X20 - faulty keyboard or bad BIOS / Embedded Controller??

[g8tzl]

I have just acquired an X20 with Ultrabase running XP

I initially thought that there was a keyboard problem. Sometimes its just the Y , G , B and M keys which don't work. Othertimes its lots of keys including RETURN and BACKSPACE. If I keep rebooting, eventually I get back to just the Y,G,B and M key problem

I get the keyboard problem in both XP and when I boot into BIOS - which I guess suggests that its not an XP problem.

I checked the Event Viewer and found numerous ACPIEC errors which is an error with the Embedded Controller hardware or firmware or BIOS.

I checked the BIOS and its a very odd version NOT listed on the Lenovo site:

- BIOS version 0.07 (IZET81WW) dated 2000-12-01

The Embedded Controller is version 1.19

The original X20 BIOS version is 1.05 and the latest is version 2.25. There is a version 2.07 (IZET88WW) ...but I've no idea about the 0.07 version - although an internet search did reveal a brief mention of somebody else with version 0.07

Maybe version 0.07 is a custom version OR maybe it indicates a corrupt BIOS update??

The BIOS and Embedded Controller fimware versions need to match so as not to cause problem ie. BIOS version 2.25 requires Embedded Controller version 1.36 or higher.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[rkawakami]

If it were me, I would attempt to boot PC Doctor for DOS on the X20 and see what the keyboard diagnostic reveals. It can be downloaded from here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-39554

The Keyboard test is under the "Interactive Tests" menu. Select that test, then "Keyboard Keys", then select the appropriate keyboard (probably 84 key US/Hebrew). You should then be able to press any one of the keys on the keyboard and the 'map' will indicate which one was detected.

I'm assuming that if your system has a BIOS problem, you probably would see some failures on this test. Even if you don't and the diagnostic correctly reads every single keypress correctly, I'd still go ahead and update the EC and BIOS to the latest versions. Version 0.07 doesn't sound like any standard or custom release to me.

ref: http://stderr.org/pipermail/thinkpad/20 ... 06723.html
ref: http://stderr.org/pipermail/thinkpad/20 ... 06788.html

[g8tzl]

Thanks Ray - I will run PC Doctor and see what happens.

Do you know if I can update the X20 EC and BIOS with a dead battery?

If not, does the modded Dos Boot disk trick work with the X20 - I read about it working with an A30.

Many thanks.

[rkawakami]

I'm not sure if it is possible to update the BIOS/EC without a battery. From a search of the archives I guess that is what you are talking about for the boot disk trick:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=378095

[g8tzl]

Sadly the X2 Ultrabase floppy drive is faulty so I cannot run PC-DOCTOR

The CD version is only for X30 series.

I'm thinking that maybe BIOS version 0.07 is a beta version??? The IZET81WW number attached to 0.07 BIOS dated 2000-12-01 perhaps fits with the "final official released" version IZET88WW 2.07 dated 2001-01-18.

The BIOS IZET...numbers start at IZET37.. with the intial BIOS , then IZET59... , IZET60..., IZET65..., IZET88 etc

The keyboard error maybe feels like an intermitant - maybe a dry joint on the EC chip? Repeated rebooting results in different effects on the keyboard. If it was a BIOS/EC firmware issue , would I not just get the same keyboard error every time??

However, version 2.07 BIOS requires EC 1.24, 1.26 or 1.27....and I am running EC 1.19 so that could be the problem.

Whatever , next step is to try and update BIOS/EC firmware to latest versions.

[rkawakami]

Could also be a bad contact in the keyboard connector to the motherboard. There's a couple of screws holding the keyboard to the base. It could be worth it to re-seat the connector and see if that makes the random errors go away. I tried making a PC Doctor boot CD from the three diskette images a while back but never got it to work. Somebody did the same thing for the T2x version of PC Doctor many years ago so I know it can be done.

ref: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... UZMN7.html (X2 HMM)

[g8tzl]

I've now removed the keyboard and it looks like there is liquid damage

Its not that obvious but on the underside of the keyboard you can see some patches of white powdered aluminium corrosion. The FRU sticker is also a bit brown looking.

