Compaq portable problems (though I doubt they're machine specific)

[im_an_alien]

Well, I was going to post here about my enter key not working, but now I have bigger problems... I just plugged it in and turned it on, and I heard a spark, and now the thing smells worse than it did before (It's always kinda smelled when I turned it on)... I turned it off immediately, of course. Before I turn it back on again, any ideas what happened?

Oh yeah, and if it still works there's the enter key problem. The enter key just doesn't work, at all. It used to work, and then it would only work every other time or so, but now it just doesn't work. I don't want to break it, but can I just pop off the key like any other keyboard and clean it?

 

[Druid6900]

Most likely, the solder joints for the key switch are cracked and need to be resoldered, but, it might be dirty, so, try that first. Be careful though as some control keys on some keyboards had a metal C-shaped piece of wire attached to those keys and getting it back on was a PITA, so, pry it off very gingerly.

As for the spark and smell, could be a lot of things and, most likely, any damage that might have been done, is. Could just be arc-over though and the smell is ozone.

 

[tezza]

As Druid said, spark and smell could be a lot of things.

Capacitors are a good possibility though. I would disassemble it, inspect all capacitors thoroughly and see if any have blown. Maybe check those in the power supply first.

If a capacitor is blown apart it's usually obvious from a visual check. If they haven't damaged anything else they can be replaced and things should be back to normal.

Tez