Stuck keys SN

If you have a XO with keys that are sticking please add your serial number here: Please don't delete the pre statements so the wiki keeps the per line formatting. Thanks. --Richard

Serial Numbers

CSN747

CSN74701393 Left Alt redefined to be Left Hand. 2008-07-25. bbaston
  CTRL joins ALT in stick problem (above). Fix: peel left side of both keyboard
  layers apart from each other & the metal plate, then reassemble. 2008-12-22. bbaston
CSN7470159C Left ctrl, alt, hand, shift. Fixed with tape. (2008-07-23)
CSN74701700 Left Alt, left Ctrl (noticed June 29, 08)
CSN74701784 CTRL (Left, intermittent beginning May 2008)
CSN747017C1 Left Ctrl (intermittent)
CSN74701957 Left CTRL, Left Shift, A, Left Alt, and Spacebar
CSN7470176A left CTRL, possibly other function keys
CSN7470198A Left CTRL, SHIFT, ALT
CSN74701A95 Left Alt sticks almost every boot
CSN74701AD6 Left ALT and CTRL key
CSN74701D62 Left ALT and (less often but quite often) CTRL key 
(got worse in Jan/Feb 08 after receipt in Dec 07)
CSN74701E40 CTRL key, began Sept 2009; machine is now practically unusable
CSN74701F0D Right shift
CSN74701F2E CTRL key, intermittently
CSN74702143 CTRL key randomly lites after several seconds 
(diagnostic test) also many (12-15) other keys sometime stick
randomly see discussion page 
CSN7470229D Left ALT
CSN747023BF CTRL
CSN747023D1 CTRL/A (hitting just 'A' functions as 'CTRL-A')
CSN74702414 CTRL, others very intermittently
CSN74702872 Alt (happened only ONCE so far, not recurring; temp.
fixed by pressing right Alt-Gr)
CSN747028D9 CTRL and Left ALT
CSN74702A12 left Alt
CSN74702AC2 Left Hand and ALT keys;
fixed by peeling keyboard layers apart and putting electrical tape in between
CSN74702B2E 2 key sticks; machine has been in storage; very little prior use
CSN74702D36 Left Ctrl stuck since two months ago -- computer
unusable, all clicks interpreted as ctrl+click. 'a' key also sticky.
2008-09-13
CSN7470319C CTRL, ALT; OK w/ xmodmap left hand workaround
CSN747031A6 left alt stuck after keys pressed, left CTRL not working
at all
CSN747031B6 Left CTRL/ALT/FN
CSN7470320D "B" key and the "frame" key intermittently
CSN74703322 Left CTRL (received Dec, key started sticking Jul 2008)
CSN7470337C Left CTRL (repaired with electrical tape, works fine so
far)
CSN747033B6 Left ALT after ~3mos; OK w/ xmodmap left hand workaround
CSN7470350B Left CTRL, Left ALT
CSN7470365F occasional CTRL key, only started Apr 27 (been using daily since Nov)
CSN7470366E Left Alt (works okay two thirds of the time)

