Netbook Keyboard FUBAR'd And I Don't Know Why

[Zaune]

So, a little while back my laptop's keyboard got a fair amount of water dumped on it. I dried it out with an airtight box with some rice in it, but the keyboard never really got better and would sometimes suddenly hold down the Q or S keys all by itself. I eventually disconnected it altogether and that solved the problem.

Aha, I thought to myself, I need a new keyboard. So I ordered a replacement from eBay, installed it... and it started randomly holding down the Space bar all by itself, which is even bloody worse. Arrrrrgh. It doesn't even make sense! I can't have knackered the motherboard, it wouldn't boot at all if I'd done that.

Any ideas?

[Borgholio]

Any dirt, crap, or water residue on the ribbon cable at either end?

[TronPaul]

You could also try removing the space key from the keyboard and cleaning the contact and reseating the key.

[Zaune]

Any dirt, crap, or water residue on the ribbon cable at either end?

It could be that, though how I'd go about cleaning it I'm not sure; maybe we've got a paintbrush the right size somewhere...

[Zaune]

Well, scrubbing out the little slot where the end of the ribbon cable goes didn't help. Am I going to have to take the whole thing apart?