DV8000 Series - Keyboard problems. Anyone else?

I've started emailing consumer editors, am filing a complaint with the FTC and the Attorney General's Office, also going to do what Night suggested. HP telling anyone what is illegal is pretty funny. I love it, now they just hang up on their customers.

 

So going out on a limb here, it seems there's a lot of upset people having issues with their keyboard, there's no way for me to tell what percent of dv8000, dv5000 owners this is though. While the amount of written and corresponding complaints makes this quite obviously a real thing, I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that could capture video of typing on the keyboard and the wrong stuff coming up on the screen. As you all know, YouTube.com is a very powerful thing and if we could get video (beit a DV cam or digital camera that captures video) of this happening to corroborate all of these complaints I could post an article that is absolutely sure to get attention on the web and force HP to do something more than they are to help customers facing this issue.

 

Abaxter,

Ubatz and I will work on getting some video of it. Thanks for looking into this.

 

That'd be great. Just PM me or let me know how this progresses.

 

Will Do, thanks

 

boy, I am being offered to send in mine for replacement. I went to circuitcity yesterday to get a new toshiba laptop since my work is based on computer I can't do without one. Circuity went up on price in 4 hours!! didn't do price match saying compusa store is not with in 50 miles of where circuit city was, finally bought a camcorder, but will be returning it, found it 80 bucks cheaper in walmart.

soon as I get new one I will take video of mine. Fan in my computer makes noise when playing anything contains flash and stays on mostly, color on speaker came off! It is simply bad hardware.

 

The exposure is a good idea.

But watching somebody type on video and seeing the mistakes come up onscreen will probably just look like a bad typist, not a bad keyboard. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean.

 

These are a few posts of other people having the same problem as us with their notebooks. HP is still saying they've heard nothing from consumers about it:
http://www.talkshack.com/showthread.php?t=518&page=1&pp=10
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread142166.html
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/...43064&admit=-682735245+1160531178584+28353475
http://www4.shopping.com/xPR-Hewlet...-239627701892~r-1~CLT-INTR~RFR-www.google.com
http://www.enigmacurry.com/comments/feed/
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_Pavilion_dv8000/4852-3121_7-31563915.html?ord=opinionQualityScore+asc
http://www.amazon.com/Pavilion-dv8130us-Notebook-Processor-LightScribe/dp/B000E21VOS
http://cnet.nytimes.com/HP_Pavilion_dv8000/4852-3121_7-31563915.html?ord=creationDate+desc
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_Pavilion...essageSiteID=7&messageID=1828742&cval=1828742
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/06/27/when-laptops-go-bad-hp-laptop-lemon/
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1052728
http://forums.amd.com/lofiversion/index.php/t76976.html

 

Chrish, have you sent your notebook in for repair?

 

Actually Bex, I was thinking the same thing. A video may be a tough call. I'll try and video mine while it is in locked mode, where all keys perform right mouse clicks, that would pretty much be the only thing, other than the caps locking/unlocking that you could video, and have make sense.

 

The best thing you could do is slowly with one finger press all the buttons from left to right, top to bottom. That way, it would be a consistant pattern of keys and it would be easy to see there is a problem.

What I mean is this...type this in the following order, with one or two fingers, and somewhat slowly.
1234567890qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm

Make a new line each time to type that pattern, that way if something shows up it would look different (kinda like this):
1234567890qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm
123450qwertyuioasdfghjklzxcvbnm
12345670qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm
127890qwertyuiopasdfklzxcvbnm
1234567890qwerpasdfghjklzxcvbnm

While I don't have a dv8000, the above pattern would indicate that keystrokes are being missed if I saw those results.

I'm hoping that makes sense to everyone.

 

nope, I won't send it until I get new one first to use while I send this one for repair. Just waiting for good sale in store to buy a new one, likely will go dell or toshiba, cheap one is my priority now instead company with good reputation.

 

Well, you would have to capture the key you are pressing and what appears on the screen in the same frame. Also, the Caps Lock issue would be an easy one to video and demonstrate as problematic.

