Keyboard/trackpad problems - are Macbook top cases too fragile?

I'm starting to wonder if the top case with keyboard/trackpad is the Achilles heel of the black and white Macbooks 2007-08. I'm having problems with 3 different Macbooks.
On one, a 2.1Ghz from 2008, no internal keyboard/trackpad is recognized by the Macbook. Its original kb/tp just stopped working one day. I removed the top case and checked the connections, as well as any dust or bent pins in the socket on the logic board, but all seemed ok. Reassembled, but kb/tp still not working. I then replaced the top case with another one that I knew was working, but still no go.
Any ideas? The MB boots fine (even with the original top case installed) and works great with external kb/mouse.
On a second, a 2.16Ghz from 2007, the kb/tp suddenly stopped working one day. I'd opened the MB a couple of times just before, but I'm pretty careful and don't think I broke the cable or anything else. All the pins and the cable seem fine, as does the socket on the logic board. Here too, an external mouse/kb work perfectly.
I tried another working top case and this time it seemed to work okay. But after a day or two, it stopped working too. I then reassembled it, thinking there might be something pushing up on the keyboard, or maybe some screws loose. And once again it seemed to work.
I also noticed something odd: a couple of times at first, when I'd just reassembled the top case, the kb/tp weren't recognized. But then when the MB woke from Sleep, I heard the hard drive and DVD spin up, and suddenly the kb/tp were working again.
Anyway, after a couple of days the kb/tp stopped working again.
Question: how can the kb/tp work for a couple days, then suddenly stop working? If it were broken, wouldn't it always not work?
The 3rd Macbook is a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo from early 2007. Its kb/tp stopped working too (unrecognized by system, etc.). I swapped the kb/tp from the 2008 2.1Ghz onto it and this seems to have fixed the problem. It's been a few weeks now and I haven't had any trouble with it.
Question: would swapping in the top cases from different models create any problems? I see that they sometimes aren't perfect fits in terms of looks, but the screws are in the same place and everything installs pretty solidly. IIRC you have to be careful re. mixing top cases with an orange trackpad cable and a silver one, but in my case all of them had silver cables.
This is really getting to be a problem. I've got the 2 fast well-upgraded Core 2 Duo Macbooks sitting here, working perfectly apart from the kb/tp.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Sorry, just wanted to add in concluding that there seem to be 2 different problems.
1) with the 2.1Ghz from 2008, no working top case seems to work, so it doesn't seem to be a top case problem, but rather a problem with the connection to the logic board or somewhere else.
2) with the 2.16 from 2007, here it does seem to be a problem with the top case.
Unfortunately I don't have what I know to be a good, working top case to try on the 2.16. I think with all the assembling/disassembling, the semi-decent kb/tp I had may now have problems too.

Similar Messages

Trackpad problem on macbook pro

I have been having trackpad problems on my macbook pro (bought in 2010) for the past couple of days. Not only does it move erratically by itself, but the left click does not respond as it should. Whenever I use the left click, it works as a right click, and I have made no changes in the trackpad options. I have done a battery check through the shift and battery click option, and the response for battery came normal. I have also done a PRAM/NVRAM reset, but the problem still persists. Do I need to replace my battery? Please leave any suggestions. Thanks

I would take it in for diagnosis. It would be a guess to suggest a specific problem.
Barry

Could these (MacBook Pro) keyboard/trackpad problems be Leopard related?

My (MacBook Pro's) keyboard and trackpad stop working every couple of minutes. And then suddenly comes back. The capslock key and it's LED is also not responding anymore when it happens.
Could this be a software thing? I'm about to send this MacBook Pro back and get a replacement, but that would be kind of pointless if this is a software problem caused by Leopard.
Anyone in the same situation?
S.

