Toshiba Satellite C660D

Gadgetman496

Sister dropped in her laptop today, as they do!! It's a Toshiba Satellite C660D Windows 7 and she said will you sort that out for me? it's acting kinds strange (as they do!!!)....

Anyway I'm totally at a loss as to where to go with this one

It was giving that old "Windows failed to shut down correctly" screen when I started it, eventually got it to start to be greeted by all sorts of weird behavior.

The keyboard seemed to have a mind of its own :eek: it was as if it was typing away all on its own. When I clicked on the start orb the search box was being populated with letters and open brackets and it just would not stop. At first I thought maybe it's a stuck key but then as I watched it was typing different letters etc. She had a crap load of those fix my PC trial Progs that were popping up insisting that you buy them and they would fix everything....

I decided to hell with all that so I restored it from the recovery partition. The keyboard is still going bananas & now the touch pad isn't working either.

All the devices in the device manager are reporting to be all fine too.

Google suggests that many, many Tosh owners are experiencing strange issues with their keyboards but nobody seems to be offering any solutions.

I don't want to jump to conclusions and say the keyboard must be goosed in case it's a fault on the Mobo or something else. Anyone come across this mad Tosh activity before or have any suggestion as to where to start with this?

bonzodog2

Might be worth checking the ribbon cable connections for the keyboard and trackpad for starters, and does it work on a USB keyboard if you have one.

Gadgetman496

bonzodog2 wrote: »

Might be worth checking the ribbon cable connections for the keyboard and trackpad for starters, and does it work on a USB keyboard if you have one.

Yep, Just hooked up a USB mouse and keyboard and they both work fine.

I'll have a look to see how to go about lifting the keyboard.

Duggy747

What you've described usually means the keyboard is damaged and needs to be replaced, especially with the Toshiba Satellite C series which a lot of times is due to liquid damage (The keyboard will then have a mind of it's own / you press something like "B" and instead get "O" / etc)

Asked her if anything was spilled on it (She might not even be aware that it was done). If you take out the keyboard and check under it you should be able to see for yourself.

Gadgetman496

One final thought, assuming the keyboard is goosed? I wonder what's the problem with the touch pad? It was working perfectly prior to my doing the factory restore from the recovery partition. I'm wondering if it might be simply disabled via the function keys & I can't enable it as the keyboard is goosed? I think the symbol on the FN Key F9 might be for the touch pad?

What are the odds of picking up a working keyboard on the likes of Adverts or may even a local repair shop? They seem to be reasonable online eitherway but I'm eager to get it out of my face lol

Duggy747

I'd bet the FN key have it disabled or the software controlling the FN keys is borked.

You could try reinstalling that software from the Toshiba site, should be listed either under Function key driver or Flash config. You can pick up a keyboard for that series of laptop pretty cheap and do it yourself, just type in the model written on the back of the keyboard itself into somewhere like Ebay.

It's quite a popular series of laptops so you might be lucky in finding even a 2nd hand one that works.

Gadgetman496

I took out the keyboard (a lot easier than I thought it would be). There doesn't seem to be any replacements locally so I'll get a new one online.

I'm still a little concerned about the touchpad though. It was working fine prior to the restore from recovery partition but hasn't worked since. The drivers are installed for it and the device manager is reporting all is well.

I hope it might be the function key as mentioned earlier but I'm not sure of that now because of this,

Using a USB mouse I enabled the on-screen keyboard in Win7 & clicked the FN key followed by F9 but it doesn't appear to have done anything, touchpad still dead.

Would that on-screen keyboard have replicated what will happen if I buy & fit a new keyboard or is the on-screen keyboard different because I'm using it on a lappy?

I don't want to buy the new keyboard if I'm still going to end up using an external mouse.

Duggy747

When you did the FN key combination did the usual Toshiba software appear on the top of the screen to show the keys had been pressed?

Gadgetman496

Duggy747 wrote: »

When you did the FN key combination did the usual Toshiba software appear on the top of the screen to show the keys had been pressed?

No nothing appeared Duggy. In fact nothing appeared for any of the function keys I tried.

Duggy747

Toshiba's preinstalled software appears at the top which shows you what FN keys have been pressed.

What usually happens is that this software bugs out and effectively disables the functionality of those keys. The FN keys can usually still function if it's not installed but the software disables if it is and gets corrupted.

Proper name for the software off the Toshiba site is Flash Cards Support Utility.

Gadgetman496

Duggy747 wrote: »

Toshiba's preinstalled software appears at the top which shows you what FN keys have been pressed.

What usually happens is that this software bugs out and effectively disables the functionality of those keys. The FN keys can usually still function if it's not installed but the software disables if it is and gets corrupted.

Proper name for the software off the Toshiba site is Flash Cards Support Utility.

I take it you mean I should go get the Flascard software & install it? I'll go do that Duggy, thanks.

Duggy747

gadgetman496 wrote: »

I take it you mean I should go get the Flascard software & install it? I'll go do that Duggy, thanks.

Yup, try it. You might have to run the setup twice as it uninstalls it first.

Gadgetman496

Duggy747 wrote: »

Yup, try it. You might have to run the setup twice as it uninstalls it first.

Done that but still nothing. Toshiba's preinstalled software does not appear at the top to show you what FN keys have been pressed. Could it be the fact I'm using the on-screen keyboard or do you think it's goosed?

The fact that the touchpad worked perfectly prior to doing the factory restore might (says he hoping) suggest that it's something other than the touchpad being goosed?

It's at times like this I really wished I had a store full of available parts to truely be able to troubleshoot

Duggy747

On-Screen keyboard won't work with it.

Click Start, type Flash into the search bar. You should see Flash Cards - Settings.

Click on that and hopefully you should an option to use the Flash Cards with the mouse (obviously you'll need a USB mouse for this). That can allow you to enable FN items with just the mouse.

Gadgetman496

Duggy747 wrote: »

On-Screen keyboard won't work with it.

Click Start, type Flash into the search bar. You should see Flash Cards - Settings.

Click on that and hopefully you should an option to use the Flash Cards with the mouse (obviously you'll need a USB mouse for this). That can allow you to enable FN items with just the mouse.

Duggy, you've obviously been there done that and bought the T-Shrit?

That worked perfectly and the touchpad is all happy again

Off to buy a new keyboard now, oh!, and to sell the sister on eBay :eek:

Really appreciate you persevering with me on this one, not being at all familiar with Tosh or their "Flascards" utility means that I would not have sorted it without your help.

Thank you again

Duggy747

No problem, it's probably one of the most common problems I get and "Flash Cards" isn't one of the first things that would pop into your mind to enable your mouse :pac:

Gadgetman496

Duggy747 wrote: »

No problem, it's probably one of the most common problems I get and "Flash Cards" isn't one of the first things that would pop into your mind to enable your mouse :pac:

Well, I won't forget Tosh and their "Flashcards" again that's for sure.

And we also managed to find a real flaw with Windows on-screen keyboard too? Well at least in this particular case?

Everything is easy to fix if you know how, right? That one had me pure frustrated though so, thanks once again

Gadgetman496

Well, new keyboard arrived yesterday, fitted it and everything is hunky doory

Sister delighted, so I told here if she ever has issues with lappy again? to contact Duggy747 on boards

Cheers Duggy747.........