Backlit keyboard help please

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha everyone,

I haven't had opportunity to check out the (lack of) my 2011 17" MacBook Pro's backlit keyboard, but I was really dismayed to find that it simply doesn't light up. Furthermore, thinking that the ambient light sensor is next to the FaceTime camera, I fired up Photo Booth, only to find out that, apparently, no camera is attached in my system. Has anyone else experienced this (lack of) behavior in their rig? I have an appointment with the Apple Store tomorrow and will probably have to end up getting a replacement, but I'm a bit torn, as this is the only thing wrong with my computer. Still, I paid a pretty penny for this and I would like for everything to work correctly.

 

[Miss Terri]

I think this would normally be turned on by default, but have you checked that the lighted keyboard prefs are activated?

There is one in System Prefs --> Keyboard --> Illuminate keyboard (checkbox)

And then I *think* the one in System Prefs --> Displays --> Automatically adjust brightness (checkbox) might control the ambient light sensor.

(I have mine turned off because I like to control the keyboard lighting myself with the F5 and F6 keys.)

Of course take it back if something is wrong, but I just thought you might want to check these two prefs.

MT

 

[Mik3F]

Does the camera work with Facetime?

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

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Aloha Again,

Thanks for your replies. I checked both preferences and they are set up correctly. I also checked Face Time and it indicated that no camera is connected, so it looks like a replacement is what I'll be getting. I was kind of hoping that I could fix this without a replacement, but oh well ... Thanks again for your responses.

 

[ericcumbee]

my bet is that something didn't get plugged in during assembly.

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Well, I just got my replacement unit; now on to home to see if it works OK.

 

[Miss Terri]

I hope we'll be reading another reply from you later enthusing about your backlit keyboard on the new machine

 

[eaf7s]

My ambient light sensor doesn't work on my 2011 13" but I'm not too worried about it; I like to adjust manually. But it could be a somewhat widespread issue if you're still having problems.

 

[HawaiiMacAddict]

Aloha again everyone,

I went back to the NEX at Pearl Harbor, got my replacement, fired it up and immediately noticed that not only does my backlit keyboard work, but the camera is also connected, this time! I guess this shows how many friends I have with Face Time hehehe I would never have thought to even check it out had the backlighting not worked on my original MacBook Pro.

To close out my saga, I have what appears to be an outstanding replacement and have set up all of my software, at least initially. Thanks for all the responses, and thank you Apple for such a great product.