bold 9000 trackball and keyboard malfunctioning

HI, my blackberry bold 9000 (ROGERS)is experiencing some technical problems with both the keyboard, and trackball.

-When i click the trackball the letters HL appear
-When i click the GREEN PHONE KEY the letters JK appear
-When i blick the RED PHONE KEY the letters NM appear
-When i click the A(alt *) key the letters UO appear

I've searched forums endlessly and nothing has worked.
some people suggested cleaning the ball...no help
some people suggested it was wet, but 100% the phone never got wet or even exposed to steam.

any help from an expert would be greatly appreciated

I would warranty exchange

thats what i was thinking. I bought the phone in November, so its only been 8 months. The warranty is what...1 year?

RIM may help but you'll most likely have to send your phone off. Rogers will probably want an unrealistic amount of money to fix without the warranty (past experience with Sprint). I had the same problem along with the mic not working properly with an 8830 and all I did was replace the white circuit "sticker" under the keyboard. I'm not 100% positive the bold is built the same way but it most likely is. Can't remember if I bought it on eBay or @ cnn.cn but it was really cheap (under $10). Just pealed off the old one after disconnecting it from the mainboard, slapped the new one on, and it worked perfectly. I hope this helps. The 8830 did get slightly damp on the bottom where the mic was. That was also attached to the white circuit "sticker"

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yeah, if its not under warranty (i think it is, but I'll double check tomorrow) that seems like the best bet. It worked perfectly up to today then all of a sudden this happens. What i don't understand is why it's only happening to certain keys, and not all. Also why the green/trackball/red key's but not the BB key and the BACK. Nonetheless, thank you for your input.

Hi,

I started having EXACTLY the same problem today. I live in Australia, phone is 7 months old. The same keys are malfunctioning on my handset, producing the same letters.

I have tried everything. I tried to do a wipe of the handset, but because I can't type the 'a' in 'blackberry' it was impossible.

Let me know if you find a solution. I am borrowing a screwdriver off a mate to see if I can pull it open and give it a clean, make sure there is no dust on the connections etc.

Willing to void the warranty as they are useless at fixing/replacing stuff in Australia - better off trying myself or buying a new phone.

its weird that both of you are having the identical key problems though?

Yes?

very strange indeed...

just to follow up... i stuck with my phone for a few weeks and the problem seems to have fixed itself. I'm no longer having problems with the keys. I did use a toothbrush to clean the trackball, reset my phone a couple of times, and its good :D

Originally Posted by carm077

HI, my blackberry bold 9000 (ROGERS)is experiencing some technical problems with both the keyboard, and trackball.

-When i click the trackball the letters HL appear
-When i click the GREEN PHONE KEY the letters JK appear
-When i blick the RED PHONE KEY the letters NM appear
-When i click the A(alt *) key the letters UO appear

I've searched forums endlessly and nothing has worked.
some people suggested cleaning the ball...no help
some people suggested it was wet, but 100% the phone never got wet or even exposed to steam.

any help from an expert would be greatly appreciated

Hi, im from Dominican Republic, and I'm having the EXACT same problem, in fact mine has only 2 months :S I also, can't end my calls because the red key won't click, everything I do is with menu-enter-back even answering my calls, I can't scroll up, and if for mistake I put the wrong password, I can't write "blackberry" because of the A...I'm 100% sure it didn't get wet because im very carefull with it.. i dont know what to do...:(

Here, the service is really bad, and taking it somewhere to get it fixed, is very expensive and there's the chance that they would do a bad work.

If you guys found out how to fix it, please let me know. Thank you.

The most likely reason is a failure in the keypad assembly. The keys are sending garbled messages because of a failed connection path.

Replacing the keypad is fairly simple with the right tools. You can order the parts and the tools online from one of the BlackBerry Repair shops. Use Google to find one close to you.

