Question Strange hardware issue affecting Chinese Mini PCs?
Question Strange hardware issue affecting Chinese Mini PCs?
I have encountered the same unusual issue on three distinct Mini PCs from various manufacturers. The problem involved normal letter keypresses being transformed into control-key codes by each device. For instance, a lowercase "s" would be replaced with "control-S". This substitution happened roughly once every 200 characters typed, though inconsistently. Occasionally it appeared within the same sentence, even repeating consecutively. The effect was universal across all characters. When using Notepad, this became particularly bothersome as numerous control keys would open windows such as open-new-file or search-and-replace. This occurred in any application I used, including Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
The first device came from Kingdel, the second from Minisforum, and the third from Geekom. All three required a return to Amazon after attempting solutions with the respective manufacturers' technical support. I was certain I hadn't accidentally pressed a control key, as I had installed protective shields. PowerToys was absent, eliminating any key remapping options. In the final instance, I created a Windows 10 ISO flash drive to install Windows 10, but the bug persisted. I experimented with various quality keyboards and altered USB ports, yet the issue remained unchanged.
All three systems were equipped with Intel i5 processors, generation 11 or 12. Was this a chipset-related flaw affecting all of them? Could it be linked to proximity of my phone to these compact cases? Why didn’t the Dell model exhibit the same problem?
I don't know much about the Chinese minis anymore, as they've all moved back to Amazon. I'm currently using a 13th generation I5 with all Intel components and the newest Microsoft updates. I'm experiencing the same issue on this Dell Inspiron. The problem only appears after about 12 hours of use, it doesn't show up until then, but it feels cold and the fan isn't running at high speed. It's not happening during gaming or video playback—just when typing in Notepad. I'm wondering if the keyboard is picking up RF signals from my phone about 8 inches away. I might try turning off my phone to see if that helps.
My phone has been turned off and the same issue continues. The control A event that picks the whole text file is still happening, and typing a character now changes the entire file! It looks like the worst part, so I might download Power Toys to map some of these control keys. Since I already get Dell tech support, I could try reporting this bug to them as well.