Acer Chromebook 14 CB3-431 won't boot up, Blue Light flashes

StellaMan

I have a Chromebook as above, my client says she did an update and it now won't turn on, and I am finding that is indeed the case.

The Orange Light is on and solid when the charger is plugged in, and it goes out when I unplug it, so I assume that the charger is working OK.

The Blue Light is also on and solid, but there is nothing displaying on the screen.

I have disconnedted the Battery, and tried re-booting with it still disconnected, re-connected it and re-booted, but the screen is constantly black.

I have tried holding the Power button down for 30 seconds, again to no avail.

The only time there is a difference is when I turn off the Chromebook by holding the Power button for 10 seconds and then turn it on again. When I do this the Blue Light blinks on for about 4 seconds, then off for about 4 seconds, and then just repeats over & over again. I assume this means something, but I can't find a table of Light Codes anywhere  ...

Any help much appreciated

billsey

I believe that model is just old enough that it doesn't have a battery reset pinhole. Double check on that first, and if it doesn't try opening it up and disconnecting the battery from the MB, press and hold the power button with the battery disconnected for 15-30 seconds to make sure all residual electricity is bled off. Reconnect the battery and reassemble, the plug in and wait for a full charge indication, then turn it back on. If the battery is just confused that should give it a reset to force it back into normal operation.

StellaMan

Thanks Billsey, I have done exactly as you suggested (I can find no reset pinhole) but it has made no difference. The Charge Light is now Blue and both are on all the time (when the charger is plugged in), even when the case is closed, is that normal ?!?

StellaMan

Can anybody else help here ?!?

billsey

The blinking blue light is usually an indication of battery failure, and the battery reset tends to clear that if the battery isn't actually bad. That might be a red herring though with the actual problem something with the display. When it's been turned on and should be at the login prompt take a flashlight and shine it at the screen at an angle. Can you see faint images of the normal login prompts? If so the screen backlight might have failed. If there's nothing there at all but the screen has gone slightly gray then the backlight may be working with the OS not starting.