The Case of the Keyboard Crisis

Posted by gio_tecce@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 54 comments

It was one of my first days on the job as an IT Helpdesk Technician, and I was still finding my rhythm—figuring out the balance between sounding confident and not making it obvious I had just Googled something five minutes earlier.

At around 10:00AM, the call came in.

On the other end was a man—sounded like he was in his early 40s—clearly stressed.

“Hi, yeah, my keyboard’s not working. I’ve got reports to finish, and nothing’s typing. The whole thing’s just dead!”

I considered walking him through some steps over the phone, but judging by the tone of his voice (and a gut feeling), I decided it’d be better to head down to his department and handle it in person. Besides, I could use the walk—and the chance to look useful.

When I arrived, he was standing over his desk, arms crossed like he was trying to intimidate the keyboard into working.

“Hey,” I greeted, keeping things light. “Keyboard’s giving you trouble?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it just stopped working out of nowhere. I didn’t change anything.”

I crouched beside the machine and started with the basics. I checked the wireless dongle—yep, it was there. Just in case, I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

Nothing.

Still dead.

“Okay,” I said, “When’s the last time you changed the batteries?”

He blinked.

Then raised an eyebrow.

“Are you kidding me? There’s batteries in these things?”

I tried not to laugh—and that was the moment I knew this was going to be a great job.

After a little digging through the supply drawer (and a quick side quest to another desk for some spares), I swapped in two fresh batteries. Flipped the switch. Boom—LED indicator lit up, keys working like nothing had ever happened.

He tapped a few characters, visibly relieved. “Well, that explains a lot. You just saved my morning.”

Lesson of the Day: Even in the digital age, the simplest problems—like dead batteries—can bring everything to a halt. And sometimes, solving them is what earns you your first stripes.

As I made my way back upstairs, I logged the ticket with a quiet smile. Not a bad start to the day, not bad at all.

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Black_Handkerchief@reddit

The stupid part about stories like these is that I blame the users less for this mistake now than I did a decade or two ago.

Back in my childhood, something without a cable always had batteries, or at least a removable 'specialized' battery. And rechargable batteries required them to be taken out of the device, which you did quite often because technology was basic enough still to the point where low-power technology hadn't really been dug into yet.

Today though? So many devices have batteries inside that you never take out. Phones can remain on standby for literal days. I feel like the primary use of batteries nowadays is childrens toys, so we barely even see them. Combine all that with wireless charging tech, or kinetic energy recovery being a key part of how electric cars work (sorry, I don't know what it is called but I know it exists), and it really isn't that crazy for people to think something can just work wirelessly.

Imagine using the force of pressing keys down as a little dynamo that is just enough to power the electronics that send a bluetooth signal to the computer. Does it exist? I don't know. Could it exist or come into existence? Hell yes. While a small battery would be unavoidable to make sure it stays connected during idler times, I imagine writing a proper letter or reddit post could easily come to recharge such tiny batteries, or potentially multiply their lifespan by reducing the discharge rate considerably for users that type a lot.

All that is to say... we live in an extremely difficult era for the less technologically adept who can have (to us) very dazzling patterns of thought that (to us) make absolutely zero sense.

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fevered_visions@reddit

The consumer is much more trained to expect "computer box is magic" rather than try to explain how any of it works than in decades past, too.

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Naf623@reddit

Regenerative braking. I wonder if we couldn't apply something similar to a keyboard... I bet what you'd generate by pushing a key is more than it takes to send that to the computer.

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Black_Handkerchief@reddit

Right, that. And that's exactly what I was thinking.

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Naf623@reddit

I already did some looking; it seems that while Google appears to have a patent, there's concerns about carpal tunnel - you want key lresses ro be as smooth as possible, and that could add too much resistance. Plus the cost of adding that to every key individually would probably massively outweigh the savings on batteries.

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Black_Handkerchief@reddit

The cost being prohibitive did come to mind for a bit, but on the other hand.. some people just get really triggered by an empty battery out of nowhere. I personally avoid wireless keyboard for that exact reason: I rather put up with the silly cord than want to get frustrated at a random point when I'm really focused on what I'm doing to get knocked out of my mental flow.

Add a bit of silly marketing and I think it wouldn't be impossible to find people who would buy such a keyboard for that reason.

The resistance issue is a fair one I hadn't considered, although this may well be something one can compensate for with different spring mechanisms that actuate differently. I have no idea how this technology is implemented, but that is only an issue on the downstroke.