CSN748

CSN7480016E CTRL sometimes, not others, helps to press/release before
not wanting it. fholson
CSN748001EC Left CTRL, shift, and alt keys
CSN74800265 Down Arrow, Enter, A
CSN748002BA Left ALT and CTRL
CSN74800414 Left ALT, erase/backspace (not confirmed)
CSN74800442 Left CTRL (This is with using my XO on flat surface only)
CSN74800723 Left CTRL
CSN74800761 Left alt, maybe ctrl
CSH74800786 CTRL, Left ALT
CSN748008C1 Ctrl, left alt. Intermittent; helps to pull on the key.
CSN74800995 Left ALT
CSN748009D9 Down arrow key
CSN74800B94 CTRL and Left ALT intermittently stuck since purchase
CSN74800C4D CTRL
CSN75800CD4 Left Alt, then left hand
CSN74800E09 Left ALT and CTRL key
CSN74800E35 Left CTRL key
CSN74800E7D Left Alt, later Left Hand (after xmodmap left hand
workaround worked).
CSN74800F96 Left CTRL, resolved by remapping to the left grab key
(G1G1 unit, rcvd Dec 2007, problem developed in June 2008)
CSN748010C5 Left CTRL
CSN74801011 Left Alt
CSN74801114 Left Alt intermittent - tape fix unsuccessful, but will
try again
CSN7480115D Left ALT key
CSN7480117B Left Alt
CSN74801265 fn Hand or alt ordered new keyboard, but trying to fix it
myself with xmodmap to just turn off the key
CSN748012AB CTRL key
CSN74801355 Left Alt (also stucky left side of space bar)
CSN74801395 CTRL, Left Alt
CSN748013B9 better late than never - surfaced Summer 2008, reported 8 Oct 2010
CSN74801471 CTRL, Left Shift
csn74801550 Left Alt was first, then CTRL, both intermittent starting in Jan 2008; 
   couldn't get through for RMA on warranty, but a restart or "pinching" keys usually 
   released the stuck key, so I decided to live with it; however pinching 
   also led to the CTRL key cap tearing off.
CSN7480150E All fine until spacebar is hit; then only spacebar works.  USB Keyboard works fine. 767 0.82.1  Q2E18
CSN748015DD CTRL & Left ALT
CSN74801645 Left Alt; successfully remapped to Left Grab
CSN74801683 Intermittent: Left CTRL, left Alt, sometimes most of left
1/4 of keyboard
CSN748017E6 Ctrl (problem started may 08; started using computer 1/08)
CSN748018B2 CTRL, Left ALT fixed with packaging tape trick
CSN748018F8 Left Alt key (g1g1 machine, received 12/07, problem 5/08)
CSN7480190A CTRL (so far)
CSN748019C1 Many Keyboard Keys intermittently stick or do not
respond.  Erase and arrow keys do not always respond.
CSN748019F8 Left ctrl
CSN74801ADA Left CTRL, Right grab
CSN74801B19 Left Alt after 1.5 months, Left CTRL after 3 months
CSN74801B4C Left ALT and CTRL key
CSN74801CF2 Left CTRL (intermittent)
CSN74801D04 Left Alt
CSN74801E18 Left ALT always (ok from dec 2007 to spring 2008) Left CTRL sometimes
CSN74801F20 left alt - g1g1, prob started 12/08 with low use. will attempt tape fix.
CSN74802102 Left Alt
CSN748024CE ctrl
CSN74802529 Left Alt, left Ctrl
CSN74802688 CTRL (attempted fix by remapping to left HAND, then left
HAND stuck ~9/08)
CSN748026C5 Left Alt, Ctrl
CSN74802713 Left Alt, left fn, left left shift, left cntrl
CSN748028E0 CTRL, left HAND, ALT
CSN74802A82 Left Alt key
CSN74802B5D Left CTRL, occasional X, and other keys stick randomly
CSN74802B7C CTRL, TAB?
CSN74802CA0 CTRL (without my even touching it!), left ALT.
CSN74802D2E Left Alt sticks, and Left Alt registers keypress when
spacebar is pressed
CSN74802DDB Left Grab
CSN74802EB3 Left Alt, occasionally left Ctrl, and possibly several
others as well.  Started 05/22; used almost daily since 12/25/2007
with no problems until 05/22
CSN74802F13 Left CTRL, intermittent, pulling on the key helps

CSN74803006 CTRL
CSN7480303E Left ALT stuck down
CSN7480307C Left CTRL (started in beginning of May, intermittently)
CSN74803094 CTRL, Left ALT fixed for 3 weeks by "cleaning keyboard",
then CTRL key stuck again
CSN74803359 occasional CTRL and A - pulling the CTRL key helped, as
did dis-/reassembly, but not permanently
CSN74803983 CTRL, and ALT keys, not sure exactly which ones.
CSN748039F4 Left ALT key  - I have three units and i THINK that this
is the only one acting up actual kids in the family, and i look into
that this weekend.
CSN74803A6F left alt; CTRL, shift; left Hand-key. One of two
computers.
CSN74803B05 The left CTRL and likely the left ALT key  because the 
membrane split.
CSN74803B7F Left ALT and CTRL key
CSN74803ED1 Left CTRL, fixed with disassembly and cleaning

CSN7480406B Stuck CTRL and ALT key. On 8.2.0, it is possible to key for example letter 'o' by clicking first on CTRL key releasing the CTRL key, then typing 'o'. Make typing when control key is 
   stuck very slow and painful 2009-01-16 by Fritz Schenk (intrader or intrader2)
CSN748041F7 Left CTRL (bought in Nov 2007, problem developed June 08)
CSN74804570 Left CTRL
CSN74804791 left alt key
CSN74804904 Left Alt
CSN74804963 CTRL Key & Left ALT - appeared within ~3 weeks. remapped, 
but then Right Hand Key started acting up
CSN74804A46 Left ALT, sporadic beginning Aug 2009, activated by pressing nearby keys or plastic
CSN74804C12 CTRL key - started 9/29/2008
CSN74804CA3 CTRL, Down
CSN74804DOD CTRL key - started 4/27/2010
CSN74804E5D Left ALT - started 12/04/2008, remapped
CSN748054E8 Left CTRL intermittent, but stuck more often than not. With showkey I do see a key release event but it is followed by unending key press events
CSN748057BF Left Alt, Left Fn, Space?, Alt Gr
CSH74805834 Left CTRL, rubbing helps, disassembly and cleaning helped 
for two weeks 
CSN74805AB1 Left CTRL intermittently stuck (hitting just 'A' functions as 'CTRL-A')

