Acer Aspite With Black Screen And Troubleshooting.....

[lostinisaan]

Dear experts and expats,

Had been as usual to good and p[promised my co teacher to take a look at her ACER notebook yesterday. HD and fan running, but nothing to see on the screen. Then all in a sudden, after taking HD and memory out, cleaning them, the machine all in a sudden booted without a problem.

I thought that it was only dust, causing that. So I found out that it still runs XP on only 800 MB DDR memory.

I then spent many hours to put on various programs, deleted unnecessary programs, a good Anti virus system, etc...

I gave her the advice to upgrade the memory to at least 2 GB and to put W 7 on it. ( 32 bit)

She doesn't have a car ,so it wasn't a big deal to take the thing with me to search for the right hardware. I switched it on this morning and the same problem occurred. A black screen, HD and fans working.

Tried some troubleshooting, but couldn't identify the problem,as I haven't got another DDR card to see if it's a memory problem.

My plan is to check now if I can get another DDR ram card and see if that works. If that's not successful, what could it be?

I did put HD sentinel on yesterday and it showed a 100% health status, nothing wrong with it. The only thing I've sen yesterday was that the machine is getting way too hot.

I already tried to attach an external monitor, but with no success.

Any positive input would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance....

[thedemon]

Have you tried a hard reset by holding the power button down for 30 seconds or so?

[Jiu-Jitsu]

What is the complete model number?

[thedemon]

A possible suspect causing the symptoms you describe is "intel rapid storage technology".

A hard reset will temporarily resolve that.

If it is present you can either uninstall it completely or uninstall then reinstall the latest version from Intel as it might be required for sleep to work properly.

[lostinisaan]

A short update. When my colleague gave me her notebook and i took the memory card out, cleaned it and it worked well the whole day long. Did many restarts and it always booted up.

Next day, the same problem. Tried another memory and it booted. Next time it didn't. So I went to a shop, as I wanted to upgrade the memory and wanted a W 7 on it.

Just came back from an "Advance" shop and they told me some fishy stuff. The main board would be broken, but they'd have a second hand one for about 2.5 K.

When I tried to explain that 2.5, plus 1 K for a 2 GB memory card would be too expensive for my colleague, plus the program, he switched over to oh it could be done for 2 K.

When I said, well but then the memory card and the program (usually 350 baht) all in all would be quite a lot of money, he said the program would be free of charge.

Now here we go again. I d not know anybody in Sisaket area who can fix a main board. It worked all day long, so I don't think it's a serious problem. Sometimes it starts up, sometimes it doesn't.

I do have the feeling that they know exactly what's broken and to get it fixed wouldn't be a lot of money. But they're trying their best, of course.

Which part of a main board could cause such a problem? I know that such a diagnoses is pretty strange through a website.

They showed me many Acers, sitting there at various places with the same problem.

Any ideas where and how to check would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[RichCor]

If you want to see if a particular model has a common issue (dark display) and if there is a possible fix I would suggest you do a google search, supplying the words "Forum", "Dark Display", and the exact make and model of the laptop.

Forum display-issue Acer Aspire yy-xxxx <- replace yy-xxx with the exact model number

See if there are any forums where users are talking about this model, with this exact issue, and if anyone has found a solution.

There are many elements that make up a laptop display. Neon lamps, LCD matrix, driver chips, dedicated and shared memory, GPUs, etc, etc.

If the display is just dead, dead, no light, no LCD activation, no nadda -- then it's probably a transient motherboard or memory issue.

If it were me, I would be also be looking at what a used, good condition laptop would cost.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

A short update. ....

Still waiting for an answer.

[thedemon]

Obviously you believe it to be a hardware issue and I understand why you would assume that. But there is a good chance that it isn't hardware related.

SInce you want to install Win 7 on it anyway, why don't you just go ahead and do that. The problem may well go away.

But before you do that check the Acer website for BIOS updates. There likely are some and they may address issues such as the way it goes into (and out of) hibernation mode.

