Keyboard freaked - cause?

[teach1st]

Last night my 8 month old Compaq "Internet" USB keyboard for no apparent reason malfunctioned (I was entering an event in my vBulletin calendar - no new hardware or software for days. No lightning or discernable electrical jiggles).
A block of about 10 keys wouldn't work. If a pressed "p" it would return a typed "pk". The "k" key returned the same sequence of letters. Some keys returned symbols.
I tried everything to fix this - from drivers to keyboard maps...I even updated the BIOS. I unplugged the keyboard for a bit while the computer was running. I turned off the machine for a while. I used the 1960s TV trick and whacked the keyboard about its chassis. I tried a USB-PS2 adapter. I switched USB ports. No go.
Finally, I gave up and went to bed much too late and expecting to have to get a new keyboard today. Of course, when I woke up, the problem had disappeared. The computer had not been restarted.
I don't mind getting a new keyboard if that's what the problem is. But is that the problem? Any ideas?

[janderk]

Sounds like a hardware keyboard failure to me.

Is it dirty or did you spill liquids over it? If so try cleaning it.

Otherwise it is probably probably a hardware failure causing a bad connection. It seems wise to get a replacement before it occurs again or wait and buy a new one if it occurs again.

Jan Derk

[Kara]

I had a similiar prob once. I thought my keyborad was toast because some letters weren't working unless I did them upper case, so I bought a new keyboard and threw the old one in the closet. A few months later when the kids poured something in the newer one I took it off (it was fried) and plugged the old one in. It worked just fine.

Kara

[teach1st]

Thanks for the replies. I'm off to buy a spare, but I'm gonna leave this one running just to see...
I did clean it out, even though it didn't seem to dirty.

[Kara]

just a thought here but maybe the humidity had something to do with it?

Kara

[teach1st]

Originally posted by Kara:
just a thought here but maybe the humidity had something to do with it?

While it's pretty drippy with humidity here in Florida, I've got a heavy hand with the central air (much to the chagrin of my budget).

8}

[Keiichi]

kinda reminds me of my microwave. sometimes in the morning when the weather is all cool, those buttons don't work, and a few hours laters, it works just fine.

[Dunx]

Originally posted by janderk:
Is it dirty or did you spill liquids over it? If so try cleaning it.
Things not to pour on a keyboard:
1. soup
2. beer

Both are conductive and do odd things to your input. The soup was particularly bad, since the keys were physically jammed the next day after it had dried out.

I had a keyboard fault on my laptop a few months ago. It insisted that I add extra '[' characters in every word, which made typing in passwords particularly difficult. I think it was just something jammed under the key though, because being shipped to Dell cured it (they found no fault) and there has been no recurrence.

[Tahna Los]

Sometimes it is better to just buy a generic PS/2 Keyboard. Really cheap so if it breaks, no real loss, IMHO.

What's the diff between a PS/2 and a USB keyboard anyways?

Unless it's one of those "Microsoft Office/Internet/Video and Audio Friendly" keyboards. Ouch.

*rereads post* Oh, I see, Double Ouch.