Alienware m15x Keyboard help

Hi, I recently purchased an Alienware m15x area 51 laptop, and I was testing out the keyboard.. and it doesn't seem to record my keystrokes as I type them. I mean, it does, but I would have to type at a slower rate than normal in order for the keyboard to not miss any keystrokes. I don't even type all that fast; I have a WPM of maybe.. 95ish?

Anyways, when I do double letters-- like when I type "google", it will come out as "gogle". Or if I type "sunny", it will come out as "suny". I know you can set the character repeat rate in control panel for the keyboard, and I've tried that, but either way- same results.

I was wondering if anyone else has this problem, or if it's just me. I was trying to find driver updates for the keyboard on alienware.com but a driver page doesn't seem to exist. If anyone has any solutions or ideas, let me know. Thanks.

(I hope it's not just me though, would hate to have to ship this thing back out to get it fixed/returned or something like that since I've just gotten accustomed to it.)

 

AW is working on a driver for this problem. 95 wpm is pretty fast imo.

 

oh. yeah I just browsed around the forums abit more and found a similar post. Anyways, good to know.. I wanted to try uninstalling the synaptics driver but I can't handle not being able to turn off the touchpad. Anyways, it's good to know that they're working on a driver for the keyboard responsiveness issue.

Ah.. yeah I gues 95 is pretty fast, too much chatting and MUD gaming back in the day

 

I have the same problem. Wasn't the official driver supposed to come out soon?

 

Personaly I'm not holding my breath for an alienware fix for this as the problem appears to be with the synaptics hardware for which they publish their own drivers

 

just email roswell asking when the driver will come out. they will then give you a email when the driver comes out so you can be one of the first to get it.

 

It has been delayed. The drivers have not yet completely finished and the additional delays have come from the recent hurricane in Miami. They're personally keeping in touch with me regarding this issue, which reminds me, I should probably update you guys on the status. I received another email regarding this not too long ago.

August 20th:

---

Here are the two other emails I've received for reference:

August 14th:

August 11th:

 

Double post.

I've addressed that problem on my review on the m15x. The issue should be resolved shortly and I'll personally contact you when I receive any updates regarding this problem.

 

Nice updates. Much appreciated.

 

alright, sounds good. thanks =X

 

Recycling an old thread. For those who got email notification from me, disregard this message as it is the same exact message I PM'ed you.

Looks like we're going to have to wait a little longer than expected. They're pretty much finished with the driver, but they're still validating it to see whether it completely solves the issue.

Again, this is Roswell updating me on the keyboard lag issue. Hopefully they'll be finished validating the drivers soon so we could start using them. I guess it's better that they spend their time trying to get the drivers working correctly instead of giving it to us prematurely, right?

Anyway, please disregard the first portion of the message. I was working closely with them to help Darkfly fix a touch key issue for his m15x.

 

well that's good news. looking forward to this new keyboard driver

 

Doh! I forgot to add you to my list Whizzo. I knew I had forgotten someone. Did you want me to notify you via PM when I receive further news of this?

 

cool... cant wait

 

oh hell yeah

 

wow I didn't even know there was a problem with the keyboard. I thought it was just me

 

me too...me too...

 

Sure thing, I'll update you when I get any information on it.

 

Any word on the fix? And could you possibly PM me, too, when you hear something if you already haven't? Appreciate it!

 

Yeah. I will.

 

any word? this keyboard lag is killing me... makes taking notes almost impossible...

 

people are still getting this?

I just reinstalled the new synaptics driver from the AW website (MyHive) and it fixed my issue... I had this exact same thing happening when I first got my m15x... both after I updated that driver, and when I reinstalled for x64, I've been fine for response rate and repeat keystrokes.

maybe something to try?

 

Patrick, try uninstalling the Synaptics touchpad drivers. For some reason, it alleviated that problem for a lot of people and it helped for me.

 

Mystik, is the driver you installed version 10.1.8.0? Or a more new version?

This is certainly something of a rock and a hard place -- with the drivers installed, I get horrible keyboard lag. Without the drivers installed, I keep hitting the trackpad with the side of my thumb while typing which moves the cursor mid-type because I cannot turn that functionality off without the drivers installed... :/

 

I would like to add that the keyboard itself (hardware wise) is fine. The issue has to do with driver communication latency, which it has been found this laptop (especially if you are using the x34 bios) is having an issue with. If you have a USB keyboard you can plug it in and test it. I can reproduce the issue with mine.

 

Bingo. You're on the spot. I got a response from Roswell yesterday with this:

I omitted most of the email contents because it either does not relate to this certain issue or it goes through the procedure of getting the new keyboard (which isn't really important to this post). You'll be finding bits and pieces (or perhaps even a whole copy) of this email in other threads if you're curious as to what else was discussed. I'll be testing this new keyboard as soon as it arrives and will confirm if this has helped.

