Unresponsive Keyboard M6600

Does anyone else have this issue or know of a solution.

This has happened on and off for some time, but only recently (last one/two months) became a lot more common. It has already happened three times today for example.

The computer is not doing anything strenuous and then the keyboard suddenly becomes unresponsive. I cannot type anything, none of the keyboard actions like space, delete key etc work. But the mouse does work, and can copy, paste, delete via a right click.

The only way (I know of) to get the keyboard back is to restart the computer which is VERY annoying when you are trying to get work done.

Any ideas or thoughts please?

I am on Windows 7, all BIOS, drivers etc are up to date.

 

My younger sister has a M6600 and yet to experience such symptoms after prolonged use. Since the Mouse works fine it don't seem to indicate an OS lockup, do you have a spare external keyboard that you can test on the system? If that works fine for a long period of time while the standard one doesn't then it could indicate to a faulty keyboard. Should that be the case then give Dell Support a ring and see if they can send you a replacement keyboard.

 

Thanks, Hearst.

I have done as you suggested. Plugged in an external keyboard via usb. Now when the main keyboard becomes unresponsive I can still use the external.

Does anyone know what may be causing this? I will open up the laptop this weekend and check to see if there is no dirt or anything under the keyboard. Is there anything else to look for?

My travel schedule is pretty hectic at the moment and carrying an external keyboard with me is less than ideal. If a clean with air does not do the trick I will have to call Dell Support.

I wonder how much a new keyboard costs?

 

I see quite a few new on eBay for $20 and less?

I would check the keyboard hookups and make sure everything is good. Otherwise, replacing it is the next step.

You should still be under warranty? Just call up Dell and get them to replace it for you.

 

Thanks Aaron44126. Not sure if it is still under warranty as I have had it 18 months or so already.

Anyway, I just installed the new nVidia driver 311.35 so will see if that has any effect. What is strange, is the problem only seems to happen sometimes, namely when a programme (notably Expression Web) is in use, which makes me wonder whether it is a driver issue. I will post back if this new nVidia driver mysteriously solves the issue or not.

Cheers.

 

All M6600 come with at least a 3 year warranty. Well, not sure about outlet models.

 

Good to know, thanks Aaron. I bought mine direct from Dell so it will be 3 years then. I will wait until next week and see if the brand new nVidia 311.35 drivers make any difference before calling Dell.

 

I hope I am not jinxing myself with this post, but I did promise to give feedback.

I did not clean the underside of the keyboard, instead I hoped that the nVidia 311.35 drivers and Java updates I installed on the Sunday would solve the problem.

They didn't as the problem happened again on the Monday.

But then Tuesday came along with a flurry of Windows updates (and a Flash update). Installed all the critical and all the options and it has been almost 1 and 1/2 weeks since I had a problem.

This for me, indicates that it is not a faulty keyboard but one of the updates I installed on the Tuesday. Only problem is, I have absolutely no idea which one.

Thanks.