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Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:45 pm
by Molly_Dog
OK, I have this lady's laptop on my bench with this story:
"My address book was hacked and all of a sudden my touchpad and my keyboard don't work."
That's about the sum total of what I could get from her. I connected a USB mouse (can't find my USB keyboard?!?) which allowed me to get into Device Manager to see a flag next to the keyboard. I thought the simplest thing would be to uninstall the keyboard, reboot and let it reinstall, which it did. Now there's no flag, however, it still doesn't work. To add insult to injury, now there's a flag next to the Elan pointing device.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't just back up her data and reinstall Windows. :-k What do y'all think?

Jack (unfaithfulsfan under another user name, hopefully temporarily)

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:49 pm
by kenc51
Hey Jack!

Try booting from a live Linux CD first.
This will test the hardware without touching any files on the hard disk.

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:48 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
Well the Live Linux CD was a flop. I downloaded the Knoppix Live version but still, the touchpad and keypad were both unresponsive. I did find my USB keyboard so that's something at least. :|

That'd be a hell of a coincidence for 7 months after buying this POS her address book gets "hacked" and her touchpad and keypad hardware both take a dump. It's got to be a driver issue doesn't it? I don't know if Knoppix relies on any onboard drivers or if it loads its own generic drivers.

Mystified, I am.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. Don't know if I am better or worse off now!! :)

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:17 pm
by kenc51
Sounds like hardware. Knoppix uses it's own drivers. It doesn't touch any files on the hdd unless you tell it to.
Can you get into the BIOS?
If not, try reset the bios and retest.

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:37 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
There's little if any access in the BIOS to anything that matters. I'll try resetting it to see if it helps. Could the motherboard be the issue? That's been banging around in my empty head most of today. It just seems odd that the keyboard & touchpad BOTH died at the same time.

Thanks!

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:01 pm
by kenc51
If you can get into the bios, the hardware works since you're pressing a key to get in
It then has to be some bios setting or something on the laptop. guessing here, but is there a way to disable the kb on the laptop? some key combo, Fn + somekey (could it be Fn + Num Lock?)

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 6:44 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
Actually I've been using a USB keyboard and mouse to do anything I've done so far. But your suggestion gave me an idea to see if there is some combo to lock the keyboard for security purposes?

I'll let you know what I find out, if anything. Apparently Toshiba's aren't the most popular of laptop models. There's precious little info from what my searches have yielded.

thanks again! :prayer:
JG


Point of order, Mr. Chairman! I just realized I mistyped the model number.... :oops: It's C655D not 0. Doesn't help much so far but who knows, maybe it'll yield something!



:ohsnap:

LR Forums really needs a "smilie" of a braying donkey!

Don't know how I missed this but between first trying to troubleshoot this machine and finding my USB keyboard I never logged into Safe Mode. I tried that earlier today. Lo, and behold, both started working. I restarted Windows and both worked there, too!! Have since shut it down, let it sit for a couple of hours, then rebooted and they work every time.

Don't know how. Don't know why. Just glad this problem is resolved! :mrgreen: Thank you, kenc51, for your assistance and efforts to help me get this thing going! I'm going to go soak my head in ammonia and bleach for a little while!

Everyone have a great weekend! :partyman:
Jack

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:36 am
by kenc51
Glad to hear you got it working!

No need for the "thanks", I didn't do anything :roll:
unfaithfulsfan wrote: I'm going to go soak my head in ammonia and bleach for a little while!
Lol have fun with that ;)


Ken

Re: Toshiba Satellite C6550-S5234 Dead keyboard

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:42 pm
by unfaithfulsfan
No need for the "thanks", I didn't do anything
Au contraire, Ken! Your suggestions kept my mind working and thinking of things I hadn't (but should have!) thought of!

Have a great weekend!! \:D/

Jack