Odd R50p Keyboard Problem

[Strick]

After rebooting, various (and random) keys will (sometimes) not work. I'll notice, for example, that the 'v' key isn't working. I'll reboot and the 'v' key will work, but the 'c' and the '1' key won't. I'll reboot again and everything will work. Another reboot and there will be some other key or keys not working. And sometimes everything will work fine for quite a while and then a key or two will stop working for no apparent reason.

This also happens when using a USB keyboard, so I don't think it's a hardware problem. This has been going on for months now. There's no pattern that I can detect, other than that (as far as I can remember) all the affected keys have been on the left side of the keyboard. When I call up the on-screen keyboard, it works fine. My Bios is up to date, too.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I've been googling this for weeks now and I can't find a solution anywhere.

[Neil]

Welcome to the forum!

Can't say that I have experience the same trouble, but I would suggest booting a Linux LiveCD to eliminate the installed software as a possible source of the trouble.

My guess would be the southbridge chip is flaking out. It can cause all sorts of weird things to happen.

[Strick]

I'm going to try the Live CD thing - I'll post here if it gives me any insights.

For anyone who may be having the same problem, I have found one (temporary, I'm sure) fix:

1) Shut down the laptop
2) Unplug the power cord
3) Pull the battery
4) Press the power button for 10 seconds
5) Reinstall the battery
6) Plug the power cord back in
7) Start the laptop normally

I don't know how this differs from the normal restart sequence (maybe completely draining the power forces the bioses to reload from scratch(?)), but it seems to have worked. I did that yesterday afternoon and all the keys have been working since then...

[Neil]

Something else you could try...don't put the battery back in and see how it works without a battery. Faulty batteries can do some weird things to the power circuits, but I still think the motherboard is the most likely source of the problem.

Just keep trying different things until you isolate the source of the trouble.