Aspire One does not Boot Acer AO532h-2588

JackE

Please double-check that the F12 boot option is still enabled in the BIOS Main tab as mentioned earlier. Something might be wrong with your USB ports or keyboard.

Sky50

@JackE,

Yes, it still is enabled on the main screen, as I mentioned before.  And even if it were disabled, as long as the boot order prioritizes the USB drive, what difference would it make?  I still can configure the BIOS boot order via the F2 key instead.  As I asked earlier, does the F12 key do something besides merely displaying the BIOS boot order?

 

And yes, there may indeed be a hardware problem.  However, if it’s the USB ports, then it must be intermittent since the PC is able to read my USB drives.

 

What does “BIOS error (bug)” mean on that Linux Lite error message?  It does not seem like a USB port or keyboard failure, since the BIOS is attached directly to the motherboard.  Could a USB port error somehow trigger a BIOS error?  If so, how?

JackE

>>>PC is able to read my USB drives [intermittently].>>>

(1) What version numbers and capacites are the USB thumbdrives you're trying to boot from?

(2) Are they MBR partiitoned FAT32 formatted?

(2) Have you tried all 3 USB ports?

Sky50

@JackE,

(1) The Linux Lite drive is 8GB USB 2.0, and the Windows10 drive is 32GB USB 3.0.  Both are formatted as FAT32.

 

(2) I downloaded the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to make my bootable Windows10 USB drive.  It handles the MBR setup when it downloads Win10 onto the drive.  Similarly, I used Balena Etcher to create a bootable Linux Lite USB drive.

(3) Yes, I have tried all three USB ports

 

I still wonder what does “BIOS error (bug)” mean on that Linux Lite error message?

Sky50

JackE,

Thanks for your quick reply to my question.  The BIOS Information screen looks fine to me.  Here are some of the entries:

CPU Type: Intel Atom CPU N450

CPU Speed: 1.66GHz

System BIOS Version: V1.21

Product Name: AO532H

And yes, it might be a hardware problem such as a dead CMOS battery, but the CMOS battery on this PC is difficult to replace, so I was hoping to rule out the BIOS problem first.  I already tried the easy hardware stuff, such as unplugging and reseating the hard drive, cleaning the edge connector on the RAM module, and removing the battery and holding down the power button for a minute.

Meanwhile, the reason I’m stubbornly (foolishly?) pursuing the BIOS flashing is because I found numerous help site questions similar to mine, and the most popular answer is “Flash the BIOS”.  Here’s an example: https://ccm.net/forum/affich-975707-acer-aspire-one-laptop-will-not-boot

The “Best Answer” is similar to most of the others I found online, except the others (obviously) suggest loading the USB on a separate, working PC rather than on the dead one.  There are videos of the procedure on YouTube too, with lots of comments that flashing their BIOS fixed their black screen problem.

I thought maybe renaming the .fd file was an inside techie joke, so I tried it both ways, with no improvement.  I also tried two brands of USB drives because someone wrote that some brands work and some don’t.  (Perhaps I merely need to buy more brands of USB drives until I find one that works.  I apologize in advance if that turns out to be the problem)

Here is another possible clue: When I attempt to boot my PC from a USB drive with Linux Lite on it, I get the following error message:

[0.239053] ACPI BIOS error (bug): \_SB.PCIO._OSC: Excess arguments – ASL declared 5, ACPI requires 4 (20190816/nsarguments-160)

[5.303711] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found

[5.303720] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through

Then the screen freezes.

I’m not a software expert, so I have no idea what that means, but it does include the term “BIOS error”, which reinforces my BIOS bug suspicions.  Does it mean anything to you?

When I try to boot Linux Lite in safe mode, I get lots of scrolling text on the screen mentioning timeouts and other things like that.  And then it too freezes.  If you think that might help, I can list a few of those messages in another post.

JackE said:

>>>My Acer AO532h-2588 notebook PC boots fine as far as the BIOS screen>>>

If you can see the ACER BIOS logo screen, the BIOS firmware is fine. Don't mess with flashing the BIOS or you could fully brick your machine and never even see the BIOS logo screen again.

(1) Press and hold the power button till the laptop shuts off, No LEDs should be lit except the battery charge LED if plugged in.

(2) Turn the laptop back on and IMMEDIATELY start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu,

(3) Please post a phone photo of the BIOS INFORMATION tab if possible.

Sky50

JackE said:

>>>My Acer AO532h-2588 notebook PC boots fine as far as the BIOS screen>>>

If you can see the ACER BIOS logo screen, the BIOS firmware is fine. Don't mess with flashing the BIOS or you could fully brick your machine and never even see the BIOS logo screen again.

(1) Press and hold the power button till the laptop shuts off, No LEDs should be lit except the battery charge LED if plugged in.

(2) Turn the laptop back on and IMMEDIATELY start tapping the F2 key to enter the BIOS menu,

(3) Please post a phone photo of the BIOS INFORMATION tab if possible.

Thanks for your quick reply to my question.  The BIOS Information screen looks fine to me.  Here are some of the entries:

 

CPU Type: Intel Atom CPU N450

CPU Speed: 1.66GHz

System BIOS Version: V1.21

Product Name: AO532H

 

And yes, it might be a hardware problem such as a dead CMOS battery, but the CMOS battery on this PC is difficult to replace, so I was hoping to rule out the BIOS problem first.  I already tried the easy hardware stuff, such as unplugging and reseating the hard drive, cleaning the edge connector on the RAM module, and removing the battery and holding down the power button for a minute.

