[olpc-help] Keyboard issues - stuck keys, keys registering erroneously

[soffen]

Anonymous wrote:
> I also have control key (and other key) problems. The keyboard test of the boot-up diagnostic (holding left rocker key under left speaker while powering on) confirmed the problem.  Sometimes the control key goes on when the 'a' is pressed and sometimes it goes on by itself, and it stays on until it (the control key) is pressed, or it can be released by pinching the rubber covering (as suggested above).  Sometimes it is another key that stays on after being pressed (I noticed problems with the 
> i, s, 1, and ; keys).   I am betting this is a hardware issue (possibly the rubber covering fits too tightly).
> 
> Unfortunately, while actually using the XO, you don't get feedback that the control key has accidentally gone on, or a key is stuck down. All you know is that the keyboard is not working correctly (or at all). It may be that a key is stuck down, but which one? I have had the XO basically become useless several times and had to reboot, only to have the problem resurface when it came back up. Now I know what the problem is, but that doesn't help the user experience any.


We first wrote to this forum about the jumpy mouse problem, which is still not resolved.  We have tried all the suggestion listed here and in the other forum.  More recently, the keyboard has become unusable most of the time.  The hardware diagnostic mentioned in this thread consistently shows the control key and the alt key are stuck, that is, they stay lit in the test after being released from the keyboard.  We should mention that because of the jumpy mouse pointer problem, we have used the control, alt and mesh keys frequently to access the terminal (signed in as root) and used the "poweroff" command to turn off the computer.  After the sticky key problem appeared we could no longer access the terminal this way.  We are consulting OLPC help by email and reported both issues to them.  They responded very promptly even on a Saturday, and we are hoping to have a satisfactory resolution of these problems.