ACER laptop does NOT start-up :(

I was wondering if someone could help me to diagnose the problem with my laptop. Acer TravelMate 4000 LCi, (P-M 1.4Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, DVD-CDRW). Purchased brand new back in Dec. 2004 from Amazon. Started using since summer 2004. It had 1 year warranty which is of course expired.


I damn the day I bought Acer listening to advices of my Indian and Chinese friends from university. I personally own Toshiba Satellite M35-S359, which has been working great since Jan. 2004. I purchased Acer as a second laptop for other home users.


This Acer laptop was basically a desktop replacement. I never had a problem with it before. However, in the morning of the day before yesterday I've discovered that Acer wouldn't start-up.

The power indicator blinks from yellow to green and screen doesn't power up at all.
However, when I unplugged it and reinserted battery it booted up fine and I used it for the entire day.

The next morning it wouldn't start-up at all.
Again, the power indicator blinks from yellow to green and screen doesn't power up at all.
Several attempts to reinsert or remove battery
plug or unplug AC adapter didn't help.

I removed HDD and put it back but it didn't help. I must buy 2.5" enclosure to make sure that problem is not caused by HDD, which I doubt.

When I plug laptop in or insert its battery, the laptop lights up on its own. I mean it's power button lights up but again nothing happens. Just power indicator blinks from yellow to green, and that's it.

I thought of the following causes.

1. Power connection problem (Jack went down, laptop's AC input etc.). Because it was acting weird. When I plug it in it powers up on its own, without pushing power button. But still it won't boot at all. LCD is dark with no signs of life.

The same happens if I insert battery. Even if I shut it down via power button, sometimes it's power status light remains green. Then I've to push power button again to shut it completely down.

2. LCD is down. Because I found a crack on each hinge. I was "surprised". This laptop was never used away from home. It was basically desktop replacement which was very well taken care of. Crappy plastic! I hate Acer.

3. HDD is down. I can test it later if I buy 2.5" external enclosure for this purpose.

4. Motherboard is down, which is more than likely. Maybe overheating issue?
I'm afraid this maybe a cause which fried motherboard.

I've to admit that although it is Pentium M Centrino, its fan was always running on, which made me think of overheating issue and I was even thinking of buying a cooling pad a few weeks earlier. Who knows, perhaps it would have prevented current dead-stalemate situation.

Note, laptop was perhaps on 20 hours a day!
And even when it was shut down in the nights, it was never unplugged and the battery was always there too. In other words, it was charging the battery 24 hours a day.

I'll appreciate any valuable advice and remedy!

Thanks.

I would connect another monitor to it. That way you can confirm or deny if the broken hinge disrupted the connection. If it still doesn't boot, then you know that it's a power problem.

Thanks for your reply. It wouldn't power up even with external CRT monitor. It doesn't boot, the screen is black, only fan is running. I'm afraid that it would be motherboard. I was wondering how to test this statement. I think the only way would be to replace motherboard. Any idea how much would it cost? And is it tricky to replace laptop's motherboard on my own? Thanks.

Before you say it's the mother board, there are other possibilities. You say only the fan is running. If you are sure of that, then why isn't the power supply sending juice to the HD? Since I haven't done any hardware work on laptops, does the HD get it's power directly from the power supply like a desktop does? If it does, then it might not be the mother board. It could be the power supply.

i agree with don2007 i would try everything there is before i would even consider buying anything.

to me it seems like it's a psu problem but you did say the fan was running so it is working, so just try what don2007 said and tell us what happens ;]

I don't know where to obtain spare power adapter to test your statement. Besides, the same non-boot up result appears if I try the battery only. So, I doubt that it's a power supply. Perhaps power jack or something out of power resistors of the motherboard have fallen down?

I've ordered 2.5" HDD enclosure a few days ago. As soon as it arrives I can test HDD.
But I believe in laptops, HDD gets power through motherboard. I maybe wrong as I'm not an expert in laptops either.

If it was power supply problem only, the laptop would boot up off the battery. But both, power supply or battery makes lights blinks and that's it. I don't know where to obtain a spare power supply, but I doubt that it is a cause. Perhaps power jack problem, but again then laptop should have booted up off the battery.

