Stuck at Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD after updating on Acer Aspire A514-54-37YX

Hi! Just want to ask for any help with regards to my Acer Aspire 5 which is stuck at Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD after updating. The update may be related to BIOS, since after the restart the laptop booted into the Acer logo with a progress bar, instead of the usual windows loading screen. After a few restarts the laptop boots into automatic repair, with no option to reset the pc. I tried every option: startup repair, uninstall update, no system restore since i have no backups, to no avail. I tried some other fixes from the internet like regback but it doesnt work since it seems that there are no existing drives at all (c: and d: returns "drive not found"). I tried also reinstalling windows through USB as a last resort but it also cant find any drives as well and is asking for storage drivers. Whatever the error is, it could be related to BIOS failing to load the drives, I dont know. Im not an expert with these stuff.

So i tried reinstalling the BIOS update, and downloaded the drivers from the site. But to proceed it needs to run on windows (which my laptop obviously cant) so i tried to boot windows through a USB drive on my laptop. After some time it seems to have been able to load the missing drives c: and d: (maybe because of windows own drivers). Then i tried to reinstall the BIOS update but it doesnt allow me to because it seems that i am on the latest version (1.17).

And now im stuck. Im considering backing up my files through the bootable windows USB and then sending the laptop to the service center. But i dont know how long will the repair take and its my primary work laptop. So im trying to figure out everything i can do to fix the laptop until i can be certainly sure its beyond my abilities and very risky to fix it myself. Hopefully some experts here can provide some help before i concede.

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JackE

(1) Press and hold power button till laptop shuts off. About 5 seconds.

(2) Unplug charger. Insert paperclip into reset pinhole on bottom.

(3) Plug charger back in but wait for battery charge LED to turn from steady orange to steady blue.

(4) Turn machine on and immediately start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu.

(5) Does the BIOS Information tab show that HDD0 & HDD1 are present? A phone photo would be helpful. If none are present, STOP and report back here.

(6) Press the F9 key to load BIOS defaults. Then press F10 to save default settings and exit the BIOS menu.

(7) If it still won't boot, report back and we'll try to repair the boot drive.

Requiem

JackE said:

(1) Press and hold power button till laptop shuts off. About 5 seconds.
(2) Unplug charger. Insert paperclip into reset pinhole on bottom.
(3) Plug charger back in but wait for battery charge LED to turn from steady orange to steady blue.
(4) Turn machine on and immediately start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu.
(5) Does the BIOS Information tab show that HDD0 & HDD1 are present? A phone photo would be helpful. If none are present, STOP and report back here.
(6) Press the F9 key to load BIOS defaults. Then press F10 to save default settings and exit the BIOS menu.
(7) If it still won't boot, report back and we'll try to repair the boot drive.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I tried all the steps but the laptop still wont boot. The information tab shows the HDD properly tho. I took pics for your reference.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/8u/px59ew0d0ikm.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/9q/y7ryfgzv5kxn.jpg

Easwar

Requiem,

Reset this PC and keep my files
1. Shutdown the unit. Press and hold alt+F10 key. Then turn ON the unit.
2. You will get a blue screen. Choose the option troubleshoot.

3 Ways to Reset Acer Laptop to Factory Settings without Password

3. Select Keep my files to refresh your PC and reinstall your operating system without removing your personal files. Click Next to continue. Important If you have apps installed on your PC, they will be removed.
4. Resetting the PC will reinstall Windows, change settings back to their factory defaults and remove all preinstalled apps and programs without removing your personal files. Click Reset to continue.
5. You will be shown the reset progress on the screen. The screen will turn off during the reset process.
6. The screen will turn back on when it is installing Windows. Your PC will restart several times during the reset process.
7. Follow the process until it completes.
8. When your PC has completed the reset process, Windows will have been reset back to its factory default settings without removing your personal files.

JackE

OK. Get back to this screen and choose the system restore option to see if it can pick up an automatic restore point made by the errant update. If it fixes the issue please report back promptly so we can temporarily prevent the update from re-installing till a future update resolves the issue.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/p6/mgvejtnhkpmu.jpg

Requiem

Easwar said:

Requiem,

Reset this PC and keep my files
1. Shutdown the unit. Press and hold alt+F10 key. Then turn ON the unit.
2. You will get a blue screen. Choose the option troubleshoot.
3. Select Keep my files to refresh your PC and reinstall your operating system without removing your personal files. Click Next to continue. Important If you have apps installed on your PC, they will be removed.
4. Resetting the PC will reinstall Windows, change settings back to their factory defaults and remove all preinstalled apps and programs without removing your personal files. Click Reset to continue.
5. You will be shown the reset progress on the screen. The screen will turn off during the reset process.
6. The screen will turn back on when it is installing Windows. Your PC will restart several times during the reset process.
7. Follow the process until it completes.
8. When your PC has completed the reset process, Windows will have been reset back to its factory default settings without removing your personal files.

