# URGENT!! Spontaneous, continuous Macbook Pro enter key repetitions



## Pro Grape

Please help! My macbook pro has suddenly decided that I am continuously 
holding down the enter/return key! It is virtually unuseable! No matter how many times I restart / reboot it, it continues to do so. It even happens sometimes at the login screen, making it impossible to log in, but other times it seems to wait until I am logged in. I am able to type this by having set my key repeat rate options to the lowest possible. Please tell me whether there is some plist file which may have become corrupted somehow that I can delete, or what else I might try!!

I have also tried removing the two enter keys to make sure that there is nothing wrong with them, and they appear to be fine.

If there is a delay in the problem occuring (i.e., it does not happen immediately when the computer is started, but waits until I am logged in), it sometimes happens straight away once I have logged in, but sometimes it occurs only after a few keys have been pressed (not necessarily including the enter key).

Here is another hint as to what may be occuring / has cause the problem. This morning, I awoke the computer from sleep, and it had 0% battery but did not seem to know it. It ran for a minute or two, then the screen flickered a little and went off, but the computer was still running (I could still seen images on the screen, as if I had only turned the brightness to 0). When I then turned on the computer with it plugged in (having to restart it by holding down the power button, as it would not wake up again), I had this problem. I suspect the power monitoring system did not do its job, as the computer should to have awoken from sleep, and then some files must not have been put away / closed properly, including some system file related to getting input from the keyboard. That is why I suspect it to be corrupted in some way.

I need to be able to use this computer for my university work! Please, I am in need of help as soon as possible!


----------



## Pro Grape

No ideas? Must I really reinstall the OS?

:sigh:


----------



## sinclair_tm

i believe you have a hardware problem and should be taking it back to apple to have them fix it. most likely there is a short in the keyboard, and even if the key isn't stuck, the computer thinks it is, and so it keeps it going. best way to find out if that is the case is to disconnect the keyboard, and plug in a usb keyboard and start the mac. if the problem is gone, then you need a new keyboard. as for the other issue, you may need to reset the pmu. evey mac is different, so look in your owner's manual for the instructions on your mac. and if the keyboard is messed up, then you may not be able to reset the pmu, and thus the power issues.


----------



## Pro Grape

Thank you for your suggestions :sayyes:

I have solved the problem by resetting the SMC! Though this has not solved the problems I have been having with the optical drive as well.

What is the PMU?


----------



## Pro Grape

Arhg!

The problem was only solved temporarily, as it started doing it again after two resarts!!!

What is going on?!!


----------



## sinclair_tm

the pmu is the power managing unit, or the hardware that controls the laptop's sleep and other power usage. I'm not sure what the smc is though. No, have you tried unplugging the onboard keyboard and using an usb one yet?


----------



## nigglesworth

Pro Grape said:


> Please help! My macbook pro has suddenly decided that I am continuously
> holding down the enter/return key! It is virtually unuseable! No matter how many times I restart / reboot it, it continues to do so. It even happens sometimes at the login screen, making it impossible to log in, but other times it seems to wait until I am logged in. I am able to type this by having set my key repeat rate options to the lowest possible. Please tell me whether there is some plist file which may have become corrupted somehow that I can delete, or what else I might try!!
> 
> I have also tried removing the two enter keys to make sure that there is nothing wrong with them, and they appear to be fine.
> 
> If there is a delay in the problem occuring (i.e., it does not happen immediately when the computer is started, but waits until I am logged in), it sometimes happens straight away once I have logged in, but sometimes it occurs only after a few keys have been pressed (not necessarily including the enter key).
> 
> Here is another hint as to what may be occuring / has cause the problem. This morning, I awoke the computer from sleep, and it had 0% battery but did not seem to know it. It ran for a minute or two, then the screen flickered a little and went off, but the computer was still running (I could still seen images on the screen, as if I had only turned the brightness to 0). When I then turned on the computer with it plugged in (having to restart it by holding down the power button, as it would not wake up again), I had this problem. I suspect the power monitoring system did not do its job, as the computer should to have awoken from sleep, and then some files must not have been put away / closed properly, including some system file related to getting input from the keyboard. That is why I suspect it to be corrupted in some way.
> 
> I need to be able to use this computer for my university work! Please, I am in need of help as soon as possible!


Did you f
ind a fix for this???


My MBP just began this out of the blue...

I have tried everything. Please let me know if you can up with a way to fix this!


----------



## sinclair_tm

well, if other mbp are starting to do this, bring it up with apple, there could be a bad batch of hardware, or even a software issue that they need to be made aware of. contact them and give them as much info as possible so that they can look into it.


----------



## DrSly

Hello,

Same issue here, have been looking to solve this for a while. Although my Macbook Pro is very recent (mid-October), the problem appeared after I installed Leopard, but not right away.

I log in, and the little login window "shakes" and you can hear a beep-beepbepbeep-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep as if some keyboard input was repeated endlessly. It happens even sometimes after I do manage to log in (by frantically clicking on the "back" button with the mouse on the login window, sometimes it works, sometimes I have to put the machine to sleep...) Sadly, I cannot predict when it will happen, as it sometimes behave perfectly.