CSN749

CSN74900019 complete keyboad failure, no keys work
CSN74900135 Left CTRL (sometimes), Left Alt (all the time); can be 
'unstuck' with /very/ slight continuous pressure on L-Alt but 
impossible to use as such . . .
CSN74900168 CTRL key
CSN749001BF Left CTRL, Left Alt.  Now unuseable :(
CSN749001C4 Left CTRL activates randomly when nearby keys are pressed
CSN749005F3 Left Alt (mainly triggered when pressing one of: fn, 
left-grab, space, left-shift, ctrl, a,s,d,f,z,x,c,v)
CSN74900A9F CTRL key, keyboard membrane torn
CSN74900BAB very sticky CTRL. Occasional: O, K, ", Q, +, down arrow, 
Z, erase, slider. Directional pad make erase and slider sticky.
CSN74901A9B Ctrl -- it's back... (6/01/08)
CSN74901AB3 left alt
CSN74901C55 Left Alt, CTRL
CSN74901D8A Alt stuck, reseated keyboard..working now. 
CSN74901F1B Left Alt key
CSN7490204C CTRL
CSN749024E6 Ctrl remapped to Left-Hand(Sep/08). Now(Nov/08), Alt has
failed.
CSN7490257B Left Alt, fixed with disassembly/tape procedure
CSN74902869 Left CTRL ALT and hand key.  not fixed by cleaning.  most 
keys in center don't work now.
CSN74902984 Left Alt, left Ctrl, verified through ok test keyboard. 
Keys unmapped, Left hand remapped to be Ctrl.
CSN74902A33 CTRL
CSN74902CB0 CTRL, will attempt disassembly and cleaning. (12/06/2010, but haven't used it much until now)
CSN74902D14 Left ALT
CSN74902D58 CTRL
CSN74902DE0 CTRL
CSN74902E1A Left CRTL sticking . Seems to be triggered by pressing A;
 can sometimes unstick by pressing A. Fixed on reboot, but re-occurs.
CSN74902FB2 Left ALT key, alt.gr key
CSN7490315E Left CTRL
CSN7490337D CTRL key
CSN74903405 CTRL key
CSN7490341B CTRL, ALT, Shift
CSN749034F7 Right Shift
CSN7490350B Left CRTL key
CSN749036F0 Left Alt,  key
CSN749038A2 Left Alt
CSN7490393E Left CTRL and shift
CSN749039CE Left Alt
CSN74903A7F Left ALT and Left shift keys
CSN749025A5 Left AlT
CSN74903C6D Left Shift started intermittently spring 2009 increasing in frequency until I fixed it on 14/Aug/2009. Fixed sucessfully using method at: http://www.olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=1961.0

CSN750+

CSN75000128 CTRL key
CSN7500023E Left Alt, and Left Hand occasionally
CSN75000353 Left Alt mainly, apparently some others occasionally too, start after 18 mos. of ownership
CSN75000365 Left Alt and CTRL,tried a first repair by cleaning contacts, worked well for a time, must go back in and try the tape method
CSN750004AF Left control and erase keys
CSN75000512  occasional CTRL key
CSN75000516 Left CTRL Only fixed on reboot
CSN75000767 Left Alt, very often
CSN75000960 Ctrl key (see DISCUSSION)
CSN75000CA9 Left Ctrl key(shift, tab seem to send ctrl_l codes) 
CSN750010CA Left CTRL, left alt, down and right buttons
CSN75001276 Left CTRL
CSN750016BD Left ALT
CSN75001C15 CTRL key
CSN75001D7D Left ALT, CTRL key
CSN750024C4 Left CTRL (is a right one?)

SHF806

SHF806007F2 CTRL
SHF80600B77   CTRL Key  *pls see TalkPage
SHF80600BE8   ALT keys (intermittent)

'''SHF807'''
SHF80703D01 g, h, erase, ', 

Other

T355C31002507   Q key (intermittent)
SHC83903EE8     CTRL key, probably--entire keyboard+rotate screen key
now non-responsive.

+6 RMA machines gathered back @ 1CC over the past months

More Info:

Recently some posts have been taken and twisted a bit in various blogs and slashdot in to indicate that the keyboard failures are "widespread". As of January 2009, fewer than 170 reports of intermittent keyboard failures have been filed (above; we've added in by hand those that came in via email and otherwise).

Richard Smith says :

I would like to clarify what I see as incorrect info about the failure rates of the OLPC keyboard. Please re-post this info however you think best.

OLPC does not have evidence that the keyboard failures are widespread like the blog posts I've seen indicate. The overall RMA return rate of all XO problems combined is less than 1%. Verified keyboard problems are a small part of that.

Please add your reports above to help us gauge the scope of the problem! OLPC needs more accurate data on the failure rate. OLPC invites the community to help.

There has not been a rash of these reports from our deployments, which use the laptops and keyboards more heavily than casual users. The problem was primarily in the early production runs, which made up a portion of G1G1 machines last year.

The manufacturers of the keyboard have worked with OLPC to make some changes to the internal construction of the keyboard. We think these changes have helped with the sticky keys issue, and they have been rolled into the current keyboard production.

Instructions

If you currently have an XO with a sticky key then please add your serial number to this wiki page and what key(s) appear to be sticking.

Please don't add a lot of extra info.

A simple one line post entry will be fine. I don't need e-mail addresses or long problem descriptions. If you really have to say something more than oneline you can always post to this page's DISCUSSION & add *pls see TalkPage to the end of your statement above.

If you are running a joyride release, you can find your XO's serial number by hovering over your XO person in the center of the Home screen and clicking on "About this XO." Or you can remove the XO battery and read the CSN or SHF number from the barcode attached to the XO.