CAPS LOCK stuck N5000; stuck Ctrl zv5000 Intel; bad DC jack zv5000 AMD; oversensitive touchpads

[sindi]

Pulled this out of the closet.  It was donated to the charity we used to volunteer for.  In 2016 we took home the basket cases, when they stopped selling used computers.

We replaced the keyboard, judging from my notes on the back of it.   Also lots of dust and heatsink grease because it kept going off quickly.  

Two days ago I had it working perfectly with XP SP3 (and with linux at only 1280x1024).  Pale Moon (New Moon) 27 browser works with Pentium III/SSE.   Downloads required a newer OS than the Firefox 3 it came with so I used a P4 with XP and a USB flash drive, which worked fine.   I downloaded Microsoft Updates manually, and got XP versions of a cleaner and a defragmenter and PuTTY 0.60.   It plays audio CDs with external controls and nice sound, also DVDs. 

The day after, random series of keys or single keys came out capitalized.   Shift would uncapitalize them.  Left Shift plus z would not type at all.  Not a big problem with Windows but plays havoc with linux.  

At boot, a very loud beep and 'stuck key'.    No indication as to which key.

 F1 to continue.

(Two P III thinkpads also complain of stuck keys at boot but diagonal rows of keys are bad).

Having read extensively about the Caps Lock problem, and knowing it was not Windows or Linux related, I lifted every single key and blew any dust from it.   Took off the Caps Lock and Shift keys and cleaned with a brush, and a swab with alcohol.   No improvement.

I then checked with an external USB keyboard.   It did not type at all.   The internal keyboard now typed lower case consistently.  I unplugged the keyboard, problem returned and I again could not type on the external keyboard.  Plugged it back in.   Lower case, and it stayed fixed.

The USB ports are on the back and the two screws nearest to them (on the back, and the one holding the bezel in place) are corroded.    People donate all sorts of interesting problems. 

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The 2004 Intel HP ZV5000, which we had also put aside, acted very oddly.    Alphabet keys would not type at all.    Copying or moving things with the touchpad produced duplicates of them.   T acted like Ctrl-T (opened a new window).   That was a hint.

Cleaning the left Ctrl key fixed this problem.   External keyboard had the same problem - Ctrl key acted stuck on due to hair accumulation.   Most laptop owners have white cats.

This laptop requires a 120 W power supply to go on.   Removing the battery might let it use 90 W.

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The 2004 AMD HP ZV5000 would go off if you touched or moved it.   Also after a while by itself.

It is only used plugged in, as 17 year old Lithium batteries do not hold a charge.

We had cleaned and regreased the cpu heatsink, which did not make any difference.   I then spent a few hours removing screws (lots of Youtube instructions), and my partner resoldered the DC jack though it looked okay.   Fixed!   He also glued on a lot of broken plastic.   It had fallen on one corner opposite the DC jack, maybe while plugged in?    This one was also donated.   It uses 90 W.

It does not have the card reader of the Intel model, or the DVD burner.   Neither CD burner worked to burn a CD or blank a CD-RW.   The wifi and ethernet and USB work in both models.  Amazing.

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A 2004 Compaq R3000, different on the outside, appears to be the same or similar inside.  It goes off after a short while.   I will take it apart (at least 50 screws - I tape them onto a piece of paper for the outside, and in place for the inside), regrease heatsink and have DC jack resoldered.  

It and the AMD zv5000 have matte screens and were among the first widescreen laptops.   The XH575 displays without distortion at 1600x1200, and the zv5000 (1280x800) stretches images sideways in our DOS CAD program but looks okay otherwise.   The older laptops were better made, if slower.

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An HP DV5000 from 2006 is a cheap copy of the ZV5000 without the button to turn off  the touchpad.

TOUCHPAD PROBLEM - the AMD zv5000 and dv5000 have oversensitive touchpads that react if my hands get anywhere near.   I have to use a plugged in mouse with the latter and the on/off button with the former.   Is there a better solution?   Software adjustment? 

All have excellent sound.   VOL controls on the front usable when closed. 

An HP/Compaq  F700 from  2007 is lighter (flimsier) and has small cheap speakers and messed up BIOS and screen.  I doubt it would have survived being dropped.