SL400 keyboard dropping keypresses

[cda]

Hello all,

I'm using a Lenovo SL400 for the first time, and I am finding the keyboard is less than 100% responsive. When typing rapidly, probably about 1-2% of keypresses do not get through to the operating system. Sometimes up to 3 keypresses in a row are lost, although it is usually just one at a time. The machine is running XP. It belongs to a company I am working for, so I cannot speak to how it has been treated in the past, but it appears to be in relatively new condition.

I do type quite rapidly (about 100 wpm), but my Dell laptop does just fine with my typing and never drops any keys. I've used IBM T40s and T61s in the past, and those have worked fine as well. I am just wondering whether anyone else has ever experienced this issue. It would be quite disappointing if Lenovo laptop keyboards are not engineered well enough to read 100 wpm typing, but I am thinking it could just be that this laptop is defective.

Any information or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

-cda

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

This may or may not help. There should be a keyboard diagnostic inside the PC Doctor for DOS program. At least there is for versions which go up to the T4x series. I'm downloading a copy as I type (since I need one anyway) so I'll know for sure in a few minutes. The diagnostic program is available here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70438

You will need a program which handles .ISO files to write the program onto a CDROM. Boot the disk and under the Interactive Tests menu (typically) there should be keyboard tests. After selecting the proper keyboard (probably 84 key US) "map" of the keyboard is displayed and you can press a key and see its response on the keyboard map. It's not quite the same as trying to type a 100WPM document but you may get a good idea if some keys are not registering properly. If the diagnostic appears to say that the keys are working, then you might have something in Windows which is slowing down response, although for the life of me I can't say exactly what that might be. Some things to consider:

- what programs are running, both "visible" and in the background (system tray utilities, for example)
- do all word processing programs "miss" keystrokes? Have you tried typing into a Notepad file as opposed to Microsoft Office?

edit: FWIW, I was typing the usual "The quick brown fox..." exercise not more than two hours ago on an SL500 and it did not miss any keystrokes. I did have some errors but that was my faulty typing. I'd guess that I'm around 35-40WPM on that particular sentence. I was testing out the feeling of the keyboard more than seeing if it missed anything. I'm used to 600 series and T2x keyboards and I wanted to "feel" what the differences were.

edit2: Yes, I can confirm that there's the same keyboard diagnostic available in the SL version of PC Doctor for DOS that I referenced above.

edit3: I guess I'll have to update my typing speed. I just took an online test at TypingTest.com and registered a netspeed of 60WPM at 96%.

[cda]

Thanks for the detailed reply! I am not able to burn a CD at the moment, so that test will have to wait. I noticed that there is *some* correlation with the application I'm using, but all applications will have the problem at times. Notepad does it the least and PuTTY the most (but the connection to the host itself does not seem lagged). Firefox and Word are in between.

I am thinking also to try out a USB keyboard to try to discern whether the problem is with hardware or software...

If it's indeed software - there are a number of processes running in the background that I am not familiar with - can you suggest anything to narrow my view on what may be the culprit? I guess I could post a screenshot of the task manager....

Thanks again,
-cda

[rkawakami]

Good idea about trying the external keyboard; it's another data point to look at. As far as the processes go, it would be helpful to see what's normally running in the system. I run a very lean install of XP on my T23 systems; there's about 43 processes in memory after the system is booted. That includes at least three utility programs, basically Window managers and MobileMeter, along with AVG 8.5. The SL500 has Vista Business so I can't really compare it to your SL400.

I've also searched the SL forum at Lenovo and didn't find anyone reporting the same issue, however a web search pulled up these:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/19/24 ... ponse.html (reference to TpKmapMn)
http://www.derkeiler.com/Newsgroups/mic ... /1858.html (FilterKeys setting in Control Panel/Accessibility Options/Keyboard)

along with several general things about spyware affecting keyboard response (e.g., an active keylogger, for example).

[cda]

I followed your hint about checking for spyware/keyloggers, and found this:

Program Name: "On screen display message generator for ThinkPad SL"
Program Path : "C:\Program Files\Lenovo\HOTKEY\LVOSDSVC.exe"

The program named above is trying to hook your keyboard. If you allow this, the program will be able to watch every key you press. If you want to allow this program to watch every key you press, you should click the 'Allow Access' button below.

----

Is this a standard thing on thinkpads? Do you know what this program is supposed to do, and whether it is possible this program is logging my keystrokes? I've already typed a number of passwords using this keyboard, so I'd have to do a massive change sweep if there seems to be a risk...

I clicked "disallow access" for the above program and performance has improved, but is still not perfect. Connecting an external USB keyboard seems to eliminate the dropped keys. I think there is some kind of buffer that keyboards are supposed to have that is missing on this thinkpad keyboard.

So let that be a warning to anyone thinking of purchasing a SL series thinkpad.... the keyboards don't support fast typing Very disappointing from a company that is supposed to have a good reputation for quality....

Thanks again,
-cda

[cda]

Sorry to gratuitously bump this thread, but does anyone have any info as to whether LVOSDSVC.exe (see previous message) is some sort of keylogger? I am kind of worried ever since a keylogger scan revealed it on the laptop I've been using at my latest work assignment.

Thanks,
-cda

[rkawakami]

Just by going with the "OSD" in the middle of the .EXE name, I'd have to agree with the Program Name description and say it is the On Screen Display function. Don't know why that would affect the keyboard input though. I would imagine that it has to check for the special keys or key combinations which triggers the screen display. I have checked my SL500 and also have LVOSDSVC.EXE running but AVG 8.5 has not flagged it. Which scan identified it as a keylogger to you?

[cda]

I had just done a quick google search for keylogger scanner, and ended up with SnoopFree Privacy Shield - that's what gave the alert. I didn't go with one of the more common options because I wanted to install something that was true freeware, not shareware that would become a bother after 30 days

So I guess it's safe then... appreciate your help! Still disappointed in the poor engineering of these newer thinkpad keyboards though. The search for the best PC laptop continues....

Thanks again!

[bliau]

I'd like to add to this thread: I recently bought an SL500 and am experiencing the same issues with dropped keypresses. I'm quite certain that it isn't an issue with spyware / keyloggers because my laptop showed this behavior fresh out of the box. I then did a clean install of Windows 7, and the problem persists still.

At first I suspected it was a Lenovo driver issue, so after installing the new OS I didn't download any of the Thinkvantage software or Lenovo drivers. Unfortunately, that didn't help. I've since been adding Lenovo drivers one at a time and testing my computer's behavior after each addition, and there has been no improvement.

Does anyone have a clue as to what might be causing this?