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Dell Inspiron Keyboard Problem
Hello all. This is my first official post here. I've have the Dell Inspiron 500M laptop. It worked great till one day the keyboard stopped responding. All keys don't respond except for some peculiar situations. When the computer boots up, the keyboard doesn't respond at all. Therefore I can't even get into my BIOS even if I wanted too. Once the computer finishes booting up, I can use the external USB mouse and even the touchpad with no problem. The keyboard doesn't work at all, no capslock, no numlock, no nothing. When I start IExplorer and try to type anything: nothing happens but if I hit certain keys in succession, the browser closes and then if I try and restart IExplorer from the shortcut on my desktop or the shortcut in the tool tray, it brings me to the dialogue box where the .exe file is located. At this point, the touchpad doesn't work partially. What I mean is the mouse moves if I touch the touchpad but when i tap the touchpad to click on icons, it doesn't respond. So I have to manually click the left button on the touchpad. Everything resets when I restart the computer, which I have to do almost everytime to figure out what might be causing the problem. When restarting the system, the computer beeps atleast 7-9 times in a distinct pattern quickly before showing the Dell logo on screen.
I've contacted Dell support several times and tried troubleshooting the problem with them and the best advice I got was to check all the connections of the keyboard internally and try to isolate the problem. I not only rechecked the connection of the internal keyboard but I thought it might be some malicious virus so I re-installed windows xp and even flashed the BIOS but that didn't help. I finally decided to replace the keyboard, figuring that must be the final problem but when I swapped in the new keyboard, same problem.
Although the keyboard appears to completely dead and inactive, I've realized that when I start to press multiple keys to get any response, some short cuts do activate, although I don't which keys I hit exactly. There are some responses but only when I press multiple keys in succession. Anyhow, I don't know what to do at this point. Dell acts as if though this problem is a first to them and they insist it has to be the keyboard, but I switched it and now I've spent upwards of 15-20 hours trying to troubleshoot this and I'm about to lose it. Any advice or help would be much appreciated. Thank you ahead of time.
Ks.
Message Edited by KidSeoul on 12-20-2005 08:06 PM
AussieChris
4.2K Posts
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December 21st, 2005 18:00
Hi,
Unless you are very unlucky and got a bad replacement KBD, it sounds like the KBD controller on the MBD. Are there any signs of a spill ? If not it could have been taken out by static, or you may just be unlucky with it. The MBD costs a lot more than a KBD.........
Regards Chris
KidSeoul
2 Posts
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December 22nd, 2005 06:00
Thanks for the insight chris.
I spoke to Dell Support Online earlier today and the techy helped me realize there were two screws missing from the laptop - one missing from the bottom of laptop and the other internally. I realized my dad did a switch of the keyboard so it's been replaced twice altogether. It may be like you stated - my dad could've touched the MBD and set off a static charge. But he replaced it for similar reasons as my need to replace the keyboard, it was not responding. Anyhow, thats probably how the screw was missing internally. The Dell tech told me that all screws must be in place or the system will faulter. Now I'm going to get replacement screws from the local hardware store and I hope this solves the problem. He also told me to remove the hard drive, cdrom and battery. Then hit the power button for 20 secs to discharge all static and then put the cdrom and harddrive back and fasten all screws tightly into the laptop. If this doesn't work, which I'm afraid will occur, I'll try your method and investigate into a new MBD. It's quite the annoyance but I still need it Thanks again for the advice Chris.
James
AussieChris
4.2K Posts
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December 22nd, 2005 18:00
Hi,
Static can cause a problem from the moment you touch the computer. You dont have to take it apart to cause trouble. The worst would be a hot dry day walking over a synthetic carpet and the touching it. I mentioned as a possible cause only. All the screws should be fitted, but I have seen a few with screws missing from the factory...... Make sure you get metric. A hobby shop may be a place to start. There is one underneath to lock in the CD drive, it isnt needed and has a shank if you do try to replace it. Be sure to use screws of the correct length as longer ones can do serious damage.
Regards Chris
chinmaya87
2 Posts
0
August 31st, 2016 23:00
Hi
I have a Dell touchscreen laptop and the problem is SHIFT+2, SHIFT+3, SHIFT+' keys are swapped among each other. Please help me out. I have two Dell Laptops and it happened with both of them.
Thanks
Chinmaya