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Keyboard won't illuminate

P

pufftissue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 9, 2006
155
0
I have a macbook pro whose keyboard does not illuminate regularly.

Usually when you place your hands over the speakers, the keyboard should illuminate.

If I turn out the light totally, the keyboard won't illuminate. But if I reboot in the dark, then after a reboot, the keyboard will illuminate. If I turn on the light, the keyboard light will turn off apporpriately. Then when I dim the lights again, the keyboard light does not turn on again.

How can I fix this problem? I have 10.4.9 installed (but originally 10.4.6)

Please help, b/c otherwise I'm going to return the macbook pro. It seems like not a hardware issue.
 
Jmacman78 said:
The keyboard illumination does seem a bit flaky sometimes.
I got a program called Lab Tick http://labtick.proculo.de/
That way you can control the illumination of the keyboard yourself.
It works great.
Click to expand...


I agree that this program is great. But could someone tell me if my underlying problem is a software or hardware problem with my keyboard's light sensor?

It does not light up in pitch dark, mind you. I know I can turn it on whenever I want, but I'm one of these people who actually wants something to be working for when I will sell it in a few years. As well as for the general principle of getting a functional product.
 
One thing I noticed with mine, is when it was somewhat dark in a room the keyboard would be partially lit, when the room got darker, the brightness of the screen, made the sensors for the keyboard think the room was lighter and turned off the illumination all together...

I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with yours, I just think the keyboard illumination is very finicky and I think others will agree.
 
Sesshi said:
Also, try adjusting the intensivty of the backlight manually at the point they're lit automatically.
Click to expand...

The backlight does not light up in pitch black darkness with the screen brightness at 1.

When I remove the battery, hold down power button for 30 seconds, then reboot in pitch darkness, the keyboard illumination will come on. When I turn on a light, the keyboard illumination goes off. When I turn off the lights again, the keyboard no longer illuminates no matter what I do. It is only solved by removing battery and pushing power button.

So this is normal and would not be worthy of repair? Thinking that it was software, i wiped my hard drive and reinstalled osx 10.4.6. no fix. upgraded to 10.4.9....no difference.
 
Key board Illumination_labtick.proculo.de/

" Jmacman78
macrumors newbie

Join Date: Jan 2007

The keyboard illumination does seem a bit flaky sometimes.
I got a program called Lab Tick http://labtick.proculo.de/
That way you can control the illumination of the keyboard yourself.
It works great."

Thanks, it really works great
 
[QUOTE

Join Date: Jan 2007

The keyboard illumination does seem a bit flaky sometimes.
I got a program called Lab Tick http://labtick.proculo.de/
That way you can control the illumination of the keyboard yourself.
It works great."

[/QUOTE]

Thanks, it really works grea
 
keyboard illumination

[QUOTE

Join Date: Jan 2007

The keyboard illumination does seem a bit flaky sometimes.
I got a program called Lab Tick http://labtick.proculo.de/
That way you can control the illumination of the keyboard yourself.
It works great."

[/QUOTE]

Thanks it really works
 
@Bebelier: The "edit" button is your friend. Learn to embrace it! :D

Anyway, welcome aboard to the Mac Rumors Forum.
 
Jmacman78 said:
One thing I noticed with mine, is when it was somewhat dark in a room the keyboard would be partially lit, when the room got darker, the brightness of the screen, made the sensors for the keyboard think the room was lighter and turned off the illumination all together...

I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with yours, I just think the keyboard illumination is very finicky and I think others will agree.
Click to expand...

There's a setting for that partial lighting. I changed it on my work machine, but only have a MacBook at home so can't tell you exactly where the setting is located. I found it annoying because the illumination would change as I typed and covered different parts of the keyboard.
 
Jmacman78 said:
The keyboard illumination does seem a bit flaky sometimes.
I got a program called Lab Tick http://labtick.proculo.de/
That way you can control the illumination of the keyboard yourself.
It works great.
Click to expand...

works great wish I would have known about this a long time ago. It's been a long time since i had my keyboard lit up all the way like this. At first when I noticed how dim my keyboard lights were I just thought it was normal.

Till I made a new account on my computer and the new unused account since it was fresh the keyboard lit up all the way. Logged back in under my usual login and the keys were dim, this did the trick.
 
Strange Keyboard Backlight

My keyboard backlight is acting up too. I just noticed that if I lean forward and put my face over the keyboard, it lights up. When I back away to my normal position, it turns off.

Of course, I would like it to be lit all the time rather than having to type with my face 12" from the screen!
 
backlight

Hi I am having the same problem with my macbook pro v 10.4 so I believe the labtick program won't work for this computer I tried to dl it and I can't seem to get it to work. The keyboard function was working until I added a new profile because I have got a new laptop and has given the old one to my sister but now that I have deleted my acct the keyboard doesn't want to illuminate under her acct any help would be so greatly appreciated.
 
Usually some small spills will get the keys all gummed up. Look for info for the laptop that shows you how to remove the keyboard.
On newer machines there are about 2 or 3 screws on the bottom of the machine that holds the keyboard (has a keyboard icon next to it). Once you unscrew the keyboard, there are some latches that hold it in place. Then finally there is a ribbon cable attached to the motherboard that is held by a connector that you can pop up.
 
Just a quick bump because I accidentally solved this issue on my 2006 MBP when taking it apart.


There are two sensors on the macbook pro keyboard, one to the left of the left fan, the other just above the right fan. They are green coloured and about 1/2 a cm sq. They are each covered by a small clear piece of plastic which is screwed in by a single screw to the motherboard. Upon inspection, I found my piece of plastic to have a nice layer of dust on the underside, preventing light from getting to the sensor. I cleaned off the dust, made sure the ribbon cable connections were OK, and voila, it worked again. I hadn't seen my keyboard illuminate since about 2007 when it first stopped working.

I found this forum whilst doing some googling for a separate keyboard related issue, so I thought i'd just add a post incase someone else comes across it searching for the same issue.

Cheers.
 
Sys Pref
Keyboard
Keyboard
Adjust keyboard brightness in low light

There you have it...
 
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