netbook keyboard probs

[berley]

Daughters netbooks keyboard is not working properly, it’s a Hp mini 110 1110sa and has a bios password on it, the return key types something instead of returning, the delete key also types instead of deleting etc, I have googled and the best I’ve found is to press - fn+no.lock – tried this and it didn’t work also tried ctrl +shift, and every other thing google is suggesting. Tried hooking up a seperate keyboard and this behaves the same way as her netbook keyboard.

Tried getting into the recovery mode on her hard drive but before you can press f11 it keeps going to the bios password, which she knows but because the keyboard is behaving oddly it doesn't recognise the password.

the netbook has HP instant web on it

· Instant Web is an instant on software solution that allows users to quickly and easily get to a browser, an IM client, and their media in a secure, fast booting environment.

The keyboard did work fine when she was using instant web, ie she could type in url addresses etc.

To get from instant web into normal windows you press the windows key on the keyboard, she had a password set for windows, originally it was just here when her keyboard started playing up, non of the keys worked apart from the space bar so she went into the bios to see if she could change the password to spacebar x 3 (because the spacebar was working) instead she inadvertently put that as a bios password

So now she's got a netbook that cant even boot into instant web because its asking for a bios password.

Is there a workaround for this or is she caught in a catch 22 ?

 

[AJT]

best way is to boot into safe mode and do a system restore,
you can do this by turning on device and it will flash up a enter set up key to press while booting you need to see what it is.some are del or F2 F8 etc if you dont get the key then experiment by constantly booting while pressing esc then del then F8 till you get into safe boot mode..you should then be able to navigate to system restore settings and put device back to earliest date in restore.

 

[AJT]

best way is to boot into safe mode and do a system restore,
you can do this by turning on device and it will flash up a enter set up key to press while booting you need to see what it is.some are del or F2 F8 etc if you dont get the key then experiment by constantly booting while pressing esc then del then F8 till you get into safe boot mode..you should then be able to navigate to system restore settings and put device back to earliest date in restore.

What operating system is it running.?

 

[berley]

Its running on windows 7, but I suspect the F keys aren't functioning properly now either as I've tried them. When you boot the machine up the F options come up and must have originally worked because she managed to get into the bios to try and change what she thought was her windows password, but it would seem that she set a bios password instead, what she did then was hit the spacebar 3 times and instead of it just moving the cursor along it typed either 3 numbers or letters but she couldn't see what they were as it shows as black dots, since then tho i've been trying fn+no.lock and ctrl+shift and also removed the battery so now when we try the F keys it skips past it and goes straight to asking for a bios password and it is no longer accepting whatever the spacebar did type before I started messing with it I guess its just going to have to be trial and error and a very long process of doing as you suggest and experimenting with every key till i find one that works.

 

[seanicca]

do you have access to a usb keyboard? maybe see if that works

 

[berley]

. Tried hooking up a seperate keyboard and this behaves the same way as her netbook keyboard.

Already tried that and it behaves in the same way

 

[Napster]

Already tried that and it behaves in the same way

in that case you need to clear the bios not sure on that model how its done but must be a battery or a jumper somewhere to reset it.

 

[berley]

My other daughter has just told me the very same thing but she said I'd need to find out what motherboard it has as there are different ways to do the same thing, this is getting too techno for me now lol so I think it's gonna have to be a puter shop repair

 

[AJT]

okay what you need to do is find the generic password for your device..all have a generic bios password that will overide all others for this type of occurence.most HP units use PHOENIX BIOS so look here
Generic BIOS password listing
BIOS Generic Passwords
hopefully you can find a password to get you in and then you need to RESET BIOS TO DEFAULTS. and you should be good.
i would then recommend you do a restore to solve your keyboard problem...if that does not work then a complete reinstall and start a fresh...but when you get in back up the data you want to keep to sd card or the like before reinstall.

 

[AJT]

okay what you need to do is find the generic password for your device..all have a generic bios password that will overide all others for this type of occurence.most HP units use PHOENIX BIOS so look here
Generic BIOS password listing
BIOS Generic Passwords
hopefully you can find a password to get you in and then you need to RESET BIOS TO DEFAULTS. and you should be good.
i would then recommend you do a restore to solve your keyboard problem...if that does not work then a complete reinstall and start a fresh...but when you get in back up the data you want to keep to sd card or the like before reinstall.

there is this also but try password first

How to clear an unknown BIOS or CMOS password.
How to Bypass or Remove a BIOS Password - Technibble

 

[has786]

Berley if when you use instant web the keyboard behaves fine and when in windows it doesnt then it seems more of a software issue rather then hardware. I think what may have happened is that the keyboard and the keyboard language may have changed in windows accidentaly. Can you please check the keyboard settings under the regional settings which can be found in the control panel. Also another suggestion is to boot a live linux disc and see how the keyboard behaves when typing in linux. You need to iron out if its a hardware or software fault. Good luck

 

[berley]

Sorry for the late reply to everyones suggestions.

