Thinkpads Forum

So I've recently taken up to installing a classic keyboard into my T430s. The donor laptop is a T520 that has been upgraded with a T530 motherboard, which had been flashed with the EC mod but the keyboard had not had pins isolated. This time I decided to isolate the pins. After sanding/clipping the bumps so that the keyboard would fit, it was time for the pin isolation. I first thought it was the 3 pins one pin to the right on the top, like this: [VERY LARGE PHOTO]
https://photos.app.goo.gl/iBjTcmUj2Z3a9fFk6
but after covering those the alt, mouse click and power button keys would not work. Then I took that off and put the tape on the bottom where I thought it should be. However, now the S,D,X,C,W, and E keys don't work, but the power, alt, and click buttons do. After this I decided, whatever, I'll just face the consequences of a blown backlight fuse, so I took the tape off. But that didn't fix the issue with S,D,X,C,W, and E. I also tested it with the EC-modded T530, and no dice. At that point, I opened up the keyboard once again, and found that there were traces between the four leftmost pins on the bottom part of the connector, which given you are only supposed to isolate 3 of those pins, I found a bit odd. [VERY LARGE PHOTO]
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tM1kPnahiP1JmAYh9
Does anyone have any idea what happened here and if I can fix my keyboard?

I just struggled with this with t430

For my classic keyboard mod.

I isolated pins on the underside of the cable.
Skip the first pin and cover the next three.
You have to be precise. Xacto knife helps.
Don’t cover any pins on the top of the cable.
Only on the underside.

When I covered too many pins the track pointer buttons stopped working.

I have seen these photos pointed to, maybe they will be of help.

As for covering the wrong pins, trying to use keyboard and the keyboard not working after that I don't know what may be wrong and if it is possible to restore that keyboard to full former glory. Try to cover the right pins this time, I was advised to use Kapton tape. Make sure to clean other pins well with IPA - those wrongly covered before. Perhaps there is still some sticky goo on them.