Acer Aspire VX 15 Fan and Sound Issues VX5-591G-75RM

Hey there.

I have an Acer Aspire VX 15 (VX5-591G-75RM) which is having issues. I have owned it for several years and all of a sudden multiple issues popped up at once.

Sound:
The speakers don't work (neither do headphones) and when I try to open Dolby Audio it says "Your installation is missing components. Please reinstall the audio driver..."
However, when I install the audio drivers from the Acer site here, nothing changes.

Fans:
The cooling fans sound like they are at maximum at all times. This is a new issue, as they used to stay quiet until a load is placed on the system, but now with nothing happening (confirmed with task manager) the fans are roaring at maximum.

I have tried several things. I reset the operating system, keeping my files. Then backed up my files and completely removed and reinstalled the OS. No change to either issue.

Next I installed Driver Easy and updated all the drivers (there were a bunch needing it) but no help from that.

I have tried the audio drivers from Acer after doing all the previous steps, no change.

Any advice would be helpful, I'm out of ideas

{ edited the title to add the model name )

Accepted answers

JackE

>>>I was wrong before, I checked the BIOS in legacy mode again and it shows "VGA BIOS Version: Intel v1045">>>Would this mean the Nvidia chip is fried?>>>

Might be with an estimated ~90% probability. A factory OEM reset would confirm it with ~99% probability.

If you want to try the reset, check BIOS MAIN tab to make sure the D2D option is enabled. F10 to save settings and exit. Then shut down the machine. Follow these steips.

(1) Turn machine on and immediately press and hold ALT key while tapping F10 key.

(2) An Acer factory OEM reset screen should appear to allow either a factory reset while trying to save your personal files --- or --- the preferred erase everything clean factory reset that should return the Windows system to the original, fresh out of the box state when you first acquired the machine. In either case, you really should back up personal files to a USB stick or some other way.

(3) Whichever you decide to choose, press the FN+F3 wifi toggle key combo to disable wifi so no automatic updates can happen. Just skip any steps that require wifi be turned on. Sometimes skipping steps is not straightforward because of Microsoft's (and Acer's) penchant for collecting personal info and trying to sell you on Microsoft products during the reset process.

If the reset confirms the fried nvidia chip, there are still some (rather drastic) ways of trying to salvage the mainboard if you just gotta have the nvidia GPU. If that fails, new replacement mainboards are available for about $250usd if you're willing to wait about 4 weeks for delivery on a slow boat.

All comments

JackE

>>>all of a sudden multiple issues>>>

(1) Open Device Manager. Post screenshot of result if possible.

(2) Press WIN+R. Enter 'winver'. Also post screenshot of result

(3) Open Control Panel. Search 'restore point'. Click 'create a restore point' If SystemProtection is turned on. Click 'SystemRestore' button. Click next. Do you see any automatic restore points?

Anthony2143

Thanks for responding Jack,

Unfortunately the restore points are all for earlier today, and I have been trying to fix this for several days.

Another issue I discovered while looking for a solution is that the dedicated GPU isn't showing up in device manager (and I have show hidden enabled). Seems likely that is part of the issues with the fan. In the last 30minutes I intalled DDU and removed all the Nvidia/Intel/and Realtek drivers, but have not reinstalled any of them yet.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/7a/zk44iobs4yiz.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6e/3qjogtlsks8g.png

JackE

Please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab if possible.

Anthony2143

Here it is

Edited the content to hide sensitive information.

JackE

Does BIOS BOOT tab show legacy or uefi mode?

Anthony2143

It shows UEFI

JackE

>>> In the last 30minutes I intalled DDU and removed all the Nvidia/Intel/and Realtek drivers, but have not reinstalled any of them yet.>>>

Don't try to manually re-install any of them.

Open Control Panel. Search 'button'. Click 'change what the power buttons do' in left pane. Click 'change settings that are currently unavailable' near top of next pane. Scroll down and make sure fast startup box is UNchecked.

Then shut down Windows normally. Then turn it back on. Does Device Manager look any different?

Anthony2143

The box was checked before, now it is unchecked. Shut down, waited, powered back up. Device manager looks the same.

JackE

Display adapter is still Microsoft basic?

Anthony2143

Correct, through Driver Easy I can reinstall Intel HD Graphics 630, but the NVidia GPU is still missing.
I have installed and uninstalled the Intel graphics a couple times so far

JackE

Seems like DDU also wiped out all the archived backup drivers.

Did you install the ACER Intel VGA driver or use DriverEasy to install the generic Intel driver?

Also do any of the Acer nvidia VGA drivers detect the nvidia chip?

Anthony2143

Finally some progress!

I had been using DriverEasy to install the Intel VGA Driver, so I went back to Acer to install it. I accidentally installed the IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) and decided to run it anyway. I ran the setup, It prompted to uninstall. I chose to continue, and after restarting the computer the audio is back!

I reinstalled the IRST from the same download and the audio is still there! Nice to have something working again. Going to try the Intel drivers now.

Also I have tried installing the Nvidia drivers from Acer, they failed saying the correct hardware wasn't present. I will try again after the Intel drivers though.

Anthony2143

Okay so the Intel VGA graphics were installed correctly.

Now the last issue is the NVIDIA installer failing. The error message is "The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware"

I went through the Acer website drivers and freshly installed all those that seemed related to hardware functionality, then tried the NVIDIA VGA drivers again. Same error.

JackE

Aye. iRST can add another layer of needless complexity. AHCI is preferred. What does your BIOS Information tab show now for SATA mode?

Anthony2143

It shows AHCI

JackE

>>>I reinstalled the IRST from the same download and the audio is still there!>>>It shows AHCI>>>

Good. Whatever iRST driver you installed shouldn't have had anything to do with the audio. IRST mode is supposed to shorten the boot drive startup process --- intel RapidStartTech --- relative to AHCI mode. But it often creates undesireable side effects. Bottom line---don't try to change the mode to iRST.

>>>Now the last issue is the NVIDIA installer failing. The error message is "The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware">>>

Right click and copy the link from which you downloaded theses drivers. Then paste them here so I can have a look.

Anthony2143

I downloaded them from this page
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7094?b=1&pn=NH.GM4AA.001

This driver specifically https://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/Driver/VGA/VGA_NVIDIA_24.21.13.9826_W10x64_A.zip?acerid=636667270546914531&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE VX5-591G&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_6

JackE

Did the other two earlier nvidia drivers, particularly the 2016 driver, also yield the error message? "The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware"

Anthony2143

Until you pointed them out I hadn't noticed them, it seems I missed the "show all tab" on that drivers page. I definitely got excited thinking this could be it, but unfortunately they both have the same error message.

No matter here I check there is no trace of the GPU, but I suppose the same thing was true for the audio systems before and now they are working fine...

JackE

>>>"The graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware">>>

If your model is in fact the VX5-591G-75RM or part no. NH.GM4AA.001, the datasheet suggests that you have the 1050ti GPU mobile chip. Accordingly, I suggest that you try the latest June 15th nvidia generic driver for Windows 10 to see if it will detect the GPU