stlocook

I bought me daughter a secondhand portable Apple computer for Christmas. She was delighted and took it happily home, but has now discovered that the space bar doesn't work. There don't seem to be any apple specialists in Normandy; it seems to me that it must be something incredibly simple, since all the other keys work fine, but her filthy looks are depressing me. Last year it was the same story with a (new)DVD, the year before a (new) video and before that again, a (new) camera. As the odds of me buying four defective products from four different sources over a period of four years are astronomical, I'm beginning to think that she have the touch of death with things electrical, even though I am the one that that gets the blame!
PLEASE, if anyone can help with the Apple, I would be very, very happy. It is a Powerbook1400CS - PPC 603e 117Mhz - RAM 12 with Mac OS 11. Thank you.

dunroving

Have you tried asking the person you bought it from? Maybe this is why they were selling it..... wouldn't be the first time someone tried to offload faulty gear.... and like cars, people often sell computers when they start having problems with them.... or maybe it's not busted and the seller knows a quick fix.

Sorry, no technical advice... but if I bought something that immediately went wrong, my first reaction would be to contact the person I bought it from.

weiser

have you tried cleaning the contacts on the key, here is a link on how to do it, go to the question where it says

Eke, I spilled water on the keyboard and now it doesn't work. What can I do?

http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscrape.../1210/faq.html


I hope this helps!

zel

if still no joy from cleaning keyboard etc

check ebay for replacement keyboards.

bfg69bug

lever the space bar out with a small screwdriver, clean underneath it, clean the contacts and everything. turn the lapy on while there is no space bar attached and see if u can make a "space" with the wrong end of a pencil - there should be a little "bump" underneath the centre of the space bar.

alternativly, if she is not using the lptop as a laptop, and merly using it at home instead of a pc, u can normally attach another keyboard to these laptops via a usb or ps2 port on the side ( the purple one)...see if that works and get back to us. obviously ur not posting from it otherwiseyourpostwouldlookalllikethis

stlocook

Thank you to all who have helped with this problem. I had a 'phone call last night to tell me that all now works with the Apple and will see it with my own eyes tonight. At the same time, I will pass on all the information you have so kindly provided. I hope I brought her up well enough to do the honours herself as well. Happy New Year to all!

jim t

i learned very early in life, there is always one rotten apple in the barrel.