Keyboard Input Corrupted

[Pokey1]

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed some problems just after a Flash Player upgrade.

Keyboard input gradually got slower, eventually requiring multiple attempts to input a key.  Then, it just stopped working entirely.  It started giving me a descending three-tone sequence, so I feel sure the keyboard is recognized on some level as trying to give input, but it just isn't getting there.  I looked over a couple of character maps, and they seem to be fine.  At the time, I ran malwarebytes and Windows Defender (an oxymoron if ever there was one), and found nothing.  At about this time, I started using the "ease of use" keyboard on-screen to get around my issue.  It worked, though it's quite slow.  Eventually, I was even getting an intermittant problem inputting with the on-screen keyboard.

I did remove the keyboard from the list of associated devices, rebooted the machine to try to be sure to have a good keyboard driver, and there was no change, other than to remove the large majority of programs I installed for various uses, including several browsers, an FTP utility, 7-zip, and so on.

Rebooting the computer pretty much did nothing.

Figuring I had a clue (which I probably didn't), I did a bit of looking in various places, and twice tried a re-install of Windows 10, which is what came with the machine.  I hoped this was a setting or some corrupted file that might be most quickly fixed with a re-install of Windows.  Where I don't seem to have any current issues now with the on-screen keyboard, I still have the original issue with the regular keyboard.

Attached are the first three files you request in investigating this.  This is a current run, as most of the software I had loaded previously needs re-install after the Win 10 re-install.  I'm still not seeing an infection, but am getting the impression this is targeted to disrupt, and is either hiding or did its mischief and actually did go away somehow.  Seems best to treat this as a virus, and see what it needs to get fixed.

At this time, much as I'd prefer to avoid it, if I need to try a system restore, after exhausting other options, I'll do it.  But, I didn't have the machine periodically creating system restore points, so it would remove quite a bit.

 

Addition.txt

FRST.txt

mwb1.txt

[AdvancedSetup]

Hello @Pokey1

I'm not seeing anything in the logs that would indicate a cause for this behavior. I'm going to move your topic to the PC Repair forum as I don't see any obvious infection.

 

Thanks

Ron

 

 

[David H. Lipman]

Pokey1:

What is the make and model of the computer in question ?

[Pokey1]

It's a Dell XPS 8900.

OS is Win 10 Home.

BIOS is from Dell Inc.

Is this what you need for now?

[David H. Lipman]

The present XPS BIOS version is v2.2.1 and was released in December.  What is the version of BIOS on your Dell XPS ?

Do you have access to another keyboard ?

[Pokey1]

When the problem started, the BIOS version was 2.1.3, dated 1/20/2016.

In visiting the Dell web site in the last couple of days, I have already updated it to 2.2.1.  For the moment, with a restart just now, that hasn't altered the issue one way or the other.

[David H. Lipman]

What about an alternate keyboard ?

 

[Pokey1]

A keyboard swap worked.

I hadn't tried since the BIOS upgrade on the impacted machine, so perhaps that combination was the issue.

I'm going to confess some real confusion still...that doesn't matter so far as this thread or the fact I got what I needed.  The Dell keyboard actually did work on this backup machine previously when I was swapping them around to test for issues.  And the one I swapped in (an HP keyboard) to the Dell machine did not.  Today, the HP keyboard is working on both machines, the Dell keyboard is working on neither.

But, sometimes, when something is working, that's the important bit.  I appreciate the good direction, and happy I was thorough enough to actually re-test here instead of just saying "it wasn't working last time I tried it."

Thanks for saving my bacon!!

[David H. Lipman]

YW

 I figured this was a hardware issue, I was thinking;  BIOS --> keyboard --->  Keyboard controller  --> Dell Diagnostics.

Any keyboard should work on any PC.  That goes for the ones that have am embedded Smart Card interface.  The only differences are the "specialties" that are added to the keyboard like speaker volume control and Audio Player controls ( fwd, rev, pause, etc ) where added software makes them usable.

 

[Pokey1]

At this point, you're probably not expecting a substantial follow up here.  However, I have one.  I hope you'll read it with the same care as you always give me, because I suspect it will be worth someone's time to decide if what I'm about to bring up plays into some of the issues others here have had in the past or may present in future.  That's not to say I know I have any sort of virus on my machine...I think the odds are against it at this point, and anything that might be there is doing an incredible job of hiding if it is.  But, if nothing else, this might also explain a bit of my earlier confusion, and why it was so hard to nail this down as a simple hardware issue.

I'd been handling this since just before Christmas (12/22/17, I think).  There were rights issues I didn't feel had anything to do with hardware, and there were a few other lingering concerns I had with Windows functionality.  I'd gone through the process of making certain I had current patches, updates (including BIOS), and drivers before coming to this forum.  Stuff I thought I should be doing to be thorough before coming here.  So, after replacing the keyboard and still feeling there were issues, I went to the Microsoft support link, used the Virtual Assistant (which, while not helpful, was more on the mark than I expected), then got a live agent in chat.