AH! I have the exact same problem on my newer Acer Aspire. It doesn't boot with the battery or just plugged in. The hard drive works perfectly in my desktop computer and I tried it with different RAM. I'm guessing it's the motherboard. The fans come on but no bios or anything, tried plugging in monitor but..it doesn't say no signal, just black. Thanks?

Hi All,

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread because my rather new Acer Aspire 1690 notebook has just succumbed to *exactly* the same fate as alex's and Intro's.

The Acer website lists a sequence to test for PS issues, and that sequence indicated negative in my case.

Reseating ram, HD, wireless card had no effect.

Additionally, my notebook will not boot from bootable CD, nor will it display anything on an external monitor, nor can I access the bios.

At this point, I've come to the end of the list of measures I can think of to get the computer to boot. As a next step, I'll try to salvage the data from the HD before getting a more professional opinion on the computer's reparability / tossability. Unless, that is, anyone can suggest other diagnostics here.

I too am beginning to suspect a big problem such as a dead motherboard. Ack!

Andrew

I fully agree that it can't be RAM, I reinserted both RAM memory sticks and it didn't help of course.

Today I've received 2.5" HDD external USB enclosure and my HDD works just fine as
external hard drive connected to Dell desktop.

So, the problem is not in HDD either.
And by the way, it took me an hour or so to unscrew HDD from it's metal caddy. Those 4 screws on sides of the caddy were extremely tight and made of super hard metal!
My screwdriver tip got a bit damaged.
I could unscrew them only after 5th or 6 attempts putting a towel on the handle of a screwdriver. I HATE ACER even more now.
Why the hell on Earth would somebody put HDD screws so tight that they are almost impossible to open?! Freaking Acer idiots!


Back to the problem, it's definitely one of the motherboards sections. There is no way to test it without help of professional hardware master.

I think that replacement of motherboard will cost over $200.

It may also be one of the power resistors or whatever chips of the motherboard which may need to be replaced.

But even if failed chip cost less than $20,
I'm sure that hardware master will insist on replacement of motherboard and charge you over $200. Or he can still replace malfunctioned chip and charge you for the whole motherboard. Unless you know someone trusted who is honest person.

I'll see if any of our few local laptop repair centers will be able to diagnose the problem and give me estimate of how much would it cost to repair it, not asking me extra money just for diagnosing and giving estimate.

Thanks.

Gezzzz ! I got the same problem on my notebook Acer Aspire 3003 WLMi, does not boot up.
The power light comes up, the fan start to spin and that's about it. :/
And also turn on by itself when i plug the power like alex mentioned.

It happend out of the blue. anyone got at clue or is really the MB?

Wow, now this is geting weird, I have the exact same problem with my Acer Travelmate 2303, my computer tech opened it and is 90% sure that its the motherboard, everything is in its place, and power supply is good, but its weird that it automatically runs the fan and lights when plugin in to the wall. Please post some updates the first one that gets to solve this mystery, it will help so many of us!

Thanks
Emanuel

I have exactly the same start up problem on and acer Aspire 5022 (Bought Feb 2006). I had the problem checked into. At first they thought it was overheating fan problem as it is intermittent and then was diagnosed as motherboard problem.
It will turn on on occasion but there is nothing that seems to indicate when it will or won't. So is useless. And very frustrating...
Would definitely be interested if there is any solvable reason before I buy a new laptop! Thanks

Same problem.
However, my laptop starts sporadically after trying to power on 15-20 times.
Once it powers on properly and shows the splash screen, everything works fine, no problems whatsoever.

So, i am gueesing it is something to with the component on the motherboard that handles booting?

hi all...

looks like we all got the same kinda problem i hope someone can help me with mine....i have an acer aspire 1690..and for some silly reason it has just decided to become a pain in ones bottom...it boots up as normal but i got a complete black screen not even a flicker of light there but it is booting up as normal...now with mine booting up i think this will rule out it being a motherboard problem...someone said to me it could be a software problem..the worst thing is i even tried to plug it into an external monitor which is also an acer but to no avail that didnt work either and yes i did click the button to go external monitor..

well thats my whinging finished i just hope there is someone out there that can help us all...

thanks