Can't the energy somehow be harvested when you let go of a key at the cost of the key coming back up a fraction slower? The benefit would obviously be rather limited that way, but it is still more than you'd expect.

Another thing one could consider (for cost-cutting needs) is to only implement this function for keys where a bit of extra force isn't going to be a bother. The space bar in particular comes to mind: it sees a lot of use and it is not a key that is limited to just a single finger, although the left thumb is definitely the dedicated candidate for me personally... and that finger is probably a tougher and more carpal tunnel resistant.

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dplafoll@reddit

Ehhh... yes, there are devices without removable batteries, but they still have to be charged, so this guy should still have deduced that this wireless device needed power from some sort of battery. A more aware question would be "Do I need replacements or do I need to plug it in to something to charge it?"

glenmarshall@reddit

It's even more fun when the CR2032 battery inside a PC goes bad.

cobra-65@reddit

Those exist?

ryanlc@reddit

Hell, I still use CR2032 batteries in a lot of things.

Loafer72@reddit

Have you met a vr2032? Same size but rechargeable. I had to replace one in a cash register. Hours of fun scouring the Internet!

Shinhan@reddit

I got a temp sensor off Temu and while it looks nice I stopped using it because it chews through CR2032 batteries like nothing.

QwertyChouskie@reddit

Rig up two AAA batteries, it'll last wayyyyyyyyy longer

I have not! But damnit, now I'll have to scour the internets.

Deblebsgonnagetyou@reddit

I have a small hoard of them to feed my Tamagotchis with.

randolf_carter@reddit

Are you serious? Virtually every desktop PC has one, they typically last longer than you'd keep the PC around (~8-10 years) but if they die it resets the BIOS settings, date/time, and may not boot at all.

Nu-Hir@reddit

I had two fairly new Dell Precision desktops come to me with dead batteries in them. I think they were maybe two or three years old? I think part of the issue was that they had been sitting in the closet for at least a year, and then they were shipped from Minnesota to Ohio when it was around 0 degrees out.

I think it was a combo of both doing nothing and cold that killed them. That's the only explanation that I can come up with. But yes, they typically last a lot longer as you said.

If the PC isn't plugged in (doesn't matter if its powered on or off) then those batteries will drain much faster. The BIOS can run off the stand by power from the PSU which is like 20mA or less. I've definitely seen systems where the CR2032 was dead in 5 years or less because the power was cut to the system at night, so certainly keeping something unused in box for 2-3 years sounds about right.

GlykenT@reddit

I remember it being a problem for school computer labs because of the seasonal breaks. A few weeks without power here, a few there, and the batteries got drained fairly quickly.

The funny thing was, when I got the PC, I asked the person who sent it to me if he had issues with the battery when setting it up. When the second PC came in with the exact same issue, I was confused. He said both were just fine before he sent them, so I'm thinking the cold may have gotten to them, despite me knowing that cargo aircraft are pressurized and kind of temperature controlled. It may not be negative temps when flying, but it's definitely above freezing. I wouldn't know as I haven't fallen asleep in a cargo hold and took an unscheduled flight.

wildwing@reddit

My early 90s Mac beige box had the internal battery die. It would run fine, until it went to sleep, the it wouldn’t wake up.

Warrangota@reddit

Isn't that the ideal everybody wishes to go?

Not screaming and yelling like the passengers on the bus?

_Terryist@reddit

It probably wouldn't be too bad to be the guy at the bottom of the ravine going for a hike either

fresh-dork@reddit

and if they're marginal, you get weird errors, so sometimes you swap them out just in case

AshleyJSheridan@reddit

They're used to keep the internal clock running for the times when the PC is off unpowered. Not every computer has the luxury of having a network connection to get the current time from an NTP server.

Dense_Dress_1287@reddit

The batteries last a lot longer, when it's a pc that is always on, because then the battery isn't needed to keep the time.

It's when it's a pc that is turned off a lot, that the battery wears down faster, because it has to actually power something

psycholinguist1@reddit

My work computer croaked back in December, and part of getting it running agin was replacing the CR2032. That wasn't the only thing wrong with it, and I have a new one now, but it was definitely part of the problem.

Yeah, sorry I was half asleep, I've had to do the same thing, I was impressed the thing wasn't corroded after 15 years.

rthompsonpuy@reddit

Intel NUCs had a CR2032, just like the rest, Except...

It's not gently nestled inside of a motherboard surface mount. Oh no, it's encased in plastic, with a cable that leads to pins ON THE BOTTOM OF THE MOTHERBOARD.

