[danielgent]

Acer Aspire 5601AWLMi


Hi there,

Just wanted to check with you guys a problem thats been driving me crazy. Got a Acer Aspire 5601AWLMi to fix and the guy thought it was crashing on the login screen. Turns out its the keyboard and mouse not working. Its a tempermental problem so most of the time this is how it behaves:
- can access BIOS with F2
- when get to windows login screen mouse and keyboard don't work (but USB mouse does)
- ran ubuntu live CD and mouse and keyboard worked
- take the battery out the laptop and the mouse and keyboard work in windows

been doing some research. Some posts say its a failing battery that causes it, others say its a faulty southbridge. Tried reinstalling and uninstalling drivers but device manager kept crashing (not sure if its unrelated). I think I have a few possible courses of action
- tell them to use it without the battery and see if they get problems
- reinstall windows (something I think I will have to do)
- get hold of a spare battery from a similar laptop

Just wondering what everyone on these forums thought and if its a windows fault (would explain why it only happens on windows) or a hardware fault (would explain why it only happens with the battery out).

I'm quite stuck here so hope you can all help,
Thanks,
Dan Gent

 

[danielgent]

To update this thread with what I've done:
with battery out: Uninstalled and reinstalled Mouse and Keyboard drivers (required restart). On the reboot I put the battery back in and still same problem.
Reinstalled XP: When it got to the first setup screen where the mouse and keyboard are needed (asking to setup language details), the mouse and keyboard did not work. Had to power off and reboot without the battery in (also, at this point I had to remove the battery to turn it off, holding the power button down did nothing!).

Does this look like a hardware fault to you guys? Really stuck here, short of just giving it back to the guy saying "don't use the battery", not sure what else I can do!

Thanks,
Dan Gent

 

[shdwsnlite]

ok.. i've had the same issue... everything running slower and slower then the keyboard barely working. then not at all... battery has not been able to hold much of a charge for some time now. run just on wall. did the same and tried a repair/reinstall of XP. would load to user then after that would freeze. tried your solution of pulling the battery and it breezes through now. why a worn out battery would compromise the keyboard i don't know.