Another difference is my keyboard was only held in place by the one bottom screw. The screws shown in step 5 did not exist. This is probably due to the speaker cover being different in design (has an additional volume button & indicator lights).

Thanks so much for all your instructions. This was my first attempt fixing a laptop (Coke is not the best drink for laptops .

It appears that the left mouse button when pressed engages another button underneath that is broken.

This is correct. There are small switches underneath plastic mouse buttons. When you press on the left or right button, you actually engage switches underneath.

It is part of the motherboard and I am told I would have to replace the motherboard to fix it.

These buttons-switches are soldered directly to the motherboard. If one of the switches fails, you’ll have to replace it with a new one or replace the entire motherboard.

It’s possible that there is nothing wrong with the left but the plastic button-cover is broken. It’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and take a look at the left button from the bottom side.

I have a m6846 and my keyboard keys are ok, it’s the left key on my touch pad that has stopped working. Pressing on it does nothing other than make a clicking sound. Do you know of a reference for how to troubleshoot and correct that problem?

I cannot tell what’s going on without disassembling the laptop. It’s necessary to remove the top cover and take a look at the button and left key.

my keyboard keys are not working properly. They don’t correspond to the key that I press.

Do you have this problem with some particular keys or all of them do not work properly?

This is not mentioned here:
http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Mobile/8512949.pdf
and I about snapped the thing off before I thought to flip it over and look to see “what the heck is holding this thing on?”

Also, instead of screws, there are only pegs holding the keyboard in place underneath the cover…

i know this is about the keyboard, but my screen broke, i replaced it. the backlight no longer works. so i have it connected to my tv. what buttons do i press to change it from lcd display to the tv display? something like fn + f5?

I think it’s Fn+F5 for Acer laptops. Press on the Fn key and at the same time press on the F5 key. You might need to press on the F5 a few times until it switches from the laptop to TV.
Also, make sure the TV is set correctly and ready for the signal from your laptop.

By the way, I have another post for Gateway M-series for replacing the LCD screen. Check it out: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/replace-broken-lcd-screen-gateway-m-series-laptop/