What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

1
So we're at our vacation home, where I leave an old HP Pavilion laptop so I don't have to carry one--on the road I rely on an iPad Mini Retina--the only Apple product I've ever loved, or even LIKED...until I need to get out of Steve's gilded cage ("If you think you need to do that, you should change your business model instead so you don't.".. :angry: )--and the damned thing keeps jamming and setting off a continuous alarm. After a while I discovered that it keeps holding down the "D" key even when it doesn't seem stuck.
Watching a YT (not me...the OTHER "YT") video I saw how to take out the keyboard to replace or attempt to repair. Normally, I use the PC here with a monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse which makes it more comfortable to work on--and the on-board keyboard has always been squirrely--it was my oldest's laptop before a Vaio and 2 Surfaces.
I figured "What the hell? Wonder if it will boot and run using just the Logitech wireless? Sure enough, it's running perfectly with it...but it does look JUST a little weird....
KeyboardlessLaptop.jpg
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

5
Update:
Trying to clean the contacts with electronics cleaner didn't work. I'll order a new one off eBay when I get back from vacation.
Meanwhile, our 50" tv in the bedroom here died too! (EVERYTHING was breaking this week!) I pulled out the PS and Main boards and ordered new ones...if they work it's a helluva lot cheaper than a new TV. And incredibly easy to remove and re-install.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

10
Options:

1) Go on eBay find your model laptop someone is "parting out" and get the keyboard.
2) Get a Wireless or USB keyboard and plug it in.
3) Thrash it and get a new laptop.

Best option is #1
Loads of videos showing disassembly, they aren't that complex and with a small screwdriver set you're in business.
Remove/install a keyboard is probably 8-10 screws and 1-2 small ribbon cables...easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

11
Back home again. The laptop worked GREAT without the keyboard. Even after spraying contact cleaner and then air in very opening, it didn't work. But otherwise it worked with the Logitech unified wireless keyboard and mouse. We leave an old iPad 2 down there...and everyone forgot the PIN code. So, since there's nothing important on it, a full wiped recovery was no big deal.
However, there's a piece of shitware (my new term for shitty software that doesn't come CLOSE to working as it's supposed) that is the only REAL way to get around it, and that shitware is called ... (you guessed it!) "iTunes". First it wouldn't download (the laptop IS a 64 bit Windows 7 machine) at all. I had to run special MS s/w to uninstall "recalcitrant" s/w. Then, when it forced me into the Apple Store, connecting to the iPad with a hard boot (on the tablet) resulted is some crazy endless loop in iTunes. Deleted it and reinstalled....and it happened again! So I started it and forced it to log me out of the Apple Store...and THEN connected the tablet with a hard boot. Took two attempts before it FINALLY did a full recover of the iPad. Yay!

Of course when you start a new version of IOS it ALWAYS insists you MUST use "the Cloud" and thinks you're an idiot if you refuse. So I guess I'm an idiot, because I will NOT even register with "The Cloud".

But that was the story of the week...everything kept breaking. But the weather there was GREAT! Warm, but not hot. Windy, just enough to keep the bugs at bay. Came home to high 50's...and they are calling for more snow tomorrow! I am so done with snow this year!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

12
MaxwellG wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:47 pm Options:

1) Go on eBay find your model laptop someone is "parting out" and get the keyboard.
2) Get a Wireless or USB keyboard and plug it in.
3) Thrash it and get a new laptop.

Best option is #1
Loads of videos showing disassembly, they aren't that complex and with a small screwdriver set you're in business.
Remove/install a keyboard is probably 8-10 screws and 1-2 small ribbon cables...easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Taking out the keyboard is simple. A cover pops off the back. Release one screw. Put the cover back on. Gently pry up the keyboard from the edge nearest the screen till it all pops off. Slide it toward the screen till the other side releases. Flip it over toward you and release one ribbon cable.

But taking the keyboard apart is so problematic it ain't worth it when a used one on eBay is $25-$35.

I went with option 2 as I couldn't go with #1 till I got back...and #2 worked fine--I NORMALLY use it anyway.

#3--eventually. When my iPad mini goes and Apple's ransomware makes it worse, till Apple says "The solution is buy a NEW one!", I'll get a Surface or equivalent and use that as both laptop and tablet. My eldest son basically abandoned his iPad when he got a Surface, and when his Vaio laptop/desktop died he found the Surface did it all.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

15
Depending on the age of the laptop, I would either replace the keyboard or replace the laptop. If its old enough, its not worth fixing. I won't spend money on a laptop over 4 years old as if anything goes wrong at that point, I find it more cost effective to replace than repair. At least for me, they don't have enough value as compared to a refurbished Dell Latitude when there is a sale.

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

20
Sirgol wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:41 pm I had a similar problem with one of the keys from my keyboard, and I had to click that letter to be able to type. It was annoying sometimes, because it took more time to do my elementary work. To get out of this situation, I decided to connect my programing keyboard, which I found in this list of the best programming keyboards teleshoppr.com/best-programming-keyboards, the things are way better now. The new keyboard is very responsive and I never have problems with certain buttons or things like this.
edited post feb 5
spam.JPG
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: What to do when a laptop keyboard fails.

21
Sirgol wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:41 pm I had a similar problem with one of the keys from my keyboard, and I had to click that letter to be able to type. It was annoying sometimes, because it took more time to do my elementary work. To get out of this situation, I decided to connect my programing keyboard, which I found in this list of the best programming keyboards https://teleshoppr.com/best-programming-keyboards/, the things are way better now. The new keyboard is very responsive and I never have problems with certain buttons or things like this.
Do you really think it matters, now, 3 years later? My travel lap top is now a Surface Go. Best laptop since my tiny VAIO from about 15 or more years ago. I finally retired it in 2012. Totally obsolete now, but at the time it was the bomb! I bought it as an internet toy for watching TV in the family room and it turned into such a road warrior my company asked me to take it to test long-distance operations on new tools--when my wife and I went to a wedding of a friend's daughter in France. I used it when I was dragged into a dying sales pitch (I'm not a salesman). I pulled the SIM out of my phone, stuck it in the VAIO, and started demonstrating our product in real time then and there, reviving the sale.

So I don't know what this guy thinks he's is pulling.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests