Brightness and Performance Issues After Restart on Predator Helios PH-18 72 – Power State Bug?

JackV123
JackV123 Member Posts: 5

Tinkerer

Hi everyone,

I’ve been running into a frustrating issue with my Acer Predator Helios PH-18 72 and was wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar or could offer some advice.

The main problem occurs whenever I restart or hard reset the laptop while it’s plugged into AC power. The internal screen dims as though the laptop is running on battery, even though it’s still connected to the charger. If I unplug and replug the power adapter, the brightness immediately corrects itself and everything works normally again. However, this fix is temporary—if I unplug the charger again or restart the laptop, the issue comes back. Interestingly, if I shut the laptop down completely (with Fast Startup enabled), the problem doesn’t happen when I turn it back on.

There’s another symptom I’ve noticed, particularly when gaming or putting the CPU under load. The laptop starts to stutter, almost as if the CPU is thermal throttling, even though the temperatures are well within safe limits. Just like the brightness issue, unplugging and replugging the power adapter fixes the stuttering, and the laptop runs perfectly until the next restart or unplugging.

I’ve tried a number of troubleshooting steps to resolve this. I’ve updated the GPU, chipset, and Intel Management Engine Interface (IMEI) drivers, making sure to clean-install them. I’ve also checked and adjusted the power settings, including turning off adaptive brightness and ensuring the plugged-in brightness is set to maximum. Disabling Fast Startup doesn’t seem to help either.

I performed an EC reset by holding the power button for 30 seconds with the laptop unplugged, but the issue persisted. I also updated the BIOS to the latest version available from Acer’s support site. Lastly, I tested the behavior with an external display connected via HDMI during a restart. The problem doesn’t occur on the external display—the brightness remains normal, which suggests the issue is limited to the laptop’s internal screen.

At this point, I’m starting to think this might be a bug in the EC firmware or BIOS, or possibly a hardware issue with the internal display or the power delivery system. It feels like the laptop isn’t correctly detecting that it’s plugged into AC power during a restart, but I can’t be sure.

Has anyone else run into something like this with their Acer Predator Helios or a similar model? Are there any additional troubleshooting steps I should try? I’m also wondering if it’s time to escalate this to Acer support and whether it might require a firmware update or even a hardware repair.

For now, my only workaround is to unplug and replug the charger after the laptop boots, but it’s not exactly ideal—especially when I need to move the laptop around frequently.

I’d really appreciate any help or a possible workaround. Thanks in advance!

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,976 Trailblazer

    Hi, you should leave the power adapter plugged-in 24/7 and the battery fully charged to 100% all times otherwise the system will throttle power to preserve battery backup, adversely affecting components, also turning off ambient/adaptive brightness in Windows and in Intel's graphics controller will stop this dimming of the screen. Disable the Battery Saver and use Best Performance Power mode in Power & Battery settings.

  • Axxo
    Axxo Member, Ally Posts: 900

    You can try disabling fast startup. by going to the control panel, power options, choose what the power buttons do, clicking on the change settings that are currently unavailable, and disabling fast startup. Try to update the BIOS to see if it resolves the screen brightness issue.

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  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,451 Trailblazer

    Update the bios to the last version 1.10 as its got an EC chip firmware version update and probably a fix for allot of the bugs. Also make sure that you are running Win-11 24H2 and all the windows updates to the last OS build: 26100.2454 and also any firmware that windows has available for this laptop also. Good luck.

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  • JackV123
    JackV123 Member Posts: 5

    Tinkerer

    @Axxo

    Thanks!

    I tried disabling fast-startup, and instead of fixing the issue, it means that the issue recurs with every restart and shut down, and not just when restarting or hard resetting.

    Also have updated the BIOS recently, as I thought this may be the issue and it didn't fix it.

  • JackV123
    JackV123 Member Posts: 5

    Tinkerer

    @StevenGen

    Thanks!

    I tried a BIOS Update recently, as I noticed the update on the Drivers Section, and am currently running 1.10, but this didn't fix the issue.

    I'm also fully up to date on my side, but the update to 24H2 doesn't seem to be coming up for me in the Updates Section yet, seems to only be available on certain devices.

    Is this likely to be the culprit, as it seems more like an EC/Firmware issue?

  • JackV123
    JackV123 Member Posts: 5

    Tinkerer

    @Puraw

    Thanks!

    I only run the laptop plugged in on AC, and it's always at 100% charge. Adaptive Brightness doesn't seem to be an option for me, as the option screenshotted is missing from my Settings section.

    Perhaps on this laptop it's controlled by another application somewhere?

    Also, I'm running this fully through the dedicated GPU, so can't change the Intel Settings at all.

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,451 Trailblazer

    With the Win-11 24H2 update, get the standalone .ISO version and download that file onto the desktop and then click on the executable file and let the update do its thing untill it finishes, its pretty much the same as a windows update. Afterwards as the version 24H2 is a new version of Win-11 you just need to reinstall all your apps and software as the 24H2 update has all the previous 23H2 settings in a folder in C: called Windows.old that will reinstate all the software as it was before. that is all that you need to do, you don't need to wait for this update. Good luck.

    Direct download Windows 11 24H2 ISO files from Microsoft

    WindowsLatest.com has generated the direct download links to the ISO files, which you can refer to below:

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  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,976 Trailblazer

    Adaptive Brightness is in every recent Windows version, but you have to click on the Brightness arrow (see picture) to see it.

    Do not download the "generic" 24H2 ISO file but wait for the tailored upgrade for your system that will be offered by WU as a Feature Upgrade after the holidays, I have two laptops one was upgraded 1 month ago (see picture) but the other not yet (same Windows version same CPU same year laptop just different brands). Be patient, like many of us wait for the 24H2 upgrade to avoid a lot of problems.

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,451 Trailblazer

    Microsoft would NOT release a standalone .ISO file if this update method doesn't work, so be aware of that, yes you can wait for the version 24H2 to be release on your laptop, so its your choice. As my advice was to you above, the standalone installation of the Win-11 24H2 works perfectly and I did the above .ISO download and installation of the "version 24H2 Upgrade" when this version first came out on 3 different laptops a 2021 Nitro 5 AN515-56, a Swift SSFX14-52G and an Aspire A515-57 laptops and they all work 100% and perfectly, but its your choice. Good luck.

    If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