Thanks & regards,

I have had some time during the year end / new year holidays to do trial & error on fixing the 3 non working keys. My hope was that the problem was due to loose connection - anything else would have required parts and further disassembly which I wouldn't have had time to work on. This post (Swift 3 SF314-54 keyboard problem potential solution) on the same problem experienced on a Swift 3 suggested that a loose connection was very possible.

I used a T5 torx screwdriver to remove 11 screws, and an unwanted plastic cash card to slide under the chassis cover to undo the clips. The actual steps were available as online videos.

The exposed innards looked different from the image including in the reference post, and I had to speculate on which would be the connector for the keyboard. (Tried to look for a layout diagram for Swift 5 but didn't get lucky.) My speculation appeared to work since pressing down on the connector seemed to resolve the issue.

Will monitor to see how well this works, and if need to, might add a roll of insulation tape to place constant pressure down on the connector.

Thanks for calling out on the model, @billsey. You are correct - my model isn't the SF314-54. Was merely referring to that post for ideas. The model I have is SF514-54T, manufactured in April 2020.

Btw, the trick(?) I attempted didn't work. I couldn't get the key press to register consistently. I suspect the keys might have worked after I "tilted" the chassis as I positioned it to remove the back cover. So, whenever the keys did not register, I would pick up the notebook, and tilt it left and right a couple of times. This would give me at least a session of being able to type on the keyboard, with a few non-registered key strokes. Typing would be really slow - since I'd need to backspace to correct missing letters. 🙄 (This post was typed entirely with the keyboard, albeit with many backspaces, and re-types)

I didn't spend time researching chipset and IO drivers, so I resorted to the simple actions below:

1. Uninstalled all keyboard devices in Device Manager
   1. Uninstalling the last standing device triggered a Windows restart
   2. Upon starting up, Windows appeared to re-installed all the keyboard devices I uninstalled ealier
   3. This didn't do the trick
2. Turned off all keyboard assist (search “Ease of Access keyboard settings”) in Windows
3. Reduced the repeat rate of key press in Window's Keybord Properties (see https://thegeekpage.com/change-keyboard-repeat-rate-repeat-delay-windows-10/)

It seems that Steps 2 and/or Step 3 did the trick. I am typing this comment on the keyboard with no problems whatsover. Keeping fingers crossed - and will update.

I'm redy to pull my hir out! So here I m, typing this out s though nothing hs gone wrong. nd you cn see tht striking the offending keys does not register.

I did this eperiment on Windows Notepd, nd relized tht fter numerous presses of the offending keys, they would strt to register gin. So, I m going to lterntely press the offending key, followed by known good key ("k"), followed by the other offending key, followed by good key ("l"), …. etc.

klklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklklakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxlakxl

So, it appears thaaaaaaaaat repetedly striking the offending key works for bit, nd then it stops working gin.

Wht pin in the ss.

nywy, just wnted to dd tht I lso rebooted Windows in Sfe Mode to see if it would help, but still encountered the sme issue. 😩

Going to trck down chipset & IO driver reinstll steps.

Just thought I gave an update for what it is worth. 😀

I copped out on researching I/O drivers and re-installing them. Had been working with combination of external USB keyboard or Windows On-screen Keyboard for some time, but finally decided the loss of mobility was too much when using notebook for serious work-from-anywhere arrangement.

Sent the notebook for diagnosis at a certified repair center, and coughed out ~USD100 to replace keyboard, back cover, and LCD cover.

In addition to the fault keyboard, the back cover actually started peeling off by itself. It started with bubbles forming, which eventually led to flakes of back cover material falling off. (This happened over many months, which was over-shadowed by fault keyboard.)

Am now a hopeful owner that a fully restored Swift 5 will last for ages, and my faith in Acer laptops will be restored! 😛