MacBook, MacBook Pro owners suffer keyboard freezing with Leopard

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Some users of Apple's Intel-based portables are reporting that their keyboards are periodically seizing up during use, especially after upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard.



Numerous posts in Apple's support forums for the MacBook and MacBook Pro, as well as AppleInsider's own forum, attest to the glitch. By most indications, the flaw effectively shuts down the keyboard at unpredictable intervals until either resolved on its own or else by restarting or waking the system. The trackpad and external keyboards continue to function normally, according to the claims.



More drastic steps such as resetting the PRAM on the system fail to return the keyboard to life, system owners say. The flaw also appears to plague Intel-based portables regardless of their age, as reports demonstrate the lockups occurring with original MacBooks from mid-2006, MacBook Pros, as well as the new MacBooks introduced early this month .



Third-party software is also being dismissed as the culprit by owners of the Mac notebooks, as systems with different combinations of third-party software and even untouched installations reportedly suffer from the problem.



In nearly all cases, the root cause appears to be Mac OS X Leopard, whether preloaded with a new system or installed afterwards on an existing computer. The freezes may not begin immediately, but sometimes pick up in frequency over time and are not affected by the 10.5.1 software patch or similar updates.



"This problem has only occurred with Leopard," one user at Apple's forum says. "Everything has been fine for the last 6 months on Tiger."



No readily identifiable fixes or specific errors have been found, although some report success by forcing Finder to quit and relaunch. One user also notes that his internal keyboard disappears from the USB device list of Apple's System Profiler utility when unresponsive.



Apple is not known to have characterized the random freezing as a widespread issue and is so far attributing the flaw to hardware, offering to replace keyboards for at least some users who contact technical support. And to date, those customers aware of the apparent connection have been unable to persuade the Mac maker's representatives that a common link exists.



"I took my MacBook into the Apple Store today," notes one MacBook owner. "I told [Apple's Geniuses] about this thread and they basically dismissed the idea that it could have something to do with Leopard. [...] I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."
«1345

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 90
    A big thank you to AI for highlighting this issue.



    I have experienced the trouble on a Core 2 MacBook Pro but not nearly as bad as some of the situations explained.



    But I do suffer with the keyboard almost being asleep, I can start typing and it only seems to start recognising what I'm typing two or three characters in, anyone else got this?
  • Reply 2 of 90
    This is not a Leopard-only issue. This has happened to me 5 or 6 times on Tiger, on my 1st gen black MacBook. It doesn't happen whilst using it, only when waking from sleep. Normally I put it to sleep and then re-awaken it but sometimes it requires a full restart.
  • Reply 3 of 90
    nagrommenagromme Posts: 2,834member
    "I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."



    Apple Geniuses hear a ZILLION crazy things, and forums are filled with zillions more. There aren't enough hours in the day for them to go poking through every forum thread people mention, looking for the gems of truth--which still will be no more than theory, not final proof. So I'm sure they HAVE to go with what Apple has found to be proven and passes along to them.



    Still, I'm sure they log the data of the incident, including the OS, which helps Apple track these things down.
  • Reply 4 of 90
    I sympathize with those having the problems. I have had no such problems yet on my MacBook Pro 2.2 running Leopard. I am keeping my fingers crossed. These sorts of problems have to be hard to pin down. From what I have read on the forums, this is happening with laptops with various configurations, various models and with both Tiger and Leopard. It is quite possible that different factors may be involved in different cases. I am certainly no expert but finding a common thread throughout all the complaints seems to be quite difficult. While some seem to rule out third party software conflicts, I suspect that such conflicts are responsible in at least some of the cases. I would be interested to know if this is a widespread problem or how many others, like myself, are not having the problem yet.
  • Reply 5 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nagromme View Post


    "I think it's strange that they don't even want to listen to any ideas."



    Apple Geniuses hear a ZILLION crazy things, and forums are filled with zillions more. There aren't enough hours in the day for them to go poking through every forum thread people mention, looking for the gems of truth--which still will be no more than theory, not final proof. So I'm sure they HAVE to go with what Apple has found to be proven and passes along to them.



