m15 R6, keyboard completely non-responsive

Question

Any assistance would be most appreciated.. This laptop is just over two months old and it looks like the keyboard just failed. It was working perfectly last night; I powered down the laptop and went to bed. When I turned the machine back on this morning, though, something strange happened. Before entering boot, the screen displayed red, green, blue and white full-screen (solid colour, no graphics), then went black for 10 seconds before the Alienware splash screen appeared. From that moment on, the keyboard has stopped functioning altogether. The only way I'm able to type this message is using an old USB keyboard I managed to find.

I have tried following all the advice in the Alienware support database, including updating the BIOS to the latest version, which didn't work, although the BIOS reported that it installed successfully. All system diagnostics are displaying green and all devices have passed diagnostic tests, but the keyboard remains completely dead. It isn't a CherryMX keyboard, so updating that driver doesn't work either. Looking in the Windows 11 Device Manager, it appears that the system isn't even detecting the keyboard at all, only the USB one I currently have plugged in. I can find no other support online which addresses this problem, and Dell Support chat is unavailable. In short, HELP!

Craneskin · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions, crimsom, but that doesn't seem to be the problem. I ran chkdsk from outside the OS, then examined the report in Event Viewer.. No errors were detected. Also, the keyboard doesn't work even in the BIOS, so it doesn't appear to be a Windows-related problem.

Update=Resolved-switched it back on, and suddenly the keyboard is functioning perfectly again, so it appears that it hasn't failed after all.

michael_eg · Answer

Please help, I am having the same problem any suggestion on how to fix it?

DELL-Jesse L · Answer

michael_eg,

Browse to https://dell.to/3L9oIcw.

Identify your Dell computer.
1. 1. Click Download and Install SupportAssist to auto-detect your Dell computer. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Dell SupportAssist. For more information, see the Dell knowledge base article Dell SupportAssist (formerly Dell System Detect): Overview and Common Questions.
1. 1. Enter the Service Tag of the laptop and click Search.
1. 1. Or, click Browse all products and select your Dell computer from the catalog.

Select the Operating System that is installed on the Dell computer.

Under Category, select System Utilities.

Locate the latest Cherry Keyboard Firmware Update Utility firmware (Version v20 or newer).

Click Download and save the file to your computer.

Open File Explorer and browse to the location where the downloaded file is saved.

Double-click the downloaded firmware setup file and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process.

Alienware

m15 R6, keyboard completely non-responsive

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