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Help with non functioning keyboard/touchpad [Microsoft Surface Laptop 7e] (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by ratboy@hexbear.net to c/technology@hexbear.net
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Note: this surface does not have a detachable keyboard

So my partner is someone who leaves 100+ Firefox windows open, 5 programs up, and never ever shuts down his laptop. After a year or more of this his laptop would take 30 minutes or more to try to boot up, or wouldn't at all so I suggested that he reinstall Windows 11. After that it seemed like the problem was fixed and it would start up just fine, but after a week or so of use, his keyboard and touch pad stopped working completely. He told me that he tried a bunch of fixes, including installing new drivers, and nothing has worked. No idea if these two things are related but I assume so.

I wasn't around to see exactly what he did, so I was wondering if any of you fine people might be able to help troubleshoot. Really hoping his lappy isn't a lost cause

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[-] I_Voxgaard@hexbear.net 0 points 3 months ago

Sounds like a ribbon cable needs to be reseated connecting board to the keyboard/trackpad

will require proper tools and a teardown video, but is resolvable - it's been a while since I've opened a surface so I'd need to know the exact year/model to further comment.

no idea why it happened right after the reinstall, that seems like a red herring to me because they were working at one point after the reinstall - for them to suddenly stop and persist beyond a power cycle signals hardware to me.

[-] I_Voxgaard@hexbear.net 0 points 3 months ago

ribbon cables can fail due to longterm overheating of device - especially after thermal paste expires and fan bearings become insufficient or otherwise burdened

[-] I_Voxgaard@hexbear.net 0 points 3 months ago

i am assuming no active warranty to leverage? sorry for triple post - on mobile

[-] ratboy@hexbear.net 0 points 3 months ago

All good, okay so I think you are totally correct about the thermal paste considering the way he was using it. I just connected a USB mouse and that worked fine. Don't have an external keyboard but I assume that would probably work if the mouse is working. And you're correct about the warranty being expired.

I have never opened up a computer before, do you think it would be doable for me by just by watching videos? I think it's this one

Also unrelated but thought I'd ask, I have been looking at thinkpads and was curious if you think that the one I'm looking at is a decent price. I've been watching it for 2-3 weeks and offered $400 because it has no charger/unknown charge cycles but I got declined. Another hexbear user said they thought it wasn't worth it but I've been searching everywhere and can't seem to find a better deal thinkpad T14s AMD Gen 3

[-] I_Voxgaard@hexbear.net 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Sorry for being nearly 3 weeks late on responding.

In this video, the first step "Keyboard Assembly and Disassembly" covers the ribbon cables being disconnected/reconnected.

Pricing and value comparison between models has never really been my thing. My gut instinct says to buy a model that is about to be discontinued that has good reviews. Not sure if your partner needs it to do anything specific - if they just browse the web then I wouldn't pay more than $400 and you could probably skate by on a Chromebook for cheaper at that point. If they want a discrete GPU, then prepare to suffer the freeze-gamer price.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
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