[Chicog]

"The only thing I've sen <sic> yesterday was that the machine is getting way too hot."

That and an intermittent hardware problem.

Does the blackout only occur when it's hot?

If so, you might went to get it completely opened and cleaned.

A layer of dust on the graphics or other chips can cause overheat which I've certainly seen cause problems like that in the past.

And it's an easy first attempt at a fix.

If it still overheats, get one of those cheapo USB cooling pads and see what it does.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Chicog

[Pib]

Where you said it reoccured in the morning, if you meant when immediately turning it on after being turned off all night then it's not an overheating problem. But if you meant it reocurrred the next morning after being turned on for a while it could be heating problem.

And just because you hear the fan running doesn't mean proper cooling is occuring as the fan's "outlet fins/duct" could be clogged up with dust/junk/etc. If the outlet fins are clogged then that is greatly degrading the CPU heatsink and possibly the GPU heatsink and maybe chipset heatsink, from cooling those devices properly...they will overheat and shut themselves down if they don't burn up first. How many devices are cooled by the fan varies from laptop to laptop.

The fan outlet cooling fins work just like a car radiator...heat is transferred to the cooling fins via metal connections/heatsinks from above mentioned devices (call them the motor) and air rushing through the fins blown by the fan exhausts heat...cools down the fins which in turn cool down the CPU/GPU/etc.

A few months ago I took apart and cleaned the cooling fins on a 8 year Tosihiba who's whole life of operation has been in an air conditioned, no smoking home. The dust/junk/etc., you see in attached picture blocking the inside of the fins is not a filter; it just dust/junk build up over the years. Basically there was no airflow "through" the fins, only around them. The laptop now runs a lot cooler and quieter.

Also included a few more pictures which shows the CPU heatsink plate running to the cooling fins...and the fins after cleaning. Now what is not shown is the GPU cooling heatsink that connects/runs to a metal plate on top of the fan vs the cooling fins...the fan air hitting that plate on its way to the cooling fins cools the GPU but if the fan air flow is blocked by its outlet even the GPU cooling is degraded.

[lostinisaan]

A short update. ....

Still waiting for an answer.

I really have to apologize to you. Had the machine at a shop, then had to wait four days and all I heard was that the "technicians" weren't there.That's why I couldn't come up with more details. They then found out that a chip would have to be replaced.

Then I brought it to another shop, where a good friend is working. Took only half a day and it turned out that a chip is broken. I was asking which one, but couldn't get the right answer.

To get it replaced will be around 2 K, a DDR 2 2 GB memory another 1 K, plus the program will do it.

At least I know for sure that it's a chip, as two shops came to the same conclusion.

The fact that it isn't my notebook makes it even more complicated, as it belongs to my Thai colleague from school.

She just gave me her okay and I think around 3 K is still better than buying a new one. The notebook was seldom used and I think it also has a cooling problem, because it got so hot when I got it running and thought only a higher memory and W 7 would make it to a ok machine.

Will try to find out which chip died. Thanks a lot for all the good tips.

Edited October 16, 2014 by lostinisaan

[Jiu-Jitsu]

A short update. ....

Still waiting for an answer.

I really have to apologize to you. Had the machine at a shop, then had to wait four days and all I heard was that the "technicians" weren't there.That's why I couldn't come up with more details. They then found out that a chip would have to be replaced.

Then I brought it to another shop, where a good friend is working. Took only half a day and it turned out that a chip is broken. I was asking which one, but couldn't get the right answer.

To get it replaced will be around 2 K, a DDR 2 2 GB memory another 1 K, plus the program will do it.

At least I know for sure that it's a chip, as two shops came to the same conclusion.

The fact that it isn't my notebook makes it even more complicated, as it belongs to my Thai colleague from school.

She just gave me her okay and I think around 3 K is still better than buying a new one. The notebook was seldom used and I think it also has a cooling problem, because it got so hot when I got it running and thought only a higher memory and W 7 would make it to a ok machine.

Will try to find out which chip died. Thanks a lot for all the good tips.

