Weird keyboard problems....

[Bill Freeman]

It sounds to me as though a trace is broken, or just possibly the
connection to the ribbon cable that joins the keyboard to the system (at
either end possibly.  Operating additional keys somehow routes around the
open from the point of view of the key scanning chip.

I have just recently replaced the keyboard on my ZaReason Strata 6770.  I
had spilled milk on the keyboard, and eventually a few keys stopped
working.  I suspect a bacterial film on some of the contact pads.  ZaReason
does sell replacement keyboards (not especially cheap), and it wasn't too
hard to replace, once I believed the force needed to pop the old keyboard
out, particularly if you don't mind destroying the dead keyboard.  On mine
the keyboard has bumps that extend into pockets in the bezel.  The keyboard
flexes to "pop" in.  No additional disassembly was required.  Suggested
prying was between the keyboard and bezel at the top center of the
keyboard.  Since you have a different model, your mileage may vary.  Ask
ZaReason.  No procedure was shipped with the replacement keyboard, and I
had to ask the support email a couple of times before they knew what I
wanted.  (To be fair, it was Christmas, and someone competent to answer may
have been on holiday.)

On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 6:34 AM, Matt Minuti <matt.minuti at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> > One of the things that surprised me, when I removed the keyboard,
> > is that contacts on the end of the ribbon cable are *black* rather
> > than being either silver or gold in color as I was expecting.
> > Looking at it through a loupe, it looks like there's actually
> > a thin sheet of carbon or similar-looking material installed
> > as a layer over the contacts. Made me hesitate before trying
> > the alcohol swab; actually, it makes me wonder whether those
> > contacts are really cleanable at all.
> >
> I'd swab them with alcohol. I've seen that a couple times, and each time
> it turned out it was corrosion. Not to say it couldn't be a factory
> coating, but if it looks like a gross old nickel, it's probably oxidized.
>
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