I have a MacBook Pro running 10.4.11, and mine started out having the exact same problems:
First, the keyboard took 2-3 minutes to be recognized after waking from sleep. Then, a few days later, the keyboard and trackpad would quit unexpectedly during use, took a few minutes to start working again. Then it went off a cliff from there. For the past 5 days, my keyboard and trackpad are not working whatsoever, I've tried all of the suggestions I can find online, nothing works. From the moment I startup, to the moment I shut down (thankfully I have a wireless Mighty Mouse) neither of them are recognized. I've had it on for 8 hours straight and it still didn't recognize the keyboard or trackpad. They don't show up in the system profiler under the USB section, and on top of that the on screen keyboard only types in lowercase, nothing happens when I hit the shift or Caps Lock key on the on screen keyboard.
I called Apple 4 days ago, they said that this is a priority issue and hope to have a fix out within a couple of weeks...yes...a couple of weeks, they said that they had the fix, and were just waiting on patents to go through (you have to be kidding me right?). Their temporary "fix" is to buy an external keyboard and mouse.
This is not by any means a Leopard only issue, and you can trace posts about this online all the way back to October 1, 2007, well before Leopard was released to the public.
The crazy thing is, if you look at this and don't assume it was caused by Apple, this bug behaves exactly like a virus, and a very well written one at that.
Message was edited by: adapaw

Trackpad Problem on MacBook Pro 2011 with bootcamp windows 7

I am running Windows 7 in bootcamp on my 13 inch MBP 2011.
I am really pleased how smooth the installation went and everything so far works as it was on my old windows mashine.
Just the trackpad is not running very smooth.
I reduced the scrolling down speed so the scrolling with two fingers is quiet alright now. But I have a problem with this touch to click function. Very often when I write I touch the trackpad with the palm of one hand and this results in actions like my text is continued in another line or suddenly whole paragraphs are highlighted or any other odd behaviour.
I thought to take the touch to click function off but I can't even find the setting in the windows control panel.
There are only the pure standard driver settings available in the control.
Can anybody tell me if there is a solution? Actuallly I like this touch to click, it's working very well when I use the trackpad. I know in other machines you can set a function that it's regonized if you put your finger on a trackpad or it's your palm whilst your writing, or the trackpad disables itself when the keyboard is used.
Is there maybe a better driver for the new MacBook trackpad under windows seven...or do I even have maybe a wrong driver onboard?
Thanks for the help!
Greetings from Melbourne
Message was edited by: Kattinka07
Message was edited by: Kattinka07

Hi psheraton,
I have found now some setting so that I can first at all live with it. Nevertheless i would be very thankful when Apple would work the touchpaddriver over so that it works smoother. Its such an nice device and the big touchpad is great but its realy working very poor under bootcamp.
Maybe you try my settings:
First at all start bootcamp from windows system, and go to the trackpadsettings. Take out the touch for klick. You can forget working with this as when you write it just hops wherever it wants.. as I wrote before, youre suddenly write on in a completly different paragraph...that impossible to use with this settings.
Its a shame as acutally using this touch to click in other applications than writing is very smooth and good.
Other notebooks having an automaticle regonizion function which notices when your accidently put your wrist or palm on the touchpad whilst using the keyboard. Thats certanly what is needed here es well, especially because of the huge touchpad.
Next you have to go to the windows mouse driver which is not in bootcamp but in the standard Windows system settings and adjust the scroll speed down to 1 on each of the two functions there.
This then takes the overdose of speed away when you use two fingers on the touchpad to scroll.
Having it set to more than 1 is not usable either.
These are the setting how I have build myself a workaround for the moment.
But as I said...please please Apple work at this touchpaddriver together with Microsoft to get more out of this wonderful trackpad.
Hope this helps you liking your device a bit more....only Apple could help us further now...

Keyboard/Trackpad issues with MacBook Air (Late 2010)

My wife used one of those clorox wipes on her MacBook Air and now she is having issues with the keyboard and trackpad. The option, command and shift keys do not work correctly and the trackpad thinks every click is a two finger "command click" (even though I turned off right clicking in the system preferences).
Normally I would try a PRAM or SMC reset to fix it, but the buttons needed to start one (cmd + opt) aren't working.
I plugged in an external USB keyboard and all the buttons work correctly.
Any advice on how to get these issues resolved? Is it a hardware issue that needs to be addressed by a Genius? Is it possible a clean install of OS X could fix the issue?
The computer hasn't had any issues before this and there doesn't appear to be any battery swelling issues