I am experiencing the same problem. I spent a couple of hours with RIM saving my data, doing a master reset, reloading the software, etc., but nothing worked. Luckily it was still in warrantee and ATT is sending me a replacement. I didn't buy the insurance on the blackberry, because they have been very reliable in the past. This problem has me second guessing that decision, because the replacement is a refurbished model and who knows how long it will last. If it is just a keyboard short of sorts, then I would like to know if anyone has obtained an new keyboard and successfully replaced it on their own. Youtube has a video on disassembly and though the bold is more complicated to take apart than other phones, with patience it looks doable. Has anyone successfully completed the operation?

I'm having the same problems, too!

Clicking the Trackball sends me to the call screen
typing "a" gives me "ou"
clicking the trackball when typing gives me "HI"
The hang up button sends me to the Call screen too!
typing "n" gives me "ML"!!!

It didn't get wet, it wasn't dirty, I have it in a case nearly all the time, etc....

Somebody please help! I can't live without my Blackberry Bold!!!

Yeah this sounds like the keyboard is having some circuit mixes! A keyboard exchange should do the trick. Its annoying happens with a lot of phones but apparently its becoming an epidemic on the Bold!

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god,
I don't have blackberry...
woww...
I need one...
http://www.snagpic.com/users/img/409...vnsn/clear.gif

I had the same problem! it fixed itself though when I stopped using the bold for onne week. Only problem now is it wont scroll down but that's ok. I can just replace the trackball. My problem started when i replaced the trackball. I think i got a lemon trackball.

Identical thing has happened to me

'A' button is "UO", send key is is jk, trackball is hl and end key is nm. other than that still working perfectly.

One big issue though, is that my warranty finished 8 days ago....... So I think I'm boned there.

I would love some advice/help with fixing this keyboard error. Please!!

well this problem is now resolved.

took the phone into the shop, and they told me that the BB has a 2 year hardware warranty on it, so the 1 yr warranty didn't matter.

they took it away, and gave me a new phone within a week. think the new one is actually a refurb phone (and has a few things amiss with it), but nevertheless i'm back on the air!

to any folks out there who are having this problem with their 9000, take it into the shop and see what they have to say. i tried a heap of things i found on the internet first to try and fix it myself, and none were succussful. if the shop fails, then try some of the more drastic things on the net.

good luck folks

Gentlemen,

What was the real solution to this ?

As i too have the same problem.... warranty is out as well, can anyone give a direct link to where this under keypad can be bought ?.... is this the real solution ?

i have searched high and low... went to cnn.cn .. and nothing there... been to other sites and still not finding what you guys are talking about...

please help....

i have pulled down , put back up , wiped phone, 5.0 firmware etc. etc.

so im convinced now that its a hardware failure...

please shed some more light on this topic... please...

I've had these same exact problems before with a Curve 8310. I searched info about it and ppl mostly said that it was due to the device being exposed to moisture more than it could handle. Some said to turn it off, open the keyboard, and let it dry, even hairdrying it would help. Another said to hit the problematic keys hard with a chop of our fingers. Well I tried both lol, and it worked. I say the chop worked better because it happened again some months after that and it automatically returned to normal. Yes, a so very primitive method, but it worked for me.

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Just to confirm earlier responses to this post, the cure to this problem lies underneath the trackball. All of the keys involved have leads that terminate
under the trackball, and it appears that a light grease (from your finger?) collects on the trackball, and gets transferred underneath to a copper conductor
pad, where it attracts dust, which eventually causes the terminals to short out... the resulting two letter combinations on the display are an indication of the
short of that key. In order to fix, follow any of the great YouTube instructions to remove the trackball, and gently clean the copper pad and adjoining contacts
with rubbing alcohol. Just confirmed this, and fixed two phones in about twenty minutes apiece... whew! :)

use a hair drier but see that you dont melt down your phone.... blow dry the ports and keypad and earpiece for a while n den ur fone will feel better..... alll th best

Help--my white bb bold -trac ball has been replaced by att 4x + once at repair shop --the whitepaint/epoxy?? Keeps peeling and unable to move- tried to purchase red bb passport to replace it--unable to find a new one--all used/refurbished on line-- back to replacing trac ball in bold(wonderful still!!) -where can i get part and or repair service?? Or if not where can i get new red passport for us service area???help! Please