Since finally getting my Librem 14 back in 2021 it has been nothing but problems. It came out of the box with battery charging issues that I was able to fix with some guidance from support, but has since continued to have battery-related issues and developed some curious keyboard problems as well.
Currently it refuses to boot unless plugged in. When this issue first presented itself it was more mild, staying on long enough to boot (Using PureBoot w/ Librem Key) but giving up while I was entering the LUKS password, however now lights will only come on for a split second before the machine turns back off. While plugged in it boots fine, but that’s when I discovered the keyboard issues.
The first sign was that my LUKS password was “incorrect” even when I was sure I typed it correctly, but I figured out it was because the left Shift key wasn’t being registered. The right Shift still worked so I was able to log in once I figured that out, but today when I booted it up the left Shift was mysteriously working again, and now the Q key outputs “WQ”, the W key outputs “WQ”, the A key outputs “SA”, and the S key outputs “SA”. All of these outputs follow correct capitalization controls (A = “sa”, Shift+A = “SA”) and if the key is held will output more A’s or Q’s (wqqqqqqqq saaaaaaaa). Very rarely a key will reverse output (QW or AS) but it seems like only the Q and A keys do this.
My device is model L14v1-01 but I know it’s one of the ones with an additional resistor haphazardly soldered in and hidden under tape (I think that indicates a v1-02 but idk). PureBoot is release 30 (current for L14) and EC firmware is 1.13 (also current).
I just wish I didn’t have to troubleshoot a new problem every time I want to use this thing. Please help.
It sounds as if you should be going through Purism Support as there appear to be significant customer satisfaction issues with your laptop. Contact - Purism user documentation
You can use the search function in this forum to find posts from other community members who may have had similar problems but, as you say, this may go beyond the level of troubleshooting that a customer should be expected to carry out.
Thank you both, I’ve contacted support about the issues.
Looking at the other posts you both shared it does seem to be a similar keyboard matrix problem. I tried cleaning and reseating the keyboard connector but it had no effect. I certainly hope the keyboard itself isn’t damaged, I’ve barely even used it.
I’m hoping support can help me out, but in the meantime does anyone have any ideas about the battery issues? Like I said, the device won’t power on unless connected to the charger, but the battery also rapidly discharges even when the device is fully powered off. Any insight would be appreciated.
The Librem 14 will shut off prematurely if the fans are unable to initialize during the boot sequence, so now is a good time to clean the fan grilles and ensure the connection of them to the motherboard are fully established.
That’s odd because it definitely still boots (when it’s plugged in at least), but the fans still don’t seem to do anything. Everything is clean and everything is properly connected to the motherboard.
So I just turned everything on to do some tests to answer your question, and miraculously after sitting in my backpack all weekend (and fully discharging the battery while it was in there) it seems everything but the fans are working again. Keyboard functions as normal, machine boots and stays on with only 8% battery regardless of if it’s plugged in or not (I charged it a little first to test). The clock thinks it’s Dec 31st, 2069, but that’s obviously just because the battery died. Fans still do nothing, but I’m pretty sure they’ve never turned on since I got the machine. Support still hasn’t responded. I don’t know what to do now, I’m so frustrated with this thing.