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[Gabey8]

Those of us with early G1G1 devices sometimes run into problems with keys located at the lower-left corner area of the keyboard getting stuck.

I discovered that one trigger, for my XO, was to stress the keyboard half of the machine. Picking the XO up by the keyboard is a no-no. Using it on a non-flat surface, such as a lap without a lap desk, makes for trouble, as well.

I now believe I have found another thing that triggers stuck keys. Every time I store the XO in the carry bag, and leave it standing on edge for days on end, I have key problems when I take it out and use it.

This does NOT happen when I keep the XO lying flat on a desk between uses.

I don't seem to have trouble if I carry the XO in the bag from Point A to Point B, use it, and carry it back. But leaving it in there for several days in a row does seem to cause problems.

I wonder if that is because I have other things in the carry bag. I have discovered in the past that cramming a carry bag too full and then those little things on your feet the XO in there is a way to trigger sticky keys. Maybe a NON-jammed-full bag can be a problem also,if the XO sits in there for an extended period of time with various accessories creating some pressure points on the device.

Solution: resume storing XO on a flat table-top instead of in the carry bag, and use the carry bag only for transport. I very rarely have keyboard trouble under those circumstances.

[Grampa]

I just started noticing this problem after a couple of updates (now 765). There are so many posts and ticket entries on this problem that I didn't take the time to read them all. However, there is a page on the wiki (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sticky_Keys) which proposes a cause and a fix. The primary cause is said to be physical (i.e., not enough insulation between the contacts for those keys), and the fix involves disassembling the laptop and putting a thin strip of tape down for each of the problem keys.

I'd be interested in knowing whether this approach is now generally accepted.

[davewa]

I have found that simply disassembling and peeling back the rubber overlay enough to LOOK AT the key contacts, then reassembling is enough to fix the problem at least for awhile.

[Gabey8]

My solution for getting rid of the problem, when it occurs, is to press hard on the CTRL key (which is normally the one that sticks). Pressing hard on it from both top and bottom every time it sticks will eventually get rid of the issue, and the keyboard will resume working normally.

Unfortunately, this takes time and I found out the hard way last night that if I don't rectify the keyboard issue "on my own time", it doesn't always right itself in time for the XO to be usable under circumstances when I really  need it to work.

Last night, I had to take meeting minutes. The XO had sat in the carry bag since the previous meeting about two weeks ago. I had the Stuck Key from H3ll during the meeting last night, and wound up taking the minutes on my cell phone because I Just Could Not get the freaking CTRL key to calm down and stop sticking.

This is the only time, since I got the XO last December, that I've ever been unable to make use of the XO under "official business" circumstances. I did successfully take minutes, but not on the XO which would have been my preferred method of note-taking.

I keep track of things like this specifically because as a person who wants to use the XO as a road-warrior device, I want to be able to avoid anything that will prevent me from being able to use it, at a moment's notice, to take notes at a meeting or during a class. I'd have been in hot water last night, had I not had a backup system for note-taking handy.

To test my theory that storing the XO flat, and not in the carry case, exacerbated the sticky-key issue, I stored it lying flat on a flat surface last night. This morning, when I resumed using the XO, I had time to press the CTRL key from the top and bottom every time it acted up. Lo and behold, after a few minutes of this treatment, the keyboard worked normally and hasn't acted up again so far today. Too bad I didn't have the time to be persistent and fix the trouble last night, but I couldn't very well interrupt a meeting in order to do that.

I'm curious -- do the people who received their XOs later in the G1G1 program also have this problem? Or was the manufacturing process tweaked in order to resolve the sticky-key issue?

[mbs348]

my alt key sticks....when it does, i just wail on it a bunch and i ussually get some time where it isnt stuck.....but anytime x boots, i just disable it and move the alt function to the left hand key

[XOIOWA]

My XO worked wonderfully for a long time after I first received it, and I thought I had been spared from the sticky key problem.  But, after many months it did start happening and it eventually got so bad (ctrl key only) that I did some software hacking to alleviate the problem.  I have posted about that elsewhere in the forum.  But, recently I upgraded to 765, and my sticky key came back with a vengeance.  I suspect that during the long time when my software fix was basically ignoring the ctrl key that it did become permanently stuck, but I didn't know it.  After the upgrade my computer was totally unusable.  Even the diagnostics choked on the keyboard test.

So, I did the fix described in the link above.  Yes, it's a lot of work.  Yes, it works.  It was pretty easy to see that there was an insufficient amount of rebounding glue on my ctrl key, and on several of the other keys in that corner of the keyboard.  I cut thin strips of black tape and installed them between the contact layers.  Now my keys don't stick, and I doubt they ever will.

[CanadaDry]

I never had the sticky key problem before, until recently.  I like to work outside with my xo, but with the temperatures dipping into the 40's and 50's, my alt and ctrl keys stick.

If I take my xo inside to warm up, everything is fine.  Anyone else with this problem?  I guess I will just move to a warmer climate. 

[LesleyT]

I wanted to add that I had a sticky key issue on and off.  I would physically "pull" at the offending key in desperation, and during a lecture, I managed to rip the covering loose from the control key. 

It doesn't stick anymore.

But it is injured.

I'm interested in your theory, Gaby 8.  I've noticed more XO acting up when I leave it in a bag or throw it in with books.  It's designed to be rugged, but not bulletproof nor is it designed to be a little green filling in a textbook sandwich.  My latest XO trauma happened after leaving it shoved into a too-full backpack for a few days.  I agree -- I don't think the XO really likes being smashed or being vertical. 

[clm42]

Interesting. When I ripped open my XO the first time to fix that, I never thought that storage my have been the cause. I stick mine between my couch and a chair.

[GregYohn]

My down arrow gets stuck down sometimes when using the XO in my lap also!

[OtherMichael]

When my CTRL key gets stuck, I press firmly in a circular motion -- wiggling it around about 5 time, and it usually unsticks. I haven't resorted to pulling the case apart, yet.