Acer Aspire 5517 has black screen

Tude
Tude Member Posts: 15 New User
edited March 2023 in 2014 Archives

I have an Acer Aspire 5517 that was turning itself off and few weeks ago, which I wrote to the community about. It stays on now, but the screen is black. I was able to update the BIOS before it went black permanently. It does turn on, but nothing comes  up on the screen..How do I trouble shoot it, when I can't see anything??? Can someone give me something to try please..

 

Tude

Best Answer

  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓

    Acer deemed the material not complying with it's discussion rules and rightly so. I forgot

    about that. If you goggle Acer 5517 Service Manual, a link to it will show up in PDF

    form. I believe it's from Acer in Australia or Austria. It's in English.

     

    I didn't realize you had used the unit for awhile after the BIOS flash. Ah, without

    seeing it and doing some of my own testing, I'm afraid I'm panned out regarding

    suggestions on the repair. Good luck with it.

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    Do you have a monitor or LCD TV to connect to your Aspire?

     

    you can try with the VGA port on the left side (the blue one), a vga cable and external monitor/TV LCD to test if any image will appear.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    Yes, I've tried attaching an external monitor with no results. I've also did what they call a battery drain, by unplugging the  power and taking the battery out, and holding the power button down for 60 secs. I did get a flash of the screen being on when I put the battery back and plugged it in.

    I did remove the memory modules and put them back in. Since I've done that, when I turn it on, the fan stops and starts a few times and then just turns off. Fan and power are off.... I thought maybe I put the memory back wrong so I  did it again, but the fan still turns on and off a few times when I  power it up,  and then it turns itself off. I am wondering now if maybe I have a bad memory module. There are two 1GB modules.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    You can try with a module at time and see if this will help to boot.

     

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    I don't have any on hand, so will have to buy some...I think  I  could buy just one module and replace each one, one at a time..Have any ideas as to where I should purchase it? Acer has a store, but it is pretty expensive...........

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    if you already have 2 modules, just try with one of them, i think it's not worth to buy a ram module if you are not sure this issue depends on ram.

     

    in my opinion is not a ram problem.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    I would rather not buy any memory, if I can avoid it...What do you think the problem is? Video card??

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    can be video card and many other things.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter

    So you're saying even without an external moniror plugged in, you still can't see an

    image on THAT screen ? Will it boot into BIOS with a visible screen ? To be honest, it

    sounds like an internal problem. The MB or an excessive amount of debris built up

    on the cooling raditor where the fan blows out the hot air. Very seldom does the

    chip fail. You could take it apart, and clean really well, reset the heatsink using

    Arctic 5 thermal paste and make sure the sink is contacking both the chip and

    the graphic card chip's face to transfer heat accordingly.The graphics is Radon

    ATI 3200 with the chip being an AMD Athon ii. i''d try the memory one module at

    a time as well and if you have a spare HD that may  help. I have a feeling

    the MB is toast, but you can also reset the VGA cable from the the MB to

    the LCD screen. Hopefuuly it will be an easy fix. Nice thing is MB's

    are pretty cheap when shopping for them.

     

    T

  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    No, I still get a black screen when I attach an external monitor to it. I tried the memory modules one at a time, with no success. No it won't boot at all. I can tell the power is on, and the fan is running off and on. It stops and starts, but it only began doing that after I took out the memory and put it back in... I am not familiar with laptops enough to take it apart, although it might be a good one to learn on...Smiley Happy. The thing that gets me is sometimes I'll get a flash of the Microsoft Screen like it shows when you boot up, but it only shows for a fraction of a second, but it does show...That makes me think the screen is good. I might try a video card, although those don't usually just partially go..They are either gone or not gone...

    You might  be right and it is the MB.

    Thanks for the help, appreciate it!

     

    Tude..

  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter

    It is strange that the only thing you did was pull the ram out and placed

    it back in and now it acts like this. The fan coming on and shutting off is

    not a good sign. If you have a used computer parts place around you, it

    might be a feasible to go buy a used ram module rated at PC2-6400 CL 5

    or 6, voltage at 1.8 volts. I stick of 1 gig would do it. Install it in one of

    the memory slots and see if it boots. I wish we were close, I have a couple

    of used modules like this I taken out of lappy's and use for testing when

    I get an older unit, and would gladly loan one to you, but we are far away.

