Keyboard causing laptop to fail booting.

[edbarx]

A relative had a Dell Vostro laptop with a quadcore processor that she had thrown away as it was always failing to boot while emitting a series of beeps. She was persuaded it was broken beyond repair. After several attempts to find the cause, I realised it was the keyboard that was the culprit. I removed it and connected a USB keyboard and the laptop booted Windows 7 after a long time staying on a shelve waiting to be discarded.

I am thinking about installing Debian or Devuan on it. The DVD drive has problems and will be removed. So, I have to use a USB or find a workaround to put GNU/Linux on it.

[Bulkley]

Looks like a good project. Is there a chance that the DVD drive is just dirty?

I'd open up the laptop and check that plugs, jacks and memory are connected properly and that it is reasonably dust free.

[mardybear]

Were you able to diagnose the keyboard problem? Could be just a bad connection or a sticky key. In the old BIOS days you could set it to ignore keyboard errors at boot - not sure if your laptop has the option. A thorough keyboard dismantle/clean may be all that's needed. My wife's favourite keyboard is >15 years old. The factory lubricant recently dried up causing the space bar mechanism to stick. A screwdriver, vacuum cleaner, clean damp rag, alcohol and a few cotton swabs and it's good as new.

All the best with your upcoming surgery. The laptop project may provide a much needed distraction.