Chromebook 14 screen blanking randomly

I have owned an Acer Chromebook 14 for a few weeks now, but since about a week it does the following:

1. I am typing text and suddenly the screen blanks out

2. Audio/video keeps paying in the background normally, and also keyboard entry is captured normally, but does not turn on the screen

3. Sliding over the trackpad sometimes turns the screen back on, but sometimes I also need to close the lid and open it to turn the screen back on

4. While the screen is blank I can see that the backlight remains on

Since using the trackpad to move the mouse pointer turns on the screen again, I don't think that this is a hw error? Also this seems to have started to occur with the update to Chrome OS 54.0.2840.79 (Official Build) (64-bit). Prior to this release my Chromebook did not do this.

Are others seeing the same behaviour, or is this still some kind of HW problem and should I return my Chromebook under warranty?

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Tompuhh

Hi Wonderhelm,

Thank you for this post. I was searching for users with the same issue.

I am also having randomly blanking screen issue on my new Chromebook 14. It happens when I am typing. The screen suddenly gets black and everything else is working normaly, like sound what you described. Sometimes the black screen will disappear in a few seconds, but sometimes I need to reboot. I am on the same OS as you.

I hope this issue will be a software issue, so it could be fixed soon. I am loving my Chromebook 14, it is so easy to travel.

Let's wait for an answer from Acer, before returning

Wonderhelm are you Dutch? Helm is a Dutch word and I have searched for Wonderhelm on the web and saw a Dutch person on Twitter. Ik heb hetzelfde probleem. Ik hoop dat het een software probleem is zodat het makkelijk op te lossen is. Als dit probleem zich voor blijft doen, dan is het een ondeugelijk product. Heb jij al contact gehad met het bedrijf waar je hem hebt gekocht? Ik heb net contact gehad met Coolblue (laptopshop) en zij geven aan dat zij al meerdere meldingen hebben ontvangen en dat ze nog wachten op een reactie van Acer. De klantenservice wil graag mijn chromebook laten onderzoeken, maar ik heb aangegeven dat ik eerst wil wachten op Acer en op mogelijke updates voordat ik mijn chromebook laat opsturen, want dan beschik ik 2 a 7 weken niet over mijn chromebook. Ik heb nog zo voor een duurdere chromebook gekozen, omdat goedkopere chromebooks meestal mankementen bevatten.

wonderhelm

Hi,

Ik ben inderdaad Nederlander. Ik heb de mijne bij de MediaMarkt gekocht, en ben nu niet in Nederland, dus kan nu niet daar langs gaan. Ik geef mijn Chromebook liever ook niet af daar, want dan zit ik zonder.... Hopelijk horen we gauw iets van Acer.

Vreemd genoeg lijkt het probleem niet op te treden als ik een externe muis gebruik. Klinkt dat bekend bij jou? Misschien toch handiger om in het Engels te communiceren zodat de rest er ook wat aan heeft?

gts877

HI, I'm having the same issue that you describe. Sometimes I hve to poweroff and restart for the issue to clear. I hope there is a fix for this as I dont want to have to replace my chromebook.

wonderhelm

Short update:

My Chromebook 14 got updated to the following release last week:

Version 54.0.2840.93 (64-bit)

Platform 8743.83.0 (Official Build) stable-channel edgar

Firmware Google_Edgar.7287.167.3

And so far I have no longer seen this problem occur, so it may have been fixed. How about others?

Still I will keep monitoring it for a while until passing final judgement.

tipoo

Sorry for the necro, but despite the above post I'm still getting this on Chrome 59, months later

Is Acer aware of this? I keep filing bug reports to Google through ChromeOS itself whenever it happens.

It went a fair while without the bug after one of the updates, but when it came back it did two in short succession and particularly long freezes.

I hope it's not a hardware fault and Acer were just tiding us along with hope of an update...

Plainperson

i have the same problem on my Chrome Os once i torn it one it shows a blank gray screen and i try turning it off and on but dose not works. I'd never broken it or droped it i just need help quickly

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