Possibly the Power Management chip that costs 25 baht. They may replace just it with capacitors. The extra cost is probably labour charges.

You probably won't be able to stop them installing hacked software. If it was for you, I would show you how to do the job properly yourself. But if it is a Thai friend, she might prefer hacked Thai software.

[tifino]

I still have my Aspire, and occasionally fire it up just to keep the components i.e. battery alive.

Ithas the same problems, which co-incidentally began when the last XP3 SP3 update, and IE8 upgrade happened all ar the same time.

First symptom was that black screen, which took sometimes a dozen hard restarst before a display would come up.

Soon after, which fortunately you have not yet experienced, was the touchpad/keyboard (including the Power button, all failed to respond.

hard Restarts after that for only possible by removing mains power, and removing battery.

Temp fix was to install a usb keyboard, and forget about the touchpad.

Miraculaously, the screen and key/touchpad problems disappearred, and this was sometime after I cleaned out the cooling. Idid this by force high pressure air blast back into the exhaust.

Another fault that came up during this, and still hapens to this day, is the incessant harddrive continually running. I get a marginal respite from disably drive cache action.

IE no longer works, but Opera is the only browser able to operate, and I have tried them all...

Through all this I have always resisted dismantling the Aspire

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I still have my Aspire, and occasionally fire it up just to keep the components i.e. battery alive.

Ithas the same problems, which co-incidentally began when the last XP3 SP3 update, and IE8 upgrade happened all ar the same time.

First symptom was that black screen, which took sometimes a dozen hard restarst before a display would come up.

Soon after, which fortunately you have not yet experienced, was the touchpad/keyboard (including the Power button, all failed to respond.

hard Restarts after that for only possible by removing mains power, and removing battery.

Temp fix was to install a usb keyboard, and forget about the touchpad.

Miraculaously, the screen and key/touchpad problems disappearred, and this was sometime after I cleaned out the cooling. Idid this by force high pressure air blast back into the exhaust.

Another fault that came up during this, and still hapens to this day, is the incessant harddrive continually running. I get a marginal respite from disably drive cache action.

IE no longer works, but Opera is the only browser able to operate, and I have tried them all...

Through all this I have always resisted dismantling the Aspire

Model number? Where purchased?

[tifino]

this was(is) an Aspire 5672 WLMi

another feature that went bellyup is the 'Acer Empowering Technology', so can not effect changes to power saving/Screen properties/Bluetooth.

Acer Arcade is a nogo too

at least the WiFi works - even if I can no longer actually turn that OFF

laptop was bought in OZ, right at the end of winXP availability. Only reason I got this model(withXP) was that I already had been warned off going Vista.

If I could just stop the wild hardrive permanently spinning, this machine might start running again quicker than a Commodore64

Installing 'processexplorer' did eventually solve some seizures, but not all...

[Pib]

Could very well be the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) chip "if" it has a separate GPU versus just using the GPU built into many CPU nowdays. A defective GPU will cause a black screen and they can be intermittent in causing the problem...and they frequently go bad usually due to overheating/dirty fan system. I had a 7 year old laptop last year which failed this way....the separate GPU is one of those which is soldered on the board with hundreds of "solder ball" connections...must replaced with a special heating machine which some Thai repair shops do have....others use a not so good method of a heat gun. Anyway, my GPU was replaced using a proper machine...it cost me B1,500 for parts and labor. Then within a few days of getting the laptop back I had to disassemble it myself to fix some ribbon cable problems caused by the repair shop...got that fixed and the machine has been working fine since. And they did indeed replace the GPU as before it was a ATI X1300 chip and they replaced it with a ATI X1400 chip as I looked at the chip during my repair. Heck, when I took it apart to fix the ribbon cables issues I also replaced the plug-in 1.6GHz Pentium dual core CPU with a 2.2 GHz Pentium dual core CPU which I bought off Ebay for $10...made a nice little performance improvement.

[tifino]

seems the Aspire is troublesome model after all?

