TC-1770-UR11 inadequate power by design or defect?power supply stickers say that its 300 watt

SteveRaff · January 11

I have a two-month-old TC-1770-UR11. The power supply stickers say that it is a 300 watt supply. Everything works excellently when the computer is "as shipped". But, when I try to add anything that draws more power (NVME drive in PCIE adapter or case fan connected to the case fan pins on the motherboard) the system will not boot. When starting, it beeps once and displays the "Press <del> to enter BIOS, Press <F10> to display boot menu." prompt. It hangs there and does not respond to any keyboard or mouse input. If I power-cycle it, it repeats the same process until I remove the load. Then it works fine again.

I called Acer support but the tech went into a rant about installing RAM with the wrong speed and I couldn't get him out of that rut.

Do any of you smart people know how I should proceed?

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

JackE · January 12

NVME drive in PCIE adapter or case fan connected to the case fan pins on the motherboard

A 300w PSU should easily accommodate both.

However, power to the case fan pinouts on the mainboard might be limited if trying to add fans to the existing factory fans. Also the existing factory case system fan might be controlled by PulseWidthModulation (PWM) or DC voltage. See if you can tell from the labels which type of factory fan you already have.

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

billsey · January 12

A SSD in the M.2 slot is part of the stock[ power budget, so there's something else going on if it's not working.

SteveRaff · January 12

However,
power to the case fan pinouts on the mainboard might be limited if
trying to add fans to the existing factory fans. Also the existing
factory case system fan might be controlled by PulseWidthModulation
(PWM) or DC voltage. See if you can tell from the labels which type of
factory fan you already have.

There is no existing factory case fan. That's why I tried to add one. My office gets pretty warm in the summer.

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

It is a Western Digital NVME that works in other computers.

SteveRaff · January 12

A SSD in the M.2 slot is part of the stock[ power budget, so there's something else going on if it's not working.

No, the SSD in the M.2 slot works perfectly. But, when I try to add a second M.2 SSD onto a PCIE adapter, it fails.

JackE · January 12

> >There is no existing factory case fan. > >But, when I try to add a second M.2 SSD onto a PCIE adapter, it fails. > >

Strange. Stock factory system should have at least a rear fan. Who was the vendor? Is the fan connected to the mainboard fan socket labelled Sys_Fan1?

With both m.2 SSD cards removed, can you access the BIOS menu? Then see if you can still access the menu with the WD card alone testing in each m.2 socket.

SteveRaff · January 12

I bought the computer from Amazon but it appears to have been shipped from PCOnline in Newark DE.

Yes, I connected the case fan to the fan socket labelled Sys_Fan1.

Excellent idea! BTW, both primary and secondary drives are Western Digital.

Able to get into BIOS with no drives present.
Able to get into BIOS with secondary drive in motherboard NVME socket.
Able to get into BIOS with secondary drive in PCIE slot and motherboard NVME socket empty.

Drive appears in BIOS in tests 2 and 3.

It seems like there isn't enough power to run these additional devices. But, weirdly, I can connect a USB-powered backup HDD and it runs fine. But maybe the USB gets its power differently.

JackE · January 12

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

JackE · January 12

primary and secondary drives are Western Digital.

Hold on. What's the primary drive form factor?

SteveRaff · January 13

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

Both drives are NVME. I haven't tried to put the primary drive into the PCIE NVME adapter yet.

I'll give that a go and get back to you. I'm pretty certain I will be able to get into the BIOS but I don't know if it will boot or not.

SteveRaff · January 13

Yep, it boots from the primary drive that's in the PCIE adapter and the motherboard socket is empty.

I'm writing this message with it configured that way.

JackE · January 13

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

JackE · January 13

Also you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What "adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't need an adapter?

SteveRaff · January 13

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

Beeps once then sticks here. Doesn't respond to any keys or mouse activity.

Also
you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What
"adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't
need an adapter?

On this computer the m.2 socket is single sided. Even in your photo, it looks like there are no hold-down screw holes for a second SSD.

So, I've been using this adapter to add a second SSD.

[Edited the content to hide sensitive information]

JackE · January 13

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard. While multi-lane capable NVMEs should work, many won't. Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie? Greenies are WD's budget series.

SteveRaff · January 14

Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie?

Yes, the original ssd is a greenie.

SteveRaff · January 14

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard.

The adapter is a 4 lane device. I'm putting it into #17 the X16 slot.

