X230 (330) trackpoint keys not working

[x3o2]

I upgraded my X230 to a X330 with a 13'' FHD IPS panel at 96% sRGB. What a machine!

As it ran an old Bios version I upgraded that too, no problems occured.

But the trackpoint keys do not work no more, not in Win nor Linux. That points me to a hardware problem.

Tried it with two different keyboards that function in another X230, same problem. Tried different drivers.

Touchpad works, trackpoint does, keyboard does too. Except the trackpoint keys. Have to use a mouse now...

What is wrong there?

[axur-delmeria]

Tried disabling the touchpad in BIOS?

[x3o2]

Yep, as I usually do not use it, I had to activate it. Now it is disabled again. No change.

Why does the whole keyboard including the trackpoint work and the trackpoint keys don't?

[axur-delmeria]

Try disconnecting the touchpad cable.

[x3o2]

Thanks for your hints.

As someone mentioned it has to be a hw problem. So I had a look at the keyboard flex cable and found three broken lines.

I learned that it is a well known problem to xx30 keyboards. Not wanting to dump a brand new backlight keyboard I had to solder a flex cable for the first time.

Very tricky but after 3 h of trying I finally made it.

Maybe someone can answer this question: as the pic shows the three outer lines are broken in the top left corner beneath the flap. These three lines transporting the signals from the trackpoint keys do not make any contact to the male plug in the picture. As all the other lines do.

What is the trick about that?

https://imgur.com/a/9caGA