On Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 11:17:09AM -0500, Tim Tisdall via talk wrote:
So! I managed to get the computer on and confirm that the issue appears to be the power button. What I did was unplug the battery and the BIOS battery and then when I plugged in the power the default is for it to immediately turn on. After I got it running I was able to confirm that the power button doesn't register a key press but EVERY OTHER BUTTON DOES WORK. If any other key broke then at least I could use an external keyboard until I was able to get replacement parts.
Thanks to everyone for suggestions! I had assumed that the keyboard was fused to the casing as I couldn't find any screws (hopefully it's obvious how to remove it after removing the motherboard, etc). The individual keys poke through the metal casing and requires removing the motherboard and everything else first to access.
To reply to some emails...
The drive is a Micron M600 and it says on it m.2 SATA. I didn't even know that was a thing until opening the laptop. The drive booted fine so I'm not going to bother buying an enclosure for it, but they have ones at Canada Computers for around $20.
Hugh, I really appreciate the offer to help backup the drive! Thank you!
Lennart, thanks for linking to that keyboard replacement otherwise I probably would have continued to erroneously believe that the keyboard wasn't replaceable without replacing the casing! A lot of laptops still allow keyboard replacement from the front through tabs, but some other ones (like mine) don't have that convenience. It seems to be a design decision.
Business oriented machines tend to be faster and simpler to swap parts on than consumer oriented models. Business tends to value 'quick to fix' over 'slightly smaller and lighter and cheaper'. After all if your IT guy can swap a broken keyboard in 5 minutes, life is good and you can get back to work.
Stewart, I'll be sure to do what you suggested if I ever spill on it again. At the time I didn't have the screwdrivers so I wouldn't have been able to remove the battery, but at least I could have put it upside-down or on it's side to prevent gravity from seeping in any moisture. I also bought a can of compressed air that I can use next time to help blow some of the liquid out.
I have never tested the thinkpad's liquid draining feature on the keyboard, but I guess it would have been useful in this case. :) -- Len Sorensen