Aspire switch sw3-016 Bootloop I can't Boot into usb through f12 key.

Yesterday Night I just watched some videos on YouTube and shut the laptop down.On next day when I tried to turn on the laptop it shows the acer logo then it blinks with a message on top left on screen says 'reset system' then the laptop again restarts with the same thing and this continues like a bootloop. I can only turn the laptop on and off with power switch and enter bios with f2 key but I can't Boot into usb through f12 key. When I go to bios I can only change password,date and time but nothing else like boot priority , disabling secure boot and else.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Accepted answers

leonaip

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1182931#Comment_1182931

nice to know you solved it mate 😁

billsey

Be sure and reenable Secure Boot and remove those BIOS passwords once you have everything working right. Without Secure Boot you are vulnerable to EFI viruses…

All comments

William_mk2

@Om_Sarkar

I am really sorry for the inconvenience.. Let us do the basic steps first..

Doing the power drain and bios defaults will really help. Kindly follow the steps given below:

Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices or any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, you can find a pin hole. It is a tiny hole. You can a find a battery symbol indicator next to the hole. It is like a + and – sign symbol as though somebody is trying to shift the battery out. Insert the pin on to the hole for 30 seconds. Remove the pin. Flip the laptop. Connect the charger cable, turn on the computer. Only on laptops where the battery is inbuilt you can find the battery reset hole on the back of laptop.

If you don’t find a pin hole on the back of laptop then you might be using removable battery. There is no need to unscrew anything to remove the battery. Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices and any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, please look at the top or bottom depending on the way you look at it. You can find a long door. It is a battery removable door. Just below that you can find a latch. If you move the latch you can remove the battery door. Once the battery is removed, flip the laptop. Open the top cover, press and hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect the battery back on the back of computer. Connect the charger cable back and then turn on the computer.

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop. Hold the power button for 1 minute. After releasing the button you should wait a while before plugging in power. Just because the button has been pressed doesn’t bleed off all the residual electricity on the motherboard. Wait 15-30 minutes before plugging in power. Then once power is connected wait for a full battery indication before turning the system on. That allows the battery to fully reset it’s internal statistics.

Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear. Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter. Computer will restart and it will load into windows.

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet. Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet. Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet. Try to use an alternative charger if possible. Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it ( as long as the battery is not drained out )

Try windows x

go to device manager

expand Battery

right click on all the items below battery – uninstall

Restart the computer

It should work fine..

William_mk2

@Om_Sarkar

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet. Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet. Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet. Try to use an alternative charger if possible. Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it ( as long as the battery is not drained out )

William_mk2

@Om_Sarkar

If it is still not working..

Different ways of going into repair mode.

I am really sorry for the inconvenience. I will do my best to help you. For me, it looks like a software issue, still we need to isolate the issue.

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt ) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop. Hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.

My goal is to help you to get into repair mode. It will show you - chose an option, continue, troubleshoot, use a device.

Different ways of getting into repair mode:

When you start the computer, once it goes to automatic repair, diagnosing your pc , it will show you something like restart, advanced options. If you click on advanced option, it will go to repair mode where it will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot, use a device. If you are not able to get into repair mode, we might have to do a hard reset to get into repair mode. Turn on the computer. Once it goes beyond the acer logo, turn off the computer immediately by holding the power button. Do this for 6 to 7 times. Turn on the computer. It will go to repair mode.

If it is still not working you have to follow these steps. There are two alt keys on the keyboard. If you look at the bottom row of keyboard you can see the one on the left side of space bar and the other on the right side of space bar. The alt key on the right side will be looking like alt, alt gr or alt car. Turn off the computer. Hold the alt key on the left and tap f10 continuously. It will go to repair mode. If it is not going to repair mode, turn off the computer. Turn on the computer. Hold the right alt key ( alt gr or alt car or alt ) and then tap f10 continuously. It will go to repair mode.

If you are still not able to get into repair mode then we might have to reinstall the windows.

Repair mode is the mode where you can see chose an option, continue , troubleshoot

You can go to troublshoot - advanced option - you can do system restore and other repair options to repair your computer.

You can go to troubleshoot - reset this pc - you can do a refresh and reset

Om_Sarkar

Yesterday Night I just watched some videos on YouTube and shut the laptop down on next day when I tried to turn on the laptop it shows the acer logo then it blinks with a message on top left on screen says 'reset system' then the laptop again restarts with the same thing and this continues like a bootloop. I can only turn the laptop on and off with power switch and enter bios with f2 key but I can't Boot into usb through f12 key. When I go to bios I can only change password,date and time but nothing else like boot priority , disabling secure boot and else.

Pics of BIOS

[Edited the content to hide sensitive information]

Commodore_1995#

What happens when you press alt+f10 before the acer logo?

leonaip

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/678433/aspire-switch-sw3-016-bootloop

corrupted operating system

a sign of a failing or faulty hdd/ssd

RAM needs cleaning or replacement

try System Restore or reset using factory image

reinstall and reformat using usb flash drive

billsey

From the Main BIOS screen, you have the F12 Boot Menu disabled. Turn that to enabled and it will allow booting from a signed install flash drive, such as a Windows install. If you want to boot from an unsigned image, you need to also turn Secure Boot off or add the EFI file for your selection as a trusted boot image on the Security tab. Likely your issue, however, is caused by a failing or failed eMMC drive. A drive repair is likely not cost effective on this old of a machine, since the drive is soldered to the motherboard.

Om_Sarkar

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1176655#Comment_1176655

It just says disabled and I cannot change the option to enable. Almost every option

Om_Sarkar

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1176379#Comment_1176379

Well It just doesn't even go into windows recovery environment

Om_Sarkar

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1176353#Comment_1176353

Nothing it just gives the same error as mentioned

Om_Sarkar

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1176262#Comment_1176262

Just nothing worked

Om_Sarkar

I'm not good in these but I thing you all are right It might have eMMC failure

William_mk2

@Om_Sarkar

We might have to do bios defaults

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear. Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter

If the f9 key is not working go to exit menu and check whether you see load bios defaults - press enter and save changes.

leonaip

do this first:

backup files then reformat and reinstall Windows 11 by following the steps below:

insert a usb flash drive to your laptop or desktop computer. (be sure to backup the contents of your usb flash drive)
download rufus https://rufus.ie/en/, then run it.
watch this video tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmIFNUuLsKA&ab_channel=MuhammedshafiKandoth but skip directly to 1:10 minutes of the video
but in your case, you cannot find the F12 key... all you have to do is go to Boot tab in the BIOS, then make the USB HDD to be the first Boot Priority Order then exit and save settings.
restart your computer and boot the usb... (press F12 key if you already enabled the F12 key in the BIOS or wait for the BIOS to detect and boot your usb flash drive if you already set the boot device priority to usb hard disk or name of the usb flash drive.

billsey

Some models require you to create an admin password for the BIOS before making some types of changes. You then make the changes and remove the admin password afterwards. You need to have the F12 boot menu enabled...