I made a Genius bar appointment for tomorrow. When I got home last night I took a look at it again (I have a hard time leaving broken things alone...) and for whatever reason, the keyboard started working perfectly again. I managed to boot into safe mode via terminal but the issue persisted. When I booted back into standard mode, the keyboard was working great. This morning when I woke up, it was not working agian, but after rebooting it, it has been working correctly for the last hour.
At one point, I booted into Recovery and looked at the system.log. One error that caught my eye was:
Keyboard Layouts: duplicate keyboard layout identifier -16900.
Mar 7 05:54:10 localhost Unknown[355]: Keyboard Layouts: keyboard layout identifier -16900 has been replaced with -28674.
Any idea what this is, or if it could be causing eratic behavior?
The other odd thing is I cannot boot into any disgnostic modes using shortcut keys before booting. I'd like to reset PRAM, run AHT but none of those commands are working.
I still have my appointment tomorrow, but I'm thinking it is not a hardware issue (with the keyboard at least) since it does work correctly some of the time.

Are Macbook Pro cases worth it?

I was wondering if it was worth buying a case for my macbook pro? If so what kind of case have you all had good experiences with?

See here that the case does not prohibit the charging ability:
Here is a shot from the bottom:
Sorry I couldn't find the exact model number, but images were obtained from here:
http://goincase.com/products/detail/hardshell-case-cl57646/4

Problem with macbook pro keyboard - MID 2011

Hi all, I have problems with my macbook pro keyboard.
I have several keyboard letter that bother me, the letters are e,y,d,h,c & n
When I hit letter 'e', it will come out as 'ey'..
When I hit letter 'y', it will come out as 'ey'..
When I hit letter 'd', it will come out as 'dh'..
When I hit letter 'h', it will come out as 'dh'..
When I hit letter 'c', it will come out as 'cn'..
When I hit letter 'n', it will come out as 'cn'..
please help me out..?

If it turns out to be a hardware problem with the keyboard and the repair is done through Apple, be prepared for a sticker-shock price to fix it. The problem is that Apple considers the keyboard as an integral part of the top-half of the aluminun enclosure (it's called the top case & is CNC milled and quite complex)...to Apple, it is considered one-piece and one part number (top case). The keyboard is held onto the top case with many (~60) very tiny screws and this entire top case is the part that will be replaced. They will NOT replace only the keyboard.
I had the power button quit on my Late 2011 MacBook Pro 13". To fix it through Apple would've cost well over $500. The power button is part of the keyboard assembly (it's not removable from the keyboard and uses the same flex cable assembly) so the keyboard itself needs to be changed. I found the exact replacement keyboard on eBay for ~$30 and changed it myself. There is absolutely nothing trivial about replacing it. It was a huge pain in the butt, especially swapping the keyboard on the top case with all of those teenie-tiny screws. It took me the better part of a day to do it but I've had experience with this type of work for at least 20 years now. If I need to do it again for some reason, it will likely be quicker.
Just beware that a repair could cost some big bucks, even if it's only "just the keyboard".

Keyboard backlight problem...

So last week I accidentally spilled some milk on the keyboard/trackpad of my Macbook Pro, that is fairly new. They both are working fine now. The keys were a bit sticky at first, but now they seem to be okay (although I can still see some of the sticky milk in between the keys). The only thing is that only the center keys backlight works well, then the rest are very, very dim. How do I go about fixing this?

New/in-warranty? Take it in for evaluation and see if Apple will fix it. If no warranty, you can risk lifting up the keycaps and cleaning out the mess. How-To and spare keycaps (in case one breaks) can be [found here|http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Keyboards--Keys-p-1-c-440.html].

