Chromebook 514 - Blank and black Screen - stuck for ideas

MrSmith1999

Hi. I've nothing but a blank black screen on my Chromebook. Purchased in October 2020 so not old. I've tried the following:

Checked the contrast button wasn't the issue. Nothing happens when I increase brightness.

Tried different charger (we have two of the same Chromebook) to check charger wasn't issue. Orange charge light illuminates. No joy on restarting.

Tried powering OFF. Leave for a minute and then restart. Keyboard lights come on and power indicator but screen still blank and black.

Tried power OFF. Closed lid. Left for minute. Opened lid. Keyboard lights come on and power indicator light but no joy.

Tried holding down "refresh" key and pressing power off button. Tried this in many configurations but no joy. Still have blank black screen.

Anyone had this issue and or know how to solve this?🤔

Accepted answers

billsey

Unfortunately if it's not putting anything out to the external monitor it likely means the motherboard isn't able to get up and running. A motherboard replacement is liable to not be cost effective, though you can look on the secondary market to see what they go for. I wouldn't be surprised to find parts are as expensive as a used replacement machine.

All comments

William_mk2

@MrSmith1999

If there are any external peripherals connected to chrome book please remove it.

Please remove the charger. Hold the power on button till the computer turns off. Now you will not see any lights on chrome book. Please remove the finger from power on button once the computer turns off. Please wait for 1 minute.

Connect the charger. Charging light will be coming on .

Turn on the computer by pressing the power on button. Do not hold the power on button. Just try to turn it on in a normal way. You will see the blue light along with the charger light. You will see the login screen.

billsey

There are any number of things that can cause those symptoms. Which Chromebook 514 model do you have? There have been a bunch of different ones. Yours is likely something like CB514-xxx-xxxx and the full model number is usually on the same sticker as your SN. What William is trying to do is a battery reset. Often just holding the power button will not do a reset, in those cases you have to open up the case and physically disconnect the battery, then press and hold the power button for several seconds, followed by waiting several minutes, then reconnecting the battery.

Did you have any other symptoms before the failure?

MrSmith1999

Hi William and Billsey. Many thanks for your suggestions. I tried Williams first but had no joy. So I carefully removed rear panel and tried what Billsey suggested. Sadly still the same... blank black screen.

The Chromebook model is CB514-1H-C1F2, model N18Q3.

The Chromebook was fine the night before and the next day I opened it up and had this issue, hence no flashing, lines, blinking, buzzing or any other clue that all was not well. Been great and trouble free, hence I have two of these Chromebooks! The other one is 6 months older and fine.

Do you have any other ideas?

billsey

OK, we can probably assume it's not as likely to be the battery causing the issue then. Next step is to see if the display itself is being problematic. Do you, by any chance, have a USB-C to HDMI or DP cable, and an external display to test with? If you connect that up and the external display works we know the base portion of the laptop is functioning and it's the display that is the issue. First step in that case is to reseat the cable that runs between the display and the motherboard to see if it's a cable or connector problem...

MrSmith1999

Thanks Billsey. I don't have one of those cables but will source one over the next couple of days, try it out and report back.

MrSmith1999

Hi. I sourced a usb-C to HDMI adaptor and tried connecting and using a monitor. No joy, still nothing. ☹️

I tried same adaptor, lead and monitor using my identical Acer Chromebook and works a treat.

So sadly I've still got a Chromebook that I can't use.

Any ideas?

billsey

Unfortunately if it's not putting anything out to the external monitor it likely means the motherboard isn't able to get up and running. A motherboard replacement is liable to not be cost effective, though you can look on the secondary market to see what they go for. I wouldn't be surprised to find parts are as expensive as a used replacement machine.

MrSmith1999

Hi Billsey, and William

Many thanks for your help and suggestions. I fear you are right, the motherboard or something similar has failed and the cost to repair wouldn't make economical sense. Good to have checked out a few other things before calling time on the Chromebook.

Thank you.

William_mk2

@MrSmith1999

You are Welcome!

I read your first comment carefully and you say - "Tried holding down "refresh" key and pressing power off button. Tried this in many configurations but no joy. Still have blank black screen"

You are suppose to hold Esc + refresh and then power . This is the right way of doing it.

Please try this step as a last resort.

Kindly follow the details from the link given below. It will show you how to perform a hard reset.

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/496-reinstall-powerwash-the-chrome-os

Once the hard reset is completed try to check whether it is working fine by connecting to wireless. If it is not connecting to a wifi at your home please try to connect to a wifi in a different place or try to go to a hot spot and try to connect to a different wifi and check.

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