Im trying to find the option to reset the PC but it doesnt seem have one, likely because it cant detect the drives from that part.

JackE said:

OK. Get back to this screen and choose the system restore option to see if it can pick up an automatic restore point made by the errant update. If it fixes the issue please report back promptly so we can temporarily prevent the update from re-installing till a future update resolves the issue.

I have tried every option available on that blue screen. that particular one only outputs an error. likely also because it cant detect the drives, therefore cant find any windows installation.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/r7/ksge1a6r72wx.jpg

JackE

Press and hold the power button again till the machine shuts off. Then turn it back on and immediately start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu again. Please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab that shows HDD0 and/or HDD1 are present?

Also can you get to the command prompt X : \ >_ from the advanced options screen? If yes, enter 'diskpart' at the X : \ > command prompt. Then enter 'list disk' at the DISKPART > prompt. Post a phone phone result of the 'list disk' command.

Requiem

JackE said:

Press and hold the power button again till the machine shuts off. Then turn it back on and immediately start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu again. Please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab that shows HDD0 and/or HDD1 are present?

Also can you get to the command prompt X : \ >_ from the advanced options screen? If yes, enter 'diskpart' at the X : \ > command prompt. Then enter 'list disk' at the DISKPART > prompt. Post a phone phone result of the 'list disk' command.

Sorry, forgot to upload the pic of the BIOS info. Yeah, it seems that the BIOS can see the HDD just fine.

As for the diskpart this is what shows up:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/g4/kio72s47dcnn.jpg

JackE

>>>Hi! Just want to ask for any help with regards to my Acer Aspire 5 which is stuck at Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD after updating. The update may be related to BIOS,>>>

What kind of update were you referring to? The DISKPART response suggests an MS unrecognized file system? Try the DISKPART command 'list volume'.

Requiem

JackE said:

>>>Hi! Just want to ask for any help with regards to my Acer Aspire 5 which is stuck at Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD after updating. The update may be related to BIOS,>>>

What kind of update were you referring to?

I mean usually when windows asks to restart for update it usually boots to a blue screen with a percentage applying the update (you know, the usual windows update screen). this particular update restarted into acer logo with a green progress bar (which i also had quite a few times before).

JackE said:

The DISKPART response suggests an MS unrecognized file system? Try the DISKPART command 'list volume'.

typing that results to this:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ro/roa1ioyzn2b4.jpg

JackE

Do you recall if your Western Digital 1TB HDD the D : \ drive in FileExplorer?

Requiem

JackE said:

Do you recall if your Western Digital 1TB HDD the D : \ drive in FileExplorer?

Yeah. C: is the 128GB SSD, D : is the 1TB HDD

JackE

Looks like the BIOS is preventing any access to the drives. Please go back into the BIOS menu and post phone shots of the Main, Advanced and Security tabs. Press Ctrl+S in each tab for any hidden options. I'm particularly interested in seeing if TPM is present and enabled in Security tab.

Requiem

JackE said:

Looks like the BIOS is preventing any access to the drives. Please go back into the BIOS menu and post phone shots of the Main, Advanced and Security tabs. Press Ctrl+S in each tab for any hidden options. I'm particularly interested in seeing if TPM is present and enabled in Security tab.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/kt/wkunc95x0vg1.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/57/qhia0i0mn88p.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/06/1fomw2rajlk0.jpg

vishnujbr

Are you able to solve this issue ? Please comment.

JackE

I would've also have liked to have seen the BIOS Information tab.

LittleSquirrel

Since today i have got exactly the same **** problem as Requiem, can anybody help me out?

JackE

LittleSquirrel & vishnujbr

This thread has essentially been dormant for almost 6mos. For more attention, please post your own new threads by clicking on the green ask a question button.

Requiem

LittleSquirrel said:

Since today i have got exactly the same ***** problem as Requiem, can anybody help me out?

The last time this happened i gave up and sent it to acer repair and had it reformatted (i dont know how they did it, because there seem to be no options anywhere and the windows usb installation cant read the drive as well). Now with the latest update the exact same thing happened again, so i sent it back again for repair. Im so **** right now

Doom0

go to the bios, go to the principal tab, press ctrl+s and disable VMD

djalmajacauna

JackE said:

Looks like the BIOS is preventing any access to the drives. Please go back into the BIOS menu and post phone shots of the Main, Advanced and Security tabs. Press Ctrl+S in each tab for any hidden options. I'm particularly interested in seeing if TPM is present and enabled in Security tab.

Thanks man, after that, the SSD was visible in diskpart.

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