How to update BIOS without access to Windows on SF314-43? having issues with booting into Windows

dontaskmehoworwhy
dontaskmehoworwhy Member Posts: 3 New User
edited December 2023 in Swift and Spin Series

Hello, I have an Acer Swift 3 (model no. SF314-43) and I'm having issues with booting into Windows (infinite boot loop). I was wondering how I can update the BIOS straight through the USB drive instead of opening the .exe inside Windows (to which I have no access to).

I know that the BIOS file is an .exe file, but the instructions tells me to "create a bootable USB", how do I do that? If I just format the USB to fat32 and drag the BIOS .exe file inside the USB drive then the computer does not recognize the USB in the boot menu :/.

Any tips?

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer

    Please don't even try to do any BIOS updates until you fix the issue with Windows. A BIOS update runs the risk of failing during the process, which bricks the laptop. Try booting from a Windows install flash drive and using the repair mode to run some diagnostics to try and find out why Windows isn't loading.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • dontaskmehoworwhy
    dontaskmehoworwhy Member Posts: 3 New User

    Thanks for the reply, but I cannot even boot using USB as the computer just restarts itself. I tried booting Windows 11 installation and various Linux distros with no success. I thought maybe some blocks on the SSD was the issue, so I tried booting ShredOS through USB and even that doesn't work (it loads from the USB and then after a few seconds the computer restarts)

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer

    Can you get into the BIOS? If not then the issue isn't with Windows, since the BIOS load happens before Windows is launched. If you can get into the BIOS, do you have the boot menu enabled (it's usually disabled by default)? If the boot menu is enabled then you should be able to boot from any UEFI flash drive by using the F10 during the initialization while the splash screen is up.

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  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 14,475 Trailblazer

    I recommend bringing/shipping the laptop to Acer Services in your country to reset the system to factory defaults for a small service fee. 😉

  • dontaskmehoworwhy
    dontaskmehoworwhy Member Posts: 3 New User
    edited December 2023

    Yes I am able to access BIOS. The problem is no matter what software I boot with (Linux or windows) the machine restarts after 20-30 sec into loading stuff from the USB…I've tried a dozen different Linux distros, ShredOS and Win11 same issue :/.

    I have to mention that I did swap the 512GB SSD with a Kingston A2000 1TB M.2 nvme SSD, ill try replacing back the original SSD as I suspect the new SSD might be faulty.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer

    Yes, it's possible the new drive is providing corrupted data on reads, causing the crashes while loading an OS, but that shouldn't affect booting from a USB, since that doesn't use the drive at all. When you use the F10 key to get the boot menu at startup, can you take a picture to show us what you are selecting? Pick any of your boot environments, Linux or Windows. When the issue appears after choosing a boot environment, does it give any indication as to an error, or just does a restart, requiring you to hit F10 again to get the boot menu once again?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.