Aspire V5-551 Cannot Adjust BIOS Settings

Michale32086

I have an Aspire V5-551 Laptop that won't boot.. I think it's a bad Hard Drive..

I am into the BIOS and trying to EABLE the F12 Boot Menu, but the BIOS never saves the ENABLE..

I can set the TIME in BIOS and can adjust the BOOT PRIORITY and those settings are retained, but when I set the F12 BOOT option to ENABLE and disable the SECURE BOOT (so I can boot from a thumb drive) those settings are never saved..

I have used the ERASE ALL SECURE BOOT SETTINGS and RESTORE TO FACTORY DEFAULT options in the BIOS but that didn't help either..

I pulled the BIOS Battery out and let it sit overnight.. Still have the same problem..

Any hints or tips to fix this would be most appreciated...

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

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Michale32086

I have done a little more work on this and it looks like it's a problem with the boot process..

I can't boot from any HD or a thumbdrive.. The thumbdrive will flash like it's being access and then it just goes solid light on and the displace is stuck at the ACER Splash Screen...

I have tried it both with JUST the on-board memory and with a 2 GB memory stick.. Still the same..

I have downloaded an updated BIOS but without being able to boot with a HIRENS thumbdrive, I can't update the BIOS..

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

JackE

>>>I think it's a bad Hard Drive..>>>

Temporarily disconnect the HDD.. Then try to enable and save the F12 boot option again in the MAIN tab. Then re-enter the BIOS menu see if it's saved still without the HDD. Then try to boot from the stick still without the HDD.

Michale32086

Thanx for the reply...

I tried as you said and the F12 and ENABLE settings are not saved, either with or without a HD plugged in...

But it's weird that the TIME/DATE and BOOT PRIORITY settings ARE saved...

Thanx again for the reply...

JackE

>>>But it's weird that the TIME/DATE and BOOT PRIORITY settings ARE saved...>>>

Maybe not too weird. Your machine seems to be about 10 years old. Has the original BIOS lithium coin cell ever been replaced during that time? The cells fizzle out after about 7 years. Then the BIOS chip tends to lose its mind. What happens to the TIME/DATE if the laptop sits unplugged, turned off & battery pack removed overnight?

Michale32086

That's a good point.. I'll check that..

Thanx for the info...

Michale32086

Maybe I am focusing on the wrong problem..

Disregarding the BIOS for a second, what happens with this laptop is it appears to lock up during the boot process..

I pulled the HD and am trying to boot from a bootable HIRENS Thumbdrive..

When it boots, the thumbdrive flashes for 20-30 secs and then the LED in the thumbdrive goes solid and the screen stays frozen on the ACER splash screen..

The laptop appears to have 2GB of RAM on board and a 2GB RAM stick in a socket.. I pulled the socket'ed RAM stick and the problem still happens..

So, could that indicate that the 2GB Onboard RAM is bad???

Or, could this booting problem be related to the BIOS issue??

JackE

Sure it's possible. Also possible is the wifi card. Or the sound card. Or the touchpad. Or keyboard. Or the BIOS coin cell. Or any other soldered or removable component peripheral on the mainboard. Trying to pick the most likely component that's removable./replaceable. A soldered component usually means the mainboard's a goner unless it's a relatively large surface mount chip with less than about a dozen or so pins..

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