Predator 17" G9-972 will not boot, need help

Hello guys,
I have an out-of-warranty Acer Predator G9-792 I picked up rather cheap. It was missing a RAM stick (DDR4 2133 Mhz).
When I tried powering the laptop on originally, it would not post or boot. The screen would stay black, the keyboard would flash once, then all external LED's would flash in an endless boot loop. I tried doing a main reset with the pin hole, no dice. I reseated the new ram stick in another slot, no help.

I took the laptop apart, manually disconnected the battery and all modules, and reseated everything. No dice. I even got a matching OEM power adapter new in the mail today.

When I plug in the adapter, the screen stays black. The keyboard flashes once, then the external lights flash 2-4 times. Specifically on the HUD panel on the front, I can see the first light (Disk/RAM) blinks for a few milliseconds, whereas the third one flashes for a full second.

Any idea what can be causing this? I have a brand new stick of RAM in it, a new power brick, and nothing.

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BackyardVoyager

UPDATE;
I removed all internal RAM from under the keyboard, and also took all the heatsinks off and put new heatsink paste on.

It booted into Windows. However, it's buggy with when it wants to boot and not too. Also, I noticed the 180W adapter brand new isn't working to boot, but a small 65W HP one is. HP is 18.5V and 65 W. The Acer one is 180W and 19.5V

Commodore_1995#

Hello! I suggest you have another power adapter identical to the original because, only with the correct power adapter, is that your notebook will provide maximum performance!

BackyardVoyager

Hello,
I am having the same issue today. At first, it would boot up with the ACER power supply, and the battery was charged to 100%.
When I disconnected the power supply, and try to boot on battery, nothing will happen.
Now I cannot get it booted up with either power supply, what causes this?

Commodore_1995#

First, do you have another power adapter identical to the original one to test? Did you test on another electrical outlet? Is your electrical outlet grounded? Turn on any power or battery led?

Then try these steps:

a) Unplug the notebook from the electrical outlet and press this button for five seconds:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/bl/v71xljx9zzt2.png

Then leave the notebook off for five minutes and test!

If this does not resolve, try the next step:

b) check that the interrupt button is pressed properly! Here are some examples of these lock buttons:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/xa/62rqyfsafbfk.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/xc/kjmattgp5hrg.png

These buttons are usually located on the inside of the notebook. On other models, it is located next to ram! Your model looks like this from here:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/y9/w52pjf3eyl0m.png

You can identify it because there is a bulge in the housing that presses the button and it can be worn!

BackyardVoyager

I have tried all of those, and none are helping.

SYMPTOMS:

Laptop will not do anything when just on battery power. No lights will flash or come on when attempting to boot.
Laptop will occasionally come on to boot/post after unplugging power adapter several times, and performing the battery reset multiple times.
When the laptop will not boot, the keyboard will flash once, then all secondary LED's will flash for a split second. After a few times of trying to boot, it will just "die".
I've tried 3 different RAM sticks, none are helping resolve the issue.
I attempted to remove each hard drive (SSD and HDD) and try different combos, with none working.
This issue is only affecting the POST BOOT process. I've removed the internal RAM sticks under the keyboard as I thought one may have become bad.
All screws are properly installed, all ribbon cables are clear of any strains or rips/tears.

These are the videos of what the laptop is doing. I tested with a multimeter 2 power adapters, and both are at the correct voltage. I also replaced the CMOS battery as a precautionary step.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AjMyOGslF4oFgjv7P49EAKM1EpqC
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AjMyOGslF4oFgjqMPwNEIiFe70KD

Commodore_1995#

Did you check the dc-in cable?

BackyardVoyager

Yes I did.
This seems to be a VERY common issue... and it's Acer's fault. The repair should be free.

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/533643/predator-791-screen-went-black-and-now-wont-turn-on-again/p2

Commodore_1995#

Were you able to solve the problem with bios recovery or do you still need help?

BackyardVoyager

Hello,
Originally - I fixed it with this: https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/533643/predator-791-screen-went-black-and-now-wont-turn-on-again

But the Nvidia 980M wasn't dhowing under Device Manager, even after doing all the Intel drivers first.

So I went to use the 1.12 BIOS update tool and it froze the computer. So I am back at step 1 again.

Can you provide me the .fd ROM/BIOS file for the G9-791-79Y3 so I can initiate the ROM flash via USB? I cannot find a library of ROM files.