IT Jobs
Leopard kills some Mac keyboards
OS performance considered spotty.
By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Published: 03:43 GMT, 14 November 07
The new Leopard operating system is locking up the keyboards of some MacBook Pro laptops, according to some users. The only apparent solution is to reboot the computer.
Messages posted in Apple's support forums claim the keyboard problem crops up only after moves to Mac OS X 10.5, and they say that it's intermittent. "The keyboard will stop working and become unresponsive - the caps and num lock lights won't even turn on," said a user identified as Cub man. "Then after a few minutes, it turns on again and is fine until I let it sit for a while."
Other users, including Stefan Arentz, wrote of nearly identical symptoms. "This is on a MacBook Pro that I bought about a month ago. Now with Leopard the keyboard and trackpad stop working at completely unpredictable moments. The only thing that helps is to connect an external keyboard/mouse and reboot."
And from kenji: "Zero issues whatsoever until installing 10.5. Now, keyboard disappears frequently and intermittently. I would have finished typing this post sooner, but my keyboard was unresponsive every time I opened a new window."
Apple support personnel do not participate in the forums, and other users, while sympathetic, had no definitive answers. Some users said that their keyboards became unresponsive most often after the notebook woke from a sleep state, while others described the problem as if the keyboard itself had dozed off.
"Keyboard seems to go to sleep after a few moments of inactivity, wakes up if I hold down a key for a few seconds," said jonsef. "Extremely annoying! I have a new MB Pro, Leopard has been installed for about a week."
Apple-specific blogs and websites, including MacRumors and AppleInsider, have recently reported that the first Leopard update has been seeded to testers and may be unveiled soon. There is no reliable list of the fixes that might be included in the 10.5.1 update, however, nor is there a timetable for its release.
The MacBook keyboard problem is only the latest in a series of Leopard upgrade glitches that have included problems with Time Machine and difficulty making and maintaining a connection to wireless networks.
.gif)
Add your commentComments
tom | Published: 00:35 GMT, 12 December 2007
yup. happens to my macbook pro; flakey keyboard, wireless is flakey, and my battery life is worst. this OS sucks. going back to Tiger.
Jeff | Published: 12:51 GMT, 15 November 2007
I have the same problem with anew MacBook that came with Leopard installed. Keyboard just dies intermitently. Waiting or rebooting fixes the problem. Bummer.
jkf | Published: 11:18 GMT, 15 November 2007
I've seen this issue with my MacBook running (then) 10.4. Most notably after sleep or Energy Conservation mode (when the battery dies). No response from any keyboard key until after restart.
Christopher | Published: 07:18 GMT, 15 November 2007
I had this happen once after coming out of safe sleep (ie after replacing the battery). I logged out and logged back in, and it suddenly worked again for a few minutes, then quit again, so I rebooted. I've had a few issues coming out of SafeSleep in the past with all OS-X versions, but never thought much of them... I have not however had any problems with this during normal operation - I take my laptop back and forth from multiple college campuses and home, and only reboot once a week or so when I install new things or have system updates, so I put it to sleep and wake it up multiple times a day for weeks with no problems... -Christopher MacBook Pro 17" Core 2 Duo - Fast. Beautiful.
Mark Lewis | Published: 15:33 GMT, 14 November 2007
I am suffering the same problem with my new MacBook, purchased just prior to the release of Leopard. I thought it may have been app or game related, but so far I hadn't found a cause for it. The machine does not crash, but if you want immediate relief, rebooting seems to be the ticket. I haven't had the patience to wait it out. The problem is intermittent and not terribly common (twice in the last week that I have noted.) Apps seem unaffected and the mouse still works, so saving is possible.