Spacebar on X61

[ntneko]

I've recently gotten an X61 which I am pretty happy with except the spacebar, which is something I only really noticed yesterday.

Pressing the center of the spacebar produces the usual responsive and tactile feel of Thinkpad keyboards, however I have discovered that if I press on either end of the spacebar the press is not registered. The end of spacebar would also hit the bottom of the keyboard causing a rather unpleasant and plastic sounding 'tap'. The press starts getting registered if I press about 1 cm in from the edge of the spacebar.

Things improve if the spacebar is pressed closer to the center, but only if I press around the middle third of the spacebar do I get the 'proper' feel that I'm used to. Pressing on either the left third or right third of the spacebar produces a less solid feel and the annoying tapping noise.

I have a T60 which doesn't have any such problem at all (I tested it out to make sure), so I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem with the X61. If this is abnormal and the spacebar is defective I will want to get it changed as it's still under warranty.

[bananaman]

Pop it off and make sure it is properly mounted. It sounds like it may have come loose somewhere along the way.

[ntneko]

Pop it off and make sure it is properly mounted. It sounds like it may have come loose somewhere along the way.

I had thought of doing that but I have never removed any of the key caps before so I'm not sure what's the proper way of going about doing that. The last thing I'd want is to damage it! I tried doing a search for 'keyboard' but that didn't help as it seems that word turns up too often.

[bananaman]

There are some descriptions of the procedure around these forums, e.g.:

http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... =6&t=29379

If you just gently lift up the front of the space bar it should pop up and you will see what's underneath. Just push down until it clicks to replace it. In fact, you might want to try pushing down on the spacebar before removing it. It could be that you just have one of the clips out of place, and that would fix it.

[ntneko]

Thanks for that. I've pushed down on the spacebar to see if any of the clips might have been out of place but it doesn't 'click' back into place so I will have to remove and place it back if I want to be sure.

Before doing that though, I'm wondering if any other X61 owner here could clarify whether their unit's spacebar is similar i.e. is it possible the X61 spacebar is like that and not defective? If that's the way it is, I'd then not risk popping out my spacebar in case I accidentally damage it.

Also, from reading some other sites, it appears some spacebars have a metal retainer that attaches to the spacebar. The picture posted by rkawakami suggests that's not the case with Thinkpad keyboards.



Looking at that picture, it does appear that pressing at either edge of the spacebar would not be sufficient for the key in the center to register the key-press. Whereas pressing from where the white clips begin would cause the key-press to be registered. The spacebar attaches to the two white clips only, right?

[bananaman]

My X61 keyboard is not exactly like that. The key cap is also held in place by some metal pivot arms about an inch long, which you don't actually have to remove to accomplish what you want to do. But it does just have the single central rubber button.

If you want to be really cautious, remove the keyboard from your X61 first, and with a flashlight you will be able to see under the spacebar.

Popping off the key caps is one of those things which is nerve-wracking the first time you do it, but after you've done it once you'll wonder what all the fuss was about...

[ntneko]

Thanks very much for your advice, it's very much appreciated!

[artic_squirrel]

go the same crappy problem here, with an NMB keyboard

and since i always use my x61 in awkward positions, i miss all my spaces...


anyway, what is disturbing me is that i think there was not such a pb the 4 first months, but rather after i played trying to pull out some key, inclluding the space bar, just for fun -i like the resistance of the key just before it unpluggs -


did you do similar things to your kays ?

[dleeward]

The leftmost half-inch of my space bar no longer works on my 18 month old X61 Tablet. Just noticed it a couple months ago.

[mawi]

I just replaced my spacebar since my 1 year old daughter switfly removed it in one superquick scratching action swoosh from sitting in my lap...

It does not look like the image posted here, but I did this:

Pieces: (a) Actual spacebar *key* - the "cover" (actual piece you press), (b) one metal *hinge* that reinforces action, two three-piece plastic constructions (like sunchair, etc). These three pieces are one u-shaped *frame*, one *dark piece* and one *white piece*.

(Let the metal hinge sit in the key if it still does, which is likely)

1. Try and see which way the plastic constructions are oriented.
For the two three piece plastic constructions:
2. Put white piece inside of dark piece. When done correctly it sits neatly and flat interlocked.
You can also test to see how the u-shaped frame in turn connects around them, also creating a neat piece (however, it will not "stick" together)

3. Look at the spacebar "space" on the laptop, find the two spaces and put the u-shaped frames into them. They fit into four tiny metal "clamps" - two slightly larger for the sides and two really tiny on the lower end of the "u"'s.
4. Now fit the white/dark pieces into the u-shape frames. From testing how they fit (step 2) you may have noticed that they have two tiny pegs at the sides that go underneath the u-frame. This means you will have to fit one peg and push the dark/white piece so it flexes to make the other peg go underneath the u-frame that you already fitted in step 3.

Phew, that was the hard part.

Time to fit the key:
5. Metal hinge placement: Swing out the metal hinge and check and orient to see how it sits underneath the u-frame's you fitted. It just loosely sits underneath, it does not click into place. Once you realize how it sits, align it where it seems correct and
6. Click the key onto the 3 places it clicks into: The two constructions you fitted in steps 1-3 and the actual key sensor thingie in the middle (rubberish material). The metal hinge should not complicate this at all if you aligned it correctly.

Voila, done. Phew.

Hope this helps someone.

/mawi