 

Hey I just got my notebook back from HP, I can't complain about the service in that area it took two days to have them get it to them and back to me. Kinda makes me wonder if they fixed anything huh? Anyways the keyboard seems to be working but it seemed to be working the first month I had the computer. Is there a general time frame that the new keybord will give out? I'll try video if the keyboard goes bad again.

 

They probably just reseated the keyboard connector...takes 10 minutes to do tops.

That has been known to fix the problem, but only for a time. I'd say if it is okay two months from now you MIGHT be in the clear. But HP REALLY REALLY REALLY has a high failure rate when it comes to fixing this problem from what I've read on this thread.

 

Out of curiosity,

Does anyone know someone who has successfully had their keyboard repaired by HP?

I've been living with my sticky ctrl key for about 7 mo. but it's starting to get a lot worse now. I don't want to go thru the hassles of sending in my DV5000 if they can't do anything with it.

cycloptic

 

As with a lot of the unfortunate souls out there, I also own this superb notebook system (dv5000z) which the only flaw that i find is the horrendous keyboard that comes with the system that seems to be inconsistent in its performance. I believe the dv8000 series should be based on the same design as the dv5000 series keyboard.

With that I decided to dissect the entire keyboard open and try to find out what went wrong with the keyboard. Here's what i did....

1. Removed the entire keyboard base plate out from the notebook including unplugging it's 2 cables from the motherboard which allows the entire keyboard to be lifted right out from the notebook.

2. Removed each and every keys that are attached to the base plate. Be sure to note down the orientation of each keys to assist in assembling them back.

3. Before I go any further, the base plate are actually a PCB board with flat metal connectors for each keys on the keyboard.

4. Underneath each of the keys are a piece of "hollow out" rubber that are "glued" onto a plastic sheet which in turn pasted onto the base plate. Basically the rubber acts as a spring that pushes the keys up while the inner surface of the rubber has a sort of "pointy" profile that touches the base plate connector whenever the keys are pressed while typing.

5. Next I detached the plastic sheet with the rubber "glued" onto it, exposing the entire base plate (PCB board) and used contact cleaner to clean each and every piece of the base plate connector, ensuring that it is clean and free of dirt.

6. And I reassemble back everything in the reverse order of the above sequence.

7. A side note though......I noticed that the pointy profile of the inner surface of some of the rubber seems to be kind of worn out which probably explain why the contacts are not good/perfect when the keys are pressed, resulting in missed keystroke. But this based on my keyboard, might not be the same case for others.

8. Overall, i feel that the keyboard are more responsive after the above operation dissecting the entire keyboard.

I would invite anyone who are confident enough to check their keyboard as per the method above and post back to the forum if the method that i did help in getting the keyboard to be more responsive.

Just my 2 cents to share for the rest of the affected communities/victims.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for sharing your explorations.

When you say the keyboard is "more responsive", what do you mean? Have the errors disappeared or just reduced in number?

Which of the keyboard malfunctions did yours suffer from besides missed keystrokes? (capslock, ctrl key, shift key...)? My issue is that the system intermittently acts as if the ctrl key is stuck in the down position, when it clearly is not.

What did you use as the contact cleaner? Is it readily available?

I might be willing to try dissecting the keyboard as you have. I have already gone so far as to reseat the keyboard connection with some success a few months ago. It helped at the time but the issues have returned with a vengeance.

Thanks,
cycloptic

 

By responsive meaning that i feel that the characters appear on the screen very much "faster" than before and the incidents of missed keystrokes have not been occuring as far as i can feel as of this moment after i attempted the dissecting operation last month.

I encountered the capslock issue whereby the characters are all caps even when my capslock are turned off. The shift keys are probably tied to the same issue. Ctrl keys are alright on my keyboard. However, I have not encountered any so far....keeping my fingers crossed though.

Contact cleaners....just normal alcohol contact cleaner.... one without leaving any residues/layer on top of the board.

Speaking of the 2 keyboard cable connectors, I noticed that there's a dark layer on the multiple metal contacts, which i removed by lightly scraping them off the surface of the contacts revealing a shiny surface after that. Cleaned it with contact cleaners as well and insert it back to the motherboard.