Anybody know of any way to clean the "inside" of the keyboard - I guess there is some corrosion across the keyboard PCB tracks which is causing the intermitant effect - sometimes keys work sometimes they don't - in general its mainly just the Y, G or H keys but sometimes the shift key etc etc..

I thought about spraying the inside of the keyboard with contact cleaner (not that easy to gain access) but I guess a full dismantle is the only reliable way?? Is it actually possible to dismantle the keyboard..getting the base off the keyboard does not look easy.

The boot up key is also part of the keyboard...so I don't know if it would be possible to use an external keyboard without still getting strange effects...sometimes the H key will just start appearing when in Word even though the X20 has been idle for 30 minutes...so I guess there is high resistance across the keyboard tracks which sometimes triggers a "H key" press??

[rkawakami]

If it were me, I'd simply toss the keyboard and get a (verified working) replacement. I don't think it's worth the time or trouble to try to disassemble the keyboard and clean it, given that it may have had some liquid contamination.

[g8tzl]

With the faulty keyboard removed, is it possible to boot up the X20 using the X2 Ultrabase (I think there is a power switch on the X2) and use an external keyboard??? I would then know 100% that its a faulty keyboard?

Or do you need to use the internal keyboard to enable an external keyboard?

[rossmosis]

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to turn the laptop on with the base and use an external without dealing with the laptop's keyboard at all, but I could be wrong. If it is the keyboard, they are extremely cheap on ebay ($15 and under) so it wouldn't be a huge deal if you had to buy a new one. A new X20 keyboard will be my next purchase in the near future as the left button is almost shot and the letters are rubbing off. I'll let you know who I buy it from on ebay so you wont get scammed if I remember or you PM me. I'm typing this on my X20 right now and it's an extremely solid computer and I think I'm hooked on the X series now haha

[g8tzl]

I've now tried using the keyboard with it just resting "on top" of the bezel without it being fitted and screwed down. I have not tried any contact cleaner but did a bit of keyboard flexing.

At boot up I now keep getting a 0201 key stuck error...but if I press Esc the X20 boots into XP.

It now appears that most of the keys work EXCEPT the B key...but the B key does not appear to be stuck ...although maybe there is a short across the B keyboard "pad". Its also appears that there are less intermitant funnies such as the H key suddenly repeating itself.

I've also discovered that there is a virtual keyboard in XP so you can type by just using the Left Click key (Start...Run...type "OSK"..OK)

[g8tzl]

The Virtual On Screen Keyboard has enabled "full" operation of my X20 and I have been able to reinstall XP etc.

I am getting the 0201 Stuck Key error at boot up - but I just press Esc and the boot up continues.

I now find that the G, H, I and M keys don't work ...BUT the H and M keys can be made to work if you press hard several times.

Some other (less vital) keys don't work but its difficult to understand why not!!

@ works (by pressing Shift + ') BUT ~ does NOT work (Shift + #) BUT if you use the Virtual Keyboard for SHIFT , then the REAL ~ key does work!!!!! The REAL Shift works with @ but not ~, but ~ works using the Virtual Shift key..why?????

Any ideas?? Maybe its something to do with the resistance levels when you press a key. Because the key pads are probably covered in orange juice , you are maybe not getting a big enough resistance change across the pads to trigger a certain letter??

Is it possible to remove each key to gain access to the pads so I can give them a good clean?

[RealBlackStuff]

That is possible but hardly worth it.
If you break just one tiny bit of plastic (and that is VERY easy to do, believe you me) you're up the proverbial creek.
Buy another keyboard and be done with it.

[g8tzl]

I will definately look out for a spare X20 keyboard but the ones I can see for sale at the moment are too expensive ($25-$30) given what a complete old X20 costs.

Using the Virtual On screen Keyboard and saving webpages as favorites, the X20 actually works OK for a 10 year old machine!!!

If I remove the key top can I gain access to the "pad" to give it a clean? Or is it hidden behind a keyboard wide membrane?

Any hints for actually removing the key top?..I don't care if it breaks

I noticed that the 0210 Stuck Key error does NOT have a number after it which helps to locate the stuck key...maybe because its more than one stuck key..or maybe a shorted PCB tracks from a group of keys?