a noisy RF environment, lots of mobile devices, and wireless logitech keyboards, but this has happened to users at home as well which I suspect aren't particularly noisy RF environments. On the Mini was this after enabling BitLocker? From what I can see this only seems to happen after enabling BitLocker.

Do you think after I'm able to login to Windows would installing a different BT driver on the Windows side be the way to go? Would this driver load in the pre-boot environment?

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 2:22 PM in response to tdb28

As a test, you can build a USB Installer using Windows Media Creation tool, add the Bootcamp drivers after downloading them from BC Assistant -> Action -> Download... and copying them to the root of the Windows Installer USB and then booting from it. This will bypass BitLocker and load the drivers from the $WinPEDriver$ directory. You do not need re-install Windows. A generic BT driver may not behave much differently.

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Answer 11

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 2:15 PM in response to Loner T

Sounds reasonable. I will give this a try and report back. Thanks so much for your help on this.

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Answer 12

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 4:51 PM in response to tdb28

Unfortunately this didn't seem to work. I'm still experiencing a long delay when trying to Boot to the USB Drive by holding C (also tried holding option).

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Answer 13

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 5:13 PM in response to tdb28

Is the USB a USB3 or USB2, a HDD or a Flash Drive?

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Answer 14

tdb28 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 30, 2016 5:19 PM in response to Loner T

USB 3 Flash Drive - I'll try a USB 2

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Answer 15

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 30, 2016 6:01 PM in response to tdb28

Please do not try a USB2. It will be even slower. Can you try a USB3 HDD? You can just copy the contents of the USB3 flash drive to a partition on an external USB3 HDD and test booting.

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