I like the idea of upping the processor though.

my model has 1Gb memory

[Jiu-Jitsu]

seems the Aspire is troublesome model after all?

I like the idea of upping the processor though.

my model has 1Gb memory

Still running an ACER Aspire bought in Thailand seven years ago.

Anyway, let's get to yours. Time for a clean install. I upgraded mine by installing Windows 7 and taking RAM to 2GB.

Here is how: Firstly, you need to upgrade the BIOS. Upgrading is risky, but it's an old machine, so not much to lose.

If you are ok with this; here is the latest firmware

Download and save it to the Desktop and then un-zip to the folder within. Instructions are contained within the folder under 'WinPhlash update SOP XP', with one important difference; When you run SWinFlash you should run it as Administrator. The way to do this is thus: To start a program as an administrator in XP

Will look like this:

Usually, I would also remove the tick from Protect my computer and data from unauthorised program activity, thus:

before going back to The following user in order to log in as Administrator.

The reason for doing this is to ensure that nothing interferes with the BIOS update.

Then continue to follow the instruction in 'WinPhlash update SOP XP'

It might look complicated, but in fact the whole action would take less than a minute or two. I'm just covering it in detail.

Once this is done, we'll check that all is expected and then install Windows 7. I'll explain how once you completed this stage.

This update is just for the Aspire 5672 series.

[tifino]

that's pretty cool thanks jj.

I've always suspected things had been slowing down due to the laptop drive being in FAT32, so a clean install has been long-time foremost in thought, just to get the machine over to NTFS.

The only hiccup is that my OS was preloaded at the shop. There's a virtual D:drive setup for restoring to initial, which would take things back to SP2 and IE6, if I recall correctly?

The hiccup on top of the hiccup is that if I wanted to go NTFS, I'd also lose my Restore OS on the virt D drive - Catch 22

I'm sure this BIOS process anyway will take more than a minute, as the laptop is back to taking at least half an hour on power up, just to begin doing anything at all

[Jiu-Jitsu]

that's pretty cool thanks jj.

I've always suspected things had been slowing down due to the laptop drive being in FAT32, so a clean install has been long-time foremost in thought, just to get the machine over to NTFS.

The only hiccup is that my OS was preloaded at the shop. There's a virtual D:drive setup for restoring to initial, which would take things back to SP2 and IE6, if I recall correctly?

The hiccup on top of the hiccup is that if I wanted to go NTFS, I'd also lose my Restore OS on the virt D drive - Catch 22

I'm sure this BIOS process anyway will take more than a minute, as the laptop is back to taking at least half an hour on power up, just to begin doing anything at all

What are you talking? What has the restore partition to do with anything? XP is dead and gone, so why are you bothered about an XP SP2 partition?

You are going to back up your important data and eventually to wipe the whole drive clean.

There is no Catch 22.

Try to just follow the guide and not make up limiting scenarios.

Though half an hour is ridiculous. Clean the machine up before you get started.

Clean up using these tools (and choose to remove all that they suggest); Malwarebyte's AntiMalware, AdwCleaner, Junkware Removal Tool.

You can download the applications to a USB drive and move them over to the slow machine for installation/execution.

Then reset your Browsers:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/internet-explorer/reset-ie-settings#ie=ie-11

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en-GB

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems

Then install CCleaner then choose to Run Cleaner. Once complete. Go to the Tools section of the CCleaner interface. Tools > Startup. Then click on the first entry on the list and then press and hold CTRL and whilst holding it down press the A key. All the entries should now be selected. Now click on the Disable button to the right. It should change all of the Yes entries to No. Now re-boot.

Hopefully things will have improve enough for you to run the BIOS update. It's more clever than you imagine.

If you don't mess around we can get the upgrade done in an evening.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Jiu-Jitsu

[RichCor]

I'm sure this BIOS process anyway will take more than a minute, as the laptop is back to taking at least half an hour on power up, just to begin doing anything at all

Excessively long boot times are usually an indicator of a failing hard drive, or a machine so crammed with malware that all the processes are fighting for processor attention.