Solution to Chromebook 311 R721T keyboard problems- all keys stop working except 5 and 6.?

Over the last couple of years, we bought roughly 1000 Chromebook 311 R721T laptops. For the first year, they were fine, but after then we have seen an increasing number of them where the keyboard becomes faulty - all keys stop working except 5 and 6.

Some of them, a powerwash resolves. Some of them it doesn't. Some of them, they start working again of their own accord, others don't.

There's no consistent pattern to it.

They are all now out of warranty, but we're seeing an alarming number with this problem - I've got over 100 of them out of action due to this issue.

Does anyone have a fix for this? We aren't seeing this problem on the Chromebooks by other manufacturers, or on other models of Acer Chromebook.

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title and issue detail]

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William_mk2

@beaconedu

Please try these basic steps first..

Try to do a chrome reset on your chromebook

open chrome

click on three dots on top right corner

click on settings

Scroll down - go to advanced

click on restore setting to default

you will see reset settings - cancel

click on reset settings

Close the chrome and open it It should work fine..

If it is still not working..

We need to do a power wash on your chrome book.

Restart the chromebook.

On the login screen please don’t type the password.

Hold the Ctrl key + shift key + alt key on keyboard and then press the letter r once

It will show “Reset this pc”

Click on power wash and continue..

Please understand it will clear the local and user settings..

Please complete the final setup..

Connnect to wifi and type the wifi password

Login to chromebook with your regular password

It should work fine ..

William_mk2

@beaconedu

If it is still not working..

Kindly follow the details from the link given below. It will show you how to perform a hard reset.

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/496-reinstall-powerwash-the-chrome-os

Once the hard reset is completed try to check whether it is working fine by connecting to wireless. If it is not connecting to a wifi at your home please try to connect to a wifi in a different place or try to go to a hot spot and try to connect to a different wifi and check.

Now check the keyboard. It should work fine.

If it is still not working try to use the external usb keyboard and check it.

beaconedu

@William_mk2

As mentioned in my original post, we have 1000 of these and 100 of them are exhibiting this issue. Powerwashing does not reliably resolve the issue, so resetting individual settings for them will not do so either.

We've even tried restoring the OS from USB and this does not reliably resolve the issue either.

William_mk2

@beaconedu

It looks like a hardware issue. You have to contact the warranty dept or local tech.

If your laptop is in warranty you can contact the warranty dept. Go to the website support.acer.com - chose your country. On the new page - scroll down - click on "contact support". Scroll down. You can find the phone no to contact the warranty dept.

If it is out of warranty, please contact local store or

Go to the website support.acer.com - chose your country. On the new page - scroll down - Click on "Repair My Acer" - Request to have your Acer product repaired. There will be charges for repair.

Additional info to contact Acer Store: Please visit the website - support.acer.com - chose your country - click on shop. You can buy desktop, laptop, monitor and accessories. Alternatively, on the top right corner you can find the phone no to contact Acer store. For the parts which are not available on Acer store, you have to contact local store.

beaconedu

@William_mk2

A hardware problem that affects 100 Chromebooks and more by the day? Sorry, but that isn't helpful.

I want to know if anyone else has had this same issue as it seems to be a specific fault with this model of Chromebook.

It looks like there has been a similar issue here - https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/660448/number-keys-on-chromebook-acer-r721t-work-inconsistently

And here - https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1041777

William_mk2

@beaconedu

I am really sorry for the inconvenience. In a computer we face only two type of issue either hardware or software. Even after reinstalling the operating system if you face the similiar issue it is considered as a hardware issue.

I have read both the links which you have sent on the earlier comment

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/660448/number-keys-on-chromebook-acer-r721t-work-inconsistently

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1041777#Comment_1041777

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1041777

There might be contaminant either under those keys or in the membranes that form the actual key matrix

I think you might have to remove, clean & refit the keys - it was all clear below them. You might have to remove, clean & refit the keyboard MB connector. I think the membrane might have gone. If it is still not working you might have to replace the keyboard.

Kindly check the acer warranty dept

https://www.acer.com/worldwide/support/

billsey

@beaconedu let me try to escalate. I'd really like to know what the solution is as well, since it does seem to crop up with that model.

beaconedu

Thank you @billsey. That'd be most appreciated.

luck18

I am a school district with 250 of the R721T's and have at least 30 sitting here unusable, with more coming in each day.

billsey

Apparently all that the Acer repair depots are doing with the ones they go through is replacing the keyboard. So your best bet is to contact Acer support and see if they'll do an out of warranty repair. They are usually fairly good at that when something like this crops up, but you might have to have them escalate...

Ingrid-Inactive

Hello luck18,

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I sent you a private message requesting some information in order to forward your issue to our support channel, please reply at your convenience.

Best Regards,

Acer-Ingrid

JonnyP

@Acer-Ingrid our school district purchased 450 of these December of 2021 from SHI, as well as an additional 308 across three different vendors August 2022. I've been noticing that we have a growing number from the original 450 starting to have this issue, and they weren't deployed to our students until February 2022. I began going through the warranty submission process, but Acer records seem to think that they were purchased in July of 2021. What should I do?

Ingrid-Inactive

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1160303#Comment_1160303

Hello JonnyP,

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, I also appolizage for my delay replying this message. We recommend contacting the school district Premier Support for assistance in this case. If the issue still happening, please check your PM for further instructions.