I be travelling. And brought my little notebook computer with me. Which has developed the most amazing fault. Half the keyboard works: the other half doesn’t.
It runs in a line, about 45 degree angle, across the board. 3 doesn’t work, four does, n doesn’t work, m does.
Anyone any clue as to what this might be?
17 responses so far ↓
1 Peter Whale // Dec 2, 2012 at 10:10 am
Have you had a stroke?
2 Ian B // Dec 2, 2012 at 10:41 am
Might be the keyboard switch matrix is in 3 sections, and one has failed. Not something that could be diagnosed without a circuit diagram anyway.
Either that, or it’s one of those things where a certain shortcut converts part of the keyboard into a numeric pad, and if you don’t know you’ve done it, you just get part of the keyboard not working.
But it’s probably just fucked.
3 bloke in spain // Dec 2, 2012 at 11:00 am
Got a laptop here with the same problem. You been giving it a clean? I probably damaged my one wiping the keys clean with a damp cloth. Too damp. Some water got down between the keys & got on the underlying electrics. Blew one of the keyboard zones.
4 Matthew L // Dec 2, 2012 at 11:07 am
Might be a loose keyboard connector too. What model is it?
Tim adds: Samsung N 145 plus
5 KJ // Dec 2, 2012 at 11:16 am
You should be able to get a USB keyboard to fit over your netbook for about 7 or 8 quid.. hope this helps..
6 Matthew L // Dec 2, 2012 at 11:36 am
Here’s a video on how to take the keyboard out and replace it. Try reseating the keyboard connector, see if that helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDt-4rh-f4I
7 PaulB // Dec 2, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Keyboards are wired in a matrix: a keypress is detected by scanning the horizontal and (diagonally) vertical lines to find which two are connected together.
8 Ian B // Dec 2, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Thank you, Captain Obvious!
Sorry, had to be said
9 PaulB // Dec 2, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Yes Ian, I know you knew that. But not everyone does. Strange, I realise.
10 Ceri Reid // Dec 2, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Check that the problem exists if you’re just running the BIOS setup program (F2 or whatever when the system’s booting; there’s usually somewhere in there where you can type the name of the machine or something) – if it does, then it’s a hardware problem, if not it might be a Windows thing.
Most likely it’s a hardware problem. My experience is that it’s usually a keyboard problem rather than the chip that reads the keyboard – so it’s worth replacing the keyboard on spec to see if that fixes the problem. ($38 online)
The keyboard removal/replacement is very easy – 3 screws. There’s a Youtube video showing how to do it.
11 Dave // Dec 2, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Checking to see if the keyboard works in the BIOS – usually hit del or F1 as soon as the machine boots – is a very good plan. Even before that, check if the lower-left function keys – Ctrl Shift, Windows key etc – are working. It’s incredibly bad form to make them change function even with function lock on.
I would be moderately surprised if it turns out to be anything other than that the function lock is turned-on. Untriggered electronic failures – that is, those not caused by pouring coffee into the machine or some such – are vanishingly rare.
12 Matthew L // Dec 2, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Dave: That’s why I suggested reseating the keyboard connector. A sharp knock to the bottom can often dislodge it slightly.
13 Kevin Monk // Dec 2, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Buy a Mac. Seriously. The build quality is better and a computer is probably one of the main tools of your trade so why scrimp on it?
14 MakajazMonkee // Dec 2, 2012 at 10:15 pm
“Buy a Mac” Then install Ubuntu
15 SimonB // Dec 3, 2012 at 3:27 am
Apple do make exceedingly good laptops but it’s pretty poor advice to recommend a £800+ device to replace a faulty keyboard on a sub £200 device.
16 Andrew Duffin // Dec 3, 2012 at 4:32 pm
Not Thinkpad Edge is it by any chance?
Oh no, I see it’s not.
They have an irreparable motherboard fault that causes something similar – changing the keyboard makes no difference. This must be something of the same sort.
Plug in a USB keyboard – not much of an option on a plane, I know, but probably the only option.
Oh, and buy a better laptop.
HP seem to be OK just now, but they’re about to make 25000 people redundant or something, so this will probably change.
And to all Linux fanboys – this is a hardware issue, you fanatics.
17 Kevin Monk // Dec 4, 2012 at 1:38 am
@15 Simon B…
What’s the opportunity cost of a faulty laptop for a couple of days when you’re earning ~£60k/year?
Recommending the purchase of an £800+ laptop is very sound advice.
@14. Yes, install Ubuntu if you want but as Andrew@16 points out, it was the quality of the hardware I was referring to.
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