Battery Problems with MacBook

I've been following the various threads about battery problems with MacBooks.
I too have experienced a problem with my battery on a 2 month old MacBook.
It suddenly refused to charge. It showed a battery icon with a black X through it.
I followed various suggestions that I found through various posts and support pages - eg. resetting PMU etc., even downloading the deep sleep widget which I found difficult to get to work - but nothing solved the problem.
Yesterday I went in to the Apple Store in Birmingham and waited until I could talk with one of the tec experts (incidentally, they were very helpful even though very busy and I didn't have an appointment). The tec guy said he though that the battery was faulty. It didn't work in another MacBook they had. But another battery would work in my MacBook. So, I was given a new battery, which seems to work fine now.
However, I have read in various posts that people have had the same new battery solution which works, but then the problem reappears with the new battery over time. I will wait and see. If that is the case, then I think it will point to the problem not being with the battery, but rather with the system, PMU, OS X, motherboard or whatever. So, I think it makes sense for us to post any difficulties we have so that Apple can see that there might be a problem with the batteries in MacBooks and start working on a solution. Otherwise, it will probably cost them a lost of money providing replacement batteries !
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
Intel iMac 24 inch (size matters...!) & Intel MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hey Christopher...
I posted the same in another thread. I'm not a big fan of duplicate posts... but it seemed appropriate in this case. Take a look at the last paragraph regarding discharging lithium ion batteries. I'm not sure if it would be the electronics in the battery that tell the MacBook it's time to charge, or the MacBook's power management unit...
"Talk about a jinx! I've had my MacBook since shortly after they came out (week 9). Never had any problems. I've calibrated my battery about once a month or so. It seems after my last calibration, I got the dreaded "X" in the battery indicator. My MagSafe indicator was green. System Profiler showed that there was no battery. I reset the PMU and the SMC firmware... also tried reseating the battery (one of those things you're sure won't work... but ya just have that little bit of hope anyway). Alas, nothing would bring my battery back. Took a trip to my local Apple store. I had made an appointment online, but still had to wait over an hour (they really need to enlarge their Genius area now that they have so many more machines out there). Told the Genius what the problem was... he swapped out the battery... but the one he tried was fully charged because he took it from a machine that was plugged in. So the tension was mounting... would it charge or not (I was hoping it was just the battery and not something else). He had me use my MacBook for a bit to drain the battery. I ran Parallels and did a Windows virus scan (that should drain the battery pretty fast)... After I got the battery down to about 90%, the Genius plugged it back in. To my delight, the MagSafe indicator went orange and started to charge the battery. With that, the Genius went in the back and got me a new battery. He had me stay there for a little bit just to make sure everything was okay. I'm sort of afraid to calibrate my battery now... at least properly as in letting it completely drain. I had done a few calibrations in the past without a problem, but it seems this problem tends to occur after someone does a calibration. I'm just happy it was just the battery.
I came across this little tidbit from the Battery University webiste:
Some lithium-ion batteries fail due to excessive low discharge. If discharged below 2.5 volts per cell, the internal safety circuit opens and the battery appears dead. A charge with the original charger is no longer possible. Some battery analyzers (Cadex) feature a boost function that reactivates the protection circuit of a failed battery and enables a recharge. However, if the cell voltage has fallen below 1.5V/cell and has remained in that state for a few months, a recharge should be avoided because of safety concerns. To prevent failure, never store the battery fully discharged. Apply some charge before storage, and then charge fully before use.
I wonder if there is a fault with some of the batteries that is allowing them to discharge below this minimal level, making them impossible to recover."

Unresponsive keyboard/trackpad and intermittent Bluetooth on MacBook...possible internal USB problem?

