Help Physical Keyboard Issue

[entelechy3]

Anybody else running into problems with the hardware keyboard on their Droid 3? I'm having two propblems: for one, keys occasionally "stick" on me--like I'll press the delete button once, and it'll keep deleting until I hit another key. I'm also running into non-responsive keys, like I'll type out a message and find that there aren't any g's or t's or something.

The non-responsive issue started a couple of weeks after I got the phone, and seems to be getting worse, and the "sticky" key problem just started a week or so ago. The fact that it's getting worse leads me to believe it's a hardware issue and I just got a bad builthe but at the same time, the keys don't feel like they're sticking or not depressing. I'm hoping it's a software issue that'll be dealt with in the impending update. However, I've only found a couple of posts in various forums with people having this problem, which sadly leads me to believe that it's a hardware issue affecting a handful of phones...

So anybody else having problems with their keyboard?

 

[HadouGhost]

people have reported the stickey or non responsive keys have been fixed with the OTA update. either install the soak update yourself or wait for the official update and then go from there.

 

[jalov]

I've been having the stick issue with the "." key. I wont be paying attention and I will send a text, then look at the sent text, and see it ends with "............................." and it continues into the next text before sent. It has been happening a lot more recently, and I was wondering if I was hitting something the wrong way.

 

[glennj]

Mine has been doing it too, but I thought it might be due to me cramming the Extended Battery into the stock battery case. I stopped doing that a couple of days ago and it seemed to be a lot better, but if this is a software issue fixed in the upcoming (soon?) OTA update, I will feel even better.

Glenn

 

[entelechy3]

people have reported the stickey or non responsive keys have been fixed with the OTA update. either install the soak update yourself or wait for the official update and then go from there.

Thanks. That was my game plan to begin with, but this gives me a little more faith that things will actually improve.

Neither the Motorola nor VZW tech folks could tell me if th OTA had anything that dealt with the hardware keyboard (oddly, the Motorola rep even insisted they didn't know anything about an impending update at all, and swore that if they knew anything he'd tell me all about it... He kind of sputtered when I told him it was already leaked).

 

[beowulf7]

My "a" and "m" keys take a little extra pressure to show up. Also, sometimes the space or "." will start typing by themselves super fast. A couple times, backspace went nuts and started erasing my message before I pressed something to interrupt it. I hope this is a software issue and not a hardware issue.

 

[HadouGhost]

My "a" and "m" keys take a little extra pressure to show up. Also, sometimes the space or "." will start typing by themselves super fast. A couple times, backspace went nuts and started erasing my message before I pressed something to interrupt it. I hope this is a software issue and not a hardware issue.

its been reported its a software issue. the key isnt actually sticking but the phone keeps thinking its being imput.

as i said before, people using the OTA have said the symptoms have gone away completely, or atleast lessend.

 

[redsox985]

The center region of my space bar has somewhat lost its "clicky-ness", but still registers each time it's pressed although it doesn't feel right and I have to double check that it entered.

 

[beowulf7]

its been reported its a software issue. the key isnt actually sticking but the phone keeps thinking its being imput.

as i said before, people using the OTA have said the symptoms have gone away completely, or atleast lessend.

Thanks, now that I updated my firmware via the official OTA, I'll report back on how the keyboard has responded since the update.

 

[glennj]

its been reported its a software issue. the key isnt actually sticking but the phone keeps thinking its being imput.

Exactly. In the old days we called this "keybounce", an intended single press usually registers very quickly as multiple presses, so the software reading the keyboard port has to be able to ignore the pretty much unavoidable "bounce" presses via a timing decision having to do with reading the port and flushing contents before re-reading. This must have been messed up with the original firmware - its sort of an art anyway and has to be finagled and messed with in real trials under different temperatures and CPU loads.

as i said before, people using the OTA have said the symptoms have gone away completely, or atleast lessend.

Looks here like they got it just right with this update. Not a single "stuck key" or "which foreign char do you want" (same issue) here since.

But, meanwhile, the Swype Help is in Spanish and the default Swype language is Spanish (though that second can be changed to English). Good thing they seem to have really fixed up the hard keyboard timing issue !

Glenn

 

[beowulf7]

I briefly tried my keyboard to send a quick text and noticed it is improved and no sticky keys, but my "a" key requires slightly more force than the other keys to appear. Ditto for "ALT". That's OK, since it's not an unreasonable amount of force by any means.

 

[GoBoomers]

Since the ota, space "sticks" on now and then, though it seems like the hardware is fine.

 

[kool kat2]

I have the unresposive keys, sometimes the 'm' or another letter. But then again I got my phone from CL.

 

[SpecialEd]

Is anyone else having keyboard problems with the D3?

I had the issue with repeated keys, but that went away after a OTA update.

Now I get a variety of minor flakiness. Sometimes it does not appear to register a keypress. Sometimes it doubles a keypress, so I get an extra.

I don't remember having any issue with this with my OG Droid. Anyone else having D3 issues? Or am I nutty?

 

[fascinated]

Is anyone else having keyboard problems with the D3?

I had the issue with repeated keys, but that went away after a OTA update.

Now I get a variety of minor flakiness. Sometimes it does not appear to register a keypress. Sometimes it doubles a keypress, so I get an extra.

I don't remember having any issue with this with my OG Droid. Anyone else having D3 issues? Or am I nutty?

Yes. Some of my keys don't work and I have to press them several times before they register on screen. Specifically the A, back space and space bar. I called verizon tech support and they are sending me a replacement.