I posted the original post a few places so here's a quick update with suggestions from everywhere, its for the benefit of anyone else who might encounter the same problem.

I tried the cmos battery it didn't work

I tried putting the netbook battery into an external caddy and hooking it up to laptop to virus scan it, it came back clean.

I originally said I had tried hooking up an external keyboard, which i had btw lol, what I hadn't done was to disconnect the netbook keyboard before I hooked it up. Once it was suggested that I try that, the external keyboard worked and I was able to put in a master reset code that someone generated for me

So it seems like the netbook keyboard is goosed.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions

 

[has786]

Berley still believe you should boot from a linux disc and check the keyboard status if it works than its something wrong with windows and that can be fixed at least i hope so.

 

[berley]

@ has786, Once I disconnected the netbook keyboard and connected an external one I was able to get into windows and everything worked fine within windows. Maybe I'm being thick here but I really don't see the point of booting from a linux disc, in fact it would need to be on usb pen as the netbook doesn't have a dvd rom. Surely the fact that an external keyboard is working is enough indication that the original keyboard is goosed ?

 

[has786]

@ has786, Once I disconnected the netbook keyboard and connected an external one I was able to get into windows and everything worked fine within windows. Maybe I'm being thick here but I really don't see the point of booting from a linux disc, in fact it would need to be on usb pen as the netbook doesn't have a dvd rom. Surely the fact that an external keyboard is working is enough indication that the original keyboard is goosed ?

Berley I have also experienced the same issue in the past and it turned out to be that some how windows thought my laptop keyboard was some other format. When i inserted the external keyboard it would work fine because windows would install new drivers for it (benefits fo plug and play). So I had tried booting from linux and the laptop keyboard was working fine. Then i booted into windows and re installed the laptop keyboard drivers and voila all was working again.

What you are saying makes sense but you also noticed that when you were on instant web mode your netbook keyboard was working fine. So why does it work with instant web but it does not work with windows? It just makes me think something wrong with the drivers or windows.

 

[Napster]

try pluging back in the netbook keypad maybe daughter droped it and cable came out worth a try, because kid never say if they have dropped things.

 

[Him Her]

Also, booting from any other OS will prove the hardware - Netbook integral keyboards use a different driver to the generic USB keyboard.

 

[berley]

Berley I have also experienced the same issue in the past and it turned out to be that some how windows thought my laptop keyboard was some other format. When i inserted the external keyboard it would work fine because windows would install new drivers for it (benefits fo plug and play). So I had tried booting from linux and the laptop keyboard was working fine. Then i booted into windows and re installed the laptop keyboard drivers and voila all was working again.

What you are saying makes sense but you also noticed that when you were on instant web mode your netbook keyboard was working fine. So why does it work with instant web but it does not work with windows? It just makes me think something wrong with the drivers or windows.

Hmmm I'm worried now as I thought I had nothing better to do than to order a new keyboard

Your correct in what your saying about instant web working but not in windows, that was always a nagging doubt that I had.

While I have the netbook keyboard in I don't think I'll be able to boot with anything as I previously tried booting with W7 on a USB pen, but the net book was asking me to press F7 or 6 (cant really remember) to change the boot order, but the F keys weren't functioning so it was impossible to do it.

@has786 is there anywhere that I can download whatever it is your suggesting and put it on a USB stick ?

or could I connect an external keyboard again and check the settings and reinstall the drivers ? or do anything else, keep it simple if there's anything I can try while I'm waiting on a new keypad coming lol

try pluging back in the netbook keypad maybe daughter droped it and cable came out worth a try, because kid never say if they have dropped things.

I have plugged the original keypad back in and I'm back to square one with it, ie asking for what I'm presuming is a bios password.

 

[has786]

Berley I believe there are some linux distros which you can boot from a USB, I recommend you do do a google search for it alernatively you can use UNetbootin which is an application which allows you to create a bootable live usb disc drive. If you go for the latter i recommend ubuntu as its is more user friendly a there is plenty of help in the web and probably here on how to run commands.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

 

[Him Her]

If you download Ubuntu and run it on another PC it has an option to create a bootable USB key. Remove the Netbook keyboard and get into BIOS with the USB keyboard. Change the boot order so USB is at the top. Put the Netbook keyboard back on and boot off the key - it should go straight through with no prompts.

If the keyboard still produces errors, replace it!