After doing two complete Windows re-installs, I had to re-install all the software that process had deleted.  And I couldn't.  My Administrator (Group) account seemed not to have Administrator rights!  Ultimately, I got a remote session, and someone with Microsoft went all over the place, including many registry settings, and adjusted rights to give me what I should have had.  (I had it suggested by Microsoft some of these things may have been done by the Dell factory when the machine was put together, others, since this was the 2nd [or 3rd, &c.] install for some software probably got altered by either corruption or third party software that had no business doing it.)  Just as we thought we had it all fixed, and we re-started, the remote session crashed out, MANY SYSTEM FILES WERE MISSING, and I had a big paperweight for the most part.

With the 6th Microsoft Rep I was able to contact, I got a fix.

A Windows Reset got me system files back.  I had already removed a ton of software with the Windows re-installs, so this wasn't really an added setback.  And the Reset preserved other files still on the hard drive.

From there, I set about the task of trying to re-install all the software that the Win 10 re-installs had removed.  The very first thing that happened after the Microsoft rep disconnected is I got a reminder window about a Dell Update.  It's my understanding this included a BIOS Upgrade from Dell, Inc., version 2.1.3 to 2.2.1.  There may have been other things in the Dell Update.  After that Update finished, I seemed to have exactly the same paperweight (instead of a working machine, and without many system files) I had after the crash experienced by the first Microsoft rep.  Nothing else was done or run...just the stuff in the Dell Update.

It's hard sometimes to declare "Aha!  I know what happened!  I have proof!"  But, I literally didn't DO anything besides take that update on board after getting a VIRGIN Win 10 OS in place and having the Microsoft rep (who pressed all the buttons himself and blessed it) disconnect his remote session.  Many programs and other clutter you might normally have on a machine just weren't installed yet.  Something in that Dell Update seemed to cause the current issues.  And, as they were part of earlier symptoms, there's a certain logic behind it, at least to me.  With all kinds of other things going on, it was harder for me earlier to point to all the little symptoms and have them add up to something.

So, yes, the keyboard went bad.  I did definitely get perfect advice here, and that was a lot of my problem.  It was good camouflage for figuring out the other stuff, though.  And the other stuff came back and bit me hard.

I've done a Windows Reset on my own and have a working system again since last night.  So far, nothing is stopping me.  If a Dell Update window pops up, I'll be killing it with extreme prejudice.  It shouldn't come up, though...I've turned it off in Settings.  Along with a lot of other Dell stuff on the machine.  I'd actually done that a long time ago, which is why I hadn't gotten the latest BIOS until recently.  But,  when the keyboard started failing, and there were other aches and pains, I tried to update "everything," which, sometimes, can be too much.  I don't like auto-updates that can take you down hard without a warning.

Anyway, for those reading here, thanks for listening.  I'm hoping this makes enough sense to be on the lookout for something.  We all know already how sensitive BIOS can be.  If all this was still being confused by having what seems a minor (by comparison) hardware issue, I've no clue how it would have been handled.  This forum and it's incredibly good advice ALWAYS come through and help me...three times in over a decade, I think it is...but you folks help a LOT of people.  It's entirely appreciated.

 

[David H. Lipman]

Dell Updates do not update the BIOS.  If the BIOS update process gets screwed up it will brick the PC.  A corrupted BIOS will leave a motherboard impotent and unable to perform the Power on Self Test ( POST ) and Boot process.

As A rule, I remove all non-essential vendor software when I receive a new PC for someone.  All the vendors load lots of crap that needlessly bogs down the PC.  When you have the OS installation media, one can wipe the PC and reinstall the OS from scratch and only include that software which is required for the hardware and the OS itself.  Off course that can be a more lengthy process and Today vendors tend to avoid providing OS installation media so often with new PC's I'll just strip off the extraneous vendor software.

[Pokey1]

I had specifically updated the BIOS from 2.1.3 to 2.2.1, and saw the version update on my machine BEFORE yesterday's Dell Update.  I think that much is fair to claim.

I also thought I remembered in clicking the button to do the Dell Update that the machine actually said it was updating the BIOS and it would be harmful to turn power off or interrupt the process while running.  But, at this point, I admit to being so close to the process for so long, and not at a level of expertise many here hold, that I may simply have been mistaken.

But, I tried as faithfully as possible to report the situation as my memory and some written notes I took allowed.  And, ultimately, I seem to have a working system without any of the idiosyncrasies I noticed before.  And my software is all back on the machine.   So, first and foremost, thanks here for setting me straight on some things, and getting me to this point.

Beyond that, *something* in that Dell Update seems to have done a number on my system.  As I'm not willingly going to allow another one on my machine, I'll hope which something is a moot point for me.  For others...be careful out there.