laptop keys sometimes won't respond

**rh71** · April 17th, 2003, 09:23 AM

Erratic problem on my friend's laptop... the G, H, Backspace keys SOMETIMES don't work on her HP Pavilion N5425. She swears she never eats or drinks near the thing...

HP support tells her:

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before beginning, disconnect the AC Adapter and then remove the battery.

1. Reseat the memory (RAM).
2. Reseat the modem; it is under the floppy drive.
3. While the power is still disconnected, hold the system reset for
about 30 seconds. The small reset hole is on the left side of the notebook
4. If the keys are still not responding, go into diagnostics and run
the advanced test on the keyboard.
* If the test passed, uninstall the keyboard drivers, then
restore or recover the system.

* If the test failed, then the notebook needs to be serviced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her friend says the same thing happened to her Dell laptop and she had to have it serviced because it was some kind of short circuit.

Is this a common problem with an easy fix? Or does she have to send it in? I doubt she can do these "test steps" on her own ... but I wanted to know if this is a common thing I can tell her to fix somehow...

Thanks.

**Vagabond** · April 18th, 2003, 09:57 AM

I had a key prob on my old Armada laptop and i popped off the key (carefully) and just cleaned under it (did not see anything major) put it back and it worked

not sure whyor how but it worked.. GL

**Dax_Brandy** · April 18th, 2003, 09:13 PM

my sister had a gateway laptop and has some keys on it not working. he called the customer support and next week a tech will come and replace the keyboard.

**harora** · June 20th, 2003, 01:00 PM

I have pavilion ZT1135 keyboard. Its keys G,H, backspace and " keys are not working intermittently.

I tried all suggestions of HP Support guys. It works for a while and then it does not work. I even re-installed the complete software on the laptop. It worked for 3 days peacefully then back to same problem.

I have done the advance diagnostics of the keyboard things are fine there.

Was wondering if anyone has come across such a situation.

**rh71** · June 20th, 2003, 02:55 PM

Well if you're problems are so similar to my friend's, then it must be a known problem. Practically the same keys and everything.

They should replace the keyboard if you send it in. I already told my friend to do that, but don't know if she has yet.

**zepper** · June 20th, 2003, 04:11 PM

I have occasionally fixed laptop kbds by cleaning the contacts on the end of the ribbon cables that connect kbd to mobo with a small amount of contact cleaner.
.bh.

**serg.kr** · November 23rd, 2008, 01:35 AM

This is a well known problem with some HP laptops. In addition to g, h, and backspace, sometimes the F4, the windows logo key, the right arrow, and the escape keys also stop working. It happens when the laptop overheats and the plastic connector that connects the keyboard to the laptop deforms.

Anyone else who has this issue should read:
IT Resource Center forums - Pavilion notebook N5425 keyboard problem with GH, Backspace not working

In my case, since I have a HP dv6449 laptop, I googled for the dv6000 manual (or "maintenance and service guide"), and read about how to remove the keyboard from the laptop. I took apart the laptop as per the instructions, carefully removed the keyboard, and simply put it back in, making sure to push the cable farther into the connector and making sure that the connection was as snug as it could be. The keyboard has worked perfectly ever since.

**HeuyTheG** · May 15th, 2009, 12:26 PM

I too had issues with g, h, backspace and apostrophe. I scoured many posts (including this one) and found that I could fix this issue myself by simply removing the keyboard and wiping the end of the ribbon cable and re-inserting it. Presto all was well again.

Go to the hp site and get the Maintenance and Service Guide (in my instance HP Pavilion dv6648se Entertainment Notebook PC: Manuals*) which will show you how to get at your keyboard.

I hit a slight hiccup that I wanted to share with you in case you run in to the same thing. When I removed my keyboard the ribbon simply came out of the ZIF connector. I assumed the ribbon cable just slid in and out of this connector but in reality you need to open and close this connector. This is where I hit my hiccup. I was simply trying to lay the ribbon cable back in as it came out but the ZIF connector was closed. I found this tip on the Dell site to show how a ZIF connector works Documentation. For our ZIF connector you would slide it open towards horizontally towards the monitor and not straight up off the motherboard as this Dell example illustrates. With that open it was easy to reinsert my ribbon cable and then lock it down and close everything back up. Has been fixed for a couple weeks now and everything is working fine.

Hope this helps somebody.

**BalckandBlue** · February 6th, 2010, 03:02 AM

I had the exact same issue with the exact same keys. Cleaning the cable and opening (and properly securing) the Zif connector fixed my problem too. I did both at the same time so I don't know exactly which was the culprit but my best guess is that it was the connector. Thanks guys.

**Sabina80** · March 30th, 2010, 01:48 AM

If your keys are not working properly, then you can surely get a replacement for those keys and you dont hvae to buy an entire keyboard. I know a reliable key replacement company. I know a reliable one. They also have video tutorials on how to fix your key. Check out:

Laptop Keys Replacement | Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, Lenovo Keyboards

**sldobbo** · July 24th, 2011, 03:08 AM

okie this is a long time off ... but as i was facing this issue very badly and had to come up with a way to do this without getting the keyboard replaced (yes i am stingy) this is what i did..

first the cause - HP laptops get damned well heated and due to this the keyboard connector gets damaged .. that's why this problem occurs ... so you can first try out disconnecting the keyboard and then cleaning the connector and reconnecting .. if the problem is not very bad this shld get you fixed

but if it has got rele bad.. that is when u hold up the connector to the sunlight then you will see the damaged connector end .. then do this... take a scissor and cut off the end part . not a great portion bt the part which u see as mostly damaged and then reconnect .. do believe me and am not kidding .. now you can see my keys are working rele fine ... hope this helps smone geeky and brave enough

**Mudit** · September 20th, 2012, 01:58 PM

Hello

I have been facing the same stuff with my HP Dv6000' keyboard. The G,H & backspace keys were working intermittently.

I opened my keyboard as the manual prescribed,did the steps which you guys mentioned and then put it back. Now,the moment I press the power button,the laptop starts for like 2 seconds and then it turns off!

Not sure whats happening..It would be great to get some insight on the same

Thanks

**Mudit** · September 20th, 2012, 02:02 PM

Hello

I had the same issue with my dv6000 Hp Laptop's keyboard. I followed the manual and performed the same steps as some of you have mentioned here.

Now the moment I press the power button after putting the keyboard back,the laptop starts for like 2 seconds and then it turns off..

Don't know what suddenly went wrong..Would wait for a quick insight.

Thanks
Mudit

**JEROY** · September 21st, 2012, 10:12 AM

It seems you missed a connection or put it wrongly ...Try to redo the same steps again while taking care if you bent or misplaced the Keyboard connector ..
One thing you can do as a test , turn the dv6000 without its keyboard before reassembling it again ,..