Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys, i just bought a second hand t420 yesterday, and i realised that i cant turn on the thinklight, even though it lights up every time i turn the laptop on. Upon closer inspection i realised that both the pgup and pgdown keys do not work. How do i ensure that this is a hardware issue i.e need to get keyboard replaced and not a software issue i.e driver problems or something like that?
Thanks in advance

I would reseat the keyboard to the motherboard.

If that doesn't do it I would try a spare keyboard if you have one to see if the problem disappears.

Happy ThinkPadding!

Brad

Brad wrote:I would reseat the keyboard to the motherboard.

If that doesn't do it I would try a spare keyboard if you have one to see if the problem disappears.

Happy ThinkPadding!

Brad

Yeahp, prior to this conclusion i was actually opening it up to tinker around, having already known that the thinklight cant be turned on. I went as far as to remove the keyboard bezel/palm rest, which requires a removal of the keyboard. I then reassembled everything proper, and thinklight still can't be turned on.
Regarding trying out with a spare keyboard, will it work? I have a few old desktop keyboard lying around and they dont have the fn function key. I'm guessing i need to go to the bios to disable the fn key thing, so i can try to turn on the thinklight just by pressing PgUp

you can turn on thinklight using the software 'tpfancontrol'

when it is installed an running, right click on the icon in the notification area, and click thinklight.

I was only thinking of another ThinkPad keyboard that works with your ThinkPad.

Brad

PgUp and PgDn don't work completely, and you are bothered by the Thinklight?

In any case, it is definitely not a SW issue, since Fn+PgUp works on a very low hardware level. But just in case, check if the keys work in the BIOS.

hhhd1 wrote:you can turn on thinklight using the software 'tpfancontrol'

when it is installed an running, right click on the icon in the notification area, and click thinklight.

I've tried installing and running this, but it doesn't show up on the notification area, even with admin rights. I'll try again on vista/xp compatibility(I'm running 7)

Brad wrote:I was only thinking of another ThinkPad keyboard that works with your ThinkPad.

Brad

Oh nah I don't have a spare one, this is my first ThinkPad

dr_st wrote:PgUp and PgDn don't work completely, and you are bothered by the Thinklight?

In any case, it is definitely not a SW issue, since Fn+PgUp works on a very low hardware level. But just in case, check if the keys work in the BIOS.

My PgUp PgDn doesn't work anywhere, and I just find the thinklight really cool and I want to be able to use it. Its clearly working cause it flashes everytime I turn the laptop on. Ive tried turning it on the bios but it still wont light up. Do you think its safe to say that I need to get a keyboard replacement?

balibone wrote:My PgUp PgDn doesn't work anywhere, and I just find the thinklight really cool and I want to be able to use it. Its clearly working cause it flashes everytime I turn the laptop on. Ive tried turning it on the bios but it still wont light up. Do you think its safe to say that I need to get a keyboard replacement?

Yes.

I'm now able to turn on the thinklight through TPFC, and will most probably replace the keyboard. Thanks for the help everyone