XO Troubleshooting Keyboard

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.

This is the portion of the XO Troubleshooting Guide for diagnosing problems with the keyboard and touchpad of an XO laptop.

Does the keyboard seem unresponsive ?

Ensure that it isn't a stuck ALT or CTL key

Does the touchpad work ?

If the touchpad works, then the problem is probably a loose cable between the keyboard and the keyboard controller. Possibly a bad controller board.

Keyboard and Touchpad both broken

If the touchpad doesn't work either, then it is likely the connection between the keyboard controller and the motherboard (rare), or the keyboard controller. It might be the motherboard, although this has yet to be seen.

Does the keyboard generate unexpected responses ?

1. Stuck keys
2. bad connected cables

Keys are tearing off the keyboard

We are working on improving the keyboard...

Is the touchpad unresponsive ?

This is possibly caused by loose cables between the touchpad and the keyboard.

If the keyboard is also non-functional, see above section on "keyboard and touchpad both broken".

It could also be the keyboard controller.

Does the touchpad only allow vertical (horizontal) movement ?

There was a fabrication problem which resulted in occasional laptop having a touchpad which only worked in a single direction (Trac ticket #5575). This has been fixed, but the same problem may still be seen occasionally.

The solution to this touchpad problem requires replacing actual touchpad surface. Replacing just the touchpad surface is not recommended, as it is strongly glued down. Replace the entire bottom portion of the laptop, or at a minimum replace the touchpad and the piece to which it is glued.

Is the touchpad very "jerky" ?

Calibration problem ? Some laptops are much more susceptible than others.