Macbook pro shift key opens preference pane each time pressed...:-(

hold down the option key on your keyboard and then press the volume up or down button on your keyboard. This brings up the sound preferences pane. Click on the Output tab then make sure your headset is selected as the output.

I’m happy to help further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/matt_7e951e081251ffbc

Open the System Preference folder, go to "DISPLAYS" select "SCALED" choose the resolution yoiu desire, this will be trial and error until you have the resolution you are comfortable with. There are are other less permanent ways to do this. hold down the shift key, omand key at the same time, then press the " + " plus key. to revers the size is the command key and the " - " minus key.

See if you can start your Mac in safe mode:

Shut down your Mac and wait 10 seconds.

1. Press the power button.
2. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key. You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.
3. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator (spinning gear).

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac normally without holding down any keys during startup.

If you can boot in safe mode, you have something on board your computer that's interfering with startup. If you've recently installed software, system extensions or 3rd party preference panels (Adobe and Microsoft stuff is notorious), try to disable or de-install it. If you can't get booted in safe mode, you may have a hardware or memory problem that might require technical repair. Repost your progress.

Hi, I also had this problem on macbook air 2011, I tried everything but all failed. However, once I used up all its battery and left it like that for 2 days. After that, everything turned back to normal, the shift key worked normally again. Hope this will help you.

Set your backlighting in
Apple menu
System Preferences
Keyboard.

otherwise try:
Resetting the SMC on any type of Mac (and any version of OS X) and the type of problems that it may resolve.
When & Why Reset SMC on a Mac? Some Common Hardware Reasons

Typically it's power and hardware related issues that can be helped or resolved by resetting a Mac SMC, particularly if you're having these types of problems:

* Issues with your Mac's cooling fans and fan management: fans run constantly at high speed, fans run high despite low CPU usage and adequate ventilation, fans not working at all, etc

* Power management and battery problems: Mac isn't turning on, sleep isn't working, random shutdowns and reboots, battery isn't charging, Mac won't wake from sleep etc

* Light problems and improper lighting management: battery indicator lights aren't working, display backlighting isn't adjusting to ambient light changes, keyboard backlights not working, etc

* Video and external displays not working: display brightness functionality not working properly, target video mode isn't working properly, external display isn't working, etc

* General performance and functionality problems: abnormally sluggish behavior despite no CPU or disk usage, external ports not working, airport & bluetooth aren't showing up, external devices are not being found, etc

So now that you've concluded you need to reset your SMC (Note that the SMC is on Intel Mac's only), here's how to do it on MacBook's, MacBook Pro's, iMac's, Mac Mini's, and Mac Pro's. Notice that the reset instructions are different for MacBook and MacBook Pro's if you have an internal or detachable battery.
Reset SMC of a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro Retina, or MacBook Pro's with an internal non-removable battery

This is how to reset SMC on most modern Mac laptops:

Shutdown your MacBook Air / MacBook Pro
Connect the power adapter to your Mac
On the MacBook/Pro's keyboard, hold down the Shift+Control+Option keys and the Power button at the same time
Release all keys and the power button at the same time
Boot your Mac as usual

Here's the key sequence to hold down:

Reset the SMC of a MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro

Do keep in mind that by resetting the SMC you will lose power specific settings, like the time it takes to sleep a Mac and other customizations to power settings. No big deal, but if you have made many changes to your hardware behavior you will want to adjust stuff like sleep behavior again.
Reset SMC of an iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini

Resetting SMC is different for non-portable Macs:

Shut down your Mac
Disconnect the power cord
Press and hold the Mac's power button for 5 seconds
Release the button
Reattach the power cables and boot the Mac as usual

Reset the SMC of a MacBook or MacBook Pro's with detachable batteries

mac reset the smc Older MacBook laptops with a removable battery can reset SMC with the following approach:

Shutdown the MacBook/Pro and remove the battery
Disconnect the power adapter, hold the Power Key for 10 seconds
Release the power key and reconnect your battery and power adapter
Turn your Mac on
Let boot as usual

Hopefully that will clear up your problems, if not it might be worth a visit to the Apple Store or a certified repair center.

Happy New Year,
Kerry

go to system prefs/keyboard/keyboard shortcuts/keyboard and text input and check the boxes related to input sources and/or

1. Open System Preferences and click International to display its preferences.
2. Click the Language tab.
3. In the Languages pane, drag your preferred language to the top of the list.
4. Restart your Mac or log out and log back in to apply the language throughout your system.

You could try using the startup sound preference pane located here: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16425/startupsound.prefpane

Try starting up in Safe Mode by holding down the shift key. That will be a start to get you into the System Preferences, find your Power Saver preferences and turn Sleep off.
Hope this helps!

It's usually the inverter and not the backlight. You can replace it yourself, it's not that hard.

