Thinkpads Forum

I probably have a spare keyboard from T61 lying around. So I can pop that in, but until then what could I do (if there is a keyboard maintenance & tips guide somewhere) to try and clean/ recover / diagnose these keys on the keyboard.

- [```````] - Is hyper pressed / sticky / not works sometimes
- [1] - Works sometimes and most times not
- [Esc] - Not working mostly??

As I plug & unplug it into diff USB ports they go on and off and the above has no consistency. I am guessing dust/ grime may be causing issues?

Any other wisdom on the cause/ possible quick fixes?

Ctrl + Esc not working together
Ctrl + Tab not working on Chrome
Alt + Tab is working to switch windows
Ctrl C & V are working fine
Tab works by itself. Esc also.

So its wierd.. Can I figure out where/ whats wrong and / or fix it ..do a cleaning?

So, from this information, it seems like you are having an issue with the CTRL key when used in combination with certain other keys. Have you tried using the left and right CTRL keys? If that doesn't help, then I'd have to say that there's a problem with generating the correct scancode internally and there's probably nothing you can do to clean the keys. If you feel adventurous, you could try taking it apart and see if there's any connections that you can re-seat.

rkawakami wrote:So, from this information, it seems like you are having an issue with the CTRL key when used in combination with certain other keys. Have you tried using the left and right CTRL keys? If that doesn't help, then I'd have to say that there's a problem with generating the correct scancode internally and there's probably nothing you can do to clean the keys. If you feel adventurous, you could try taking it apart and see if there's any connections that you can re-seat.

Yeah.. it was working fine a few days back so its now bothering me ..

Also downloaded a few keyboard testing utils/ tools and will use them to report back what stuff is causing issues. Seems like some kind of keyboard GHOSTING (just read about it) when limited signal lines cause "multi key" presses to stop..

This is funky..

2 such keyboards in 2 weeks..

But have this annoying as if key is stuck thing.. but on opposite sides.

[']
[\]

I pulled up the [\] a bit by finger to see if it could be unstuck in some way. Seems to be working for now.

Is there a "handyman" maintenance hack I can do by removing the keys and "cleaning them" with cloth/ paper and some "non abrasive" solution so that they are not stuck again.
Ensure removal and cleansing of dust, dirt, stuff .. and humidity if any?

What would you recommend in terms of instruments (cloth, ear buds, paper etc) and solution (liquid/ dry/ cream/ gel?)?

Please advise. Thanks.