I have a mid-2010 polycarbonate/white MacBook (model A1342) running OS X 10.6.8. My machine has been having issues with the internal Bluetooth and keyboard/trackpad randomly ceasing to function.
Bluetooth issue
As of recently (the past month or two), the Bluetooth adapter will completely disappear and eventually reappear on a random basis. It won't appear at all in System Profiler, and the BT menu says "not available". Also, I have had a few kernel panics recently, all of which were apparently thrown by a Bluetooth process/daemon/driver (unfortunately I forgot which one, and also lost the logs from the panics.)
My system has a Broadcom Bluetooth chip that's part of the AirPort card, but is basically just an internal USB device. The adapter has some sort of integrated USB hub ("BRCM2070 Hub"), which the "Bluetooth Module" device itself is connected to.
Nonetheless, this seems to be some sort of problem on the USB bus. Whenever there is a failure, I will almost always see output in Console showing USB errors (ie errors about "enumerating a USB device", "clearing port power", "setting port power", "getting port status", etc). It will either be on any of the ports of the hub at 0x6600000 (the "BRCM2070 Hub" that "Bluetooth Module" is connected to), or port 6 of the hub at 0x6000000 (BRCM2070's port on the internal bus, which the keyboard/trackpad is also connected to on port 3).
I can post more/longer ones, but here's a somewhat short example of the error messages I might receive:
11/18/12 3:18:36 PM kernel USBF: 7351.492 [0xcf9b300] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 6 of Hub at 0x6000000)
11/18/12 3:18:38 PM kernel USBF: 7353.987 AppleUSBHubPort[0xcf9b300]::FatalError - Port 6 of Hub at 0x6000000 reported error 0xe00002c7 while doing clearing port power feature
11/18/12 3:18:38 PM kernel USBF: 7353.987 [0xcf9b300] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
11/18/12 3:20:20 PM blued[448] Apple Bluetooth daemon started
11/18/12 3:20:20 PM kernel USBF: 7456.186 [0x11fb1300] The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 2 of Hub at 0x6600000)
11/18/12 3:20:20 PM kernel USBF: 7456.188 [0x11fb1300] The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
Keyboard/trackpad issue
There's also an issue where the internal keyboard/trackpad will randomly cease functioning (until I restart), often a couple of times a day as of recently. I've had this issue on rare occasion for a while now, but it's gotten more frequent. And more recently, the caps lock light on the keyboard occasionally turns itself on when I'm away.
Both the internal keyboard/trackpad as well as the Bluetooth "hub"/device are connected to the same USB bus/hub. When the keyboard/trackpad die, I've noticed that there will be very similar messages in Console to those above and usually a Bluetooth failure at the same time. (In some cases, it seems to notice that the keyboard/trackpad isn't responding, then attempts to reset/reinitialize it...ie log below.) What could the root cause be...could it be the USB "root" hub/bus causing one or both of these to fail, or possibly a problematic device causing the other to lose connection? I haven't had issues with USB devices on other buses failing, though (ie no problems with external devices.)
Maybe more out of curiosity than anything else, but I've been poking around for info on what might be going on with the USB (aside from the 0x66 hub repeatedly dropping/reconnecting and etc), but can't find much. There seems to be no documentation about the error codes (ie 0xe00002c7) that the hardware/OS are relaying. I even poked through the source for some of the relevant kexts and some reading on OS X driver/kernel programming too...might as well learn more about the inner workings of OS X
Here's an example of some of the messages that I get about the Keyboard/Trackpad:
11/21/12 2:57:22 AM kernel USBF: 1439.228 IOUSBHIDDriver(AppleUSBMultitouchDriver)[0xd1ff000]: Detected an kIONotResponding error but still connected. Resetting port
11/21/12 2:57:22 AM kernel USBF: 1439.234 AppleUSBHubPort[0xd040600]::Resetting device Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad: port 3 of Hub at 0x6000000
11/21/12 2:57:22 AM kernel USBF: 1439.319 [0x14452600] USB HID Interface #0 of device CompositeDevice @ 5 (0x6610000)
11/21/12 2:57:22 AM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::message - kIOUSBMessagePortHasBeenReset.
11/21/12 2:57:23 AM blued[248] Apple Bluetooth daemon started
11/21/12 2:57:23 AM kernel AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::checkStatus - received Status Packet, Payload 2: device was reinitialized
Attempted fixes
Unfortunately, my Macbook isn't under warranty so I'm mostly on my own. First I zapped PRAM, reset SMC, ensured OS updates are installed (still on 10.6.8), and threw out a few drivers/software that were possible troublemakers. Next, I tried running another OS/install to rule out software issues. Accordingly, I found that the BT adapter sometimes disappears on Windows 7 as well (just did a clean install). And finally, I bought a new AirPort/BT card and installed it the other day. That seemed better at first, but I still have the problem of intermittent Bluetooth and keyboard/trackpad.
Problems/solutions?
What might the issue be, or is there anything that may be worth trying? As I mentioned, I've reset PRAM and SMC, made sure it's not an OS/driver issue (it happens on Win7 too), and replaced the Airport card. The machine does have aftermarket RAM (from OWC, ~2 years old) and SSD (Crucial M4, installed September)...but it seems unlikely that either of these would cause the problem. There haven't been any accidents that would have caused physical or (to my knowledge) electrical damage to it.
I also searched for any occurrences of similar problems, but could not find any that were applicable to the Macbook revision in question. There was a similar keyboard/trackpad issue on older Macbook Pros that was caused by stress on a ribbon cable...but that seems unlikely given the concurrent issues with Bluetooth as well as the different design.
The only thing I can think of next is to possibly replace the cable connecting the Airport card to the logic board, and possibly look at replacing the keyboard/trackpad (topcase). Anyway, I'm worried that it might be a hardware issue with the internal USB controller/hub, which would probably mean that it's unfixable unless I replace the logic board.
Any advice as to which of these might be a potential solution or cause of the problem? Or might I just as well sell it off in its current condition and replace it?
Thanks all!

