Help? Should I replace Keyboard?

First of all, I've already turned sticky keys off. It's possible my computer might still think sticky keys are on, but the box is unchecked, and I turned off the shortcut (shift 5 times)

So I'll just be typing along on my m1330 xps laptop, and crazy stuff starts happening. The volume will just max out on its own, it will come off mute randomly (embarrassing in my classes), it will just keep trying to eject the cd drive (slot load, so it just makes the robot noise).

So all of these functions are controlled by the touch-media buttons up top.

However, one other fun thing happens. Every time I press the enter key my pointer freezes for 5 seconds or so. So I'll hit enter after writing something in gmail chat, and then I can't do anything for 5 seconds (unless I hit alt+tab, or windows+d)

I played with this for a second and tried to figure out what keystrokes triggered the problem. I thought I was on to something when pushing "O" a bunch of times made the eject button go off, but then it started happening when I'd push L and not O. But the enter key problem is consistent.

Also, my keyboard is sluggish, and sometimes certain keystrokes don't work if one of the media button operations is going off.


Help?

 

Wow, lots of possible causes;

Viruses?

New drivers, recently?

In gmail - are you running an SSD?

Does your mechanical HD need chkdsk run to map out bad clusters?

Static?

The simplest thing to try?

Unplug your computer. Remove the battery. Press the power button (actually, I press all the buttons, one at a time) a few times.

Leave the computer unplugged and battery removed for 10 minutes or so.

Plug in, insert battery and hopefully thats (static) all it was!

Good luck.

 

Good advice. I'm not sure if replacing the keyboard will help. Making sure you have the latest BIOS might maybe help? (I'm not sure but it's easy and worth a shot).

If at all possible try any other OS related thing, even if it's just booting an ubuntu live CD. If problems persist on another OS then it's hardware, if not it's more likely software.

 

Best suggestion thus far. Your hot keys probably won't be supported under Linux, but you'll be able to tell if there's something physically wrong with they keyboard or not that way. That will let you narrow it down to Windows/drivers/software, etc..

Just out of curiosity, does it happen in safe mode, as well?

 

Thanks for the help guys. Nothing has worked yet.
I booted in safe mode and still had the problem. I ran avast and spybot in safe mode.
I booted ubuntu 9.10 off the CD and had the same problem. Right now "o" "0" and "9" are all making the eject button go off, but only once in a while. Also, my backspace key is wierd. I can only get rid of one character per keystroke, so I can't hold down the backspace key and have it quickly delete letters. I just have to push it one at a time.

Also, I recently got a new battery. After the change, my system clock got all screwed up. So every time I turn it off when it's not plugged in it resets the clock to some random time a few hundred years ago.

Could these be related?

I'm going to try the static remedy next, but then I have to reset my clock, which makes my virus software freak out and my browsers think everything is a security threat. (because of the messed up date).
Also, the problem with my mouse pointer is worse. it now freezes for many seconds. Right now it seems to be permanently frozen, but I can still use tab to navigate around.
Any more ideas.

 

Just thinking... did you or anybody in the family ever spill anything on the laptop?

Did the laptop travel from a cold environment to a humid warm one? (condensation)

I know some Vaios had a touchpad problem which was static related - per see static is a good idea...
But where doe it come from...

This makes me remember - I had a static problem in Poland...
Some fabric will build up static (e.g. wool, types of nylon...) make sure your laptop is on a static free area helps if you want to get rid of it and don't charge it again all the time...

 

So does anyone have any ideas for how I can make sure that replacing the keyboard would fix the problem? If I plug an external keyboard in and it works fine, does that mean that the problem must be with my keyboard?

 

This sounds like your system board backup battery is dead, and for some reason either won't recharge, or it won't take power from your new battery, which is odd. Have you tried running the diagnostics as suggested in the XPS M1330 Owners Manual here ( http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1330/en/om/RW4910P.pdf)?

 

could you tell me more bout this vaio touchpad static problem as i am having problems with my left mouse button randomly deciding not to work and my touchpad randomly lagging up and the scolling down the side stopping working. i tried new drivers but that didnt work so i just ignored it assuming it was a bad connection or something.

 

Well, on Vaios static built up in the touchpad resulting in a "mad mouse" (jumping all over the place) or an inverted mouse.

However - aparently the touchpad has since changed (design flaw) and the palmrest is aluminium.

Generally a minboard discharge solves the problem - or alternatively, isolating the touchpad from the palmrest.

I don't think mouse buttons were affected by this.