m15 R2, keyboard mount/ribbon cable issues

Question

Received my R2 in May of 2020 and on about the 3 month mark (end of July, beginning of August maybe) I started noticing that the keyboard backlight would be off, seemingly randomly.  I then started noticing that the keyboard wouldn't operate at all on occasion.  Through about a month of troubleshooting and just living with no backlight, I tried to start a ticket for the issue.  There on the product support front page was a Top Solution for ' Keyboard Lights not Working on Alienware Laptops'.  Following the directions requires a reinstall of the command center, however after uninstalling and trying to reinstall, I get an installation Fatal Error - 1603 code (also a known issue apparently).  I was finally able to install the command center from the Microsoft store, as the solution suggests (but doesn't provide the link...  by the way it's almost impossible to find.  see link).  After install, the lights come back on... and the moment I pick it up again, the lights go out.   So I go and call Dell, who instructs me to do a full reinstall of my OS (super thrilled about this by the way.  Thanks!!!), because they don't have a solution to this 1603 Fatal error, and the version on the Microsoft store is 'no good', so the only way to fix it is to start from scratch.     Following the OS wipe and factory reset, I get technical support back on the phone, and following a series of tests and log pulling, they are kind of stumped... which tells me it's not a software issue, so the case is being escellated.    During that session however, I believe that I was able to figure out what is occurring, and I'd like the community to see the below image. The error is reproducible, and restarting the AWCCService through services.msc fixes the light issue temporarily, however I wonder for how much longer in my case.    The below is a picture of a replacement keyboard for the R2. I am able to recreate the issues with the keyboard (lights turning off and non functioning) consistently when pressing on the chassis anywhere between the screws circled below in red.  If the chassis is pressed anywhere else, there is no change in condition.  Please note that this is also the location of the ribbon cable connection to the keyboard.      The reason that the lights turn off when the computer is picked up is that the chassis will flex in this location and cause the same reproducible symptoms. I'm curious to see if the cable is being pinched during use and has worn over the past 4 months to the point it's shorting out when pressed.   Will update when the engineering team reviews the logs.

FamineMK · Answer

Thank you for your post.

A response was in fact posted to that private message though, almost 5 hours ago, with the service tag as requested. Further, Dell responded shortly thereafter with "Thank you for your information. One of our technical experts will get in touch with you shortly."

I'm not sure what you mean that no response was received... Unless you mean that Dell has not responded with the tech expert contacting me. Because in that case, you are correct. Nobody has.

DELL-Cares · Answer

We tried reaching you on a private message but did not receive a response. Please feel free to reply to the private message whenever you are available.

A51-06 · Answer

Are all the screws mounted properly?

and is the ribbon cable damaged or bent in any way?

i found out the hard way when my 15 r1 from 2014 had the macro key cable torn to shreds and then burnt from all the heat in the laptop.

had to replace it and then it started working again.

FamineMK · Answer

So here's an update:

The ticket was created 8/27. Since that time, I have spent almost a week with tech support via phone "remotely diagnosing" the problem. On 9/3 I was told that they had the information and that I would be contacted to determine next steps. That is where everything on this ticket turned upside down.

On 9/5 Dell contacted me and copied a third party on the email indicating that the motherboard needed replaced. This third party has been copied on the emails back and forth to Dell until 9/13 when the party indicated that they were not associated with this ticket. For 8 days my entire ticket correspondence, which includes my name, address, and telephone number were released to another customer.

To make matters worse, Dell changed the phone contact information on my ticket to the third party's phone, so the technician wasn't even able to get in touch with me. So here we are, 9/15 and the laptop still hasn't been repaired. There is so many failures during this entire experience with this laptop that I cannot continue to recommend Dell products to my clients unless some drastic changes are made.

A51-06 · Answer

If you have credit cards that were mentioned and emails, phone numbers and addresses.

id block that card and change my email password plus make a new number as I’ve never seen or have experienced that before so this is new.

but like dude, I feel bad for you.

Alienware

m15 R2, keyboard mount/ribbon cable issues

Was this post helpful?