Hope this suggestion helps. But I would love to have second opinion on this operation. Anyone willing to try it out....please do. Not really a complicated operation if you are gentle with the parts.

Cheers!

 

Yourrealdad: This problem is intermittent so there is no way to say when it will occur. I have not noticed any predictable pattern with my computer. I've not read or heard of any successful repairs, perhaps you will be the first. Please keep us posted.
Francistkm: Can we send our notebooks to you for repair? It was very kind of you to take the time to post all the work you have put into solving the keyboard problems... much more thought, time, technical skill, interest and care than HP has. Did you have the same problem with the space bar missing as much as the keystrokes?

 

Ubatz : I would love to assist in performing the same operation on your notebook. Do drop me a mail at [email protected] regarding it.

I don't recall having any issue with my space bar. Each and every keys have the same identical rubber underneath it and like i said before on another thread, I fear the rubber is the culprit here. I believe a silicon material as a substitute to the rubber material would help.

I wonder if the recent version of dv6000/dv9000 have their rubber replaced with a more durable material?? Can anyone check on that?

 

It has been awhile since I posted on this topic and I honesty do not feel like going 15 pages back to see if this have been said so sorry if I am bringing up an old fix/topic once again.

I have had my 8000t for about 4 months now and had the same issue's with the keyboard like many others do. After reading this thread for about a month, I decided to uninstall the drivers for the touchpad (I use a external mouse anyway so pad rarely used) and used the MS drivers for the touchpad. Since I have done this I have not had ONE missed keystroke nor one issue with the cap lock issue. I know the touchpad is very sensitive now but I can live with that over dealing with HP. I am still confident that the problem can be resolved with a better driver for the touchpad.

Has anyone else have success with the fix I described above?

Just wondering,

Scott

 

Hi Scott, Sorry to say that I tried it and it did not change the missing key stroke and space bar problem with my dv8000. Thought it worked at first and then the problems resumed again as before. Sometimes this problem appears as soon as I turn the computer on and begin to type. Sometimes I can type for several minutes and I think it is resolved and it starts again. No predictable pattern that I can detect.
I just received my dv9000 replacement laptop from HP. Right out of the box I immediately noticed that on the numbers pad to the right of the keyboard the enter key was crooked and overlapping the delete key. Depress one and it depresses the other. The left and right click buttons below the touch pad were uneven and one was very loose. There also was a dent next to touchpad. The computer is made of a super glossy black and grey plastic, very cheap looking. The speakers are above the sound keys and covered with an unsightly grey metallic mesh grill that has a bulge in it, not level. This computer sells for $875 on the Hewlett Packard website, $400 less than I paid for my dv8000: http://www.hpoffers.com/innerpage/HP Pavilion notebooks/dv9000 series.htm. With the two broken keys right out of the box I'm sending it back.

 

Cycloptic,

Have you tried out dissecting the keyboard like i did? How did it go and any improvement that you may noticed?

Francis

 

@ScottM: I tried uninstalling the touchpad driver but that didn't help my issue (intermittent ctrl key).

@francistkm: I did try dissecting the keyboard but I got a little rougher with cleaning the ribbon contacts than it could handle and ended up stripping some of the contact so that keyboard is toast (ouch!!). However I did see that there was a company selling DV5000 compatible keyboards on EBay so I put in an order for one. I'm crossing my fingers that this will end my keyboard woes for a while.

In the meantime, I am rediscovering my DV1000 which still works great.

cycloptic

 

Cycloptic,

By ribbon contacts meaning the 2 ribbon cable connectors from the keyboard to the motherboard, right? Hmmmm.....I do agree that they are thin and fragile....which is where patience and gentle handling comes in

Anyone else attempted the dissecting operation besides Cycloptic?