     

    There MIGHT be a problem with the updated BIOS flash. If you could disconnect

    the CMOS battery or short it according to an Official Acer Service Manual, it

    would revert back to the orig BIOS and then it might ot might not lite off.

     

    I'd try it just to see if the updated BIOS did cause the prob. What version

    did you flash ?

  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    I don't think it is the BIOS because I used the computer for a while after I flashed it. It had ver 1.09 on it and I updated it to ver. 1.11. At that time the screen would go black but after a few minutes you could  re-boot it, and it would work again for awhile. Appreciate the offer for the RAM if we were closer.  I think I can get 1GB of RAM for about 15 dollars, and I might try that. If I could flash  the BIOS, then the BIOS battery is good, right? I wonder if that battery is on the Motherboard? I've never dismantled a laptop, always worked on desktops and I'm afraid if I get this torn down, I  won't be able to get it back the way it belongs.

    Now when I turn it on, the only thing I hear is the fan. Does that have a temp control so that it only runs when there is  a certain temp.? Or does it run all the time?

  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter

    There's a fairly decent youtube vid on disassembling the 5517. Just do a search.

    Yes the CMOS battery in a simple round affair located on the back, possibly in

    one of the corners. It's about the dia of a dime. Are any of the indicator lights

    coming on in the front ? Is the fan staying on all the time now ? Being as old

    as it is, it may be just the thermal paste being dried up and causing a heat

    issue with the main chip and graphic chip.

  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    I will look for the video and watch it if I find it..

    When I turn the machine on the fan runs about 2 or 3 seconds and turns off. When the fan goes off, so does the power indicator light on the front..the battery light stays on. The fan will turn on and off every 2 or 3 seconds about 10 times,  than quits and does not come back on. At that point the power is off and the fan quits until I turn it on again. It only began doing this after I removed the memory sticks and put them back in..It is a strange one...!

  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter

    Well if you feel comfortable in doing so, here is the 5517 service manual that provides

    in depth how the unit works, dis-assembly, trouble shorting, etc, here it is in PDF.

    It has excellent info on trouble shooting as well as how to work on the unit.

    IF the CMOS battery has to be changed out, it will have to be desoldered

    and resoldered back into place. The manual states if the unit is over a yr

    old, it should be replaced. I don't know about that as I have a number

    of Acer laptop's that are still running on orig CMOS batteries after

    years..Anyway >

     

    [edited to comply with guidelines]

     

    If you power on, can you quickly hit F2 to get into BIOS ? Or is it again the case that

    you can't see anything ? Where it mine, I would prep it for a BIOS reset back to

    1.09 by doing what the manual states andthat's pulling the battery, both sticks

    of ram, the hard drive, and using a metal short tool to short out JP1 located

    on the MB under where the bottom memory stick goes, making sure it's still

    shorted, plug the AC power back in. hit the power button ans IF you see

    the Acer screen, then quickly hit F2 to get into BIOS. Most important thing

    is is to follow BIOS recovery in the manual.

     

    I realize you still believe there is something going on with the RAM, but

    just to make sure there is a fair playing field, setting BIOS back to ORIG

    may help find the other probs.

     

  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

     I don't see the link to the 5517 Service Manual. Did I miss it somehow? Sounds like that would help me alot...especially in how to get to the CMOS Battery.

    Wouldn't I have noticed something different after I flashed the BIOS, if there was something wrong with the update? I used the computer for sometime, after I flashed the BIOS with no problem, until the screen went black.

    I took a stick of memory out of an old Dell Inspiron Laptop, and it fit in the Acer Laptop. I tried it in both slots and it did not help my problem, so I guess I'll have to assume it is not the memory modules. I will begin looking else where for the problem.

  • n2gc
    n2gc Member Posts: 104 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓

    Acer deemed the material not complying with it's discussion rules and rightly so. I forgot

    about that. If you goggle Acer 5517 Service Manual, a link to it will show up in PDF

    form. I believe it's from Acer in Australia or Austria. It's in English.

     

    I didn't realize you had used the unit for awhile after the BIOS flash. Ah, without

    seeing it and doing some of my own testing, I'm afraid I'm panned out regarding

    suggestions on the repair. Good luck with it.

  • Tude
    Tude Member Posts: 15 New User

    Okay will do that. Thanks for your time and your suggestions...All Appreciated..

     

    Tude..