M1330 Keyboard Woes...

My keyboard on my M1330 is not completely flat. The "J" key and the keys all around it are all higher than the rest of the rest of th keyboard. I asked about this in the M1330 Users Forum and somebody mentioned that the wiring for the wireless antenna are under the keyboard and sometimes push the keyboard up in places. Has anybody else experienced something similar to this? If a service representative were to come, what would they have to do to reset the keyboard? I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle and just deal with it.

 

Ask for a replacement. It's a known issue.

 

If I were to ask for a replacement, would it be a brand new system or would they send me formerly rejected M1330? Could they just have somebody replace the keyboard? I almost don't want to even bother, I don't know...

 

I have the exact same keyboard issue. My J, U, I, 7, 8, F7, F8, F9 keys are all raised compared to the rest of the keyboard. I am considering calling Dell and trying to get someone to come over and replace the keyboard.

 

Well they *should* send you a new system. You have the ability to refuse that replacement if you think it's worse than your current system.

 

I just got off XPS Chat about my keyboard. They are sending a replacement keyboard and the technician will call me to set up an appointment as soon as they receive the part. We seem to have the same keys all messed up.

Again, it's nothing major, I can still type normally, but it annoys me to look at, when you press any of those affected keys, the entire keys in that area tend to move with the keypress. I thought they would just have to tighten some components underneath the keypad, not replace the entire part. I'm also wondering what is entailed to replace a keyboard, I'm afraid this technician might screw something up! I'm probably just being paranoid.

The support representative even asked me how my XPS letters were holding up, as I called up a week and a half ago when the "P" had fallen off. XPS support is legit!

 

I had the same problem. Today the Dell guy came to visit me, as he was changing the palmrest with the one with the fingerprint reader they forgot to add. I told him about the keyboard issue and he tried to fix it in the process. The keyboard is still not entirely flat, but i think 99% people wont notice.

Just for curiosity i wanted him to fix the spongy right side of the keyboard, but that one he couldn't fix. He said there's nothing he can do about it. Well it doesnt really bother me.

 

So the majority of those bumps in the keys are gone? I was thinking about that spongy right side as well, I couldn't see what they could fix to make that side more solid. What was the reason why the keys on the right side would be so "unflat" for lack of a better word? What did your technician do to fix this?

 

I didnt watch him, coz i had other work to do. I had a bulge in the middle, and now it's almost gone. He said something about cables running under the keyboard.

 

Ok, I feel a tad better now!

Did he replace the entire keyboard or just mess around with the cables only? Thanks.

 

He used the same keyboard, probably just rearanged those cables.

 

That would be good enough for me... Thanks for your help!

 

Yea, if it worked for you, I will probably get it done too.

 

Guys this is nothing major, its because the Wifi antennae is not secured properly underneath the keyboard (its supposed to be attached to little metal hooks). The technichian will simply remoe the keyboard and attach that little wire so it doesn't lift the keyboard anymore

No need to replace anything, nothing is damaged/broken just sloppy assembly.

 

As the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words (and a service manual has a lot of pics as well as a thousand+ words... )

 

It's funny how they still send out a keyboard when this is a pretty known problem that is rectified by simply getting those wires under the hooks.

 

Well the technician just left. He was supposed to be here this morning but never showed, ended up calling later and came that same evening. He didn't even have the keyboard in his truck, good thing a replacement wasn't needed.

The wires were a little all over the place underneath they keyboard. he tucked them underneath as best he could. Is the keyboard perfectly level? No, but it is better than before. The only issue was the technician installed the thin wire that connects that media buttons to the machine backwards at first, so he had to then unscrew everything and get the wire turned the right way.

I've been messing around with that media bar now and it doesn't fit as snug as it use to, it does move slightly on the left side when touched. Maybe one of the snaps isn't in correctly, I may investigate on my own now that is saw how it was done.

 

Fiddled around with it, there's no change, the media bar were it says "XPS | 1330" moves, albeit slightly, when touched. It was in solid before. I don't know if I'm missing a latch or not. I guess I just won't touch that area, not like there's ever a need to really.

 

I'm still unsure whether to get a technician here to fix my keyboard bump. I really don't want something else accidentally changed for the worse.

 

Again, there is a slight difference in the level of they keyboard but it is still there. It would be hard for an "average" user to spot it, but people like us would have no problem. If you can deal with the keyboard the way it is your better of not having a technician come look at it. It is pretty simple to get to it yourself it you wanted to be more adventurous.

The left side of that media bar doesn't have a screw to keep it in place, it just latches. I must be missing one of the latches. I may be cracking open my M1330 again in the next few days. I did open the wireless card and ram slots, just to see what was going on in there.

 

omg, give the man a merit badge...

 

I had the same problem with the keyboard.
I was considering to send it back and have it replaced, but my M1330 is one of the few i have come to see so far that is absolutely flawless in every other aspect.
The paintjob is fantastic, all cables are in place, no ugly gaps in the case, everything is fitting snugly. I have no CPU whine, my fan is inaudible and my battery whines only for about 2 minutes at the beginning of a charge cycle.
It is what i expected it to be and became after only 4 or 5 days an integral part of my daily life.

So i don't want to send it back, what do i do about the keyboard?
I decided to do it myself.
Here is what i did:
- unscrew the 2 screws in the battery compartment
- take of the control panel (be VERY carefull not to rip off the cable for the media buttons!)
- unscrew the 2 screws holding the keyboard in place
- lifting of the lit securing the keyboard cable and took the keyboard off.

