ACER laptop does NOT start-up :(

I couldn't power on my acer aspire either, tried everything I could think of, thought maybe the motherboard was bad.... I tried everything but the screen lock! It powed up and the fan came on and there were lights but no screen or sounds.... try fn/ scrLK (f12 on my acer) apparently my 4 year old is a techie in training!

Same to happen to mine. I took everything apart disconnected the BIOS battery and threw it away and after that it started

Finally a place where I can tell my story!

I have an Acer Aspire 3620 (AS3624WXMi), it was very well priced for a budget laptop, including a DVD+RW, and I later updated the memory to the max it supported (2GB DDR).

I acquired it on June 2006, in the U.S.A, and bring it to Costa Rica. In November 2007 something strange happened, the computer would boot up, but nothing appeared in the LCD screen, the backlight was on, but no image showing at all. A couple of resets and it was ready again.

Then on March 2008 the same happened again, only that this time the screen will display something only when it wanted... No deterministic way to make it work has occurred to me!

However, connecting an external monitor does still work, but it goes against the idea of a "portable" computer... So what I have now is a very light desktop computer with an integrated battery.

In the last two days I was unable to see the laptop to post, but typing the correct login and password let me to enter the graphical user interface (I'm using ArchLinux, this laptop boots in text mode, the login asks in console and then I manually enter to the GUI; Xorg).

But today that stopped to work too! I just simply put the laptop between the other computers, connected an ethernet cable to it, deactivated the support for the wireless card and make it play as a desktop remotely accessible using SSH.

Because of it's low power footprint, I will use it as an extra home server with an external USB drive and let my life go on without a laptop until the current trend of ultraportables (Eee, MSI Wind, HP 2133 and the others) produces something that appeals to me (I'm waiting for a VIA Nano powered ultraportable, the small companies deserve an opportunity! in black color, 10" to 11" screen, SATA hard drive, decent wireless support in Linux).

So, Acer is now blacklisted, I have the idea that a computer should last at least two and a half years, I think is a good timeframe to see where the technology is going and what one can expect to buy in the next cycle.

But this laptop lasted only about twenty months! What a waste! I know it was very affordable (Even more as a programming tool), but lasting so little makes it much more expensive!

I wouldn't recommend an Acer product to anybody.

Problems here too.. my advice, stay away from them, and if there is a support group for Acer victims, let me know!

freespirit

i have the exact same problem.
mine will randomly start at times, safe or normal boot. its obvious they installed a killswitch. the symptoms are EXACTLY THE SAME! it goes to black and continualy beeps.

I will never buy a ACER again and will recomend everyone does the same. i study mechatronics and a lecturer told me lots of companies do this. icant turn the thing off now because i cant afford another lappie, which is essential to an engineering student. and windows update REALLY wants me to restart.
its an aspire 2010

Hi from Holland.
Bought my Acer Travelmate TM2480 laptop in indonesia in december 2006.
for last few months i've also had the problem that computer won't turn on. started with one a week but now it's everyday! very frustrating.

strange thing is, my computer will usually turn on after a while of fiddling. and it will work fine untill i myself turn it off. usually after that it will turn on again immeadiately. laptop will usually have the symptoms in the morning or when it has been turned off for a while.

when only battery is inside -> no lights/no fan/no sound..won't turn on
battery & ac adapter -> no lights/no fan/no sound..won't turn on
only ac adapter -> no lights/no fan/no sound..won't turn on
as said, after some fiddling it will usually work.

does anyone also have these symptoms also: absolutely no sign of life, that the laptop will turn on in the end (miraculously, as if it were the work of god!) and work fine rest of the day? and next day same story?

very strange and frustrating and i think it's time for a new laptop. buying a new motherboard is expensive and waste of time since it's probably just as crap.

not really hoping to find a solution here, just thought i'd inform you of my symptoms

One more question.

I read about a hardware reset somewhere. By removing battery and ac adapter, and pressing the on/off button for 30 seconds resets something.

what exactly is reset and how does it work....

am not sure if this resetting really works for my laptop, but I always try it a few times.

Thank you Remichi. Worked like a charm. glad I found this forum. Also I had a problem recently where I couldn't boot up after installing SP1 for Vista.(Fan would go on and cursor would blink 3 times and then nothing) Acer and Microsoft were of no help at all. After a lot of trial and error I found that when I removed one of my RAM sticks (I had upgraded to 2X 2 GIG)it would boot up fine. Apparently when the laptop goes into hibernate mode it wouldn't come out of it with the full 4 gig loaded. Shutting down the laptop and then reinstalling the RAM stick it would boot up fine after that. Hope this helps.

I had a 1 year old aspire 5680 and it wouldn't turn on for the last 2 months. I did what you did and removed one of my ram sticks and IT TURNED ON! Thanks for the tip. It said that it couldn't get out of hibernation mode. But... the problem is now is that ever after i shut down the computer and put back the other ram stick, it won't turn on. Any idea what I can do?

Hi Everyone,

I have got same trouble with one acer aspire 1520 laptop : no access to the bios, black screen, fan running, green led on, etc...
One thing more, when clicking on the board I can ear a bip !

I have tried the clearmos stuff with no more luck !

Does anyone knows how to get the manual repair PDF for this acer ?

So at least I can try the Crocky solution without damaging parts !

Thank's
Mike

Hi all i have had an acer aspire one i think its like the a110 well its the new aspire one and my 1st one has the lights and fan sound and wouldnn't start so i got it replaced under warranty and got another brand new one and 10 days into that one it died and i am getting another one i was saying it was good but now i dont think so

http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer ... mentPage=2

this thing fixed my problem

Hello all, had same problem with my acer aspire 1691 bought Aug 2005, ie failing to start up, no bios screen, freezing randomley etc...

However I have managed to get mine working again...

I basically set about disconnecting various bits from the motherboard and seeing if it would start up. And hey presto after removing one of the ram memory cards from the motherboard it started up and has never failed to do so since! Its not a problem with the card itself as i tried it in the other slot and it worked fine. It's the slot itself that there is a problem with. My laptop is currently running with only one ram card in place; ok its a little slower than it should be, but for the most part it suits my needs!

I also reloaded windows xp, not sure if this had any positive effect or not, as i'm not very technically minded

Give it a go, I hope this works for some of you.

Sounds like the problem is where the AC Adapter plugs into the laptop. You see this a lot where they will break and not charge the battery or power the computer. If you are good with a soldiering iron you should be able to fix it your self.

Hello Everyone,

Found that my problem was coming from the nvidia video card Geforce FX Go5700.

Here is the link of the topic (in french...) http://tips.pwaite.fr/

In fact, trust me or not, after having disassembly the card I have heated it on both sides with an hairdryer ( this is less risky than Heatguns or ovens...)!

It seems crazy but today it's working !

Kind Regards
MCGeronimo