Problem with Dell Inspiron 1501 keypress every second
Update: Pull the power cord and battery and let it sit for a while. You may need to remove the BIOS battery (located under the keyboard) as well. It turns out this was the fix that I accidentally used when ripping apart the laptop trying to figure out the problem.
My primary laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1501 (cheap, I know) and a couple months back it started registering a key being pressed every second. Exactly every second. This made simple things like alt-tabbing through a list of programs difficult as it would cause the alt-tab windows to close. Copying and pasting from a command prompt was almost impossible with less than a second to do it. Programs and dialogs were opening behind other windows, sometimes behind their own parent. Various flavors of linux would even show the '=' key being pressed. The final problem that got me to look into it was when I was doing remote access using VNC to an old Windows 2000 Pro system at the Livingston-Park County Public Library. I clicked on a file and instantly I started getting harassed by Windows to delete the file as the 'delete' key was registering. After a few quick clicks and keystrokes I got out of that and opened up the log I wanted to view. To my surprise the log was being eaten one character every second.
When this problem started I had just recently upgraded the RAM from the stock dual 512MB sticks to two 2GB sticks, the harddrive from 120GB to 320GB, VMWare server to the latest version and a handful of other software upgrades. Searching the web showed many people with the same issue presenting in many flavors of Linux but a few reported it in Windows too. Unfortunately, nobody had a solution other than change the keyboard map which is just a workaround.
First thing I did was try to detect the key that was actually registering as being pressed with the hopes that maybe something was just making a key stick. Passmark's KeyboardTest showed the Pause key being pressed under the AT107 setting but when set to a Dell laptop showed nothing. Seeing these results I assumed that Windows was infected with some malware even though I run Windows XP 64-bit Edition. To make sure it wasn't an OS problem I tried to boot into the Windows XP 32-bit version I have installed on the same drive. I was allowed to login and immediately log back out. Even more convinced that it was malware, I grabbed a Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop live CD and started it up only to find the problem was still there.
Since it wasn't a software problem I thought hardware was the next thing to test. So before calling Dell and going through the routine's with them I swapped my keyboard for one from a compatible system and the problem was still there. I put in my old hard drive and old RAM and the problem persisted. At this point it had to be a Mainboard problem. Before calling Dell I decided to check my warranty online and was in luck with 144 days remaining. While clicking around the site trying to find a working Dell support number I checked the downloads section and noticed a new BIOS version. The changelog showed no major changes but I grabbed it anyway. To my surprise after a couple of reboots the problem was gone.
I'm hoping that this problem won't return and would love to know the source of it. I upgraded my BIOS when I first received the laptop but that was six months prior to this issue. I suspect it has something to do with the high precision timer so if it continues I'll have to disable that setting in the BIOS. Now I just need to figure out why my Windows XP 32-bit install won't let me log in.
I had this problem, and I did upgrade the BIOS to 2.6.3. It worked for a month or so, and now the problem is back. I'm rather at my wit's end :)
That's interesting. I wanted to reproduce the problem so I reverted my BIOS to the old version and the problem appeared instantly and when I upgraded again the problem went away. There hasn't been a single sign of it since I first posted this info.
I'm having the same problem. During normal use, this keypress interferes with programs: spellchecking stops in MS Word, Alt-Tab window disapears after 1 second, the mark function [alt-space -> edit -> mark] of Command prompt [Start -> Run -> cmd] causes the PC Speaker to beep every second, windows open in the back of other windows and without focus, program tooltips tend to disappear (almost instantly), copy/cut operations frequently fail.
I had BIOS 2.6.1 when I got the laptop. I didn't notice if the problem appeared because soon after I got it I upgraded to 2.6.2. That's when I first seen the problem. Later I upgraded to 2.6.3. The problem was still there. Meanwhile, I tried to enable/disable High precission timer, power now and other BIOS features, in various combinations. The problem was still there.
I decided to revert to Bios 2.6.1 to see if it would fix the problem. The BIOS update (with files from the Dell website) FAILED and it bricked my laptop. Later on I found out on other forums that this happened to other people, too. SO DON'T UPGRADE (OR DOWNGRADE) TO 2.6.1
I sent the laptop to warranty. It came back after 2 months with BIOS 2.6.3. The problem is still there. I reinstalled Windows XP professional SP2 and SP3 (streamlined) several times. The problem is still there.
Conclusion: The problem is still there. :(
I can't believe it was that simple. I find the solution on this forum http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/laptop-support/250825-typing-problem-my-inspiron-1501-a.html but the hole idea looked so stupid that I didn't want to reboot my laptop just to test it. After submitting the previous post, I said what a heck, let's try it. I did it and it works.
To summarize:
1. shut down the laptop
2. remove the power supply and the battery
3. press and hold the power button (I pressed it 2-3 times and kept it pressed for about 1 second) --- obviously the laptop will not start.
4. plug in the battery and the power supply, start the laptop and check if the problem is gone. Good luck!
Indeed :D
Been searching the web for this laptop problem that was driving me nuts!!
Weird… but IT WORKED!!!
Thanks man!! ;)
The solution referenced by Andrei worked.
Thanks so much, I've had this problem for a year or so, coming and going.
I'm not sure it's gone because I did what you said above or as a coincidence, though, as it did disappear several times before.
I know the source of the problem is static electricity. This time of year I get a pretty big shock after walking across the room and touching my laptop ever couple weeks. Immediately after I notice it happening again.
It worked for me on Dell 1501
This worked for me too. This is so stupid, but it worked. Thank you Andrei!
I screwed around with trying to fix this problem for god knows how many hours… uninstalling Windows Updates, uninstalling new programs, killing processes one-by-one to find the cause, updating the BIOS, unplugging keyboard/mouse and uninstalling drivers… I even reinstalled Windows with the Dell CD that came with the laptop, NOTHING worked.
Then I saw this post, thought hey here's something I didn't try, so I tried it and it worked. Thanks a lot
Blaine,
So you think it is static electricity too? When I posted the solution I wasn't entirely sure it was the cause, since static electricity is known to fry electronic components…
There were some people who responded saying taking their batteries and AC adapters out still didn't work for them, but perhaps they weren't pressing the power button enough.
I've since moved on from my 1501 days and got a 1545. I gave my boyfriend the 1501, and two weeks after giving it to him the problem resurfaced while I was using it. Battery removal etc solved it yet again.