Aspire 3 A315-42G N19C1 crashes after power unplug with DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Hello,
This is essentially follow-up to https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/632379/aspire-3-a135-42g-freezes-after-unppluging-charger. That topic can no longer be commented so I start a new one.
I'm still looking for a solution.
Basically, the laptop freezes in a few seconds after power adaptor is unplugged, then BSOD is displayed with DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE.

My BIOS is 1.11, Windows 10 21H1, all the recent updates installed. I've also installed latest GPU and chipset drivers from AMD Adrenalin package. No change.

I'm guessing something with the Synaptics touchpad driver and external mouse is causing this problem but I haven't been able to repeat the crash to prove it.

I'm curious if the same problem occurs if Linux is installed natively on this laptop, has anyone tried that? Thanks.

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JackE

While plugged in, go to the elevated command prompt. Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport'. Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer. Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser. Post screenshot of the first part of the report if possible that compares design full charge capacity with its remaining full charge capacity. Jack E/NJ

Teksal

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/bs/fkgk3f4mx02r.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/e5/0i3gyu9kmdbn.jpg

Not sure which one is it you ask.

JackE

Sorry, not the history. Please post screenshot of the very first part of the report. It describes the battery model number and compares its current full charge capacity with its brand new full charge design capacity.

Teksal

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/b5/pivcki50st04.jpg

0123456789

JackE

>>>I'm guessing something with the Synaptics touchpad driver and external mouse is causing this problem but I haven't been able to repeat the crash to prove it.>>>

Battery pack seems OK. So the problem is likely due to an incompatible automatic driver update that Win10 did or perhaps a manual driver update that you did. So I have to ask --- why are you guessing that it might have something to do with the touchpad driver or external mouse?

Teksal

I use this laptop with an external mouse when it is plugged in, and I disable the touchpad with Fn+F7 because my palm disturbs mouse pointer while typing.
When I need to switch to battery (which means I need to move away from the desktop) I leave the external mouse on table, and enable touchpad to use it as mouse (external mouse receiver is still on USB port). It usually crashes right after my first touch on touchpad. So I started to suspect something about the mouses. I removed the external receiver from USB port and enabled touchpad with Fn+F7 before unplugging the charger, and I did not observe any crash. But as I said, I could not consistently repeat this success, it still crashes sometimes even if I follow this procedure.
I normally never install drivers outside Windows Update. I used this laptop for months without installing things from outside, but now I'm desparate and trying new things, like instaling AMD Adrenaline package.
I'm actually curious at this point if this is a software or hardware issue. If it is software, which means Windows driver, then I wonder if this problem will be gone if I switch to Linux (which I don't want because Linux on desktop is terrible, but I'll consider if I have to).

JackE

>>>. I removed the external receiver from USB port and enabled touchpad with Fn+F7 before unplugging the charger, and I did not observe any crash>>>

Try another mouse & dongle. The dongle is suspect.

Teksal

Yes, I thought about that too, I tried with 3 different mouse models, 2 Logitech 1 Trust, they're all good quality devices. I experienced the crash with each of them unfortunately.

JackE

How long ago did you discover this?

Teksal

More than a year ago, since the day I purchased this laptop. Nowadays I need to use more on battery than plugged in and it's become annoying. It happened again this morning for example.
I was hoping to reach others who'd reported this issue before.

JackE

>>>More than a year ago, >>>

The best way to rule in or rule out a hardware issue is to back up all your personal files and perform a full erase-everything ALT+F10 cold boot ACER factory reset from the hidden ACER reset partition on the boot drive. I don't recall anyone reporting this exact same problem either with win10 or Linux.

Teksal

I don't recall anyone reporting this exact same problem

I posted a link at the beginning. I also received a private message few months ago from another user about this problem, but he's inactive now. Factory reset is meaningless because one can't keep on using 19xx build Windows 10 anymore. Also my laptop came without OS, it does not have any recovery partition, it originally had only UEFI Shell. My guess is some BIOS upgrade caused this but since it's not possibe to downgrade BIOS, I can't be sure.

JackE

>>>one can't keep on using 19xx build Windows 10 anymore. >>>

No. That shouldn't be of concern. Control Panel's System Protection app is designed to identify and reverse the errant Win10 update that caused the issue. Then we can temporarily block it from re-installing till some future update resolves the issue.

>>>>My guess is some BIOS upgrade caused this but since it's not possibe to downgrade BIOS, I can't be sure.>>>

This usually won't happen without some kind of user involvement. While riskier, a newer firmware version change can be reversed. But we need to have some idea of what the older version was.

Teksal

JackE said:
Control Panel's System Protection app is designed to identify and reverse the errant Win10 update that caused the issue. Then we can temporarily block it from re-installing till some future update resolves the issue.

I'm talking about Windows UPGRADE, not some specific update. 19xx is not supported anymore.

we need to have some idea of what the older version was.

1.07

JackE

>>>I'm talking about Windows UPGRADE, not some specific update. 19xx is not supported anymore.>>>

Sorry. My major version update term means the same thing as your upgrade version term. The System Protection app still applies to both minor version updates and major updates or upgrades.

The safest way to rule in or rule out a hardware issue to re-install the Win10 version that you originally used to see if the problem is resolved. Then let the major updates or upgrades proceed but with Control Panel's System Protection app turned on so we can identify which upgrade and/or one of its minor updates might be causing the problem.

The riskiest way is backdating to v1.07 firmware version to see if the problem is resolved. Backdating the firmware carries a much higher chance of bricking the machine than updating the firmware.

You must decide what you want to try. I can try to walk you through either way.

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