Strange Keyboard Failure

[Arc]

About a third of the keys on the inside and the answer/hangup buttons
on the outside keypad of my 9210 have suddenly failed. I turned it off
yesterday evening and then turned it on this morning, and they no
longer work!!!

Anyone had something like this? I've reset, formatted etc but its
had no effect.

cheers,

Andrew

[omar_g]

I've had exactly the same problem. There is a ribbon cable inside the communicator under the internal keypad. It sounds as if it has come loose. I had exactly the same problem not long ago. If your confident at opening the phone yourself, reply here and i'll post some instructions of how to dismantle the thing. If you are under warranty, i'd take the phone back to Nokia though.

-Omar

[Arc]

I have handset insurance with Cellnet, so I think I'll
try them first - if I have no luck, I'll post again.

many thanks,

Andrew

[Ewan]

Ye olde ribbon cable! Just like the Psion Series 3 and 5's. They are still using the same material, which begins to degrade after 18-24 months, if not before, through wear and tear.

Don't ask how I know this.

[Nosferatu]

Originally Posted by arc

About a third of the keys on the inside and the answer/hangup buttons
on the outside keypad of my 9210 have suddenly failed.

It's the ribbon... Try not to fix it yourself coz it wont cost you anything if u send it for repair... just a ribbon got loose... this usually happens if u have dropped your phone... (even a soft drop)

[Arc]

After all the advice pointing out that its probably the ribbon cable
that's come loose, I looked at the thing and thought to myself, "How
much room can there be inside that thing anway? How far can the
connector have really come away?. Maybe a short sharp shock
to it here and there might fix it?". So against my better judgement,
I held it with the external display facing up in the palm of my right
hand, and gave it a FIRM slap against the palm of my left hand. Voila!!!
Problem solved. It's working again...

Andrew

P.S Repeat at your own risk

[Dazler]

LOOOOOOOOOOL )
The wonders of technology combined with some logical reasening

[Nosferatu]

Originally Posted by Arc

So against my better judgement, I held it with the external display facing up in the palm of my right hand, and gave it a FIRM slap against the palm of my left hand. Voila!!! Problem solved. It's working again...

Hahahaha... glad to hear that you manage to fix it with the ol ancient method... but be warned my dear friend... it is very much clear (and proven with the slapping...) that your ribbon got loose in there... so the possibility of "the problem" coming back is very high... and it can be worse than ever!!! ribbon is also sensitive when you use the pda alot... so if u have time, have it fixed properly... coz just like a bitch, sooner or later slapping wouldn't help anymore.. heheheh...

[Dazler]

:p

[Arc]

As Nosferatu says, it will go wrong again someday, so does anyone know of anywhere in the UK that I can get if fixed properly, but cheaply? (It's out of warranty).

Will Coummunicaid fix it under the Club Nokia badge or maybe somewhere else?

thanks (again...)

Andrew

[Nosferatu]

Hi,

i think u shouldn't worry much on the pricing... coz it just need a simple fixing... just some areas that needs to be tightened and put back in place... u might even get it fixed for free!!! don't worry...

[Ewan]

Ribbon Cable faults come under two categories in my experiences (which amount to around 80 damaged Psion machines a week over the last two years...)

Circuit Board Connections
This is where the solder physicaly connection the cable to the board has become worn away over time (it happens with the current passing through it on and off over months. The physical gripper is still around, but a small loss of contact can occur. A slap could jarr the cable back into place, but it's only temporary.

Cable Damage
The design on the cable is notoriously poor, given that mounting holes run close to the wires, it's a simple hinge flex (where something else could be much more appropriate), and the plastic quality is not the greatest. Small fractures can occur inside the cable. When that happens, you can try re-aligning the screen to make contact, but again you're on a loosing battle.

I'm pretty sure the above will be true for the 9210 as well. Everything I've seen and heard and stripped hasn't changed my opinion.[/u]