The rubber buttons of the 9XR leave a lot to be desired. At best they feel rubbery (obviously) and inexact. At worst, they have contact problems and need to be pushed very hard to work.
This video shows how to upgrade the rubber buttons to tactile click type buttons. After the upgrade the usability of the radio is greatly improved.
The small buttons I used for the upgrade are called tactile micro switches and are sold as 4 x 4 x 1.5 mm. The dimensions are however measured from the top. The lower part is 5x5mm, so sometimes the buttons are sold as 5 x 5 x 1,5 mm switches. Quite confusing.
You might get away with using slightly higher 2 mm switches, although I have not tested this. I think that you will have problem using wider ones since the 5 mm kind went in with a shoe horn.
Some users have reported that they experience random reboots after installing the buttons. Others have reported reboots when pressing buttons even without the upgrade. The reason seems to be problems with involuntary, very fast double clicks. Installation of buttons make double clicks more likely, and some individual buttons are more likely than other to produce double clicks.
The solution to the problem is quite simple; install a resistor between each button and the processor. That is, cut each track and solder a resistor so the current flows through it, thereby increasing the resistance in the circuit. You can probably use any small value resistor, but most people have used 1K resistors. The placement of the resistors does not matter. You can place them right next to the buttons or on the opposite side of the PCB.
The user mhotar on the openRcfurums has published a picture of an extremely nice installation. He used surface mount resistors. You can naturally use hole mounted resistors. Here is a picture of the installed resistors (marked by a box) :
And here is the viddo:
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