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I just updated my MacBook Air to DP7 and when it booted back up, the keys Q through O on the keyboard no longer function. They do random things, sometimes turning the keyboard backlight on or raising the speaker volume or randomly opening up the launcher. I have no idea what it is doing or why. This MBA is a 13 inch new model with 8gb of RAM. Apple Care had me try the shift-control-option-power restart, but that didn't fix the problem. I'm going to take it to the retail store tomorrow.

Just wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas or had something similar happen to them first.

Since its apparently better form to not provide any details that may allow a super user question answerer to narrow down specific problems, please ignore the two paragraphs above and help me with the following problem:

I have a MacBook Air and all of the sudden out of nowhere, the top row keys between q and o have stopped working and randomly do strange things. I have no additional information about what may be causing this problem. I have no idea what version of my operating system I am running. Please help!

Eric Ryan Harrison
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    Sorry, but "**Questions about bugs in pre-release/beta software or prototype hardware are off-topic.** Bugs in pre-release products are common and even expected, and are often fixed before the final version is released — at which point the question becomes obsolete. Consider reporting these types of problems directly to the product manufacturer. " – nerdwaller Sep 04 '13 at 03:14
  • The rules for the sites on the Stack Exchange network are retarded. How is anyone supposed to be expected to keep track of this kind of nonsense? No offense to you guys, but I don't often have computer problems so when I come into something that I can't figure out, I thought I'd post it here and see if anyone else could give it a shot. If the site "Super User" is not the right place for this sort of question, perhaps we should rename the site "Normal User" or something along those lines. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 12:25
  • Also, on Meta.Superuser it seems like this sort of thing was allowed, assuming it was appropriately tagged. http://meta.superuser.com/questions/3447/should-we-have-a-sub-tag-for-beta-rc – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 12:31
  • Beta testing software is different than being a *super user* of computers and hardware. In any case, there is a little [help](http://superuser.com/help) button on each site with one of the first links being "What topics can I ask about here?" Hopefully that'll help in the future. – nerdwaller Sep 04 '13 at 14:50
  • Yeah, @nerdwaller, then in that case, please re-open this question. The help page you linked specifically says that my question is on topic. It's about hardware, software and is not specifically excluded in the list of topics that are not allowed. The page you linked doesn't even include the word "beta". This "hold" is over-reaching, according to the rules. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 18:48
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    No, it isn't. That's a software issue, not a hardware issue. And if it worked before you got the beta software (or moved to DP7 from 6), then that further proves the point (assuming you didn't spill stuff on your keyboard). Regardless, a mod (@nhinkle) agreed. Best of luck. Try [Ask Different (apple)](http://apple.stackexchange.com). – nerdwaller Sep 04 '13 at 19:03
  • But either way, the specific page that you linked as your reasoning does not make any mention of this question being off topic. In fact, it appears to be very much on topic. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 22:36
  • And why in the heck would you encourage anyone to split off into tiny little niche communities? That is poor form in general. If you'll notice from my submission history, I don't have problems very often, but I'm somehow expected to sort through a poorly organized stack exchange site listing to determine that my computer problem of indeterminate origin is somehow only on topic in a specific subset of a community group rather than in the general purpose computer problem community? That seems arbitrary and asinine. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 22:48
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    Hi Eric, we decided a while ago [on our meta site](http://meta.superuser.com/q/6926) that we don't want **troubleshooting** questions related to **preview software and prototype hardware** (while still allowing other questions, e.g. about how to use new features) because most of these questions are obsolete really quickly. You're right in that we don't explicitly spell this out in the help center as well, but it's not something that comes up very often and we aim to keep the help texts short to prevent 'TL;DR' reactions. So, unfortunately, this question really is considered off topic. – Daniel Beck Sep 04 '13 at 23:00
  • It's an issue similar to [why we don't allow shopping questions pretty much network-wide](http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/qa-is-hard-lets-go-shopping/): They're obsolete really quickly! Just like you don't care about last year's graphics card shopping recommendations, nobody will care about troubleshooting advice for a preview version when the finished release doesn't have the same problem. Feel free to drop by in [chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/114/ask-a-super-user-moderator) if you have further questions. – Daniel Beck Sep 04 '13 at 23:10
  • The other potential problem is that I don't actually know why my keyboard stopped working. Google searches have completely failed me and it seems to point towards a hardware issue (water in the device), but since I haven't spilled anything on my brand new laptop, I ruled that out. Even if something becomes outdated quickly doesn't mean that it's not a problem now and I think these questions should be allowed. And EVEN if you, as a community, decide that it shouldn't be allowed, for the love of God, make those reasons clear in the help pages that you quote as the reason. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 23:17
  • And you probably should go close this question: http://superuser.com/questions/610157/how-do-i-install-ant-on-os-x-mavericks – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 23:20
  • If you've decided something on Meta, then that information should be provided in the Help information as well. It's infuriating to be quoted the superuser.com/help page as the "reason" why my question is off-topic when it doesn't actually say anything about the "reason" my question is off-topic. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 04 '13 at 23:25
  • Did you try it on another computer yet? Did it work there? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Sep 05 '13 at 03:25
  • The NVRAM reset seemed to have worked. I took it in to the Apple store to check for water damage (it's really humid in Georgia right now) and the guy said it was in pristine condition inside. I'm tentatively optimistic. – Eric Ryan Harrison Sep 05 '13 at 12:14

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Try NVRAM reset, instructions here, or doing a safeboot (hold shift while starting up)

Cory M
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