Bought new D901c Keyboard - but keys are mixed up

Hi,

I just received a new US D901c keyboard to replace my old one where the Caps lock key was stuck (quite annoying). My machine is in my sig.

The Keyboard layout is exactly the same as my old one, and it fits and plugs in perfectly. The problem is certain keys are mixed up (I'm writing this on my old keyboard). The function keys and number keys are fine, but the shift keys don't work (ironic I know) and pressing certain keys produces the wrong letter.

Example: pressing the E key produces an R, and pressing the D key produces a Y. Some keys are fine others are swapped with no logical pattern.

Things I've checked:

(1) Keyboard connection (plugging in and out several times).
(2) Plugging my old Keyboard in. This still works fine as I'm using it now.
(3) Checked that my OS is set to US keyboard layout (that wouldn't explain these swaps anyway)
(4) Checked both keyboards on each of my dual boot OS': Win 7 and Win Xp. Same result.

I did a forum search and found this thread :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ate-messed-up-my-black-hawk-xr5-keyboard.html

The poster had some of the same key swaps as me, but his problem was related to a KB BIOS upgrade that effected his layout. In my situation I have done no BIOS upgrade since I got the machine (so it's at stock), with the exception of a vBIOS upgrade, which shouldn't effect the keyboard.

The new keyboard has a sticker saying Rev B, while my old one is Rev A. Not sure if this makes any difference.

Has anyone had this problem before? Do I need to upgrade my KB BIOS?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

I suggest updating your BIOS and KBC/EC firmware. Look in the clevo BIOS thread here for files/howto.

Edit: in fact I posted the 2 different kbc's for the 2 different keyboards in the thread you linked (post 9), start there...

 

Thanks a lot for your reply

I have a 9260, is the BIOS update okay for this model without any adverse side effects? The confusing thing for me is why would a new keyboard react differently to my current BIOS and KBC/EC than my old one, I was expecting an easy swap out?

Also I don't understand what a XP and Vista keyboard is. My old keyboard works with both Win 7 and Win Xp. I have a dual boot, which KB do I choose?

 

Could be that Rev B keyboard is specifically for the newer 9262 motherboards which have been revised from 9260, hence the keyboard secondary effects.

 

There are 2 different keyboards for this model, I don't know what the exact differences are, but the guy in the other thread had the wrong kbc installed, causing his problems.

The Vista/XP KBC has NOTHING to do with installed OS, it is simply the way clevo referred to the 2 different keyboards.

The .22 bios will work fine on your machine, try flashing the vista kbc (as you have a v2 keyboard) and if that still has the same problems, try flashing the xp one.

 

Cheers Theriko. I understand now. I also reread the thread I posted the link for above where you said how to distinguish the two different types of keyboard from each other.

For anyone else reading this in the same position now, or in the future, the XP and Vista type keyboards for the D901c has only one visible characteristic to easily distinguish them from each other:

The Vista keyboard has an indented circle around the windows flag symbol on the windows start menu key (you may not notice this at first because the circle is glossy black on black matt background). The XP keyboard doesn't have this circle, it just has the windows flag on a normal background, like all the other keys.

As Theriko said in the other thread, the circle is suppose to represent the Vista orb on the Vista (OS) start menu.

My new keyboard does not have a circle so I've bought a XP type keyboard, while my old one was a Vista style one. So I'll need to BIOS flash the XP KBC version.

Thanks again Theriko

 

No problem, thanks for clearing up the exact differences between the 2 keyboards - I had been assuming that the orb was the difference, now I know.

 

Just to confirm the above:

I've updated my KB BIOS (XP version for me) and system BIOS, and yes now the new keyboard works correctly. So the orb on the start menu key is the only obvious distinguishing feature between the two types of keyboard. Great assumption

Sorry it took so long getting back but I didn't have a USB stick available to follow the BIOS flash update guide (in theriko's sig above). So I made my own iso file with the Bootme files from Zfactors' thread for the flash, which turned out to be much harder than I expected, but I managed it in the end.

Again thanks for keyboard issue heads-up theriko, gave you rep, but it's not showing up for some reason on your profile (you should be 18 now).

 

It's showing up fine, rep doesn't work quite as simply as that, have a look here: Rep Guide