Aspire E1-521 BIOS issues

eserlin
eserlin Member Posts: 5 New User

I have a refurb but basically new (but not under warranty) Aspire E1-521 that was working perfectly when I tested it (in fact the OS was still waiting to be set up) and then when I tried to start it up one day to complete the Win 8 setup I got no POST.  I tried several restarts and one of the following happened each time:

1. No LCD at all

2. LCD came on but just a black screen

3. LCD came on, Acer logo flashed for half a second, then received "No Boot Device, Hit Any Key" message.  Hitting a key does nothing.

 

This looks like a BIOS issue to me, so I attempted to follow the instructions for a Crisis disk in the Acer service manual.  I copied the latest BIOS file onto a USB flash drive (formatted FAT 32), and then did the FN-ESC button thing while plugging in my power cord and hitting the power button.  I renamed the file to BIOS.FD per the instructions.  I'm not sure if that was supposed to be xxxxx.FD, it simply said "BIOS.FD".  In any event, it doesnt seem to work.  The screen came on once, appeared to do something and then hang, the other times I tried the screen didnt even come on and while the fan was going hard it didnt seem to do anything.

 

Any assistance here would be appreciated.

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer

    I assume you're still within the warranty period. Click support button at top of page. Select country. Get phone, chat etc support using your machine's serial number. Do it now.

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Sharanji
    Sharanji ACE Posts: 4,327 Pathfinder

    hi....

     

     

    If you have a unit from US or Canada, you may also live chat with an Acer technician at : Acer live chat

    If you have purchased the computer in any other country, you may contact Acer support here : Acer Global Support

  • eserlin
    eserlin Member Posts: 5 New User

    No, it's not under warranty as this was a refurbished device (but still in its original plastic).  The 90 day refurb warranty ran out, so now I'm stuck with doing this myself.  If anyone has any advice, it would be welcome.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer

    OK. Do you hear any POST beep codes on powering up? If not, do you get any indication whatsoever that Windows is booting, despite no video,  like the startup melody, activity LEDs, etc?

     

    Jack E/NJ  

    Jack E/NJ

  • eserlin
    eserlin Member Posts: 5 New User

    It's definitely not getting to where it's loading Windows.  The lights are working, and as I mentioned, the screen does come on sometimes to indicate there's no boot device (or shows nothing), the fan definitely comes on, but it's not getting to the POST and I cant even get a chance to get into the BIOS.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer

    The intermittent display behavior suggests that you might want to remove the battery and try re-seating the video ribbon connections at the base of the screen and the MB. I think you're gonna have to remove the KB and screen bezel in order to do this. Then, before permanently re-assembling everything, carefully reconnect the KB ribbon, re-insert battery and test. If you still get the same display behavior, gently poke at the video ribbon around the congested hinge area to see if it makes a difference. Due to repeated opening and closing of the lid, the video ribbon sometimes develops an intermittent conductor break around the hinge.

     

    Jack E/NJ  

    Jack E/NJ

  • eserlin
    eserlin Member Posts: 5 New User

    Do you believe the problem described, with the screen coming on but only showing the Acer logo for half a second and then going to a "No Boot Device" error message is indicating of a video cable problem?  I've reseated virtually everything in it but the CPU, GPU and video connection, but I will try the video if you think this is more indicative of a video cable connector issue than a BIOS issue.  I've seen similar complaints on other Acer laptops and they always seem to respond to a BIOS update.

     

    Related question: In other responses I've seen people rename the new BIOS file on the USB stick to something other than BIOS.fd but I never figured out how those new names were determined so I left mine per the instructions.  Could that be the reason the BIOS wont update?

     

    Thanks again.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,330 Trailblazer

    I have to believe it. My own machine had the intermittent display problem that got worse as time progressed till no display anymore. And the low-end guru's bios updating fix wasn't doing diddly to resolve the issue. Took several months before tracking it down to the ribbon cable itself. But, the difference between mine and your's, seems to be that my OS was booting since I could hear the startup melody. And I could HDMI and VGA out to a TV and an external monitor with no problems so I had decent clues that it was NOT the bios and NOT the graphics adapter. Have you tried an external monitor using the Fn+F5 and Fn+F6 display toggles?

     

    As for the BIOS.fd name, if you followed the directions, I'd say you're doing it correctly. However, if you can see the files on your stick, check the DOS batch file to see what filenames are used in it.

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

This discussion has been closed.