Fixya.com is a good place to get started. They've got really user friendly guides that will help you from start to finish. Check it out so you know what you're up against.

Otherwise a local Apple tech via craigslist is probably the cheapest route. Or Applecare if that's still a possibility.

When you install Toast, one of the install questions is whether you want Toast to recognize blank CD's or DVD's when they are inserted. If this was set to yes, then I believe this could override the OS acknowledgement and Toast will take over.

One way to check is to open up Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) once you insert a blank disc, if you see the blank disc, try using Disk Utility to mount it, than it will should show on your desktop.

If you want the OS to mount the disc all the time, check your Toast settings.

Check both the preferences in Toast but also under System Prefs-->CDs and DVDs...there is an option there to choose what the computer should do when a blank DVD is inserted. Probably Toast set that System Pref to "Open Toast" based on your install configuration.

The Finder Pref you refer to only determines if CDs and DVDs recognized by the Finder show up on the Desktop. This is only a display preference, not really a determination of whether the Finder is the primary app that will recognize a blank disc. The CDs and DVDs panel in the System Preferences is where you need to go.
if that doesnt solve ur issue... i wud recommend u to reset ur pram and smc.....
Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.

Your computer's PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values. The clock settings may be reset to a default date on some models.
Resetting PMU on PowerBook or iBook computers In some troubleshooting situations, if resetting PRAM does not resolve an issue, resetting the PMU may be the next appropriate step. For information on when this is appropriate and for instructions on how to reset the PMU in your PowerBook computer, see Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU).
Additional Information Resetting NVRAM in Open Firmware If your computer is Open Firmware-based (Power PC) and you are unable to reset NVRAM as described above, you may alternatively reset the NVRAM and Open Firmware settings using the steps in the Solution section of Message “To continue booting, type 'mac-boot' and press return”.
In some cases, an Open Firmware-based computer may not respond to the keyboard commands noted above, and may not allow starting up into Open Firmware by pressing and holding the Command, Option, O, and F keys during startup. If you are unable to get to an Open Firmware prompt (and your computer supports doing so), try powering on the computer with the power button held down continuously—as if you were doing a firmware update. This should force the computer into Open Firmware, allowing the steps in the article noted above to be used.
Contents of PRAM Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below. For Mac OS X information, refer to Mac OS X: What's Stored in PRAM?

• Status of AppleTalk
• Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
• Alarm clock setting
• Application font
• Serial printer location
• Autokey rate
• Autokey delay
• Speaker volume
• Attention (beep) sound
• Double-click time
• Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
• Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
• Startup disk
• Menu blink count
• Monitor depth
• 32-bit addressing
• Virtual memory
• RAM disk
• Disk cache

with respect to ur SMC...
The System Management Controller is an integrated circuit (computer chip) that is on the logic board of the computer. As the name implies, it is responsible for power management of the computer. It controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping.
Over time, the settings in the System Management Controller may become unusable, which can result in operational anomalies with the computer. Examples include not turning on, not waking from sleep, not charging the battery, or not recognizing the AC Adapter, among others.
Resetting the SMC is not intended for resolution of a stall or situation in which the computer is unresponsive. An SMC reset should not be necessary except as a last resort in cases where a hardware issue with the power management system is suspected. Performing an SMC reset resets the hardware power management functions.
For most situations, a restart is sufficient. If the computer has stopped responding, try each one of these steps, one by one. Test between each step to see if it has worked. If one step works, don't worry about the next one. You should only reset the SMC if you've tried all of the steps listed here and the computer still isn't working.

1. Force Quit (Option-Command-Escape)
2. Restart (Control-Command-Power)
3. Force Shut Down (press the power button for 10 seconds)

Only perform an SMC reset on the computer if none of the above steps resolved the situation. If this is the case, see below for instructions on locating the reset button or key combination for your model of computer. If your computer is earlier than the models listed here, see "Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)" or "PowerBook: Resetting Power Management Unit (PMU)".
MacBook (13 inch, Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2008), and MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2008)

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the power button to restart the computer

Note: Starting with MacBook Pro (Late 2008) and MacBook (Late 2008) models, you may instead use the reset method for MacBook Air (below) to reset the SMC. All earlier models of MacBook and MacBook Pro must use the method described above, which involves removing the battery.
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (Late 2008 and later)

1. If the computer is on, turn it off by choosing Shutdown from the Apple () menu.
2. Connect the power adapter to a working power source.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press (left) Shift-Control-Option along with the power button once.
4. Wait 5 seconds and press the power button to start the computer.

Note: You must use the keys on the left side of the built-in keyboard.
You should only perform an SMC reset when the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009) has been properly shutdown. This prevents issues from occurring to the file system.
While the power adapter does not need to be connected to reset the SMC, it may be necessary in situations where the battery needs charging or if the computer has been without power for an extended period of time. You can also visually check the SMC reset by observing the LED on the adapter. It will momentarily turn off as the SMC resets.