JackE · January 14

Yes, and it 'should' still be compatible with a single lane PCIe socket albeit at a slower speed. 'Should' and not 'would' is the keyword though. If your old boot WD greenie is also an NVME —- and boots from the adapter — then both WD greenies 'should' work when both are installed.

The other x16 socket is for a dedicated GPU card. So I'm not sure what's gonna happen if you plug the adapter into it. Hopefully something good. Good luck.

billsey · January 16

That PCIe card looks like an x4 card, not an x1. It should not even fit into the x1 slot. There are limitation to what kinds of card can be placed in the x16 slot, the design assumes any card in there is a GPU, so a lot of the other PCIe card types will not work.

SteveRaff · January 21

I'm giving up on the PCIe card idea. I've put that card & drive into another computer that serves as my NAS. They work fine in that computer. When I need more storage, I will have to switch out the 1GB NVME for a larger one.

Billsey, since you say "the design assumes any card in there is a GPU" can you share any mobo documentation that describes that? I always thought an expansion slot had no assumptions.

JackE · January 21

https://www.crystalrugged.com/knowledge/what-is-pcie-slots-cards-lanes/ "PCIe x16: This is the largest PCIe slot with 16 data lanes. PCIe x16 slots are associated with graphics cards (GPUs) and provide the highest bandwidth available on a standard consumer motherboard. High-end gaming, content creation, and workstation systems often feature PCIe x16 slots for powerful graphics processing."

TC-1770-UR11 inadequate power by design or defect?power supply stickers say that its 300 watt

Answers

A 300w PSU should easily accommodate both.

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

Jack E/NJ

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

Strange. Stock factory system should have at least a rear fan. Who was the vendor? Is the fan connected to the mainboard fan socket labelled Sys_Fan1?

With both m.2 SSD cards removed, can you access the BIOS menu? Then see if you can still access the menu with the WD card alone testing in each m.2 socket.

Jack E/NJ

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

Jack E/NJ

Hold on. What's the primary drive form factor?

Jack E/NJ

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

Jack E/NJ

Also you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What "adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't need an adapter?

Jack E/NJ

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

Also
you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What
"adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't
need an adapter?

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard. While multi-lane capable NVMEs should work, many won't. Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie? Greenies are WD's budget series.

Jack E/NJ

Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie?

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard.

Yes, and it 'should' still be compatible with a single lane PCIe socket albeit at a slower speed. 'Should' and not 'would' is the keyword though. If your old boot WD greenie is also an NVME —- and boots from the adapter — then both WD greenies 'should' work when both are installed.

The other x16 socket is for a dedicated GPU card. So I'm not sure what's gonna happen if you plug the adapter into it. Hopefully something good. Good luck.

Jack E/NJ

Jack E/NJ

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TC-1770-UR11 inadequate power by design or defect?power supply stickers say that its 300 watt

Answers

A 300w PSU should easily accommodate both.

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

Jack E/NJ

What brand NVME card are you trying to add? It may be defective.

Strange. Stock factory system should have at least a rear fan. Who was the vendor? Is the fan connected to the mainboard fan socket labelled Sys_Fan1?

With both m.2 SSD cards removed, can you access the BIOS menu? Then see if you can still access the menu with the WD card alone testing in each m.2 socket.

Jack E/NJ

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

Jack E/NJ

Hold on. What's the primary drive form factor?

Jack E/NJ

Does the old m.2 also boot from the PCIe SATA m.2 socket with the NVME socket empty?

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

Jack E/NJ

Also you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What "adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't need an adapter?

Jack E/NJ

So now what happens when you insert the new card in the original boot socket?

Also you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What "adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't need an adapter?

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard. While multi-lane capable NVMEs should work, many won't. Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie? Greenies are WD's budget series.

Jack E/NJ

Is the original boot card also a WD NVME Greenie?

#16 PCIe socket is a single lane connection to the rest of the mainboard.

Yes, and it 'should' still be compatible with a single lane PCIe socket albeit at a slower speed. 'Should' and not 'would' is the keyword though. If your old boot WD greenie is also an NVME —- and boots from the adapter — then both WD greenies 'should' work when both are installed.

The other x16 socket is for a dedicated GPU card. So I'm not sure what's gonna happen if you plug the adapter into it. Hopefully something good. Good luck.

Jack E/NJ

Jack E/NJ

Categories

Assistance by Acer

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Also
you keep mentioning "PCIe adapter". What do you mean by "adapter"? What
"adapter"? There should be two back-to-back m.2 card sockets that don't
need an adapter?

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™