Member Avatar for kassie

I have an Acer aspire5100 laptop. I have been unable to use it going on 8 months now, because the mouse and keyboard stopped working. I have tried numorous things from resetting the BIOS from the motherboard (J2 switch) to loading with just the battery or just the AC power. Ive even tried unplugging the keyboard and mouse and re-plugging the back in; so far everything I have tried has not worked.

I must also mention that I cannot access the windows after the welcome screen or get into the BIOS using F2 (because keyboard doesn't work)....

Also, my dad had told me to totally take out the BIOS battery for 24hrs. He told me that he had a similar problem in one of his desktops. Do you think that doing so will solve the problem?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 229 Views
  • 2 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by kallistia

Dani AI

Generated

— With both the internal keyboard and touchpad dead and no F2 access, the problem often sits at the hardware/embedded-controller level rather than a simple Windows driver. ’s warning about board-level faults is realistic, and ’s driver idea is valid only if an external USB keyboard works before Windows loads. The checklist below focuses on fast, non-destructive tests and the cheapest fixes to try before a full motherboard replacement.

  1. Test with a USB keyboard (not just a mouse). Reboot and attempt to enter BIOS with the USB keyboard. Recognition at BIOS/boot points to OS/driver issues; failure there points to hardware/firmware/EC problems.
  2. Do an embedded-controller power drain: remove AC and main battery, press and hold the power button ~30 seconds, then reconnect AC (leave battery out) and test. This resets the EC without opening the board.
  3. Inspect the keyboard ribbon ZIF connector and contacts. With power removed, open the palmrest as needed, unlock the ZIF latch correctly, slide the ribbon out, check for lifted pads, corrosion, or bent traces, clean with high‑purity isopropyl if needed, then reseat firmly.
  4. Check for a tiny SMD fuse/zero‑ohm link near the keyboard connector and test continuity with a multimeter. These components sometimes fail and are inexpensive to replace.
  5. If geometry is intact, try replacing the keyboard assembly (part is cheap and model-specific). If a replacement keyboard does nothing, the fault is almost certainly on the motherboard/EC.

Final notes: avoid ESD (grounding strap or touch a chassis metal), document screw locations and connector orientation during disassembly, and weigh repair cost versus laptop age — motherboard swaps on older models can exceed the machine’s value. If skilled soldering or board-level work is required, a trusted repair shop is recommended.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for Kegtapper

Bad news, It may be a dead dog. I had 2 this week. Even replacing the 100+ pin flatpak keyboard controller chip does not fix it, nor replacing BIOS or CMOS chip.

Member Avatar for kallistia

i had a smilar problem seems i some how got a driver that was not compatible with key board changed this and it worked fine. get yourself a plug in mouse to navigate and change this

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.