Framework 16 keyboard module spamming random keys

Community Support
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1

My Framework 16” laptop’s ISO German keyboard module has recently begun frequently spamming random keys. This occurs on Linux and windows alike (though I have not yet had it happen in the bios). Removing the Keyboard for a few seconds sometimes fixes the issue, so does simply punching the keyboard with some force. This naturally isn’t the best thing for the laptop as a whole, but if my laptop is spamming keys on a payment screen, I don’t really want to risk the second or two it takes to remove the keyboard module.

Since I do not have keyboard-row spacers I can’t isolate the issue to the keyboard alone, as the laptop takes no input whatsoever if the rest of the upper row is not filled, though I can confirm that it still occurs whether the numpad is left or right of the keyboard, and since re-attaching the keyboard fixes the issue for some time, while doing the same with the numpad does not, I am reasonably sure it’s the keyboard.

This has happened before, though only rarely, every few months, so I considered it a minor project. Now that it occurs up to every minute, it basically makes the laptop unusable.

I have tried to move the module, I have cleaned the contact points & pogo pins it connects with, I have plugged everything back in. I have even turned the laptop off and back on.

Is there anything else I could try to either fix the issue, or at least be sure that the issue actually does spring from the keyboard, and not the Midplate, cable, main board etc.?

I had the issue on every OS I tried

framework laptop 16” with an AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840HS, and AMD Radeon™ RX 7700S.

The keyboard issue in question is a ISO German keyboard.

Sorry if this post is not terribly coherent, this is my 3. attempt to swiftly write it out without having my keyboard nuke it halfway through.

2

It sounds like the 2040 processor is going AWOL. I would suggest you try updating the keyboard firmware, to rewrite the code.

3

I have now reinstalled the firmware through the GNOME firmware app, as Keyboard Firmware Update (Framework Laptop 16) suggests (though I was already on the newest version, I think fedora updates those automatically).

Let’s see if the issue continues to exist…

EDIT: yea, nothing changed. The issue persists.

5

Just wanted to share that I’m having the same experience. I’m about to try updating the firmware as well, though it sounds like it may not work. I’m also using an ISO keyboard - UK layout rather than German. I thought it was something to do with my dock, but the problem persists when I disconnect everything. Keyboard firmware/hardware rather than an OS-level software issue does seem the most likely culprit since I experience issues even at POST - sometimes I’m unable to boot into Windows as it spams keys that force the laptop into boot menus among other undesirable side effects. Nothing quite so frustrating as accidentally pasting the same block of text and sending to my work Slack channel a thousand times. Colleagues were not impressed!

6

There is a BIOS option to override the warning about a missing keyboard module. If it’s a numpad or macropad then removing it until you get a replacement is an easy option, if it’s a keyboard, of course then you’d need a usb keyboard to substitute for it.