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Keyboard/trackpad temporarily freeze

I

izzy0242mr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 24, 2009
746
524
I have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2.3 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, Mountain Lion 10.8.2).

Sometimes (not that often), my mouse will stop moving when I try to move it, and the keyboard will stop responding entirely. It *partially* works: if I type very slowly and deliberately, it will register the keystrokes. But if I type rapidly like normal, it won't catch all of them.

The problem is remedied by performing a multitouch gesture on the trackpad (four-finger swipe down usually works best for me).

Is this a hardware issue or software issue, and has anyone else found a more permanent fix?
 
izzy0242mr said:
I have an Early 2011 MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2.3 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, Mountain Lion 10.8.2).

Sometimes (not that often), my mouse will stop moving when I try to move it, and the keyboard will stop responding entirely. It *partially* works: if I type very slowly and deliberately, it will register the keystrokes. But if I type rapidly like normal, it won't catch all of them.

The problem is remedied by performing a multitouch gesture on the trackpad (four-finger swipe down usually works best for me).

Is this a hardware issue or software issue, and has anyone else found a more permanent fix?
Click to expand...

Reset SMC and PRAM. Also, update to 10.8.3.
 
I have this exact issue happen to me (except I can't tell if the trackpad stops working as well since I use the Magic Mouse).

Sometimes, the keystrokes do not register when typing at regular speeds, but pressing longer on the keys or just typing more slowly will make them register. To fix it, I usually Command + Tab into another open app or switch to another Space... It's annoying because I do not know what causes it and it seems totally random.

I'll try resetting SMC and PRAM now, but since this happens so seldom, I have no way to say if it's gonna fix the problem or not.
 
I think i've figured out what causes it (for me): plugging in any external USB device. Although it doesn't happen when I boot into Safe Mode so it must be software related.
 
Yup, I have this problem too whenever plugging in an external device.

Interestingly though, my external mouse/keyboard do not freeze when I plug in a new device, only the internal ones :confused:
 
Weird…does anyone have any apps installed that you know of that might be causing the problem? BetterTouchTool? Android File Transfer? Those are two I have, idk if they could be causing the problem. I just know both of those apps open at startup and when running Safe Mode the problem doesn't repeat.
 
Last edited:
Yup, I have android file transfer.

Just uninstalled it using AppCleaner, and the problem is gone! :D

Might have to use an alternative method to connect my phone such as using it in Mass Storage Device mode :cool:
 
Aha! What an efficacious solution.

My GS3 doesn't have another option besides MTP or Camera mode...I'll have to look into finding a workaround.
 
izzy0242mr said:
I think i've figured out what causes it (for me): plugging in any external USB device. Although it doesn't happen when I boot into Safe Mode so it must be software related.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately this is not what happens for me. It happens while I'm typing - right in between keystrokes.
I do have my USB WD External HD plugged in all the time, however... :(

Glad you guys worked it out on your end, though.
 
I have this issue as well whenever I plug in a USB device. No idea what's causing it. Seen this across a couple MacBook Pros, so I don't think it's a software issue.
 
Restart in Safe Mode (hold down the shift key when booting up), and try plugging in a USB device to see if it's truly hardware.
 
I don't think this is a hardware issue. It recently started happening to my MacBook Pro as well since upgrading to 10.8.3. It's been more prominent since the 10.8.4 upgrade however.

Maybe the external usb drives have something to do with it, but I think it's something else.

I'm going to hope that this SWC and PRAM reset helps; it's a pretty annoying pause when moving my cursor.
 
ajanini said:
Unfortunately this is not what happens for me. It happens while I'm typing - right in between keystrokes.
I do have my USB WD External HD plugged in all the time, however... :(

Glad you guys worked it out on your end, though.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Did you manage to solve the problem?
 
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