[TiiWii]

Yesterday when I turned my laptop Acer Extensa 5630 off normally all was okay.
Today when I start it up, the screen is entirely blackand not a single thing happens on the screen, even pressing F12/F8 quickly doesn't change anything. The "lamp icon"(whatever that is) and the battery icon are green when i boot it up and fan starts, but then after 3 seconds everything goes black and fan dies, then a half second later it comes back up with a working fan and the icons again green, but nothing seems to be happening at all.

I've tried to reinsert the RAM but that didn't work.
I also tried to hold down the power button for 60 seconds and then put power plug in again and start, but that didnt work.

Anyone knows how to fix this? Acer's techsupport is worthless! :sigh:

Help me and I promise you cookies and kittens!

 

[drivenjesus]

Does your acer still display its bios startup sequence? (Option to press F12 etc?) It is possible to have a dead harddrive, you might try rebooting from a Windows CD, if you run checkdisk or the computer hangs at the "checking disks" phase of the CD startup then it is likely the harddrive is dead.

 

[TiiWii]

Not even bios, no. Pressing F12 doesnt do anything. Should I still try to reboot from a windows CD?

It could be the motherboard, but I'm not sure..

On monday I can send it in for repairs since I still have my warranty, but if it can be fixed til then I would be tremendously happy!

 

[TiiWii]

Anyone? Might be easier to provide help through MSN, send me a PM and I'll tell you mine.

 

[night_shift]

1.Take your HD drive out and see if it will start.
2.Hold down Fn+Esc and press the start button. If its a bios problem the default saved bios will be loaded.

The bios or set up screen on an Acer is achieved at the Acer logo screen and pressing F2.

 

[TiiWii]

I took my HD out. Didn't change anything, bios still wouldn't start.
Holding down the Fn+Esc and then pressing start didn't change anything either.

Sadly I can't even get to the Acer logo screen though dude.

I think something's seriously messed up with this laptop!

 

[night_shift]

Remove one stick of RAM and try a start. If the fault is still there, then move the stick to the other RAM slot. If the fault is still there repeat for the other RAM stick. See if you might have a bad RAM or RAM slot.

 

[TiiWii]

Well, I only have one stick of RAM. Tried to remove it and then started. Computer did exactly the same thing, didn't even do the "BEEP NO RAM INSERTED" thing.

 

[night_shift]

There are more invasive options but this would invalidate your warranty. Send it back to Acer Dude..............good luck

 

[TiiWii]

Yeah, I will man. Thx anyway. I'll post here later what the problem was.

 

[night_shift]

Cool :grin:

 

[mhuppman]

I am having the exact same problem, same model, same age. This is a mess. I've been told after checking the components I can get to that it's most likely a power supply problem. Can't get to it....

 

[night_shift]

What have you done so far to try and resolve this?

 

[mhuppman]

Nothing yet, it just happened on Wednesday. I'm out of warranty, so I think I'm going to have it diagnosed today.

 

[night_shift]

Try this first:

Check all your media slots have nothing in them, i.e. USB, CD/DVD drive and flash drives etc. Try a start with AC cord only, and no battery, then no AC with battery only, if that didn’t work then let’s move on.

1. Remove the battery and AC cord. Remove the bottom cover/covers of your laptop and make sure the cooling path is free of fluff and dust. Check the heat sink on the CPU is not loose, if so tighten the screws back down that hold it on.
2. Remove and reseat your RAM modules.
3. Replace your covers.
4. Hold down your power button for 1 minute (Battery and AC still disconnected).
5. Replace your AC power (not battery) and turn on.

This is called a hard reset. If it works COOL, then replace your battery.

If not then, remove your HD, and try starting your laptop. If it goes through the POST, and then a black screen appears with the message Operating System Not Found, and remains at this screen, then your HD is faulty. If not, moving on.

Check for faulty RAM. You need to identify what one is faulty. Remove all the RAM. Take one stick at a time, and swap it around the RAM slots to see if the laptop will start. Note you need to shut down your laptop before removing the RAM, do not swap while laptop is on! You have now identified the good RAM. If each stick produces the fault, then you have two sticks of bad RAM. Borrow or buy new RAM.

Let me know how you get on.

 

[TiiWii]

Hey guys, I'm gonna get my computer back from repair this week. Hopefully they will tell me what the problem was. Merry Christmas by the way, life doesnt center around a computer!

 

[night_shift]

Dude your right, have a good Christmas.
:biggrinsa

 

[mhuppman]

Thanks, dude. I took all the steps in order, to no avail. Same reaction, fan for 5 seconds, the power lamp is on and the DVD drive lamp is on (can't open the drive with the button ( I can manually)). Anything else I can try? Thanks for your time : ):wink:

 

[night_shift]

TiiWii/mhuppman

Laptops Black screens, cycling on and off. I've been looking into this for a while. There seems to be no single definitive solution. My conclusion so far comes down to the mobo physically going bad, i.e. dry solder joints and connection problems.

I have cured this fault for myself and other forum members, but all the solutions are not consistent to one specific problem, so you can see how frustrating and time consuming this can get. One member only required a hard reset of his laptop, while one needed a new HD, another required a bios flash, another required solder joints on the mobo resoldered, and I could go on.

The sequence I use :

1. Prove all your hardware works. This requires that all components (RAM,HD,CPU and GPU)to be tested or replaced with borrowed or new.
2. Carry out a blind flash of the bios (usb floppy drive required).
3. Remove and check your mobo for bad solder joints connections etc.
4. Replace bios chip (best left to techs that do this kind of stuff, it will cost you).
5. Last thing would be to do a thermal re-flow of the mobo (heating the whole mobo up to remelt the solder joints) success rate slim, but it does work.

Last resort is to replace the mobo (very expensive for new), unless you can source a bargain or get a proven working second hand board. At this point you got to balance up throwing money at an old laptop or buying a new one.

Laptops by nature run hotter than pc's due to there compactness. The mobo and all components suffer this thermal stress. My advice is regular cleaning of the cooling path. The name laptop is missleading, if you sit it on your lap or use it in bed resting on the covers regularly, this overheats them and reduces their operating life.

Thats the top and bottom of Black screen and Restart cycling problems. I am happy to provide you with any more assistance.

Happy Holidays. :wave: :beerchug: :biggrinsa

 

[TiiWii]

Just a quick review:

I got the computer back, they didn't say anything.
It broke again 2 months later. Got back, they said it was the motherboard. At this point we asked for the money back, but these big booty b*tches demanded that it should break a third time and THEN they would "consider" giving the money back since it has already been what they call "repaired", but yea, it will only break later when the warranty is probably out.

I've never had errors with a company in this way. Just like many others tend to say in these situations;
First and LAST time I'm EVER going to buy a Acer computer. This company is over for me and I hope for many others that read this.
Acer go die!