M1330 Keyboard Woes...

[traveller]

...keep seeing this strange image, sort of a combination of characters & numbers, arranged in some cryptic pattern...

...F8 F9...
.6.7.8.9.0.
...Z.U.I...
.G.H.J.K.L.
...B.N.M...

What could it possibly mean...

()

[Phunky]

I too found my 1330 had the bump in the middle of the keyboard. So I decided to open it up and do a bit of exploring. I found this:



The bump in my case was caused at the 90 degree turn of the cable bundle at the top. The bundle was too far to the right, so it did not sit in the indentation as it should, but rather was on the edge, hence causing the bump under the keyboard.

So what I did was tug on the cable bundle and moved the cable to the left, so it sits flush in the indentation.



In another thread, someone said there was a screw which may be lifting up the cable bundle a little. There is a screw, but I dont think that was the major problem in my case.



I also had the issue ot the right side of the keyboard being a bit floppy, ie it would depress when pressing right shift, enter, or the arrow keys etc. So I added some double sided tape (only removed the adhesive from one side tho, so the keyboard can be removed easily later) on that side as below:



Finally, there seemed to be a bit of a depression at the F3 and F4 keys as well, so I added a bit of tape there too for good measure.

And thats it, put it all back together, and now the keyboard is stable as a rock and flat as a ruler.

One caution tho, the right hinge cover was a bit of a pain to pull off. I almost ripped off the thin tab where the arrow is. Luckily it didnt detach, so I gently nudged it back into its normal position as shown. So be careful of this if you are going to try this. I probably wont remove it ever again lol



GL, and happy new year

[traveller]

Originally Posted by Phunky

So I decided to open it up and do a bit of exploring.

Thx for the excellently illustrated "walkthrough"

Just one question, though: how "too far right" could the cable bundle have possibly been considering the cable-clip goes from right to left...? I am of course assuming that the first pic was taken after you relocated the bundle...

Thx again for the input

[pocketp]

Yes, I didnt take the pic till after it had been fixed, but it was clearly visible that it was cutting the corner because it was above the surface level

[outkastland]

Nice little guide on what you did, I don't think I want to mess with my xps after seeing it though, with my luck I would break that hinge.

[nksyoon]

Just received mine this afternoon - obvious keyboard bulge. I didn't want to mess with mine so called Dell Support, they asked me to send a pic and they will decide whether to replace the whole laptop or send a technician to fix it.

Ordered Jan 7, delivered Jan 24. Assembled in Ireland.