If it does, I'm sure as long as you guys have a warranty on the notebook, you'll be able to get a replacement keyboard as soon as this has been confirmed that it does fix this issue with existing models. If anybody else would like to participate in this new keyboard version test in regards to the keyboard lag issue, I can request to see if additional people can participate in testing. Granted, having more people test this will generate a more accurate response, so I'm sure they'll be glad to get more people to test this.

I will disclose further details regarding this when/if enough people are interested.

 

I´m very interrested in testing a new keyboard! I purchased my m15x in Germany so it was build in the UK. Hopefully this will fix the keyboard-lag-with-synaptic-drivers-thing!

 

95 WPM? That's crazy! I do 82WPM which is 86% faster than all facebook users lol, and I thought THAT was fast.

 

count me in. seeing how you're apparently all cozy with Roswell, could you maybe drop some hints in regards to fixing the flexing arrow keys? seeing how they're working on a new keyboard, they might as well fix that issue as well

 

Hey Whizzo,

I just got my replacement m15x a week ago and I did notice 2 main things:

1- The keyboard flex is gone. You have to press extremely hard to make it move a bit. However, the keyboard lag was still there mainly in Source games though. (Not sure if I actually had the new keyboard.)

2- The hinge problem is due to the loose screw under the rubber located at the bottom of the border of the LCD. Just take it out and tighten the screw under it. Then put the rubber back, and don't worry it will stick in it's place again.

and BTW, when you do that, your screen will less to no creak when opening and closing it.

 

i thought the hinge problems came from the right side?

 

It could be both sides actually. The right side on my m15x is very solid, but the left side is not. That's why I fixed it, and now it is even more solid than the right. So, I am gonna be going the same thing for it the right now.

BTW, the left hinge is the one that broke on my previous m15x.

 

interesting, weren't most busted hinges on the right side?

 

Yeah, I think most are on the right.

 

I personally don't have a keyboard flex issue with the arrow keys but I'll be sure to ask them about it anyway. Rebeca (the Roswell Agent I have been working with) has just left her office this weekend and will not be back until October 1st.

I'm not sure if the other Roswell agents are on par with what Rebeca, the Alienware engineers, the product group and I have been working on so it may be awhile before I can convince them to have more people testing out these new keyboards on existing m15x notebooks. I assume they collaborate with each other closely, so we'll see.

In any case, I'll PM you the information on how the process works. Decide on whether you would still like to test or if you would opt until it has been truly confirmed (by me and perhaps maybe a couple other people) that it does solve the keyboard lag issue.

Schnaker, if it fixes the keyboard lag issue, then you should be able to get a replacement keyboard as well as long as you have a warranty on your computer. Since you've purchased your m15x from UK Alienware, I'm not too sure if you'll be able to participate in testing the keyboard since this is with US Alienware. I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask though. I'll check up with them to see if you can.

--

Just a note though: I'm not even sure if Roswell is willing to let other people test, so it's not set in stone yet. I still have yet to ask and since Rebeca has left her office and will not be back until October 1st, it may take some time to see if they're okay with it. I'm sure they will though, since like I've mentioned earlier, more people testing = more accurate responses.

Hell, they may even start distributing them out to people before I even ask. They may have concluded that this has definitely fixed the issue and may be already willing to distribute replacement keyboards to customers. We'll have to see as time passes.

 

there is a DIY fix for the flex. its just that not alot of people did it so it isnt known that well.

 

The "new version" of the keyboard arrived at my house this Thursday and unfortunately, the "new keyboard" wasn't the new revision at all. I have sent Alienware with the pictures comparing the two and they have confirmed that they have sent me the same one, so I'll have to wait a bit before I do get the new revision of the keyboard.

In the meantime, I have been doing a little research and have found that there are other people who have had similar problems on different notebook (on these forums too [ 1]!) I am currently testing this fix out and I'm fairly hopeful that it will stay functioning like it should (for the past hour, I have not experienced any keyboard lag at all in any of the repeated letters/backspacing I have done.)

It would be greatly appreciated if those who have the same issue try out this fix as well and throw in some feedback. It's kind of hard to gauge how effective this fix works (or if it even works at all) but if you guys would like to try it, I would be thankful for any feedback.

Also remember to have the Synaptics Touchpad Driver installed before you start implementing this fix. It's kind of pointless to try this out when you have the Synaptics Driver uninstalled.

#1. Open your Mouse Properties located in your Control Panel and click on the Device Settings tab.



#2. Click on Settings.
#3. Under Pointer Motion > Click on EdgeMotion > Select No EdgeMotion.
#4. Under Pointer Motion > Click on Pointer Refresh Rate > Select Slow pointer refresh rate.

#5. Now open regedit (Start > Run > type regedit).
#6. Before doing anything, back up your registry by clicking on "My Computer" located in the Registry Editor window, then click on File > Export."Save the file name as backup.