So it doesn't happen all the time, just about half the time, and I won't speculate on whether it is a hardware or software issue, it is too hard to assess at the moment, since I use many different peripherals in conjunction with the Macbook Pro, such as Bluetooth wireless mouse and keyboard from Apple, and external monitors (many). The problem happens sometimes when such peripherals are enabled and plugged, sometimes not, sometimes without them, sometimes not...

another link found on the web with the same issue:http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?p=1180629#post1180629

I will be posting on the Apple Discussion forums about this too.

Very frustrating.

:-(

Any feedback, ladies and gents?

Thank you

Dr Sly


----------



## sinclair_tm

there has been a noted bug in leopard that on some macbooks and macbook pros, the keyboard quits working, or has other issues. last i heard, apple is looking into it. so be sure to let them know so that they work on fixing it.


----------



## DrSly

Thank you Sinclair, I have posted my issues on two locations on Apple Discussions, under Leopard and under MAcbook Pro. Hopefully, I'll get some feedback 

cheers,

Dr Sly


----------



## Badknee1950

*Possible repeating key answer*

Have a friend whose MacBook was having this same problem. It was driving him, AND ME wild. I told him, FINALLY, to call Apple. I was stumped.

Guess what solved it. When he put his MB back in his BIG laptop bag, he had to rearrange the stuff in the bag, which included a WIRELESS KEYBOARD. :redface: He had forgotten to turn it off and something was pressing against the keyboard, so the key sequence kept on repeating. It was a number 3 if I remember correctly.

I sincerely hope that this happens to be your problem.


----------



## npjester

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macbookmacbookprosoftwareupdate11.html

go there, keyboard fix for macbook and macbook pros it was released yesterday evening.


----------



## billin

*Re: Possible repeating key answer*



Badknee1950 said:


> Have a friend whose MacBook was having this same problem. It was driving him, AND ME wild. I told him, FINALLY, to call Apple. I was stumped.
> 
> Guess what solved it. When he put his MB back in his BIG laptop bag, he had to rearrange the stuff in the bag, which included a WIRELESS KEYBOARD. :redface: He had forgotten to turn it off and something was pressing against the keyboard, so the key sequence kept on repeating. It was a number 3 if I remember correctly.
> 
> I sincerely hope that this happens to be your problem.


(smacks forehead repeatedly)

You won't believe it, but this is EXACTLY what just happened to me. I totally thought my MacBook Pro was on the fritz and was desperately casting about for a solution when I came upon your post. It was then when I saw that a pile of stuff had fallen on my wireless keyboard on the ground. I am such an idiot... but I'm glad I'm not alone. *

Thank you for relating your friend's story!! It saved me much aggravation!


----------



## dudeman6996

*Re: Possible repeating key answer*



billin said:


> (smacks forehead repeatedly)
> 
> You won't believe it, but this is EXACTLY what just happened to me. I totally thought my MacBook Pro was on the fritz and was desperately casting about for a solution when I came upon your post. It was then when I saw that a pile of stuff had fallen on my wireless keyboard on the ground. I am such an idiot... but I'm glad I'm not alone. *
> 
> Thank you for relating your friend's story!! It saved me much aggravation!


this is great i had the exact same problem thanks for the fix i feel so incredibly stupid. couldnt do anything when ctrl kept wanting to save what i click on to the desktop


----------



## vdubreeze

OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank God for this find!!!!! My MBP trackpad suddenly went 20% insane, acting as if keys were held down when navigating, but if I typed a text there was nothing wrong. So I tried with a usb mouse and it did the same!!!!!!

I've been reinstalling users, systems, for hours!!! I made an Genius Bar appt but in NYC it's a week wait!!!!!! Panic!!!!!

Finally I saw this and found my spare bluetooth keyboard, that I used exactly once and then put on a shelf. My wife had cleaned up and put it in a drawer and something was pressing on the spacebar!!!!!!! It was still alive 25 feet out of sight and mind and in the drawer!!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOO relieved!!!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## mari2312

So did anyone actually solve this problem? I am having the same issue with the shaking login and when I type it often resets so I cant log in to various things, I cant even type as it is as if something hits the return button randomly leaving my messages all spaced out and sometimes it gets stuck on return and goes on and on for ages right down the page. i get the beeping sound also like something is being hit that is not allowed. I have tried to boot from safe mode so I can use disk utility to try fix the internal Hard drive but it wont start up in safe mode even though i am holding down the shift on booting up
. I am currently living in Cambodia and wont be back in the UK until May 2013 so cant take it into a mac store, there arent any here (that I know of)
and I dont have a wireless keyboard anywhere causing this problem. I dont have the start up disk, that too is in the UK. I have tried to clone the hard drive to an external HD but there isnt enough room and it said that it probably wouldnt work as a start up anyway?


Any help would be massively appreciated as I need this laptop for work and it is the only way I can keep in touch with family/ friends back home and I cannot afford a replacement.

thanks 

Mari


----------



## sinclair_tm

Next time please start a new thread as this one is so old. But have you tried cleaning the keyboard? A can of compressed air blown at it may dislodge anything under the keys.


----------

