Acer Aspire 7 A715-74G-77UQ wont turn on

John_M
John_M Member Posts: 4 New User

I have had my Acer Aspire 7 A715-74G-77UQ just over 2 years and it always worked fine. I noticed that the power button was not always working, i sometime had to press it like 10 times before it would turn on. Finally it became so bad that I took it in for repair. The computer shop did a full analysis and also the motherboard was fully checked. They say that the keyboard needs to be replaced (which is quite expensive), but I have my doubts if that is really the issue, as they were also not able to turn the notebook on by trying it straight on the motherboard.

Anyone familiair with this kind of pattern/problem? And have any advice what to do?

Answers

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 14,036 Trailblazer
    edited May 2023

    If that key was not abused or damaged by fluid spills, 2 years is too short for a Power Button hardware failure, a bad cable connection to the keyboard and bad DDR4 module(s) are more likely. Try the Power Drain, unplug, open the back and disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard, press the Power Button for 2 minutes continuous (don't toggle). wait a while and release the DDR4 catch, take out the modules and clean the module contacts carefully with an eraser (rubber), reseat the DDR4 modules properly and push the catch bracket down till you hear a loud click. There also maybe dirt under the Power button key, While the battery is still disconnected get a strip of thin firm paper or a paper thin split end of a bamboo toothpick and wiggle that carefully under the key corners, don't force the key up as it will come off or break. a soft brush may also work but hairs may catch and break off and that will make it worse. Reconnect the battery, close the back of the laptop and see how it starts, don't press the button hard, a light touch should start the laptop. If you have 2 DDR4 modules take the one in slot 2 out and see if that improves the booting and swap the modules it is unlikely that both modules are bad.

  • John_M
    John_M Member Posts: 4 New User
    edited May 2023

    Thanks, tried all suggestions, but unfortunately they did not work. What I also tried earlier is disconnect the main battery and the bios battery for half an hour and then reconnect, also no result.

    What was strange, and come to think about it now, is that when I was able to turn it on in the past, I just put it in sleep mode. Then any key would wake it up from sleep mode, except for the power button. Would that then be a solid indication that it might actually be a faulty Power button? Or is it normal for an Acer notebook to not come out of sleep mode when the power button is pressed.

    Also is there any other way to turn the Acer Aspire 7 A715-74G-77UQ on, besides the power button? I tried removing the keyboard cable and then shorting the the first 2 pins, but that did not work.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 14,036 Trailblazer

    Yes, there is a good alternative to shutdown much better than Sleep and Fast Startup, same power usage as a complete shutdown: Hibernate, to resume from hibernation you use the Power Button too but for some reason that never fails.

    I have the same issue with booting but my laptop (a515-54G) is from 2019, probably my PSU/MOBO is acting up. Like you I avoided shutting down completely (hassle to boot again) so I first used Sleep mode, that caused the LED blinking non-stop at night, I tried hibernating next and It's great, but the option is hidden by Windows like Fast Startup. Change what closing the lid does> "Change settings that are not currently available" will get you here:

    Now you will have Hibernate in the Power menu of Start with Sleep, Restart and Shutdown, you can remove Shutdown from that menu in the registry, I don't show shutdown as I kept clicking on it by mistake. Hibernate will resume where you left of no issues or event errors (like with shutting down) if you forgot to close a program. No Windows startup tune but I don't care. I recommend restarting (Restart not Shutdown) once a week to update and reload all the drivers, refresh the system, purge the cashes and start maintenance jobs.