#7 Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters.

#8 Right click on PollStatusIterations and select modify. If the binary data doesn't exist, create it (Right Click > DWORD Value > Name the DWORD value ' PollStatusIterations'.

#9. Set the value to 1 (Hexadecimal).

#10. Restart.

Throw in some feedback whenever you guys have the time.

It's pretty late right now so I'll just throw you a brief description (from MS) of what PollStatusIterations is supposed to do:

Edit: Turns out Alienware has sent me the same keyboard. For some reason, I was starting to wonder why it looked exactly the same (even on the label!) I'll be getting the new keyboard sometime this week and will update further. I have updated this post to reflect that, but the workaround described above still holds true to the current testing I have been doing.

 

First post, but I've been following all the threads here about m15x issues for the last week or so. I just bought an m15x.. I've had it for about 2 weeks now, maybe less.

I just tried Oceanus' keyboard lag fix and I think it worked!

I noticed when I had my touchpad enabled while I was doing the above registry fixes, that I got no keyboard lag at all.. I restarted my computer after the fixes, re-checked the "disable touchpad when external pointing device is present" box and I am getting no lag so far.. I just torture tested my keyboard with lots of "apple" and "google" and I didn't get one instance of lag.

I'm so happy! Since I've bought this computer this has been my main issue. I type about 90-100wpm so it was really affecting me and causing me to slow down.

Thanks for the fix Oceanus.. I'm going to continue testing this and I will post back here if I have any issues.


-Brandon

 

I've got another update. I noticed before the fix that my keyboard lag would increase exponentially when my CPU was at 100%. For instance, I was converting audio files and I had to type at like 20wpm or nothing would turn out..

I just ran a CPU stability test, monitored my CPU to verify that it was at 100% the full time, and again typed many many instances of "apple" and "google" without a single instance of lag.

If anybody else has any suggestions of tests they'd like me to run, please leave a comment and I will do so.


-Brandon

 

Glad to hear you're satisfied with it. For the record though, this workaround only reduces the amount of times you get the keyboard lag. It'll still happen but it should not happen as often.

 

Hmm.. So far I haven't experienced any lag issues. I'm on Vista though so maybe that could be the difference?

I wouldn't imagine Vista handling drivers or the registry any differently... but like I said I have yet to see any instances of lag.

Granted, I haven't given this but 10 minutes of testing, haha.


-Brandon

 

Yeah, when I said keyboard lag, I meant the issue you were referring to earlier. They are one and the same issue.

 

Hmm.. I've noticed something else.

Not sure if it was this fix, or if in the last few days something has changed.. but last time I ran the DPC Latency Checker I was about half mid-green/half mid-yellow. Now its about 75% very low green (<100us) and 25% 1000us spikes.

I haven't run any updates or anything since last time I ran the DPC checker..

Did you notice any difference Oceanus?


-Brandon

 

Isn't that better?

..and to be honest, I did not really pay attention to the DPC Latency when I implemented this workaround. Now that I've looked at it, I do have to admit that it does seem a bit lower than what I had before (which is great). My DPC Latency is hovering around 45-83 us' with a few spikes of 500-600 us'.

 

Yea thats definitely better! Did it seem like I wasn't happy with it? Sorry!


-Brandon

 

Yeah, it almost sounded like it was an issue! Haha.

Anyway, I'm very glad to hear about those findings!

 

Hey..I tried the lag fix by Oceanus...it didn't work bro. I have the M15x with Vista 32.

Am I supposed to download a different synaptics driver? I thought it already came installed, it looked like I did, but I could be wrong. I did everything you outlined..

Wes

 

Can you make sure PollStatusIterations is spelled as is? Some of the people I have worked with on this fix has mistakenly placed an "l" (L) in Iterations when it's supposed to be an "I".

Do you mind taking a screenshot of the contents of the "Parameters" folder in your Registry Editor? You can take a screenshot of your entire desktop by pressing the "Print Screen" button and then pasting the picture with "ctrl+v" in Paint. Save the picture as a .jpg or a .gif and attach it onto a post. I can verify if it's done correctly or not.

..and no, you shouldn't have to download a different synaptics driver. The one I am using is the stock version that Alienware has provided me.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, I spelled it correctly.

 

Looks good. One last thing, I know this is a pretty dumb question but did you restart after you have applied the changes? Restarting is what makes all the difference.

If you did, I suppose I'll have to look more into it to figure what the problem is. Weird how it worked for Astro's computer and not yours. You both have Vista.

Also, I've noticed that you're missing two files in that folder.
- LayerDriver JPN
- LayerDriver KOR

As evidenced by Vista:


and XP:


I'm sure both of these files alone have no correlation on whether it influences how this workaround works, but if you're missing those files, there is a possibility that other registry files (that could potentially be influential to this workaround) are missing.