Francis

 

Hi all,
I found this board by doing a google search for this very problem. This laptop was new in feb. and the problem appeared within a month, and has gradually gotten worse. I mostly experience the missed keystroke problem with the m,b,n,v keys, and with the spacebar, and less frequently with a few other keys. The spacebar may be a mechanical design problem as I find that when I hit it dead center, it works, but when I am trying to type fast and hit it to either side, it doesn't register. I haven't had a shift key stick, but I have had the left ctrl key stick. The caps lock reverse problem has happened a couple times. The problem of a double strike/key bounce (getting 2 characters/keystroke) happens occasionally too. usually with the comma, semi-colon, quote, a, e, o or p keys.

I found the following page in my search: http://schwinger.harvard.edu/~motl/hp-keyboard/index-classical.html

It describes a similar problem among other model pavilion laptops and points to the cause as being the keyboard connector. I contacted the author of that page, but he has no experience with the dv8000, so he couldn't say whether this is the same issue or not. I think this sounds a lot more probable than any software or driver related cause. I booted up a Linux live cd, and the keyboard behaved the exact same way.

 

GB18, I have the spacebar problem also and it is as frequent as the missing keystrokes. I have not seen any pattern to all this misbehavin' other than it is intermittent and it doesn't improve with age or HP repairs. Have you sent your notebook in for repair?

 

I'm curious as to the status of that video detailing the dv8000 keyboard problem. If you guys can get together some evidence of the problem, something good might come of this issue.

 

Great Logitech story, their tech support is excellent. I've had above and beyond the call of duty tech support from Canon also. Since the problems with the dv8000 are intermittent I'm sure it is an arduous time consuming task to film. Hopefully someone will accomplish the mission.

 

Well, a happy ending for me at least.

After screwing up my DV5000 keyboard attempting some repairs, I ordered a compatible one that I found on EBay. It was a new keyboard that had a part number for previous models, but it's form factor, ribbon cable, and key layout is identical to what was in my DV5000.

After getting this one installed, it is working perfectly. I am finding no signs of the keyboard demons. My particular demon was the stuck ctrl key, but now that is working properly as are all of the other keys on this keyboard.

All in all, I'm happy with the final outcome. The keyboard set me back $50, which to me is well worth the saved aggravation.

cycloptic

 

No, I haven't sent it in for repairs yet. From what I'm hearing on here about how long it takes to geet it back and the results, I don't think I want to. May be better off looking for a compatible keyboard on ebay...

 

That is true. I've heard from other people who have sent their notebooks in for repair and had the same sort of cosmetic damage when it came back as I did. I did send it in 3 times and each time it came back in worse shape. They put 13 scratches on my screen and 8 scratches on the outside lid. There really is no point in sending it in unless you want more aggravation. Hewlett Packard has some very serious quality control problems. I went through the repair process so I would be able to get a replacement. With the replacement computer they sent me coming out of the box with a visibly broken key it is pointless to go for a replacement. Here is what the new dv9000 looked like when I opened the box:

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/ubatz/3.3724878.jpg

http://img5.ranchoweb.com/images/ubatz/10.jpg

 

Ouch...is that supposed to be new? It seems like to me that you have no luck with keyboards ubatz...

 

That was not pretty. Not pretty at all. Either HP screwed up, or UPS is REALLY REALLY rough (heck, they don't even use UPS. They use Fed Ex)

 

UPS is really really rough...but I recently saw a Gateway notebook shipped to Best Buy that looked like a semi ran over the left 1/3rd of it. That was FedEx.

Point being: Poop happens.

 

It was a brand new HP dv9000 notebook sent directly to me from Shanghai by FedEx. The box was in good condition, no dents, don't think it was a problem with the delivery. There was also an obviously bowed keyboard, not level by any means, left click and right click buttons were not even, noticibly crooked, one loose, everything looked and felt cheap on this notebook. It appears that Hewlett-Packard is cutting costs by using cheap components.
I saw the HP notebooks at Frys that were on display, 4 laptops had missing keys, they just fell off. Another poster said they saw the same thing at Costco. Pretty cheesy.

 

Our contact at HP sent the following email today:

"HP has informed me that customers experiencing keystrokes not registering, or double-registering, should update their notebooks with BIOS F.44, softpaq sp33743 or later available on the HP support site (link below)."

