CXI4 boot and logon issues

We have thousands of chrombooks and chromboxes and don't have many problems with the OS. We bought 26 Acer CXI4 chromeboxes recently and all of them are having the same issues. The complaint from the end-users is that they take multiple minutes to boot up and then they would have many difficulties logging in. I observed these issues on the three CXI4 Chromeboxes that I looked into. 2 weeks ago I powerwashed 2 of them and they worked perfectly after the powerwash. 2 weeks later the users reported the issue is back. I went back and took a look and the issue was preset again. It took over 2 minutes and 30 seconds to boot past the new chrome OS splash screen. I power washed them again and they are working perfectly again. They boot to the login screen within 13 seconds and we don't even see the splash screen. I have them updated to the latest OS of 103.+ Is anyone else having this issue with this model?

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JackE

>>power washed them again and they are working perfectly again. >>> Is anyone else having this issue with this model?>>>

Hadn't heard of this one before your post. All 26 should still be under warranty. So warranty service will probably ask if all of them --- not just two ---exhibit the same slow boot behavior 2 weeks after a wash. They're also probably gonna ask what response you got from the google help forums other than it must be an ACER chromebox problem. IMO it seems like a networking issue.

JasonSysAdmin

I am interested in what kind of network issue you might suggest is the culprit. The network is in great shape as we have thousands of other devices working fine. The new Chrome OS 103 just came out so I upgraded a few of them. I will let you know if this resolves the issue.

JackE

I can only wildly guess on the network issue. But seems like the Acers are having trouble with handshaking or establishing full rapport with the network on startup two weeks after a power wash. I have no idea what could've suddenly and uniformly changed during that time to cause this. Possibly some cyclical environmental RFI or AC mains circuit noise interference where they're located?

William_mk2

JasonSysAdmin

If the power wash is not fixing the issue then we can always do a hard reset ..

Kindly follow the details from the link given below. It will show you how to perform a hard reset.

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/496-reinstall-powerwash-the-chrome-os

Once the hard reset is completed try to check whether it is working fine by connecting to wireless.

You can always try the esc + refresh + power to perform hard reset . Keep holding the esc + refresh. Dont hold the power button
It will show chrome os is missing or damaged - Please note the model no on the bottom of screen. It will be helpful to download the operating system.
Now remove the fingers from esc + refresh
Try Ctrl + d
press enter to turn os verification off
press space
press enter to turn os verification on
click on get started on welcome to chromebook
Try to connect to network ..

Even after doing the hard reset if you are facing the same issue then you have to download the chrome os on the flash drive and install it.

JasonSysAdmin

Hey Jacke. These Chromeboxes are located at 15 different sites on different subnets where all other chrome devices work fine. It would be very peculiar for just these 26 to have network issues at all 15 sites.

Hi William. A few of our techs tried this at a few sites and the issues returned.

JasonSysAdmin

Jacke and William, I do appreciate your help. I forgot to add this to my comments.

JackE

The thing is, the power wash does in fact fix the problem. But two weeks later it re-appears. Some 2-week cyclical event seems to be triggering the problem.

JasonSysAdmin

The techs tried pulling the debug logs from them and they fail.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ip/zrl74xoyw88n.jpg

billsey

I wonder if you are seeing drive issues, maybe something like running out of storage due to some out of control logging. The CXI4 models come with either an eMMC drive soldered to the motherboard or an M.2 flash drive. Do these units all have the same setup? Do you know if the drive is eMMC or M.2? All the same size?

JasonSysAdmin

I have not seen a full drive on any of them yet. The 5 or 6 I checked are using about 30 GB out of 106. Is there a way to see the hard drive type without opening up the chromebox?