Fix Your MBP Keyboard Issues!

[blaklaybul]

• Shut down your computer.
• Unplug the power supply and take out the battery.
• Hold the power button for 5 seconds.
• Replace the battery and hold down Command+Option+R
• Hit the power button while holding these keys and the second after you hit it hold down P as well.
• Keep these 4 buttons held until your hear the startup chime for the second time

Your keyboard will be back to normal!

 

[Josheua]

Could you please provide your source fo this fix? What exactly do these actions do?

-Josh

 

[blaklaybul]

Source: Apple representative on the phone.

Doing this resets the parameter random access memory (PRAM) and nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM).

 

[lavrishevo]

Thanks, just zapped my PRAM. I hope this works, my keyboard has been pretty good for the last few weeks but I hope this takes care of it forever...

 

[blaklaybul]

does anybody have this issue? I thought it was common among notebooks that were upgraded to 10.5

 

[DeaconGraves]

Yes its a very common issue. I took my mbp to the Apple Store the other day (for other technical reasons) and asked the genius about it. He honestly and frankly told me that its an issue with MBP and Leopard and that a fix "is on its way".

Until then he also suggested that putting the computer to sleep and waking it back up would (temporarily) fix the problem. So far its worked ok for me.

 

[bbplayer5]

My MBP is just slow in response time in general. When I go to type an IM, sometimes the first few letters I type dont appear on the screen. Also, when I am entering my screensaver password, same thing...

REALLY annoying...

 

[Salty Pirate]

The PRAM flash is temporary at best.....

 

[kkat69]

Yes its a very common issue. I took my mbp to the Apple Store the other day (for other technical reasons) and asked the genius about it. He honestly and frankly told me that its an issue with MBP and Leopard and that a fix "is on its way".

Until then he also suggested that putting the computer to sleep and waking it back up would (temporarily) fix the problem. So far its worked ok for me.

So he's only admitting MBP and not MB, or any other laptop owner that has this issue?

My wife's MB does the same thing, we're patiently waiting for an update before I let anyone fiddle inside the MB. Will give the PRAM a try but not getting hopes up. I've seen PRAM used as an excuse to fix everything including the iMac graphics issue.

 

[blaklaybul]

PRAM was only temporary...
My keyboard was so bad I just shelled out $$ for an external one

cmon apple!

 

[heatmiser]

I'm sure Apple appreciates y'all debugging their beta OS for free. Pity you paid two grand for the priveledge, though.

 

[DeaconGraves]

So he's only admitting MBP and not MB, or any other laptop owner that has this issue?

My wife's MB does the same thing, we're patiently waiting for an update before I let anyone fiddle inside the MB. Will give the PRAM a try but not getting hopes up. I've seen PRAM used as an excuse to fix everything including the iMac graphics issue.

I believe he said MBP. He didn't specifically say not the MB though. I'd go ahead and give PRAM a shot.

I'm sure Apple appreciates y'all debugging their beta OS for free. Pity you paid two grand for the priveledge, though.

Seriously man. Every time I see you on the board your just trying to stir things up. People here are just trying to share the info they have and help each other out. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

 

[heatmiser]

Seriously man. Every time I see you on the board your just trying to stir things up. People here are just trying to share the info they have and help each other out. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

Nah. I just don't get why people are willing to take this from Apple. It's not right to have to deal with bugs because the people who made the OS weren't willing to put in the time to test it on their hardware. This is the kind of stuff people switched from Vista to get away from. Yet it's almost as if everyone's willing to point the finger at everything but Apple. When's someone going to just flat out stand up to them, and say this isn't right? I'm still trying to figure this out, because it doesn't make sense to me. You buy a new computer that's paired with a new operating system from the same manufacturer as the folks who made your computer, yet the two don't work. You've got to start buying external keyboards and mice and rebooting and praying for patches and taking your gear in for repair, even though you didn't do anything to the computer besides buy it, and expect it to work. How can this be anything other than a half-assed job on Apple's part?

 

[DeaconGraves]

Nah. I just don't get why people are willing to take this from Apple. It's not right to have to deal with bugs because the people who made the OS weren't willing to put in the time to test it on their hardware. This is the kind of stuff people switched from Vista to get away from. Yet it's almost as if everyone's willing to point the finger at everything but Apple. When's someone going to just flat out stand up to them, and say this isn't right? I'm still trying to figure this out, because it doesn't make sense to me. You buy a new computer that's paired with a new operating system from the same manufacturer as the folks who made your computer, yet the two don't work. You've got to start buying external keyboards and mice and rebooting and praying for patches and taking your gear in for repair, even though you didn't do anything to the computer besides buy it, and expect it to work. How can this be anything other than a half-assed job on Apple's part?

Of course it's Apple's fault? Who's saying it isn't?

But name one company that creates a flawless product every time. I've had Dell's break, Xbox's break, Creative MP3 players break, the works.