 

Meanwhile, the reason I’m stubbornly (foolishly?) pursuing the BIOS flashing is because I found numerous help site questions similar to mine, and the most popular answer is “Flash the BIOS”.  Here’s an example:

 

https://ccm.net/forum/affich-975707-acer-aspire-one-laptop-will-not-boot

 

The “Best Answer” is similar to most of the others I found online, except the others (obviously) suggest loading the USB on a separate, working PC rather than on the dead one.  There are videos of the procedure on YouTube too, with lots of comments that flashing their BIOS fixed their black screen problem.

 

I thought maybe renaming the .fd file was an inside techie joke, so I tried it both ways, with no improvement.  I also tried two brands of USB drives because someone wrote that some brands work and some don’t.  (Perhaps I merely need to buy more brands of USB drives until I find one that works.  I apologize in advance if that turns out to be the problem)

 

Here is another possible clue: When I attempt to boot my PC from a USB drive with Linux Lite on it, I get the following error message:

 

[0.239053] ACPI BIOS error (bug): \_SB.PCIO._OSC: Excess arguments – ASL declared 5, ACPI requires 4 (20190816/nsarguments-160)

[5.303711] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found

[5.303720] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through

 

Then the screen freezes.

 

I’m not a software expert, so I have no idea what that means, but it does include the term “BIOS error”, which reinforces my BIOS bug suspicions.  Does it mean anything to you?

 

When I try to boot Linux Lite in safe mode, I get lots of scrolling text on the screen mentioning timeouts and other things like that.  And then it too freezes.  If you think that might help, I can list a few of those messages in another post.

Sky50

@JackE,

Thanks for your quick reply to my question.  The BIOS Information screen looks fine to me.  Here are some of the entries:

 

CPU Type: Intel Atom CPU N450

CPU Speed: 1.66GHz

System BIOS Version: V1.21

Product Name: AO532H

 

And yes, it might be a hardware problem such as a dead CMOS battery, but the CMOS battery on this PC is difficult to replace, so I was hoping to rule out the BIOS problem first.  I already tried the easy hardware stuff, such as unplugging and reseating the hard drive, cleaning the edge connector on the RAM module, and removing the battery and holding down the power button for a minute.

 

Meanwhile, the reason I’m stubbornly (foolishly?) pursuing the BIOS flashing is because I found numerous help site questions similar to mine, and the most popular answer is “Flash the BIOS”.  Here’s an example:

 

https://ccm.net/forum/affich-975707-acer-aspire-one-laptop-will-not-boot

 

The “Best Answer” is similar to most of the others I found online, except the others (obviously) suggest loading the USB on a separate, working PC rather than on the dead one.  There are videos of the procedure on YouTube too, with lots of comments that flashing their BIOS fixed their black screen problem.

(Part 1 of 2)

Sky50

@JackE,

(Continued)

Meanwhile, the reason I’m stubbornly (foolishly?) pursuing the BIOS flashing is because I found numerous help site questions similar to mine, and the most popular answer is “Flash the BIOS”.  Here’s an example:

 

https://ccm.net/forum/affich-975707-acer-aspire-one-laptop-will-not-boot

 

The “Best Answer” is similar to most of the others I found online, except the others (obviously) suggest loading the USB on a separate, working PC rather than on the dead one.  There are videos of the procedure on YouTube too, with lots of comments that flashing their BIOS fixed their black screen problem.

 

I thought maybe renaming the .fd file was an inside techie joke, so I tried it both ways, with no improvement.  I also tried two brands of USB drives because someone wrote that some brands work and some don’t.  (Perhaps I merely need to buy more brands of USB drives until I find one that works.  I apologize in advance if that turns out to be the problem)

(Part 2)

JackE

Have we tried booting from a bootable USB stick with the HDD disconnected?

Sky50

@JackE,

Yes, I have tried booting from both USB drives while the internal hard drive is removed.  It makes no difference.

 

I still wonder what “BIOS error (bug)” means on that Linux Lite error message.  Do you know?

JackE

Most likely the Linux kernel is too new and incompatible with the BIOS. Might've been what happened to Win10 tool, that is, a major Win10 update caused the problem.  Perhaps trying to install an older Win10 version like 1511 might work. That's what i had to do to re-gain full access to an 11 yo Win7 era netbook.

Sky50

@JackE,

There are lots of working Acer Aspire One PCs with Linux Lite available on ebay.  Others run Linux Mint, and that won’t boot on my PC either.  Also, my old copy of UBUNTU used to work on this PC but no longer does.

 

Windows10 was not updated between the time when my PC worked and when it stopped working, so there was not an incompatible Windows update either.

 

Still, maybe your guess about Linux Lite is valid, so I’ll start a new thread here or on a Linux help site that asks that question specifically.  If I’m lucky, maybe a Linux or BIOS expert will notice it and reply.

 

Thanks again for your help.

JackE

I know you're desperately trying to revive this netbook without digging deeper into the hardware. However, it is likely that the 10+yo CMOS button cell has dropped  below 3.1v and may be acting almost like a BIOS chip charge drain or reset. This might be causing the issue. These cells only have an unusued shelf life of less than 10 years. So it's even older than the netbook's assembly. I suggest that you try to replace the cell before you go too much further with trying to mess with reflashing the BIOS via the guru's FN+ESC method..

As a last resort, you can also purchase brand new replacement netbook mainboards for less than $30. Aliexpress often warehouses this stuff stateside in KY so deliveries can be less than 2 weeks. Rarely more than 4 weeks if shipped on a slow boat.

Rogue_Fury_872024

Yes. When you turn the machine back on and immediately start tapping the F12 key. An F12 boot menu should appear to allow you to boot from the alternate bootable media.

Rogue_Fury_872024

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