Has anyone find a fix for this? I've been using my Dragon Dictate headset on my MacBook Pro for about a year, and then today, when I plugged it in, I got this:
4/16/14 10:01:04.000 AM kernel[0]: USBF:    47.766    The IOUSBFamily is having trouble enumerating a USB device that has been plugged in. It will keep retrying. (Port 1 of Hub at 0x4000000)
4/16/14 10:01:07.000 AM kernel[0]: USBF:    50.269    AppleUSBHubPort::FatalError - Port 1 of Hub at 0x4000000 reported error 0xe00002c7 while doing clearing port power feature
4/16/14 10:01:07.000 AM kernel[0]: USBF:    50.269    The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device.
Here is what I have tried so far:
Reset the PRAM
Reset SMC
Verify disk (there were no problems)
Repair permissions
Boot with an external USB hard drive (which works fine on the "problem" computer) that contained an old SuperDuper clone of my hard drive from several months ago. I received the same "The IOUSBFamily was not able to enumerate a device" error when I plug in the headset.
Tried to headset on another computer, and it worked fine.
Plug in an external USB keyboard into the problem computer, and it works fine.
All of this would lead me to conclude that it is a hardware problem. But it seems that if it were a hardware problem, the external USB keyboard and external USB hard drive would not work (which they do). If the problem were with the headset, it wouldn't work on another computer, but it does. So I'm wondering if it's some sort of firmware issue…??????? URG!!!!!!

Would a Top Case keyboard replacement for Macbook Unibody A1342 (US version), be compatible w/my Macbook if originally it had a Japanese version?

I bought a Macbook Unibody back in 2010, and until now the system is still working perfectly fine, probably because I keep on updating my software version, currently I am on Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion)...I don't have issues with it.
I bought this Macbook in Japan, the keyboard version is on Japanese (with US alphabets) becaue I was studying Kanji back then, and apparently I am now living here in the Philippines and some of my keyboard keys are lost and they were taken off by my naughty niece (LOL, couldn't blame her though... she's just 2 years old)... now I am looking for a replacement. I couldn't find Japanese version of Top Case replacements here in Manila... now I kinda realized I might as well use a US version moving forward.
Now my question is re: Top Case keyboard replacement for Macbook Unibody A1342 (US version), would it be compatible w/my Macbook if originally it had a Japanese version?
Thanks in advance for all the help & informations. I would really appreciate it before I buy a replacement.
Have a good one guys! ^_^)Y

but it has been dropped a bit.
Translation - It has been dropped multiple times.
All the problems are likely related. Better get it to an Apple service rep and be aware that any warranty does not cover abuse of the product.

Keyboard & Trackpad not working but USB are...

Hi - 2007 white Macbook, 10.6.8...
Today the machine appeared to keep freezing completely... after numerous checks (including booting in 10.5), it transpired it was the keyboard and trackpad that weren't responding, not the OS. I know this because I plugged in a USB keyboard/mouse to check and they work fine.
That said, the onboard keyboard & trackpad do work upon boot up for anything from 1 to 10 minutes. Then they just stop responding and I have to resort back to USB again. I can see others who've had similar problems but I can't find a solution.
It doesn't appear to be a fatel hardware error because they will always work on boot up for a limited time. All updates are applied and disc permissions repaired.
Anyone know how to solve this? Appreciate the help - stars all round, thanks.