    Still, I'm sure they log the data of the incident, including the OS, which helps Apple track these things down.



    Although I like Apple, I swear the majority of the geniuses are ignorant. It seems as though they drank the kool-aid and would die for Jobs himself. They typically play the role of a guilty plaintiff, deny, deny, deny. Apple has great products, but their employees desperately need customer service training. (They ARE getting better though, it used to be a whole lot worse)
  • Reply 6 of 90
    ajmasajmas Posts: 597member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustBrady View Post


    Although I like Apple, I swear the majority of the geniuses are ignorant. It seems as though they drank the kool-aid and would die for Jobs himself. They typically play the role of a guilty plaintiff, deny, deny, deny. Apple has great products, but their employees desperately need customer service training. (They ARE getting better though, it used to be a whole lot worse)



    There is a difference between being a genius and being wise. This is why I like this quote:



    "Best be the idiot that learnt, than the genius who won't."



    At the end of the day it is a matter of attitude.



    As to them being given a zillion crazy ideas, then it is very possible, but then again it doesn't mean that none of the ideas have a grain of sense. The truth is it is much easier to evaluate an idea if some reproducible evidence is provided. The worst thing as a developer are bugs that happen once in a while, since they are hard to debug.
  • Reply 7 of 90
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustBrady View Post


    Although I like Apple, I swear the majority of the geniuses are ignorant. It seems as though they drank the kool-aid and would die for Jobs himself. They typically play the role of a guilty plaintiff, deny, deny, deny. Apple has great products, but their employees desperately need customer service training. (They ARE getting better though, it used to be a whole lot worse)



    I was an MG for a year, and they are trained not to speculate beyond what Apple officially states about a situation. Minimal personal commentary, and no comment on third party or even Apple discussion forum posts. In the back room, I would say most MG's ARE aware of such posts in places like this, but you can be reprimanded and ulitmately terminated if you stray from this approach.



    If you really think about it, it's the right way to do things, provided the ultimate goal is to help fix a problem, not push it aside. If they didn't control it, you would have all sorts of conflicting he -said, she-said scenarios depending on which MG at which store you spoke with. And many issues are end-user specific, not systemic. And, of course, forums are filled with ill-informed people who don't always follow proper troubleshooting procedures, and our quick to blame the vendor or take a "me-too" approach.



    Clearly, Apple, like any other company, has problems with their products. But overall, Apple does a pretty good job in figuring these things out internally and then releasing a fix or at least an offical position that everyone in the company can operate from. Whenever appropriate for example, they will issue EFFs, which are early-field-failure captures of defective units so engineering can quickly ascertain what's going wrong.



    I think Apple's bigger challenge, and where they're actually failing a bit more, is in the testing of their software prior to release. As OS X becomes more popular, there is more and more third party software being release and installed, more HW options, and thus many more configurations to test, so yes, their success breeds this problem.



    But some of their recent .0 OS releases had bugs that it seems should have been impossible not to find with proper beta testing (firewire drive data loss, keychain, blue screen on boot, etc.) iLife apps are often buggy and not-optimized on intial release. Apple needs to institute a better testing, or tell Steve not to set unrealistic release goals as it appears to be affecting quality.
  • Reply 8 of 90
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Really! It looks like Apple is aware of the problem and has addressed it with a keyboard update. At the very least people should try the keyboard update to see if it fixes the problem.



    It is not unusual for a software update in one piece of the "pie" to cause a known issue to appear worst someplace else. So try the update and report back to us. Give Apple the benefit of at least trying their advice before whining about it.



    It is sort of like tier inflation. Each tire and car combo has a specific inflation point for best wear, safety and traction considerations. You can ignore it all you want but don't complain to me if your SUV rolls over 70 times due to running your tires on 2 psi of air.



    Dave
  • Reply 9 of 90
    I loaded Leopard on my macbook two days ago so my son could use his itouch.

