AO532h NAV50 Blank screen BIOS

I have an AO532h NAV50 that doesn't display any screen output for the POST BIOS or linux bootloader. The screen is on and powered, but just black. The screen works perfectly fine though once the OS (linux/windows) starts. I've been able to intermittently access these screens with an external display, though it doesn't always work. The machine will always boot off the main hard drive, (linux,windows).

I've tried flashing via windows and dos 2 different versions of the bios... I've tried removing and reseating the LVDS connector from the mainboard, but I can't seem to figure this one out... Does anyone have any suggestions?

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billsey

If the screen works in the OS, we know the hardware is working. There should be no reason why the screen doesn't also work during POST or in the BIOS. Does the Acer splash screen show up when first powered on? They do have a quick boot option in the BIOS to disable some of the POST tests, but my experience back in those days was the POST sequence still took plenty of time to launch the BIOS menus with the F2 key. There were two difference screen resolutions used in those models, 1024x600 and 1280x720. I wonder if the BIOS somehow decided to display at the wrong resolution for your screen? The OS would use Plug and Play to determine the resolution, so could act differently...

stragglecraft

I've tried toggling fastboot on and off... no difference in behavior. There is no acer logo. pressing F2 to load the bios setup or F12 to load the boot device will display nothing on the laptop screen. I don't know if the previous owner replaced the screen w/ one using the "wrong" resolution.

billsey

Which resolution is shown once Windows loads?

stragglecraft

My original plan was to install a Pixel Qi (full sunlight readable display) ... it finally arrived and I replaced the LCD panel today. On this panel, the ACER logo is displayed, the BIOS, and the F12 boot menu, along w/ my grub menu...

I do see that the resolution is wrong... it looks like the computer is outputting a larger resolution than what the panel is expecting. Again, everything works fine once fully in the OS.

I see there are other posts online about this issue, https://www.techsupportforum.com/threads/acer-d250-no-display-until-windows-loads.482656/, though I don't see any resolutions. Its making me fear that there is a system board issue... Are there any other "secret" key combinations to enable more bios options to see if this can be adjusted?

billsey

What resolution is the Pixel Qi screen supposed to have? That picture looks like the BIOS is sending the image in a 16:9 aspect ration but the display itself is using 4:3.