It doesn't sound like a fatal hardware issue but I think your Top Case Assembly or the connection cable are going bad. The top case is basically the plate containing your keyboard, trackpad, and power button.
The fact that it works via USB basically confirms that, but there is the outside shot that the connector on the Logic Board could be the problem....
Before you take it to an Apple Store, try to boot it up from your software discs that came with your Mac (disc #1, you can do this by restarting your Mac with the disc in and holding down the C key after the startup chime) and see if the problem occurs. If it does, I would have an Apple Service Provider or an Apple Store replace your Top Case for you.If it's okay on the discs, run your Disk Utility on the software disc and reinstall the OS.
I hope this helps!

MacBook Air SMC update 1.8 killed keyboard & trackpad? (on MBA 11,2010,1.6C2D,ML)

Hi all,
A bit of a pickle. This is briefly what has happened:
1. Beloved MacBook working fine with Mountain Lion and all updates applied
2. Notified a single update is available so downloaded and applied "SMC 1.8 update for MacBook Air" using App Store
3. On restart no response to trackpad or keyboard (apart from power key)
4. MacBook responds to SMC reset key combination but this doesn't cure the problem, and now the Bluetooth assistant pops up to help me find a keyboard
5. Other key combinations don't seem to work, and no green light on caps lock key
6. NVRAM reset using external keyboard, this doesn't solve the problem
7. With an external keyboard and mouse attached, everything seems to work perfectly, except the built-in keyboard and trackpad
I took it in to my local Apple Store today and their diagnosis software gave everything the green light apart from the internal USB devices. The "genius" advised this is probably due to a faulty trackpad and replacing that would perhaps cure the keyboard as well, especially as it seemed to be partially working at least.
I am out of warranty but I suggested as everything was working perfectly right up to the SMC update then perhaps they might replace my trackpad and possibly top case for free, if there are no signs of water ingress or physical damage when they open it up. They are considering this but I don't hold out much hope! Has anyone else experienced this issue? What would you do in my position?
Thank you for reading this and any responses are greatly appreciated.

In addition, if I try to do a software update I get a similar crash.
Firefox is working as i itunes and MS Office Apps.
What can I do to resolve? Thanks

Problem description: (MacBook Pro 15" late 2008, OSX Yosemite 10.10.2 installed, no pending updates) computer is running very slow - takes 2-3 minutes to open apps such as Pages, even when no other apps are open. Randomly freezes and becomes unrespo

