Notebook keyboard stops working sometimes

[NicholasPufal]

hey all,

in past I did have this problem with Windows 7, and now that I came back (was on XP Sp3), they annoying me again.

I have a DELL Vostro 1510. Sometimes, after I turn on the computer and it loads my desktop, the keyboard doesn't work. The weird thing is that the media keys are working fine all the time, however all the letters, caps lock, num lock, F1-F12... well, every single key simply doesn't respond.

So I go and check it on the "device manager", and it shows I have a keyboard installed. I scan for hardware changes... and no changes detected... The driver is there, the hardware is perfect (I never had these issues while on XP, and I was with 7 on past, did have these problems, then did migrate to XP, and now back to 7 and having it again).

I know how to solve it... I simply need to go to the device manager, click on uninstall and then "scan hardware for changes" and it comes back to life. If that doesn't work, just need to reboot and Windows 7 install the driver for me (after uninstalling it, of course).

The annoying thing is that I don't want to do those steps... I want it to keep always working... And this is just not normal, so for sure there is some cause.

DELL doesn't offer drivers for notebook keyboard on their website, at least not for my model, because it's simply a default one... So the default driver should handle it.

How can I debug it? There must be anything causing these random issues.

Any suggestion is appreciate.

Thanks

 

[Jonathan_King]

Hello,

Go here and download the latest BIOS, chipset, and Input device drivers: Drivers & Downloads

Good luck!

~JK

 

[NicholasPufal]

I went there already. In fact, many of those are not updated ones.

From Intel and other manufacturers website I did download the most updated, and made for 7.

But keyboard, I simply can't find... and don't think I will, for the reason I did post it, it's a default controller.

So I have no idea of what to do.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Try right-clicking on your keyboard in Device Manager and selecting Update Driver Software.

 

[NicholasPufal]

It says I have the latest driver installed

 

[robertopascua]

I have the same problem. Same brand but mine is Dell Vostro 1310. It annoys me whenever i turn on my laptop and the keyboard wont work. But sometimes it does work. Everytime i turn on my laptop, i already have the routine of "praying or hoping" that the keyboard wont fail me. It already has become a habit of mine to pray that the keyboard will work whenever i turn on my laptop. sometimes my prayer will work and sometimes will not.

The solution i always do is to put my laptop into sleep mode and wake it up and my keyboard will work. this way, i do not have to shutdown my laptop and restart it as what i always did before i discover the sleep-wake up way.

I have downloaded every bit of drivers dell support is providing. even all the drivers windows update is providing. i updated the bios already. i already did reformat my laptop many times. in short... i did all i think i could do to solve this problem. but the inconsistency of working and not working of my keyboard is still there. Please help. and i hope Dell people will read this. I know that my laptop model is already old because it was manufactured 2009 and its 2012 already. but i have just bought this laptop November of 2011 and it is brand new. i mean not a second hand unit. i bought this because it is on sale. the features are great and it is a dell laptop and so i bought it. Please help

 

[Jonathan_King]

Hello,

How long has the problem been going on for? I see you're running the Windows 8 Consumer Preview; does the problem also exist in Windows 7?

To essentially eliminate the factor of a driver issue, try creating a live Ubuntu CD and booting into that. If you have keyboard problems in Ubuntu, we can assume it's either a hardware or firmware problem.

Download | Ubuntu

 

[robertopascua]

Thanks for the reply Jonathan_King.

When I bought the laptop last November 2011, Windows XP was pre-installed. I used it for about 3 days before I migrate to Windows 7. After installing Windows 7, I already had the problem that keyboard is not functioning. I restarted my laptop using my mouse to point to start menu and click restart. When it rebooted, the keyboard was already working. The next day, i turned on my laptop again, and again, the keyboard didn't work, so I rebooted the laptop again. Then it worked again. Until I discover the 'sleep and wakeup' way.

When I learn about Windows 8 has a free developer preview, I thought that it may have the solution for my keyboard. But still the problem occurred. Consumer Preview comes...so i tried it...still the keyboard problem still occurring. It only works fine in Windows XP just like NicholasPufal is experiencing.

I will try the live Ubuntu CD and will let you know if its gonna work or not. Thanks again.

 

[lucbqi]

Hi,

I´m experiencing the same problem with windows seven, which was not present when I used XP. Interestingly, I´ve noted that when I install the alps touchpad that the windows update recomends, my keyboard always work. But the touchpad scroll doesn´t... I´ve tried a lot of drivers for the touchpad but with every single one, if the scroll works, the keyboard fails.

Any suggestions???

Thanks

 

[robertopascua]

Wow! that's interesting lucbqi. I think you have a good observation on that. Now I know the reason why suddenly my keyboard happened to work always. Its because of the Windows update for the Alps touchpad. But because the update made my touchpad's scrolls not to work, whenever I reformat my laptop, i am not updating the Alps touchpad anymore becuase it will make the scrolls not to work. Thats why from time to time, the keyboard of my dell laptop fails to work again. But it's seldom to happen these days.
So, since the keyboard is more important to me than the scrolls, i will install the Windows update for Alps Touchpad. I can handle the scrolls since I often use my mouse with scroll wheel. Thanks for the knowledge ther lucbqi!

Hope we could find fix for the scrolls.

 

[lucbqi]

Hello robertopascua. For me, it´s the opposite. I rather close my notebook, so it can enter in stand by mode, and then turn on again to get my keyboard back than work without the scroll. Let´s hope dell (or someone else) will find a way to fix this problem.
Regards.