After carefully examining the area that i suspected to cause the problem, so around the F9, 8 and 9 keys.
I have no picture, but approx under the K-key the WiFI antenna assembly surfaces and goes towards the power button. Approx under 8 key it makes a 90° turn to the right, towards the hinge where it will continue into the LCD frame.

Anyway, the assmbly consists of 3 cables (that you could see when opening the WiFI card compartment) that is housed in a rubber tube in the area in question. I found that exactly in the 90° turn, the cables switch places (the outer most becoming the innermost, crossing the other two on top) causing a small "hill" in tube. It took me about 10-15 minutes to carefully rearrange the cables in the tube, flattening the assembly.
After that i reassembled the notebook.

My M1330 is now absolute pristine and i simply love it.

**Disclaimer**
The work described above should only be carried out by a professional with certification to carry out work on the M1330. You are responsible for your actions, every work carried out on your laptop is done at your own risk. The author can not be held responsible for any damage caused or any other resulting effects, including but not limited to loss of warranty.

 

Hey, I'm an overachiever!

 

What about the media bar on the left side, where it says XPS and M1330... Does it stay snug or does it move when touched?

 

Here's a picture so that everyone can follow you better

 

Any reason for this hilarious disclaimer?

 

Hi, I also decided to give it a shot but ran into trouble early on

First of all, I found the cable that connects the Central Control Cover glued to the back of the cover, presumably to avoid the connector from accidentally dislodging (and also the keep the cable neatly in place).

That connector was sooo small that it made me quite nervous. As I was still considering if I wanted to "peel" the glued-on cable from the cover, I went ahead and unscrewed the two keyboard screws. when I went to lift the keyboard straight up (as instructed to in the service manual), I found that it wouldn't budge...

How much force did you need to lift the keyboard up & did you lift it first or slide it towards the screen first ('cause there appears to be a small tab* attached to the keyboard on each side that sits underneath the side railings)?

*Just to the bottom-left of the escape key (ditto @Delete key)... at least it looks like a tab to me...

Anyways, due to the problems I encountered above and not wanting to risk pushing my luck, I gave up.. but maybe you can re-inspire me to give it another go

 

Yes, there are two "tabs" at the very rear (left side, behind the speaker grill) of the control cover and I'm guessing the rep missed one (or both). I would think that if he indeed missed one, you'd be able to detect it by closely inspecting that area from behind the notebook, immediately above the exhaust port (Notebook must be in closed position of course).

If you don't see anything there is the slight chance that maybe the left-most tab broke off (but I doubt that) and in any case, you can safely unscrew the control cover, gently pry it open (from front to back) and check for the tabs, then try to properly position it back into place. When properly seated, it sits quite snug, even without the screws. If it doesn't, you didn't seat it properly.

Throw something soft (like a cloth) over the LCD so that if you should slip, you won't contact the screen with the cover!

 

In my case, there is an overlap of the WIFI cables (should be 3 abreast). Unfortunately, the overlap was under the heat shrinked tube, so I had to (carefully) cut/split just enough of the heat shrink to move the wires about.

Talk about going under the knife.....

Looks good now.

 

rather than rearranging the wires, you can CAREFULLY remove (cut) the black wrapping on the 90 degree turn to alleviate the bump.

 

...keep seeing this strange image, sort of a combination of characters & numbers, arranged in some cryptic pattern...

...F8 F9...
.6.7.8.9.0.
...Z.U.I...
.G.H.J.K.L.
...B.N.M...

What could it possibly mean...

rolleyes

 

I too found my 1330 had the bump in the middle of the keyboard. So I decided to open it up and do a bit of exploring. I found this:



The bump in my case was caused at the 90 degree turn of the cable bundle at the top. The bundle was too far to the right, so it did not sit in the indentation as it should, but rather was on the edge, hence causing the bump under the keyboard.

So what I did was tug on the cable bundle and moved the cable to the left, so it sits flush in the indentation.



In another thread, someone said there was a screw which may be lifting up the cable bundle a little. There is a screw, but I dont think that was the major problem in my case.



I also had the issue ot the right side of the keyboard being a bit floppy, ie it would depress when pressing right shift, enter, or the arrow keys etc. So I added some double sided tape (only removed the adhesive from one side tho, so the keyboard can be removed easily later) on that side as below:



Finally, there seemed to be a bit of a depression at the F3 and F4 keys as well, so I added a bit of tape there too for good measure.

And thats it, put it all back together, and now the keyboard is stable as a rock and flat as a ruler.

One caution tho, the right hinge cover was a bit of a pain to pull off. I almost ripped off the thin tab where the arrow is. Luckily it didnt detach, so I gently nudged it back into its normal position as shown. So be careful of this if you are going to try this. I probably wont remove it ever again lol



GL, and happy new year

 

Thx for the excellently illustrated "walkthrough"

Just one question, though: how "too far right" could the cable bundle have possibly been considering the cable-clip goes from right to left...? I am of course assuming that the first pic was taken after you relocated the bundle...

Thx again for the input

 

Yes, I didnt take the pic till after it had been fixed, but it was clearly visible that it was cutting the corner because it was above the surface level

 

Nice little guide on what you did, I don't think I want to mess with my xps after seeing it though, with my luck I would break that hinge.

 

Just received mine this afternoon - obvious keyboard bulge. I didn't want to mess with mine so called Dell Support, they asked me to send a pic and they will decide whether to replace the whole laptop or send a technician to fix it.

Ordered Jan 7, delivered Jan 24. Assembled in Ireland.