hello all, i am new to this forum and got a strange problem:
some keys (the h, j, k, l keys) on my macbook pro 17inch 2011 unibody only work sometimes, never had this before... no liquid was spilled and i always keep my mac very very clean - i am a graphic designer for 25 years - so no obvious reason for this. did already remove one of the keys but all is clean, did blow it out with an airspray but no effect - and the strange thing is they sometimes work and sometimes not… any idea of what the problem might be? it is so annoying...

sounds like it's just plain gone bad

A google search will turn up lots of third party articles on cleaning a MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard but the official word from Apple on cleaning a keyboard is found here. Unfortunately that advice sounds unlikely to "fix" your problem. Your next step would be to take your MacBook Pro to the Genius Desk at the nearest Apple Store (be sure and get an appointment before you go or you could spend hours waiting to see a Genius). Diagnostics are free and if repairs/cleaning is recommended they can tell you what the cost will be.

Welcome to these forums, Andreas! I’m afraid I’ll have to second Joemikeb’s suggestion. Pretty much regardless of what causes your problem, the solution will likely involve some serious disassembly of your MBP, including removing and possibly replacing the keyboard. You could do it yourself, but it’s quite complicated and not for the faint of heart, as shown on the following how-to pages:

- MacBook Pro 17" Unibody Upper Case Replacement
- How to replace keyboard on MacBook Pro 13″, 15″, 17″

If you have never done something like this, your best bet is to leave it to the experts.

hey all,

thanx for the replies, guess i'll have no other choice than going to Apple and see what this is about… Thanx alot for your efforts, Andreas

hey guys,

just wanted to share this with all in the community, it looks like the problem was a quite simple and, admittedly, stupid one…
i got another two older macbooks here that i run on older operating systems for use of programs that do not run on systems from 10.7 onwards and i was using an old power adapter for the newer macbook, a 45 w adapter, which did work fine for quite some time, but the newer ones require 85 w. it was the only thing i could think of so i started using the right one instead and the problem was first almost gone, and since today the keyboard works completely fine…… simple solution for a stupid mistake with the wrong adapter. lucky i am that nothing else broke!

Hard to understand how a power adapter issue could affect (only) 4 neighboring keys on the keyboard.
Anybody care to chime in on how that might be possible?

It’s good to hear that Andreas has been able to influence his ‘variable’ keyboard behavior, but it remains to be seen if using the correct power adapter permanently fixes the problem. Andreas mentioned the on/off character of the problem, and his latest observation doesn’t yet change that. Either (part of) the keyboard is sensitive to a marginal power supply, or something else is wrong with it. I’d still recommend he visit an Apple Store, with both adapters, to see what’s really up. If he gets an ‘all clear’ that may support a possible future claim should the issue recur.