 

[cozz]

Is anyone else having keyboard problems with the D3?

I had the issue with repeated keys, but that went away after a OTA update.

Now I get a variety of minor flakiness. Sometimes it does not appear to register a keypress. Sometimes it doubles a keypress, so I get an extra.

I don't remember having any issue with this with my OG Droid. Anyone else having D3 issues? Or am I nutty?

lately my keyboard has been having issues as well. some keys won't register when i clearly feel them click (sometimes multiple times), and some will register 2-4 times with one click. the particularly bad ones seem to be the space bar, t, b, and a couple of others. i've had my d3 since day 1 (pre-ordered online first day possible) and have loved it. it is rooted with monster rom 1.2 since december. the only thing i've done recently is installed the extended battery. any ideas or any recent fixes? it's gotten to the point where i've been using the virtual keyboard for texts, which says a lot since i have always had a droid due to the physical keyboard. i upgraded from the d2 and never had an issue with it's keyboard.

 

[Hagra]

My husbands D3 has a problem with the "r" key. Every time he uses r a series of unrelated letters come up. We've got the most recent update and he's cleared the keyboard cache, removed the battery all the usual things and nothing helps. Any other suggestions?

 

[doogald]

My husbands D3 has a problem with the "r" key. Every time he uses r a series of unrelated letters come up. We've got the most recent update and he's cleared the keyboard cache, removed the battery all the usual things and nothing helps. Any other suggestions?

The only other thing that I can think of is to factory reset and see if the problem goes away or recurs. If it is still there, it's probably time to call for a warranty replacement. Good luck.

 

[glennj]

Doogald is right. The original ROM for the Droid3 had a timing problem with the physical keyboard, where single presses would register twice or more due (probably) to a mismatch between expected behavior and how the real keyboard actually worked. They relaxed the timings in OTA 5.6.890 and that problem was cleared up on my phones and all others reporting. It struck me at the time though, that maybe the keyboards delivered to Motorola didn't exactly meet expectations...

The problems reported recently in this thread though sound like a physical keyboard defect, not the older fixed keyboard driver software issue. Return the phone for a replacement and hope it works better. I wonder if the keyboards might be just starting to wear out ? I use mine less now I have gotten into Swype, but for some things a keyboard is essential to me, like for entering long secure passwords.

Glenn

 

[MicroNix]

Mine never repeated keys but am finding that some like the space bar are now requiring extra pressure in order to register.

Whatever happened to bullet proof products (not just phones but in general)? Seems everything now is not if there will be an issue with it, but whether the issue occurs while its still in warranty or not. While there has been a large advancement in technology, the mechanics of things have definitely went backwards rather than advancing.

 

[Clementine_3]

Mine is starting to act up too. I thought it was the recent update breaking the previous fix but now I'm not so sure. I have to double click the space bar, alt & shift keys more often than not lately.
Is the KB really that bad across the board? How disappointing, I really do like the phone over all.

 

[doogald]

Whatever happened to bullet proof products (not just phones but in general)? Seems everything now is not if there will be an issue with it, but whether the issue occurs while its still in warranty or not. While there has been a large advancement in technology, the mechanics of things have definitely went backwards rather than advancing.

The answer is quite complicated, I am sure; first, that people are probably not willing to pay the price for bullet-proof technology. Second, that people want phones to be a specific size, thickness and weight, and anything that deviates from those expected values will not sell (the D3 is heavy enough as it is - if a bullet-proof keyboard was heavier, there are plenty of people who may have chosen another phone.)

The OEMs must balance functionality and design requirements like this, and cost and profitability as well, and make the best product without breaking any of those "rules".

(I am typing this on a still-going-strong, five and a half year old Macbook, by the way...)

 

[redsox985]

Bulletproof technology comes at a price... Have you ever looked at Toughbooks? A 10" tablet starts at over $800 at BestBuy (laptops exceed $4000).

toughbook - BestBuy

 

[MicroNix]

The answer is quite complicated, I am sure; first, that people are probably not willing to pay the price for bullet-proof technology. Second, that people want phones to be a specific size, thickness and weight, and anything that deviates from those expected values will not sell (the D3 is heavy enough as it is - if a bullet-proof keyboard was heavier, there are plenty of people who may have chosen another phone.)

The OEMs must balance functionality and design requirements like this, and cost and profitability as well, and make the best product without breaking any of those "rules".

(I am typing this on a still-going-strong, five and a half year old Macbook, by the way...)

And you paid the price for that Macbook!

Maybe bulletproof was a strong word to use. How about something that lasts to expectations. I don't think a keyboard holding up for my 2 year contract is too much to ask. I am not a heavy user of the keyboard of my D3 so my expectations is for it to at least last as long as my contract. My flip phones never had keypads that wonked out and those keys were used quite heavily.

What I'm really waiting to see is if the digitizer makes it through my contract. After 1 year and 3 months my OG Droid's digitizer stopped responding to touch. And strangely, right around that time, threads were popping up everywhere of others having the exact same issue. Part of the screen would stop responding and then spread to the other areas until finally there was no area that responded to touch. Fingers are crossed!

 

[doogald]

Well, six months along and my D3 keyboard is just fine. The slider is not as crisp as it was at the start, but it's still fine.

Of course, my 30 month old Droid Eris still works just fine, as well as my Motorola Q9h circa 2007. Perhaps I'm just careful about my stuff?