Can I repair my keyboard?
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2025 8:09 am
Successfully replaced the thermal paste on the laptop, the x201 runs cool now!
However, I later noticed that the Fn key doesn't seem to work anymore, so I unscrewed the keyboard once more and attempted to re-plug the flat cable. Left Ctrl doesn't work, neither does Fn still. Now LCtrl is pretty important to me, so I had to try to make this right somehow. After repeating the process whole rows of the keyboard stopped working, and I'm 100% sure I've broken my keyboard.
This is a real cautionary tale that the cable of the keyboard is a component that needs you to be more gentle than you think. Admittedly I twitch-pulled (accident) on the cable once on twice. I was also able to know about other people breaking their keyboards accidentally like this, such as this one.
It's undoubtedly the flat cable (ribbon cable) that broke, though I'm no expert. I found I can get some of the keys to work again by manipulating the cable's bends. Do you think it could be fixed? The keyboard's mint on the outside (mechanically speaking.)
However, I later noticed that the Fn key doesn't seem to work anymore, so I unscrewed the keyboard once more and attempted to re-plug the flat cable. Left Ctrl doesn't work, neither does Fn still. Now LCtrl is pretty important to me, so I had to try to make this right somehow. After repeating the process whole rows of the keyboard stopped working, and I'm 100% sure I've broken my keyboard.
This is a real cautionary tale that the cable of the keyboard is a component that needs you to be more gentle than you think. Admittedly I twitch-pulled (accident) on the cable once on twice. I was also able to know about other people breaking their keyboards accidentally like this, such as this one.
It's undoubtedly the flat cable (ribbon cable) that broke, though I'm no expert. I found I can get some of the keys to work again by manipulating the cable's bends. Do you think it could be fixed? The keyboard's mint on the outside (mechanically speaking.)