Aspire ES 15 stuck in BIOS loop

My Aspire ES1-523-6312 was having issues booting to Windows 10.
After attempting an OS repair/restore, I tried booting to BIOS.
From that point, the system ALWAYS goes straight to BIOS; doesn't post, doesn't give errors about not finding an OS.
I have tried:

Using the battery pinhole to do a "cold boot"
Removing the HDD & scanning for errors (everything came back in good condition)
Physically disconnecting the laptop battery
Booting from external media (thumbdrive & DVD, Linux & Windows 7), to no avail
Disconnecting the button-cell battery for the clock, in hopes it would reset BIOS settings (it did not)

I am at a COMPLETE LOSS. It's been 3 weeks I'm working on this, and I'm losing my mind.

I've found similar subjects in the forum, but everyone of them seems to say they were resolved, but never really mentions how (save for the battery pinhole).

Comments

Sharanji

Hi RedJolt20

Try to disable secure boot and check the issue.
Disable secure boot/fast boot - Save. Reboot BIOS. Enable CMS Boot - Drives are should be bootable now.

RedJolt20

Hello, Sharanji, thank you for the response!

Tried it with Secure Boot disabled, and tried engaging Legacy boot (I'm guessing that's what you meant by CMS boot); unfortunately, no luck.
Also tried "Erase all Secure Boot Settings", just in case it would make a difference. It did not.

afatonga

I recommend to remove the internal keyboard cable connect to the mobo and try startup again see if its work. Seems to me that there are buttons stuck on strike that cause you to straight to the bios.

tiwari5485

I am having the same issue and no way out so far.

Johnny_Canuck

For those of you still looking for an answer to this problem of being only able to boot to the BIOS, here if what worked for me. You must shut down, remove the power, hard drive and ram. Remove all the screws in the bottom (about 20), carefully pry the top away from the bottom, being careful not to stress the keyboard and mousepad cables. Disconnect all the cables attached to the motherboard (5 or 6). Remove the wifi card. Remove the 2 screws holding down the fan. Remove the single screw holding the motherboard in place. Carefully pry the motherboard out of the case, being careful of the cable connected on the bottom of the motherboard. Turn the motherboard over and locate the CMOS battery - short it. Locate the little tiny switch labelled SW1 near the CMOS battery and flick it a couple times. Reassemble the laptop.

For me, it booted a USB drive first time. I haven't installed an OS yet, but I'm sure I can now that it actually boots.

Disassembly video for those who want to give it a try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojDHBPo_058&vl=en

Deejay_tech

you are booting to uefi boot manager or to the bios setup screen.?
in bios setup , under boot , what is boot priority order set as ?

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