Need help with T61 Keyboard...

My boss has had the 15.4" WS Lenovo Thinkpad T61 notebook for a little over a year. For no apparent reason, the keyboard has been cutting out for the past couple months. The way she describes it is that.. the keyboard will randomly refuse to function on startup. Often, it will come back on and work randomly after several retries/reboots. It's rather frustrating and we are seeking help as to what we can do about it.

Does anyone have any ideas or reasons as to why this might be happening?
If so, are there any ways to fix it/resolve the issue without replacing the keyboard?

Also, when I looked at her order receipt, it says that the keyboard part number is 42v8195. However, when I look up that part number on the IBM parts website..it won't turn up!

I apologize if this post is similar/a repost of another persons!!

Hope to hear back from some of you, Binna.

 

If it doesn't function in a preOS environment then just replace it. But I guess try using a usb keyboard just to see if that functions for sure too.

If you isolate it to actually being the keyboard it is just easiest to replace it.

 

Could try re-seating the connector. Perhaps it's loose. If it's under warranty, Lenovo would replace it under warranty.

 

You need to locate the FRU# for the keyboard for direct replacement. The number on some receipts and etc. is not the FRU#. I think the FRU# can be found in the warranty lookup...

 

Warranty lookup says its serviceable under Limited Warranty, but if they don't allow it... I'll go ahead and order a replacement part anyway.

Thanks for all your advice and help!