Pavilion notebook N5425 keyboard problem with GH, Backspace not working

[Jim Heath_1]

Does anyone know what could be causing the G,H, and the Backspace on the keyboard not working at times. Terrible problem.

[Bryan Eley]

Interesting. Someone else with the same system seems to be having the same problem:
http://www.techimo.com/forum/t61369.html

To wit:javascript:postAnswerSubmit('submit');
"Erratic problem on my friend's laptop... the G, H, Backspace keys SOMETIMES don't work on her HP Pavilion N5425. She swears she never eats or drinks near the thing...

HP support tells her:

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before beginning, disconnect the AC Adapter and then remove the battery.

1. Reseat the memory (RAM).
2. Reseat the modem; it is under the floppy drive.
3. While the power is still disconnected, hold the system reset for
about 30 seconds. The small reset hole is on the left side of the notebook
4. If the keys are still not responding, go into diagnostics and run
the advanced test on the keyboard.
* If the test passed, uninstall the keyboard drivers, then
restore or recover the system.

* If the test failed, then the notebook needs to be serviced."

I'm not sure how helpful this info might be, Jim, but it is strange that the identical keys on someone else's N5245 show the same problem as you.

[Jim Heath_1]

I know, if she is having the same problem then it is not a dirty keyboard. It only happens every now and then. Then it goes away and works fine. I dont eat or drink around mine either.

Jim

[Pat]

Jim,

Occasionally when typing, I find the keys won't function on my Pavilion a600y. When I reset the cursor I can then type.

Pat

[Tim Dahlke-Baumann]

Yep, this is a known problem "G", "H", "Backspace" (this occurred 3 years ago on my 5195) and they replaced the keyboard (or so I was told).

Guess what? It just broke again last night. I've been pretty disappointed with the number of failures (2 bad batteries, bad power supply, bad keyboard ). I almost had the 4 failures needed to get BestBuy to give me a new one (their sevice plan) but the power supply didn't count for their lemon plan :(

I'm used to using HP oscilliscopes and other test equipment -- their notebook quality doesn't deserve the hp name.

[james_466]

i got same problem with yours .
my notebook is pavilion N5495
the key [g h 'and bksp]does not work

how do i solve the problem,i have tried
you said above , still does not work.

[John Moran_2]

I ave te same problem wit my PavilionN5495. Are you usin W2K or XP?

enerally, I use te accesory keyboard. But I typed like t is for effect.

Are t e new Ps any better?

JackBoston

[Mike_902]

HP N5430 here, bought in late 2001 with same problem: G H and backspace keys. I whack the G and H keys for a while pretty hard and they start working again. Obviously not the right technical solution. I hope someone from HP can confess to the actual problem and fix it for us...

[Sazkin]

I have been having the same problems with my keyboard on my N5495 laptop. The following keys do not respond: G, H, BackSpace, F4 (and a few others, like F8).

This is what I normally do when the keys fail:

1) Open Notepad and type in a few random characters.

2) With the screen open, I tilt my laptop at about 45 degrees and press (give pressure to) the laptop at the base with both hands and at the same time I keep the BackSpace key pressed continuously, until the BackSpace key starts working and starts deleteing the characters typed in Notepad.

3) With the laptop still tilted and the BackSpace key now working, I press the H or G key and while either of thosee keys is pressed, I slowly start decreasing the angle of the laptop tilt, till the base is laying back on the desk. Make sure either key is pressed while getting the base back on the desk completely.

NOTE: There are times, while decreasing the angle after having the keys work, the keys might stop working again. In this case, repeat process - increase the tilt and start pressing.

It works for me, frustrates me, and sometimes hurts the fingers by too much pressing, but its the only solution I could find so far.

The reason why this happens normally is:
The metal base of the keyboard (not the laptop), gets bent after a while of use (due to key banging), usually at the center. Hence the G and H keys go bad. One remedy (not recommended) is to take the keyboard out and bend it back a bit from the center. My friend did this to his HP Pavilion ZE1150 series and his works fine now. Another solution is to replace the keyboard (usually cost around $15-$20). Have some techie friend do it for you.

I am going to try what the HP support guy suggested, though I doubt that will fix this issue. It seems to be more of a hardware failure than software (driver) issue.

This thing is really frustrating and at times makes me want to buy a new laptop. But other than this gripe, the laptop has been great so far. Original hard drive still running, although slow now (at 4200RPM), battery is fine. Monitor hinge contacts seem a bit loose but its not a major issue. At certain screen angles, the monitor blinks. So for 1200$ and 3 yrs still running, this was good buy for me.

Good luck.

[Mirko_8]

I've the same problem [g,h,bkspace,F4..] with 2 omnibook xe3-gc.
I've disassembled them interely but unfruitfully.
Now I'm going to try to bend the keyboard as suggested....if it works I'll tell you.

In my opinion it's a bios problem...but to try doesn't cost a thing!

Mirko