So after you dismount that, you find that it's GLUED ON.

Basically , when the battery runs out, you may as well just throw the NUC away.

LupercaniusAB@reddit

I just looked like a goddamned wizard a couple of weeks ago because of that exact issue.

trevtech15@reddit

Years ago I worked on one older Dell from 2005-2006 that was having video artifacts and doing other weird stuff (no it wasn't leaking capacitors, that's the first thing I checked. I was at my wits end until I noticed that it wasn't keeping time properly and decided it had to be some clock signal that was off just enough to still work but not enough to cause a complete failure and decided to replace the BIOS battery. Sure enough that was all it took to fix and the video corruption was gone, it's still the strangest issue that I've ever experienced and I've made sure to test and replace the BIOS battery in every old desktop I work on if the battery level is borderline since then.

VL-BTS@reddit

I used to work for a company that did a lot of vocational training. One of our PC Build instructors called the district manager saying they had trouble with a PC. I had them look at the relevant pages in our Graymark instruction manual, and they still couldn't figure out the problem.

I was up for a drive, so I went to the site, asked them to show me the PC. The manual was open next to it, and I pointed to the diagram on the page it was open to, I pointed to the item that needed to be installed, pointed to where it goes in the PC.

I then made the 3 hour trip back from Baltimore to Asbury Park, with the dead CR2032 in my pocket to hand to the district manager.

GenericPseudonym101@reddit

I wouldn't have been able to refrain myself from explaining the concept of electricity.

dteeps@reddit

About 15 years ago while working service desk a woman called in because the sound on the training video she was trying to watch wasn't playing. I started like I usually did, "let's just cover our basics - are your speakers plugged in and turned on?" She replied, "I don't have any speakers."

I explained that laptops have built-in speakers but most of our desktop computers did not, so she would need to get some speakers or headphones to plug in.

Sometimes the obvious solutions aren't as obvious if you don't fully understand what's involved. She didn't know there weren't any speakers on her desktop, this guy didn't realize that a wireless keyboard needs batteries.

CxOrillion@reddit

Had something similar. Guy submits ticket that he can't get sound of of his monitor. He's got it seats his output device and everything, so he should be good to go. I keep asking for the monitor model and he keeps saying it has speakers because he's got audio output And his volume is maxed on the computer and the monitor

Eventually I give up trying to get information from this clown, and go digging through old records to find out exactly what was bought for him. You may have guessed already where this is going: his monitor did HDMI audio passthrough and had a 3.5mm audio out on the back, but didn't have speakers itself, so it shows up as the Windows output device and even has volume controls on the monitor for running that3.5mm jack, but can't do anything itself

Arokthis@reddit

Batteries is one of several reasons I don't like wireless.

OneFlyMan@reddit

Man, i saw the title and got airz flashbacks

nolaz@reddit

Me too. Except I couldn’t remember his name.

emax4@reddit

I'd be tempted to ask if he ever had a TV remote control.

TinyNiceWolf@reddit

"What do you mean, "a" remote control? I've got dozens! They all stop working after a couple of months."

djdaedalus42@reddit

It’s the bozocalypse. The collision of smart machines and dumb humans.

abqcheeks@reddit

To be fair to that user he probably used wired keyboards for 20 years before he got a wireless one that needs batteries. It’s a step forward in one way but a step backwards in another way.

RamblingReflections@reddit

I had someone call me asking for a new monitor. There was “something wrong” with theirs as it had a black strip down the side and it meant they couldn’t close it minimise their windows, and couldn’t see the clock in the task bar etc. My initial thought was a resolution error, but it sounded a bit weird to be that - it would have still shown the whole screen, just at a different ratio. Maybe she had a cracked monitor. I decided to go for a walk to check.

I sat down at her station, which had trinkets and keys and goodness knows what else all over it, monitor included, and said, “right, let’s just move this lanyard off your monitor so I can get a good look at what’s going on”. I heard her gasp. A horrified gasp. Followed by an equally horrified “oh my god!” I look between her, the lanyard, and the perfectly working monitor.

Yeah, her black lanyard was hung on the corner of her black monitor, that had a black desktop background. She couldn’t see an inch strip’s width all the way down the right side of her monitor because the lanyard was blocking it.

She apologised profusely, and I simply told her I love these kinds of jobs. They are easy to fix, and make me look competent. It’s a win for me! And I promised not to tell anyone if she snuck me an extra slice of cake next time she brought some in. The deal was a good one.