Keyboard problem

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Hi,
My wife brought home a colleages laptop for me to repair. The "q" and
"1" did not type when pressed. I removed the keys and cleaned the area to
no avail. I have two questions. 1st- how hard is it to replace the
keyboard? It is a Gateway Solo 1100. I'm pretty good with PC's as I have
built my own. 2nd- I can't get the keys back on and was wondering if there
is a trick to it. There are two plastic lever pieces that fit on each side
of the key. I can't return the laptop with the keys off. I googled
keyboard repair but found nothing. Anyone with any experience? Thanks,
Tony

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Tony Marcus" <TMarcus@optonline.net(remove)> wrote in message
news:dg22e.11078$QW4.9843@fe10.lga...
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 20:32:36 -0500

> Hi, My wife brought home a colleages laptop for me to repair. The
> "q" and "1" did not type when pressed. I removed the keys and
> cleaned the area to no avail. I have two questions. 1st- how hard
> is it to replace the keyboard? It is a Gateway Solo 1100. I'm
> pretty good with PC's as I have built my own. 2nd- I can't get the
> keys back on and was wondering if there is a trick to it. There are
> two plastic lever pieces that fit on each side of the key. I can't
> return the laptop with the keys off. I googled keyboard repair but
> found nothing. Anyone with any experience? Thanks,
> Tony

Hi Tony... Well they usually just snap back on. There are suppose to be
little hooks on those levels unless you had broken them off.

Keyboards are sometimes easy to replace depending on the laptop model. I
can't say how that one comes out though. And the keyboard might start
working again if the keyboard cable is pulled out and then reconnected.

You might to suggest using KeyTweak. Which can be found at:

http/webpages.charter.net/krumsick/

It allows one to move and reassign keys. Keyboards for laptops are
really expensive by the way. Like $100 and up.


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Replacing a laptop keyboard:
o Scan Ebay for a new replacement part
---- hopefully you just need a USA keyboard which are more common
o Find a service manual / page for the laptop concerned
---- may be on the makers website, may require faxes or "Adventure"

Laptop keyboards are typically a thin sheet which partly clips & partly
screws through the laptop base to the laptop itself. Those screws may
not all be particularly logical in placement, or may even be a bit hidden.

Laptop keyboards connect to the laptop mainboard via a thin film:
o The thin film "cable" has conductive metal foil tracks on it
---- if you buckle the new "cable" you will destroy it
o The connector the film fits into is often ZIFF & *fragile*
---- if you break the connector you have broken the mainboard

Typically the keyboard thin film connectors have a "retain/release"
clip on them - move the latch to "release" before pulling on the film.

With that knowledge, it isn't difficult.

Most difficult bit is usually finding out how to remove the keyboard,
try and find a discussion forum for your laptop maker. They will talk
you through the precise procedure or have the service manual page.
Some laptops have moved to trim pieces behind the keyboard, which
need to be removed first - again, a service manual picture helps a lot.
--
Dorothy Bradbury