Black screen on startup, including external monitor Acer Aspire e 15 E5-573-3422

potatan
potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
edited May 2021 in Aspire Laptops
Hi,
When starting up I can hear the laptop HDD working as normal but the screen is completely black, no logo/BIOS screen either. I've connected external monitors separately to the VGA and HDMI ports, and both these remain blank too.
I've reset the battery using the pinhole on the base - no effect. I've removed the hard drive, memory, battery, still nothing.
Any ideas?
Thanks


Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    (1) Did this happen suddenly for no apparent reason?

    (2) Did you press FN+F6 and FN+F5 to try to toggle the lid and external screens on?

    (3) What is your full E15 model number? For example E5-532G?

    Jack E/NJ

  • Easwar
    Easwar Member Posts: 6,727 Guru
    Hi potatan,

    # Power drain,

    1.Unplug the AC power adapter.
    2. Shutdown the unit.
    3. Search for a pinhole on the backside of your laptop, insert a small paperclip in the battery reset pinhole, press and hold it down for 25 seconds. Then release the paperclip and try to turn on the unit and check.​
    ​Check this T/S and post the result. 
  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    (1) Did this happen suddenly for no apparent reason?

    Yes - it just happened one morning when powering on

    (2) Did you press FN+F6 and FN+F5 to try to toggle the lid and external screens on?

    I have tried this (and also tried without FN in case the FN key is toggled in BIOS)

    (3) What is your full E15 model number? For example E5-532G?

    Model number E5-573-3422

    Thanks for your response
  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    Easwar said:
    Hi potatan,

    # Power drain,

    1.Unplug the AC power adapter.
    2. Shutdown the unit.
    3. Search for a pinhole on the backside of your laptop, insert a small paperclip in the battery reset pinhole, press and hold it down for 25 seconds. Then release the paperclip and try to turn on the unit and check.​
    ​Check this T/S and post the result. 
    Hi, I tried the power drain fix. I also tried unplugging the battery so I was running just from AC. Thanks for your suggestion
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    >>>I have tried this (and also tried without FN in case the FN key is toggled in BIOS)>>>

    Can you still see a BIOS Menu screen? If yes, please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab if possible. The press F9 to set BIOS defaults. Then F10 to save default BIOS settings and exit.

    Jack E/NJ

  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    edited May 2021
    JackE said:
    >>>I have tried this (and also tried without FN in case the FN key is toggled in BIOS)>>>

    Can you still see a BIOS Menu screen? If yes, please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab if possible. The press F9 to set BIOS defaults. Then F10 to save default BIOS settings and exit.
    I don't see a BIOS screen at all, on either the laptop screen or an external. There seems to be no video output whatsoever. I was using F2 to get to the BIOS screen, and judging by disk activity it sounds as though it is getting there but impossible to confirm without video output.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    >>>I don't see a BIOS screen at all, on either the laptop screen or an external.>>>

    Then we'll try to work the BIOS menu blind. Press and hold the power button till the machine shuts off. Then turn it back on and immediately start tapping the F2 key for about 5 seconds. The press F9 to load BIOS defaults. Then press Y to confirm. Then press F10 to save settings and exit BIOS menu. Then press Y to confirm.

    Jack E/NJ

  • Easwar
    Easwar Member Posts: 6,727 Guru
    potatan said:
    Easwar said:
    Hi potatan,

    # Power drain,

    1.Unplug the AC power adapter.
    2. Shutdown the unit.
    3. Search for a pinhole on the backside of your laptop, insert a small paperclip in the battery reset pinhole, press and hold it down for 25 seconds. Then release the paperclip and try to turn on the unit and check.​
    ​Check this T/S and post the result. 
    Hi, I tried the power drain fix. I also tried unplugging the battery so I was running just from AC. Thanks for your suggestion
    Good to know thanks for your update.
  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    JackE said:
     F2 key for about 5 seconds. The press F9 to load BIOS defaults. Then press Y to confirm. Then press F10 to save settings and exit BIOS menu. Then press Y to confirm.
    Thanks, great idea - it seems there may be a final step missing though (just a guess)? Pressing F2 seems to enter the BIOS okay (the disk goes very quiet as if it's not loading Windows), then after hitting F9, Y, F10, Y the disk remains quiet. I was expecting it to reboot at that point. Of course, it could be a related fault
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    Yes, agreed, the HDD should spin up on exiting the BIOS menu.  Try this sequency instead.  F9-enter-F10-enter instead. 

    Jack E/NJ

  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    JackE said:
    Yes, agreed, the HDD should spin up on exiting the BIOS menu.  Try this sequency instead.  F9-enter-F10-enter instead. 
    Still no joy. It sounds like it is rebooting now, but still with a blank screen
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    A long shot. Do you usually log in with a password? If yes, let it boot until the HDD activity seems to settle down or pause.  It should be at an improper shutdown screen waiting for user input for about a minute. If it gets no input, HDD activity resumes to boot to the login screen and pause again. At that point, enter your password  like you normally do. Hopefully a Welcome chime or tone is enabled so it sounds like it's loaded all the drivers and booted to the desktop. Then see if FN+F5 will turn on an external HDMI monitor..

    Jack E/NJ

  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    JackE said:
    A long shot. Do you usually log in with a password? If yes, let it boot until the HDD activity seems to settle down or pause.  It should be at an improper shutdown screen waiting for user input for about a minute. If it gets no input, HDD activity resumes to boot to the login screen and pause again. At that point, enter your password  like you normally do. Hopefully a Welcome chime or tone is enabled so it sounds like it's loaded all the drivers and booted to the desktop. Then see if FN+F5 will turn on an external HDMI monitor..
    Thanks for your helpful suggestions - I think I'll call it a day on this one as it seems to be at the stage of replacing motherboards/components
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    There are still two more options to rule in or rule out a CPU/GPU or BIOS chip hardware failure. First, some users have reported Windows updates affecting the BIOS firmware causing graphics failure. One option is to remove the CMOS coin cell and shorting its mainboard contacts to try to force a BIOS chip reset. The other option is a FN+ESC cold boot BIOS chip firmware flash using a USB stick with the firmware binary file. 

    Jack E/NJ

  • Do you know if the windows update updated the driver insyde firmware, before the problem occurs?
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  • potatan
    potatan Member Posts: 8 New User
    JackE said:
    There are still two more options to rule in or rule out a CPU/GPU or BIOS chip hardware failure. First, some users have reported Windows updates affecting the BIOS firmware causing graphics failure. One option is to remove the CMOS coin cell and shorting its mainboard contacts to try to force a BIOS chip reset. The other option is a FN+ESC cold boot BIOS chip firmware flash using a USB stick with the firmware binary file. 
    Thanks - I've now tried both of these options too, but the results are still the same.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,869 Trailblazer
    Two hardware options. You can try a preprogrammed BIOS chip from several ebay vendors for less than $20.  Easily installed with an small hobby soldering kit. Or you can replace the whole mainboard for about $90USD from Aliexprss.

    Jack E/NJ

  • Easwar
    Easwar Member Posts: 6,727 Guru
    Hi potatan,

    # Try to get the BIOS page.
    1. Turn OFF the unit.
    ​2. Press and hold the F2 key and turn on the unit. 
    3. You will be in setup utility page. 
    4. Once you got the screen release the F2 key.
    5. Tap on F9 key and hit enter key without changing the option.
    6. Tap on F10 key and hit enter key without changing the option.
    7. Your unit will restart by itself. 

    Check this T/S and post the result. ​