Problem description:
(MacBook Pro 15” late 2008, OSX Yosemite 10.10.2 installed, no pending updates) computer is running very slow - takes 2-3 minutes to open apps such as Pages, even when no other apps are open. Randomly freezes and becomes unresponsive, requiring forced power down. Randomly logs off. Removed Kodak AIO software via Clean My Mac2, but BonjourAgent still there and requesting access. Cleaned weekly with Clean My Mac2 and running Sophos AntiVirus. 2GB memory installed. Currently 169.99 GB available of 249.2 GB capacity.
Help?
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Hardware Information: ℹ️
    MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) (Technical Specifications)
    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro5,1
    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core
    2 GB RAM Upgradeable
        BANK 0/DIMM0
            1 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
        BANK 0/DIMM1
            1 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok
    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
    Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 59
Video Information: ℹ️
    NVIDIA GeForce 9400M - VRAM: 256 MB
        Color LCD 1440 x 900
    NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT - VRAM: 256 MB
System Software: ℹ️
    OS X 10.10.2 (14C1514) - Time since boot: 0:13:37
Disk Information: ℹ️
    Hitachi HTS543225L9SA02 disk0 : (250.06 GB)
        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 249.20 GB (168.91 GB free)
        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
    HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS21N
USB Information: ℹ️
    Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Apple, Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Gatekeeper: ℹ️
    Mac App Store and identified developers
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
        /Library/Extensions
    [not loaded]    com.leapfrog.driver.LfConnectDriver (1.11.1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.sophos.kext.sav (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.sophos.nke.swi (9.2.50 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
        /System/Library/Extensions
    [not loaded]    com.leapfrog.codeless.kext (2) [Click for support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.kodak.BonjourAgent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.sophos.uiserver.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.leapfrog.connect.authdaemon.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2.Agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.oracle.java.JavaUpdateHelper.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.diskSpaceWatcher.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.scheduledScan.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.macpaw.CleanMyMac2Helper.trashWatcher.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
    Dropbox    Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    AdobeExManDetect: Version: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]
    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10
    Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update
    AdobeAAMDetect: Version: AdobeAAMDetect 2.0.0.0 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]
    AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin1017265: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 [Click for support]
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version
    AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin: Version: AmazonMP3DownloaderPlugin 1.0.17 [Click for support]
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3
    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin: Version: 1.0.94 [Click for support]
    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0 [Click for support]
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
    AdBlock
    Disconnect
    Add To Amazon Wish List
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
    Flash Player [Click for support]
    Java [Click for support]
    Tuxera NTFS [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
    Skip System Files: NO
    Mobile backups: OFF
    Auto backup: YES
    Volumes being backed up:
        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 249.20 GB Disk used: 80.29 GB
    Destinations:
        Backup [Local]
        Total size: 63.67 GB
        Total number of backups: 1
        Oldest backup: 2015-02-23 16:16:08 +0000
        Last backup: 2015-02-23 16:16:08 +0000
        Size of backup disk: Too small
            Backup size 63.67 GB < (Disk used 80.29 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
         5%    WindowServer
         1%    loginwindow
         0%    AppleSpell
         0%    SophosUIServer
         0%    SophosAntiVirus
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
    118 MB    InterCheck
    101 MB    SophosScanD
    60 MB    Dropbox
    54 MB    mds_stores
    41 MB    SophosAntiVirus
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
    49 MB    Free RAM
    682 MB    Active RAM
    652 MB    Inactive RAM
    315 MB    Wired RAM
    1.49 GB    Page-ins
    2 MB    Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
    Mar 21, 2015, 11:18:52 AM    Self test - passed
    Mar 21, 2015, 10:53:03 AM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/SophosUIServer_2015-03-21-105303_[redacted].cra sh
    Mar 19, 2015, 07:59:03 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/CalNCService_2015-03-19-195903_[redacted].crash

Linc Davis wrote:
Slow performance after installing Yosemite on an older Mac is often caused by inadequate memory. Although you can install the upgrade on a Mac with 2 GB of memory, experience has shown that at least 4 GB is needed for full performance.
Select About This Mac from the Apple menu. If you have less than 4 GB of memory, and your model has upgradable memory, install as much as it can take, or at least that much. Any reputable RAM vendor will have a web form in which you can select the Mac model and be directed to compatible parts.
Memory in the MacBook Air is not upgradable. If that's what you have, you should restore the previous system from a backup, or replace the machine. Ask if you need guidance.
The Etrecheck report clearly shows that SylvieRose has a Macbook Pro, not a Macbook Air and that there are only 2 GB RAM installed. The Etrecheck report can be very informative if one takes the time to examine it.
Ciao.

...Another Spill. MBP Keyboard Backlight/trackpad problem

Hello,
A friend (yes he remains a friend) recently spilled red wine all over my new Macbook Pro. I was very upset at first, but have calmed down... after several weeks. I've dried it out and I'm taking it to Apple to get it cleaned.
The only clear problems that exist at the moment: the keyboard is not illuminating fully, it is only bright in the middle; the tap-to-click feature on the trackpad has a one-second delay before any command is registered.
The problem with the keyboard backlight, i think, is due to wine staining the sheet of plastic separating the keyboard from the LEDs behind it. Could anyone suggest a means of cleaning this or any other method of reviving the backlight, IF they have not short-circuited.
Any suggestions other than getting Apple to help with the unresponsive trackpad?
Thanks
Jamie

What I was trying to communicate when I added "which will also include the trackpad" to a previous post was that the top case, the keyboard, the trackpad and various other internal parts that are attached to the inside of the top case will ALL be replaced when Apple repairs the machine, because Apple considers the whole assembly to be one part. Cleaning the keyboard effectively is impossible, but it would be pointless even if it were possible, because Apple is just going to discard or recycle it. When Apple repairs a machine, it comes back in virtual like-new condition — there are no partial repairs. You may prefer not to spring for a complete overhaul, but that's what you're going to get — and pay for — regardless.

Keyboard/trackpad problems - are Macbook top cases too fragile?

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