motherboard or keyboard? please help

Hi there,

I'm having few problems with my old laptop (compaq evo n1015v). the following buttons cease to work from time to time: 4, 5, R, T, F, G, V, B. If I press on the back of the laptop or on the keyboard at the location where the graphic ship is situated on the system board, they buttons start working again (for a while).

Is it the motherboard or is it the keyboard?

Please help me to define which of them need to be replaced... thanks

note: I already checked the keyboard's ribbon and it's well connected to the board.

 

Pressing on a motherboard (indirectly)4 should have no effect whatsoever on the functionality of the keyboard, and may serve to damage the MOBO. Sounds like a connection issue, either through some cable or through the keys themselves. I'd suggest having the notebook opened and cleaned out.

 

I would also suspect a cable connection. Disconnecting and reconnecting the ribbon cable may help. It is usually held in place in the socket by a piece of plastic which you need to carefully move. Internal connections in notebooks do work loose as a result of all the movement although this is less of a problem than it used to be.

John

 

hi there.

Thanks for replying. I've already opened the laptop and cleaned it out. I also disconnected and connected again the ribbon... but no change.

Do you guys think it's definitively a keyboard problem, and that the motherboard is ok? when I opened/take apart the laptop, I didn't notice any loose soldering in the mobo!

Thanks again
have a nice weekend guys.

 

I can't think of how to make any further diagnosis without swapping parts. Have you Googled to see is anyone else has similar problems with these models?

6 years ago I had a Dell Inspiron 8000 which had an intermittent keyboard problem which could be fixed, for a while, by removing and replacing the ribbon cable. Dell did a permanent fix to the problem by replacing both the keyboard and the motherboard.

John

 

Not sure if this will help, but I remember reading about major issues with HP keyboards and found this on HP's site. It may not be the solution, but it might get you going in the right direction.

 

Thanks,

I'll google to check for similar problems. If no solution found, I guess I'll have to buy a keyboard... I hope it's not the motherboard!

Thanks again.

 

I have the same problem on my 1015v for over a year now. I get by with using a virtual keyboard. I finally gave in and bought another keyboard and just finish replacing it. No joy. It's not the keyboard as far as I can tell