Acer Aspire Vn7 571 nitro - black screen, BIOS/acer logo visible with HDMI and external screen

Hello people!

My Acer Aspire 5 Nitro (model: Aspire Vn7 571 nitro) suffers from the classic black screen problem.
The laptop screen itself is black, but is accessible via an external screen with HDMI. When starting up, it freezes at the "acer" logo.
The LED is orange, so the laptop seems to be charging. only when I remove the AC cable, the laptop shuts off immediately. (i've bought a new adapter but the problem still persists)
Through the external screen I was able to reset the BIOS but it still froze at the "acer" logo.
I reset the battery, by pressing the reset button at the back of the laptop, didn't work.
My laptop was running windows 10.
F10, F8, F6, nothing worked but F2 did to acces BIOS.

Any help would be very appreciated!

//Edited the content to add model name.

Accepted answers

JackE

>>> Do you suggest installing a new windows version via a GPT, FAT32 usb stick? >>>

Congrats on getting the lid screen back! If the repair mode doesn't complete, then absolutely yes, try to re-install Windows in BIOS UEFI mode with the GPT FAT32 stick!!! Disconnect the external monitor so the installation can proceed without other complications. But I still recommend installing Windows on a new 2.5" HDD so you can still try to get the data off the old HDD later on! New 1TB HDDs are really quite inexpensive now.

All comments

JackE

If the laptop screen is totally black with no logo or BIOS menu screen visible, then the LCD video ribbon probably needs to be replaced from wear and tear of opening and closing the lid too much which tends to break conductor traces in the hinge area. New replacements are about $20-30USD. Google keywords vn7-571 video cable for vendors who ship to your location.

If the battery charge LED never changes from steady orange to steady blue, then its own internal charge controller or battery separators have failed. You can probably check its remaining full charge capacity. Go to the elevated command prompt. Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport'. Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer. Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser. Post screenshot of the first part of the report if possible that compares design full charge capacity with its remaining full charge capacity. Replacement batteries are about $25USD. Google vn7-571 battery for vendors. Jack E/NJ

Wesleydewijs

Hi JackE, thanks for your quick response. The LCD video ribbon could provide a solution for my black screen. But do you think it will also solve the issue of not being able to acces the desktop/login screen, since the screen freezes at the Acer logo even after a BIOS reset? Thanks!

JackE

>>>the screen freezes at the Acer logo even after a BIOS reset?>>>

Are you referring to the external HDMI screen?

Wesleydewijs

JackE said:

>>>the screen freezes at the Acer logo even after a BIOS reset?>>>

Are you referring to the external HDMI screen?

Yea the external screen (TV) is linked to my laptop via HDMI, and on the TV screen I can see the frozen logo. Laptop screen is black.
And I can access the BIOS via the external screen but that's about it.

JackE

Yeah, OK. At the ACER logo, Windows is unsuccessfully trying to initialize and set up the lid screen to run in HD or FHD resolution, not VGA which is all the BIOS can handle. You might be able to force it to boot into VGA safe mode by pressing & holding the power button immediately after the ACER logo appears till the machine shuts off. Then turn it back on and do the same forced shutdown three more times. On the fourth try, it might boot into VGA safe mode on the TV screen.

Wesleydewijs

Hi Jack, i just tried accessing VGA safe mode but It didn't work unfortunately. The screen is still frozen at the ACER logo. I do notice the computer fans keep revving up after the ACER logo becomes visible but nothing happens.

JackE

Some nitros have a physical restart button. Do you have one? If not, does Ctrl-ALT-Del do anything at the logo screen?

Wesleydewijs

By physical restart button do you mean the power button? Ctrl-ALT-Del option doesn't seem to do anything too.

JackE

You can check to see if the power button behaves like a warm re-boot or restart button by quickly pressing & releasing it as soon as the logo appears. Some laptops have a separate button. If the power button acts like a restart button with a single press and release, do that 4 times in a row to see if it forces a safe mode boot.

Wesleydewijs

JackE said:

You can check to see if the power button behaves like a warm re-boot or restart button by quickly pressing & releasing it as soon as the logo appears. Some laptops have a separate button. If the power button acts like a restart button with a single press and release, do that 4 times in a row to see if it forces a safe mode boot.

Aha okay! When I press the power button once (quickly pressing and releasing) after the logo appears, nothing happens. I have to hold the power button for a few seconds in order to shut it down.

JackE

If you have or can create a Win installation boot stick, we could try to enable booting safe mode from its troubleshooting command prompt. Make sure the F12 USB boot stick option is enabled in the BIOS Main tab.

Wesleydewijs

Thanks Jack, I have prepared the USB and enabled the f12 boot option in BIOS so i'm ready when you are

JackE

OK. Turn the machine off. Insert the stick. Turn the machine back on and immediately start tapping the F12 key until the boot menu appears. Boot to the stick which should start in VGA mode to allow the installation options menu to appear on the HDMI screen. Does it?

Wesleydewijs

JackE said:

OK. Turn the machine off. Insert the stick. Turn the machine back on and immediately start tapping the F12 key until the boot menu appears. Boot to the stick which should start in VGA mode to allow the installation options menu to appear on the HDMI screen. Does it?

Unfortunately no result. The screen turns black and stays black right after I select the "USB HDD: USB flash memory" option in the f12 boot option menu. Could there be something wrong witht he Boot priority order inside the bios? right now its set as:

1. Windows Boot Manager
2. USB HDD: USB Flash memory
3. HDD: ST500LM000-1EJ162
4. ATAPI CDROM
5. USB FDD
6. Network Boot-IPV4
7. USB CDROM
8. Network Boot IPV6

I tried prioritizing the "USB HDD: USB Flash memory", but again nothing happened after the f12 menu - only black screen (also on external monitor ofc)

Wesleydewijs

Edit: I have enabled "legacy boot mode" inside BIOS and I am now able to acces the USB (windows setup is visible now)

Wesleydewijs

JackE said:

OK. Turn the machine off. Insert the stick. Turn the machine back on and immediately start tapping the F12 key until the boot menu appears. Boot to the stick which should start in VGA mode to allow the installation options menu to appear on the HDMI screen. Does it?

Do you suggest to install a clean version of Windows, or is an upgrade sufficient (inside the Windows Setup)? I would like to keep my files but I wasn't able to make a backup. And i'm not sure if the "upgrade" option will fix the black screen problem. Thanks

JackE

NO!!! BIOS must stay in UEFI mode. If you made the stick using Microsoft's media creation tool, you probably need to set and save a BIOS supervisor password in UEFI mode? The re-enter the BIOS with the password and disable secure boot. Then try the F12 boot option again.

Wesleydewijs

JackE said:

NO!!! BIOS must stay in UEFI mode. If you made the stick using Microsoft's media creation tool, you probably need to set and save a BIOS supervisor password in UEFI mode? The re-enter the BIOS with the password and disable secure boot. Then try the F12 boot option again.

In UEFI mode nothing seems to work. I have set a supervisor password and disabled secure boot inside BIOS (with UEFI mode). When I try to boot from the USB inside the f12 boot option menu (that is, select the "USB HDD: USB Flash memory" option and press enter), it just gives a black screen