[aiharkness]

I don't know -- never encountered this myself -- but sure sounds like a hardware issue.

You say it's been a long time with this issue. But how are you with it? Does it get dropped a lot? What about moisture? I doesn't take much to cause issues...sweaty pocket, humid shower room, etc.

Of course try a hard reset--with the power on, remove the battery for at least 30 seconds. I've a feeling it isn't going to help. But try it.

See what others say. You could also try wiping the BlackBerry with JL_CMDER and then reinstall the software, if perhaps it is a software problem. But that's a long shot, I'm guessing. Still maybe worth a try, however.