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html?pageDisplay=drivers

If someone having keyboard issues could try installing this and see what happens it'd be great.

 

If that works I'm gonna sticky that solution for a month or two. Guys PM abaxter or myself if you give it a shot and immediate see an improvement.

 

they had missing keys? lol thats messed up if a store is gonna showcase something they should atleast keep it looking good lol

 

Most of those laptops are REALLY heavily used and abused...sometimes by kids, sometimes by adults. I've seen a laptop (or two) at BB just get beat up over a few weeks...went from top notch to a pile of garbage...I even watch a few kids try to beat up the keyboard and screen once...it worked too .

BB (and others) don't exactly care. BB had five cameras that were broken when I was shopping for a new one, I asked them about it and they said it wasn't their job to fix 'em...Wal-Mart had a couple of TV that didn't work (same story) a few weeks back when I looked at them...a few of Sam's Club's cameras were beaten up (took a while for them to replace though).

What's more concerning is when laptops ship in similar conditions...that shouldn't be passing their QA teams.

 

I know night, I thought that when I first saw it in the store, people probably let their kids play with them like toys to keep them quiet while they shop. The HP notebooks were the only ones with missing keys, I asked the sales guy about it and he just shrugged. You can see where with all the problems it takes on a new significance. I agree, serious quality control issues in Shanghai. The dent next to the touchpad on my new dv9000 was very disturbing. It's rock hard plastic, how do you dent plastic? It's all too weird. I'm gonna try the new bios update on my 8000, thanks abaxter.

 

Night_2004

Strange, the site shows the current bios at F.17A My last trip in for repair, which netted the 2nd replaced keyboard, and 2nd replaced LCD display, happened early this month, and it came back with the older bios in it. I updated to the F.17A and still have keyboard issues. Where do we get ahold of F.44 bios? Also, the softpaq they emailed you about (softpaq sp33743) looks to be 3 revisions newer than what they have listed on the site (currently softpaq sp33713)....

Can you have them email you this new Bios update. I'll try it. It won't fix all of the scratches they have put on my dv8000t, but it'd be interesting to see if it fixed this stupid keyboard...

 

jka/v,


For the bios update go here: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html?pageDisplay=drivers


Then type in sp33743 in the search box on the upper right hand side of the page which will land you here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...softwareitem=ob-43417-1&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN


About 2/3 the way down the page is the link:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33501-34000/sp33743.exe

Release Date: 2006-09-20 Version: F.44

 

I ditto the above, and will add that "keys" and items are sometimes:

A: Are stolen by someone who is missing that item on their personal unit.
B: Are stolen on purpose, by people that have a "grudge" against a company.
C: Are stolen by someone who wants to get a discount on the display model...

 

Thanks for posting those direct links. Anyone tried this yet, any luck?

 

Thanks!

I'll try this today and report back

 

i've bought my dv 2 days ago because my Dell was stolen...

i like this notebook but spacebar does not respond ( away from center , gently pressed right/left corners) .....as i said i've bought this laptop 2 DAYS AGO..!!!! i don't wanna send ..to the service!

How can something like this stupid thing happen?

it'a veryvery new device with ( as you see "veryvery" ) keyboard error?

i miss my old Dell with Excellent Keyboard...
this notebook appx. $2000 with worth keyboard and 2 DAYS...

shame...

 

Try the fix abaxter posted...let us know if that fixes it.

BTW, where did you get the dv8000? dv9000 is out now...

 

Unfortunately No dice on the F.44 Bios update. Not for the dv8000t laptops. Says wrong system bios, in fact, here's all it says:

Warning: File already exists C:\W309BF44\bios.bak already exists
Part ID of system bios and new Image file are different (System = 835, file = 3YU The system platform may be different from the Image file. Are you sure you want to proceed. (if you click yes through all of this, you get the following):

Bios pops up showing New BIOS:F.44 09/07/2006, Current BIOS:F.17 08/15/2006 (clicking yes afer that)
BIOS update failed! Failed to flash bios image; this BIOS is not for your Notebook PC BIOS is not flashable, Error code; -144