Aspire V3-571 corrupt BIOS (?)

Hi all,

I have a Aspire V3-571 with a possible corrupt BIOS. I recently fitted a previously working motherboard but the screen is just black when I switch on. I feel that the motherboard's BIOS has corrupted due to all the new devices being attached ie different hard drive, RAM, etc.

It powers up, hard drive light flickers for one sec as if it is POSTing fan is working but there is no Acer logo, nothing ever happens. I have tried different RAM and CPU too.

I have tried flashing the BIOS using a USB stick but had no joy, after I press FN and ESC the USB stick and hard drive light stick flash alternately as if they're looking for the BIOS rescue files but nothng happens. I have tried different sticks, different ports, and almost all the BIOS files on the Acer site. I have extracted all the files from the EXE file and put them on the stick each time.

I have been using an 8GB USB stick, have heard that only a 2GB or less stick will work, is this true?

I feel that it is either the USB stick size that is the problem or I am somehow not putting the correct files on the stick as the laptop is clearly looking for them but never seems to find what it needs to recover.

(Also this laptop is running Windows 7, I have been using the normal BIOS files and not the UEFI ones as instructed.)

Does anyone have any ideas please as this is getting really frustrating? Thanks in advance!

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philetus

"BIOS has corrupted due to all the new devices being attached ie different hard drive, RAM, etc."

That's not going to happen.

Did you forget to plug something back in?

Could you have zapped the MB with static?

Could you have bent a pin on the CPU when you installed it.

How do you know the replacement MB was previously working?

utahraptor78

I have repaired computers for over a decade so took all my usual anti static precautions and in my experience is extremely unlikely anyway.

Nothing has been left out as I have rebuilt the laptop several times looking for the problems and it's quite a simple set up. All cables neatly connected, all cards are in and have been checked and reseated multiple times. If the CPU or board was damaged I'd doubt the recovery process would even initiate but it does, it just doesn't seem to like something about the USB stick or the files.

The board came from a computer repair shop who I trust as being pretty honest and he confirmed it was working, he's usually reliable but I suppose it's possible he just checked that the power light came on and assumed it worked although he did say it was definitely 100%.

I would not normally have considered changing all the other parts as a factor but I have heard of many people corrupting these particular laptop BIOS just by changing RAM.

The CPU pins are not bent and I have tried two of them, both carefully fitted, new thermal paste applied each time.

Can you or anyone confirm that my BIOS recovery procedure sounds correct? I have extracted the files from the downloaded .EXE file and put them on a memory stick which is 8GB and formatted FAT32. Is this too large for the BIOS recovery procedure on this laptop? Are there some other files I am missing? There is limited easy access info online.

I'd like to rule this out before taking it back as the only other possibility I can think of is that it was not as well tested in the shop as well as the guy thought it was.

philetus

You would remove the battery and power, Hold down FN+Esc, plug in power and hols power button until you see lights. Keep holdinf FN+Esc until the USB shows activity.It's not going to work.

utahraptor78

Thanks, I have done all that but does the USB stick size matter and have I put all the files I need on the stick? I basically extracted the .exe files.

The stick flashes as if the laptop is looking for the files it needs for a flash but then fails and looks again repeatedly. It looks like it would work but something is missing, probably either stick size or wrong files. This is what I am trying to verify.

Why do you say it's not going to work?

philetus

I read somewhere that a smaller stick is better. I also read Kingston wasn't working.

utahraptor78

Thanks I think I will give it one more go with a 2GB stick once I can locate one.

Do the files sound ok? I have extracted the files from the latest bios exe for that model, (the non UEFI one) and placed them all on the stick. When it failed I tried several others aswell.

The sticks I have used were both Kingston so the next one I try will be a non Kingston 2GB or smaller.

philetus

This is BIOS_2.21

Try renaming the Q5WV1221.exe file to Q5WV1X64.fd. and try the procedure.

philetus

This is BIOS_2.21

Try renaming the Q5WV1221.exe file to Q5WV1X64.fd and try the procedure.

I found this bios name inside Q5WV1221.exe

philetus

leave out the period after fd=Q5WV1X64.fd

utahraptor78

Thanks a million, gonna get that small non-Kingston USB stick in next day or so and give it a go. It's gotta be worth a try as it's my last hope and doesn't cost anything to try!

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