PackardBell Easynote R3 keyboard not functioning

Hell guys out there,

It's been 3 months my laptop keyboard has stopped functioning. At boot-time, no error message and no beep. In Windows XP, it says the keyboard works properly. I uninstalled the keyboard driver and reinstalled, no change. The touch pad isn't working either but I suspect this is because the keyboard is not functioning in the first place.

When I boot, I can enter the BIOS with the F2 key or change the boot drive order with the F8 key. So technically the keyboard is wired, it's just that other than those two keys, no other key seems to function. For instance, in the BIOS menu (Insyde software), I cannot navigate menus because the arrow keys do not work. And I cannot quit the boot menu either. F2 and F8 keys do not work when I am in Windows.

Oddly enough, I have managed to get the keyboard to work again, but just a few hours before it stopped functioning again (except F2 and F8 keys as mentioned before, which always work). Among the things I did was hit F9 once in the BIOS menu, hoping that this would reset the BIOS to its default options ; or put the cables off, remove the battery and then hit the power button for 30 seconds hoping this will force a clear cmos ; or remove the keyboard off its wire, remove a few keys on it, put them back and rewire the keyboard back in. Getting the keyboard back functioning is not reproducible, it just happens to have done so 3 times for a few hours, and that's it.

I don't think I can flash the BIOS given I can't seem to find the Insyde software from this computer on the internet (purchased in 2005). So, should the BIOS firmware have been altered by some weird software, I cannot do anything about it right now. If anyone is aware where I could find the Insyde software bios for the Packard Bell Easynote laptop R3380, let me know thanks.

It must also be said that perhaps it is a coïncidence, this summer I used every day the long-range Alfa network router, which emits a lot of electromagnetic waves. It was used for being on the internet from an antenna 200 meters away. Could this external USB device, which was kept close to the Packard Bell laptop, be the reason why the keyboard stopped functioning? To be complete I also have to add that ever since a wireless mouse has sometimes trouble functioning as well. It functions most of the time, but it froze on screen quite a few times since this summer, and when it happened, removing the USB cable did nothing, and rebooting did nothing.

If it happened to someone out there, I would like to know more about it. Thanks.

via Bleeping Computer Last 20 Posts http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/512565/packardbell-easynote-r3-keyboard-not-functioning/