"e" and "3" keys on keyboard not working in portrait

[Simon Luckhurst]

Well you are not on your own mate. About two days ago my phone - also a Nexus 4 - starting doing exactly the same thing, however my c and f keys also don't work in portrait. Every now and then they do work and outside of the keyboard the whole touchscreen works fine??!!!?!

Also starting at the same time, my keyboard just goes mental and randomly starts selecting stuff when I'm not pressing anything.

Very interesting that we both have the same phone and got the problem at the same time. Only thing left for me to try is a factory reset. Have you done one? Did it work?

Thanks

 

[LondonJohn]

Well you are not on your own mate. About two days ago my phone - also a Nexus 4 - starting doing exactly the same thing, however my c and f keys also don't work in portrait. Every now and then they do work and outside of the keyboard the whole touchscreen works fine??!!!?!

Also starting at the same time, my keyboard just goes mental and randomly starts selecting stuff when I'm not pressing anything.

Very interesting that we both have the same phone and got the problem at the same time. Only thing left for me to try is a factory reset. Have you done one? Did it work?

Thanks

Haven't tried a factory reset yet, but aware that that's not far away!

I've a great idea .... you go first!

Seriously, if I don't get a solution soon, I'll probably try a factory reset next week. Eeekk.

J.

 

[Javier P]

I'm not sure that a factory reset will fix it. It can be a bug, some problem with a map, an error in a system file... Who knows. And I like trying everything before going nuclear.

If you're ready to play a bit read on

Open the developer options. To enable them go to settings - about phone and tap 7 - 10 on the build number. After that they will be just before the "about phone" setting. OK. Now careful there,* some things could give you some extra problems. You can read about these options here:

http://m.androidcentral.com/all-about-your-phones-developer-options

My idea is to force the phone to make an extra effort after tapping things and see what happens when you tap on those problematic letters.

Enable these ones:

Show touches:*Select this to see a visual cue on the screen when and where a touch was registered.

Pointer location:*This setting places an information bar at the top of your screen telling you the screen coordinates of the last place the screen was touched. See what happens after tapping on the "e".

And to have a bit of fun:

Force RTL layout direction:*Forces screen orientation for right to left language support.

Fancy this whole thing? It's* not very risky,* but there's always the chance of things go sour. Disable them after you finish the test.*

 

[Rukbat]

Not risky at all, unless you play with other settings in Developer options. Still not actually risky, they can always be set back to what they were (if you remember the original settings or write them down before changing them).

Good idea, though - see if the touch on the 'e' in portrait mode is actually touching the 'e', not the 'w'. If it's touching the 'w', either the digitizer is bad, the motherboard is bad or the firmware got corrupted. If it's touching the 'e, the keyboard mapping would probably be the problem ... but the fact that it changes with orientation, while the mapping doesn't, kind of rules that out.

This is the kind of bug that answers the question "Why are so many programmers bald?" (We had a database bug that took 6 months to be able to duplicate at will - which is what you have to be able to do to fix it. And you have to be able to trace the running code, which Google should be able to do, the manufacturers might be able to do and the user probably can't do.)

 

[LondonJohn]

Show touches:*Select this to see a visual cue on the screen when and where a touch was registered.

Touch doesn't show up when touching the "e" key. I can see it fine on all other keys.

When I touch the "e" key there's two touch marks on either side of it.

BUT ... playing around with it on my home screen .... there's a vertical strip aligned with the e key which ALSO shows two touch marks, with a space in the middle (aligned where the "e" key would be). So, looks like there a dead strip up my screen in portrait, about one quarter width in from the left edge!

So .....

Pointer location:*This setting places an information bar at the top of your screen telling you the screen coordinates of the last place the screen was touched.

The dead area start at approx x= 120 through to x=250

This is a massive jump, as I now know what the problem is ... question now is .. is there anything can be done or is this fatal?

Javier - thanks for the suggestion, superstar!

 

[LondonJohn]

See if the touch on the 'e' in portrait mode is actually touching the 'e', not the 'w'. If it's touching the 'w', either the digitizer is bad, the motherboard is bad or the firmware got corrupted.

Thanks Rukbat.

It's touching the w and the r - see my last reply. Does that help?

 

[Javier P]

That's some progress! And the hardware problem is back on the table. Strange though. That kind of dead stripe should cover at least a couple of letters in the compact mode.

