Acer swift 3(SF314-43-R2LX)does not start . when press power button the light glows and turns off

fokx
fokx Member Posts: 7 New User
edited December 2023 in Swift and Spin Series

My Acer Swift 3 (SF314-43-R2LX) does not boot anymore. When I press the power button, the blue activity led on the right hand side is lit for about 5 seconds, after which it goes dark again. Nothing happens on the screen. The battery is fully charged, when I connect it to the power the blue power LED switches on.

What I have tried:

  • remove battery from laptop, press on-button for about half a minute, reconnect battery;
  • reset battery by keeping the reset-battery-button pressed for about half a minute with no power cord connected;
  • a different power supply (actually: two);
  • replaced the CMOS-battery with a new one;
  • Connect an external monitor to the laptop, then press the power button. Nothing happens on this monitor, it does not receive a signal.

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    Did you get the typical charging indication after each battery reset, i.e., the amber LED for a while followed by the blue? You could also try turning it on with the battery disconnected and the charger connected, but be careful with that, since the system will be open… We need to pin down if it's a power issue or something else.

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  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    Hi Billsey, thanks for your response!

    About your questions:

    • No: there is no amber LED after the battery reset. To be precise: I left the charger disconned for the night, this morning I pressed the battery reset button for a whole minute and reconnected the charger. The battery indicator went to blue immediately and the laptop wouldn't start.
    • I tried turning it on with the battery disconnected and charger connected, to no avail.

    Actually, the laptop is my son's, and he claims (unverified) that very occasionally he is able to start it. I haven't seen this myself. When it shuts down again, the problem re-occurs.

    What are your thoughts?

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    OK, the left side USB-A port on your system provides power to devices even when the laptop is off, so we should be able to use it to run the battery down for a while. Plug something into it that uses power, like a phone, a fan or a light, and let it run off that for a few hours. Then plug the charger in to see if we get the normal charge indication.

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  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    Good idea! I tried it this morning: I charged two phones from the USB-port you mentioned. After this, I connected the charger to the laptop. Result: the orange LED went on. I then tried to switch on the laptop, this yielded the same result as before (blue led turns on for about 5 seconds, nothing else happens). I then removed the charger from the laptop and tried it again. Same result, unfortunately.

  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    I also tried connecting a USB-C charger. The orange LED goes on, but the laptop still won't start.

    (by the way: merry Christmas!)

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    OK, so we know it's not likely to be a charging problem, since we now know the charging system is working. What's likely happening is something is mucking with the initialization stages of POST, and shutting down when something in that process fails. That can sometimes happen when the CMOS settings are corrupted, but you've already gone the CMOS reset route, right? The next step will be to try and reflash the BIOS and that may require a trip to a service center…

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    Hi Billsey, what do you mean with CMOS reset route? Removing the CMOS battery from the main board? Yes, I have tried that, even replaced the original battery with a new one as I also noticed that the system time was off (but this could be due to a number of things, amongst which my 13-year old mucking around with the laptop).

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    Yes, pulling the CMOS battery and letting it rest for a while to bleed off residual electricity or shorting the terminals with the battery out to force the bleed off quickly should reset the CMOS.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    I see. Yes, I tried that, unfortunately it didn't work.

    I'm trying to re-flash the BIOS now using alligator clips and a CH341A-programmer, let's see if that helps.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,313 Trailblazer

    Good luck, and let us know what happens.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • fokx
    fokx Member Posts: 7 New User

    Hi Billsey, I tried re-flashing the BIOS as described above, but this did not work. I contacted Acer, they said that the error code (blue LED lit for 5 seconds) means that the motherboard is defective (what else is new, right?). Anyway, I decided to send the laptop to them for further diagnostics and repair.

    Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated!

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