x360 spectre - keyboard disabled when screen hinged back

[A4Apollo]

@sjh261, Thanks for the response.

Thanks for trying out the steps.

As you mentioned when you move the lid back to 180 degrees. The keyboard gets disabled.

Due to orientation sensor the lid is moved back it think the laptop is switching to tablet mode and disables the keyboard.

So, there is no way to disable the orientation sensor on the tablet.

Hope this answers your query.

Have a wonderful day ahead! 🙂

[JosephQuebec]

I completely appreciate your issue because I had the same problem. So here's my solution and it works fine. I went to Walmart and bought a very simple wire platform on four legs. I found it in the housewares department where they have the dish racks, etc.

Placing my 20" monitor on the platform, I lay the x360 screen flat, slide it under and plug in the HDMI cable. Works like a charm. It has the added advantage of raising the monitor to a height closer to eye level.

Anyhow, like you I searched far and wide for a solution and this one works just fine for $6. Give it a shot before you spend another $300 or $400 on another laptop.

Hope the idea helps. 

[HPcustomer12341]

@JosephQuebec, how does that solve the problem? 

Do you close your HP Spectre? 

If yes, then you cannot use it as a keyboard. 

If the screen is positionned in laptop mode (i.e. 90 degrees open), then you still have the annoying screen in front of you.

If the screen is folded all the way back (i.e.rotated 180 degrees), then the keyboard is automatically disabled. 

Could you please explain better? 

Thanks!

[JosephQuebec]

Hi,

Sorry about the delay in responding.

So... I wanted to use a large monitor with my laptop. Of course, since folding back the laptop screen to the 360 degree position disables the keyboard, this turned out to be a problem. Then I had a brainstorm based on the fact that the keyboard is active with the screen at 180 degrees - that is - so that the keyboard and the screen are both flat on the table.

Here's what I did:

1. I bought a cheap ($6) wire-frame platform from Walmart (kitchen supplies) that is wider than the laptop and about six inches high;

2. I sat my 20 inch monitor on the shelf and connected the hdmi cable to my laptop;

3. I verified all was working well with the transfer of graphics to the large monitor;

4. I reclined the laptop screen to the 180 degree position;

5. I slid the now flattened laptop under the shelf and monitor leaving only the keyboard exposed - and voila - an all-in-one, large screen desktop that worked just fine.

Note - having happily used my laptop with a large screen for some months, I made the mistake of unplugging and replugging the monitor into the hdmi connector and it hasn't worked since. DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING YOU CAN HOTWIRE MONITORS WITH YOUR HP LAPTOP. Maybe I was naive about that but it sure made my laptop relatively useless because I really prefer a larger screen for the work I do. 

If HP is watching this post, I wish you could send some advice on how to resurrect my hdmi port. Or perform a small miracle and just make it happen.

If you have any other questions please let me know.

[JosephQuebec]

One small correction...

Since the wire-rack frame is 6 inches high, you don't set the laptop screen to the full 180 position. There's room enough under the platform to allow for it to be set at just under 180 degrees so the keyboard doesn't deactivate.

Sorry about not clarifying that in my prior post.

[HPcustomer12341]

Ok, all clear, thanks for the reply!

[ModProg]

You can achieve this by disabeling the rotation sensor in the device manager. Found this on the microsoft forum:
"When in normal laptop mode (device orientation should be as a normal laptop), I go into the Device Manager and I disable the orientation sensors. On my unit this is under System devices the "Intel(R) Integrated Sensor Solution". In practice this now locks the unit in laptop mode. When I want its normal behavior back, I enable the device again in Device Manager."

Rotation of laptop disables trackpad and keyboard even with tablet mode turned off