Technology breaks.

What good would it have done if when I took my MBP in and was given the "Apple's working on it" response, to stage a sit in until the problem was fixed or they gave me free stuff? Probably would have gotten tossed out of the store, but that's it.

But that's the way technology works. Granted, the keyboard issue is annoying, perhaps even significant, but not enough for me to throw my computer away (which I purchased before Leopard was even released).

If you're wanting action, why don't you take it, rather than trolling on a message board.

 

[heatmiser]

Of course it's Apple's fault? Who's saying it isn't?

Lots of people. Whenever this stuff happens, the knee-jerk reaction is to blame the user, never the manufacturer. Either that, or suggest buying "accessories" from the manufacturer, instead of demanding the damn things to work out of the box. I still don't get why, especially when this can't be anything other than a flaw straight from the people who made the computer. Do computers have flaws? Sure. But when computers have *this many* issues, and none of them seem to be going away, it's hard to explain that away by saying "nothing is perfect".

 

[vanc]

Of course it's Apple's fault? Who's saying it isn't?

But name one company that creates a flawless product every time. I've had Dell's break, Xbox's break, Creative MP3 players break, the works.

Technology breaks.

What good would it have done if when I took my MBP in and was given the "Apple's working on it" response, to stage a sit in until the problem was fixed or they gave me free stuff? Probably would have gotten tossed out of the store, but that's it.

But that's the way technology works. Granted, the keyboard issue is annoying, perhaps even significant, but not enough for me to throw my computer away (which I purchased before Leopard was even released).

If you're wanting action, why don't you take it, rather than trolling on a message board.

Keyboard freezing is not a thing they should break. It's a show stopper. For their quality assurance people, they should not approve the release at all.

 

[dvkid]

I totally agree that this was a mistake on Apple's part to let out an OS with this in it. Let alone to let it pass into the x.x.1 phase without a fix. But...

(and I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to get flamed for this)

...have any of you tried using Vista recently? Microsoft spent a lot more time building Vista and I would say that it has a whole truckload more flaws. And yes, does Vista have to support a lot more variety of hardware than Mac OS X? Of course. But is Leopard so flawed that we should be bitching about it quite this much? I doubt it.

But then again, it does keep you guys busy. So bitch on...

 

[heatmiser]

Yeah, Vista's...not fun. Tried it, didn't like it, went back to XP. But almost all manufacturers have dropped support for XP, driver-wise, which is inevitably pushing people toward Vista. I didn't like that, which was one of my reasons for switching to OS X. Figure here's as good a place as any to ride out the storm (until the glorious return of the king, aka, Windows 7!!!!!).

 

[dvkid]

And then, down from the heavens upon a towering steed of white rode our savior, like a bolt of lightening from above.

And we bowed at the feet of Windows 7.

I dunno man, somehow it just isn't doin' it for me.

 

[Twe Foju]

is the keyboard bugs issue that the 1st character often not showing up are supposed to be still happening after 10.5.1?

because mine does ( though verryy verry rarely, but still happening once in a while )

anyone still got the problems after 10.5.1?

i thought the 10.5.1 update fixed it?

 

[bimmerchop]

is the keyboard bugs issue that the 1st character often not showing up are supposed to be still happening after 10.5.1?

because mine does ( though verryy verry rarely, but still happening once in a while )

anyone still got the problems after 10.5.1?

i thought the 10.5.1 update fixed it?

Yup, I still have that problem

 

[bonecandy]

Well, I'm pretty sure the problem is hardware related. Usually I've been able to resolve the freezes through a reboot, but there have been times when even that would not fix it. I've even had the keyboard freeze up in Windows XP! Usually happens at the WORST times, like during Team Fortress 2.
The ONLY reliable method I've had is if I apply pressure (or in some cases, actually give it a firm pound) directly above or around the trackpad. And if you take out the battery you'll find this area is exactly where the keyboard connector is located. I bet the recent software update that supposedly fixes this problem is just a half-assed guess at what's actually happening, desperately hoping it's a software issue.
I've also checked out USB Prober (in the Developer Tools), and I've actually seen that when the keyboard goes dead, USB Prober labels it as 'Suspended.' Whether that points to software or hardware, I don't know. Other USB devices like the iSight are labeled 'Suspended' as well, except when it's activated. However, the Bluetooth label says, 'Bluetooth USB Host Controller (did not respond to inquiry - 0xe00002c5, might be Suspended)' Anyone have any input on all this stuff?
I'm going to take mine in to the Apple store and see what they say. Has anyone who have been experiencing these freezes exchanged their MB/MBP for a new one?

Edit -> Well, this almost confirms it. The kb froze again, so while holding down the numlock key to see when the kb would turn on again, I pushed down firmly directly above the trackpad. The numlock LED came on, and when I let up the pressure, it turned off again. Next time any of you have this happen, try that.