Bug in keyboard for Mini 5103

[bpape0]

There is a bug in the keyboard on this model - either in the electrical layout or the firmware that generates the make/break codes.

If any of the pair of keys A,Z; S,X; D,C; F,V are held down along with the spacebar, a phantom keycode is ALSO generated for the ENTER key (in addition to the codes for the physical keys that are actually pressed).

This is unbelievably annoying if one is typing at the unix shell prompt and typing "cd xyz" to change to a directory.  What actually gets entered is cd\n xyz    or  the letters c, d, then a newline / enter and then a space.

I've been shipped a replacement keyboard which has the same issue (so it appears endemic in the hardware).

This behavior manifests itself in the BIOS as well- hitting (for instance) ZA<space> will happily fill out a check box that would normally require an <enter>.

Running xev or showkey in a linux OS also shows the extraneous keycodes being sent.

HP doesn't seem to comprehend the problem or have any solutions.

[Pepa]

The same problem with keyboards,

our company bought about 150pcs as 20th Foundation Anniversary gift for employees...

[kk17nd]

I have this issue as well and researching on the internet gave me this helpful blog detailing the progress of the repair and I'm glad to know that HP has fixed the issue for the blogger and all we have to do now (I hope) is to wait for HP to release the fix.

The blog could be found at the following address:

http://virkkunen.net/broken-keyboard/

Good luck to all of us with the Mini 5103!

[Pepa]

Hopeful URL, using our HP5103 without an external keyborad would be nice

[tork5150]

well HP have been aware of this issue for over a year now...  so I'm not confident they'll ever release the fix for it.

The last posts from http://virkkunen.net/broken-keyboard/ were in January 2010.

[tork5150]

Actually, the day/dates of the last Jan posts are 2010 days, but the *earlier* aug/nov posts are also 2010 if you believe the days that are posted with the dates.. 

So latest Jan posts must be 2011 even though the days dont match the dates, as the 5103 model is mentioned,  which wasnt released until Sept(ish) 2010.

[kk17nd]

Seems like the issue has been fixed for me in the January 6 2011 BIOS update. Anyone else could follow up on this?