Well, you know the options with a hardware issue, and a factory reset will do nothing. I can think in a workaround though. I'd use SwiftKey because it's got the best prediction algorithm, and you have to swipe when writing.

This is the thing. You have to convince the keyboard that you're just a clumsy chap. Don't worry, keyboards are not very judgemental

Swipe words like "crwate" when you mean "create". For the prediction machine context is very important, so think in phrases instead of words. The right word will appear in the prediction bar. Tap on it. Words like "we" can be trickier. Put it in context and "wr" should work. Actually,* I'm using those examples and it's working for me!!. After a little while the right word should come as the automatic prediction.

Play a bit and tell us how it's going.

 

[LondonJohn]

That's some progress! And the hardware problem is back on the table. Strange though. That kind of dead stripe should cover at least a couple of letters in the compact mode.

Well, you know the options with a hardware issue, and a factory reset will do nothing. I can think in a workaround though. I'd use SwiftKey because it's got the best prediction algorithm, and you have to swipe when writing.

This is the thing. You have to convince the keyboard that you're just a clumsy chap. Don't worry, keyboards are not very judgemental

Swipe words like "crwate" when you mean "create". For the prediction machine context is very important, so think in phrases instead of words. The right word will appear in the prediction bar. Tap on it. Words like "we" can be trickier. Put it in context and "wr" should work. Actually,* I'm using those examples and it's working for me!!. After a little while the right word should come as the automatic prediction.

Play a bit and tell us how it's going.

Thanks, don't use swipe but will give it a go.

 

[LittlePea]

Has anyone found a solution for this? My Nexus 4 just started doing the same thing.... Keys 'c' and 'f'.

 

[ilc168]

I have same problem as original poster with the e/3 key in both swype and goolge default keyboard, would love to hear of any solutions.

 

[buryk]

I too have a similar problem. Since 5.1.1 update last week c and f keys no longer work in portrait.

 

[Javier P]

Hello and welcome to the forums! Does it work on landscape mode? For the OP it was a hardware issue. Have you already tried using different keyboards?

 

[ilc168]

Further to this - Same issue (dead letters) with a number of keyboards. Thanks for the advice on this thread:

"Show touches:*Select this to see a visual cue on the screen when and where a touch was registered.

Pointer location:*This setting places an information bar at the top of your screen telling you the screen coordinates of the last place the screen was touched. See what happens after tapping on the "e". "

Using this it looks like a dead section on the screen which from the advice listed is the hardware / digitizer. I can manage with some frustration by not using swype or swiftkey and having it in landscape. But..... looks like a repair or new phone is needed.

 

[buryk]

Hello. My phone is also a Nexus 4. It works in landscape. I have tried Swiftkey but problem remains.

 

[Hez5]

So weird - I have an LG G3 Dual Sim - and I'm having exactly the same problem with 'r' and '3' keys. Cant hit these keys in portrait mode for either Swiftkey, Google Keyboard, or the stock LG keyboard - however, in landscape mode it works. I have done the same exercise by entering into developer mode and the vertical line skips that particular area.

So is this definitely a hardware issue? Have you found a solution?

Henry

 

[Kranwe]

Some Live wallpapers cause these types of issues. Change to another wallpaper and shutdown your phone (power off). Power on your phone and it should work. If not, make sure you uninstall any third party live wallpapers, shutdown, power on, try again. It is improbable that it is a hardware issue.

 

[Javier P]

Some Live wallpapers cause these types of issues. Change to another wallpaper and shutdown your phone (power off). Power on your phone and it should work. If not, make sure you uninstall any third party live wallpapers, shutdown, power on, try again. It is improbable that it is a hardware issue.

That's very interesting! Good tip!

 

[Peter morcombe]

I have the same problem but with the m and k buttons, I tried the screen touch test and there was a thick vertical line in which I couldn't draw. It appeares to go across the m and k buttons. Any ideas how to fix?

 

[Javier P]

Hello Peter, welcome to the forums! What happens if you rotate the phone to landscape mode? Does the dead line stay in the same place or changes its position? Have you already already tried booting in safe mode and see if the problem persists?

 

[Jo Slipper]

I have a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and it has started to have the same problem this morning, the "R" key or the "4" won't work when the keyboard is in portrait, but is fine in landscape mode. I haven't found any solutions online and it looks like other people have been having this issue for a long time.