    7 hours later I finally resolved major issues which resulted from the leopard install. Am amazed that apple do not seem to be listening to what people are saying. I am a big apple fan but may sell the shares after this experience.
  • Reply 10 of 90
    Did the default install on my MBP and my wife's MB. I had a few minor issues but my wife suffered the freezing keyboard. She had had zero issues using TIger. Under threat of divorce for screwing up her computer, I reinstalled Leopard using the Archive and Install option. For whatever reason, she has not experienced the freezing keyboard after the A and I install and I'm still married. I have no idea why everything is working now, but I've been knocking on wood frequently. I also, for good measure, reinstalled Leopard on my MBP using the Archive and Install option and the very minor issues I experienced under Leopard have not resurfaced--been about three weeks now.
  • Reply 11 of 90
    i bought my wife a new macbook 2 weeks ago and she has experienced this several times. i also found the threads online about the problem and hoped the 10.5.1 update would fix it. not sure if she's had the problem since then.
  • Reply 12 of 90
    ajmasajmas Posts: 597member
    For anyone who has experienced this issue does this affect only the built-in keyboard or does it affect external keyboards too?
  • Reply 13 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by qntmfred View Post


    i bought my wife a new macbook 2 weeks ago and she has experienced this several times. i also found the threads online about the problem and hoped the 10.5.1 update would fix it. not sure if she's had the problem since then.



    I ahve two MacBooks on 10.5.1 with very little sonftware on them outsife of Office and the like and the only way to get my keyboard back is to reboot the computer. I hope Apple can come up with a fix, it is getting annoying. Never had this issue with Tiger as someone else posted before.



    Rippey
  • Reply 14 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shookster View Post


    This is not a Leopard-only issue. This has happened to me 5 or 6 times on Tiger, on my 1st gen black MacBook. It doesn't happen whilst using it, only when waking from sleep. Normally I put it to sleep and then re-awaken it but sometimes it requires a full restart.



    Correct we have a fleet of Macs running 10.4.8 and late MacBook Pro's on 10.4.9 It affects them
  • Reply 15 of 90
    Oh Yes, Confirm it. My Mac Book Pro has Seized up since my Leopard upgrade twice. Yikes.
  • Reply 16 of 90
    Just wanted to say that I just bought a new macbook pro three days ago and have this problem as well.
  • Reply 17 of 90
    xgmanxgman Posts: 159member
    As a recent Windows to Apple convert, I must say I never expected these sort of nagging issues with a Mac. First the Time Machine problems and now this. Yes I have the same darn keyboard problem on my brand new 17" MBP. This is ugly.
  • Reply 18 of 90
    Hi

    I have confirmed this annoyance on 4 MBP, including my own 3 mont old 17" MBP



    To replicate the problem, which does NOT seem to occur with Tiger,

    alow the computer to go into deep sleep (hibernate).

    Remove the battery, wait 2 minutes

    Replace the battery and allow the computer to turn back on.

    Inititally the keyboard ALWAYS works, but within 5 minutes of use, switching just between tabs in Safari will cause the keyboard to stop oerating for 30 seconds to one minute Once it works again, within 5 minutes the problem will repeat.

    Since I own 5 batteries for my own, along with a charger at home and one at work - this is really a pain. The only way to change battery is to keep power applied while removing the batery, or power off entirely the computer.



    I hope this helps show the problem, and that it gets fixed soon
  • Reply 19 of 90
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christian heretic View Post


    I am a big apple fan but may sell the shares after this experience.



    Selling shares because of an upgrade issue, even though most people breezed through? You might want to cool down for a few days before making a decision like that.
  • Reply 20 of 90
    xgmanxgman Posts: 159member
    Mine happens mostly is web pages and doesn't seem to have anything to do with sleep mode or battery. It just seems to happen most of the time. I type something and then look back and the firts one or two letters I typed don't appear. I would never have bought this if I had know about this from the start. For $3000 I should expect a working kepboard.
Sign In or Register to comment.