Aspire One A115-31-C2Y3 completely dead

Hi folks,

First post here. I'm a former electronics tech, know my way around computers, etc, and am helping a friend figure out what's wrong with her Acer Aspire One A115-31-C2Y3. One day it just wouldn't start up. Here's what I know:

-No screen or audible response when the power button is pushed.
-Power LED and battery status LED on the side do come on blue if the AC charger is plugged in.
-Battery LED did go from amber to blue (charging to full charge) after I had it plugged in for awhile.
-When LEDs are on, unplugging the AC adapter results in one audible beep.
-Initially she had a Lenovo power supply (same ratings/plug) but a replacement OEM power supply had no change.

The following reset actions had no effect:
-Reset button (pinhole on bottom).
-Unplugging and holding power button down for 30+ seconds to drain all residual power.
-Repeating same with battery disconnected internally.
-Holding down F2 when power button pushed.
-Alt+F10 factory reset has no effect.

Two questions:
1. I have read that some Acer motherboards have surface mount fuses, so am looking for information on that as it would make sense (just fixed an Air Fryer with a blown thermal fuse inside…if you're suddenly dies, probably the same issue and a $1.50 fix).
2. If this is unfixable, how do I recover any files on it? It has no HDD or SSD (or even the MoBo connectors), so just has the onboard Flash Memory, which is a chip soldered onto the MoBo. If there a connector somewhere that can be plugged into an interface to pull files off of it or is she SOL?

Appreciate any advice and assistance.

Thanks,
Jeff

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JackE

-No screen or audible response when the power button is pushed.
-Power LED and battery status LED on the side do come on blue if the AC charger is plugged in.
-Battery LED did go from amber to blue (charging to full charge) after I had it plugged in for awhile.
-When LEDs are on, unplugging the AC adapter results in one audible beep.

Battery pack might be issue. With the machine plugged in, turned on, power LED lit & battery LED blue —- what happens to the power LED immediately after pulling the plug? The beep is normal on pulling the plug.

jlklein

Hi Jack,

When the power cable is removed, the Battery Charge LED (amber or blue depending on charge state) goes out and the Power LED (light bulb symbol) stays blue. If I plug the AC adapter back in, it beeps again, lower volume.

I don't think I mentioned that I also tested the HDMI output to rule out a bad display and nothing. The attached monitor would show a blank, dark display, but it WAS being sensed, as if I pulled the HDMI cable out of the laptop, the display would say "no input" and when I plugged it back in, that message would go away.

Oh, I also did remove the battery pack to rule out reverse charging or shorts and ran the laptop only on AC power, and no change. Additionally, I tried a USB Boot Disk to rule out a corrupted drive, with no luck. No surprise as I still would have been able to get to the BIOS if it was just a drive issue, but figured I'd try anyway in case these weird Chomebook style things didn't have a post-startup-screen.

Thanks,
Jeff

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/685419/aspire-one-a115-31-c2y3-completely-dead

The beep happens whenever power is supplied or stopped to the DC Jack in the laptop.

I suggest bringing the laptop to Acer Services in your country, there are ways to retrieve your data from that drive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny82c3wLOFo

JackE

What happens to the lid screen and external screen when you press the FN+F6 toggle lid screen key combo and FN+F5 toggle external screen combo?

jlklein

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1202999#Comment_1202999

Nada, zip, zilch. No sound, no activity, nuthin'.

I've never actually heard this laptop start up as it's my friends. Do these things have a silent startup like my Macbook Air and tablets, or do they make typical laptop noises starting up? Fan noise, beeps and clicks, R2D2 impressions? ;)

Thanks,
Jeff

JackE

I've never actually heard this laptop start up as it's my friends. »>Fan noise,»>

On startup, the BIOS momentarily applies full power to the fan to avoid stiction stalls. Then backs off before the OS loads. Either a bad battery or failed power button board are usual causes of what you're seeing. However, since there was a faint sign of life from the HDMI port (maybe only detecting a ground connection & a low voltage line), I also suspect a more serious issue with the integrated CPU/GPU.

I suggest asking your friend if this happened all of a sudden for no apparent reason. For example, it would be interesting to know if it happened while in use. This suggests heat damage. Or if it was working fine up to the last shutdown, then never worked again. Or if it was intermittent.

jlklein

Ok, so same as a standard laptop (wasn't sure if this having a soldered on Flash Memory chip meant it acted like an iPad).

My friend said she's been using it a lot the last couple of years with no issues, after not much use before that, then it started getting flaky a couple months ago where every once in a while would take a couple of tries to get it going. The last time it just wouldn't start.

I did test it without the battery connected (on AC adapter) and no change, so I think the battery is fine.
The power button turns the LED status lights on, but doesn't mean there's not other connections in there that don't connect. Have to look and see if there's anything i can check about that.

Jeff

JackE

then it started getting flaky a couple months ago where every once in a
while would take a couple of tries to get it going. The last time it
just wouldn't start.

If intermittently no startup Acer logo screen. But you can hear the fan speed up then back off, Prolly LCD video ribbon cable has conductor breaks in the hinge area from wear &tear of opening/closing the lid too much. Might be cheap fix if that's the case.

Ant671

Hi, I'm a bit late here but was the issue resolved? I own an acer a115-31 and the exact same thing happend to it just about a month ago everything is the same how the other guy described it...is there a fix?