Macbook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) | Function Keys F1 - F9 Not Working

[NoOneKnows]

Evening everyone,

After replacing the HDD in a recently acquired MBP from early 2011, and fixing the Dual Graphics issue by re-soldering the GPU back to the motherboard with a heatgun, I discovered I was no longer able to use the function keys from F1 to F9. The volume function keys, F10 to F12 still function, though.

I've combed through hours of Google searches and have taken this MacBook apart more times than I care to count; reseating the ribbon cables and cleaning multiple components with 99% Isopropyl alcohol in hopes something was dirty. I've even wiped the hard drive and reinstalled macOS from scratch in hopes that this would fix my issue.

To my dismay, none of these attempts have resolved my issue.

Any advice anyone can offer on a solution they found with their MBP is greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

-Adam

 

[NoOneKnows]

It's important to mention I've attempted the following with no success:

• SMC / NVRAM Reset
• Reseating Ribbon Cable for Keyboard
• macOS Reinstallation
• Drive Replacement
• Updated macOS with the latest version available to 2011 Models, 10.13.6
• Enabled / Disabled Keyboard Preference "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys"

I've attempted these actions multiple times to ensure I've not missed any steps, to no avail.

While it's not imperative to the function of this MacBook Pro for the F1-F9 keys to work, I'm curious if there's other users out there who have experienced an identical issue and found a resolution - short of replacing the keyboard altogether.