Acer Swift SF314-54 Model No.N17W7 Random Hard Shutdown Fault

Spankplanker
Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
edited November 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hi, I'm needing some help 
My daughters laptop is virtually unusable at the moment due to sudden random crashes, where it just shuts off completely to a black screen without saving any data.
I have searched online for similair issues, but not yet managed to solve the problem. See below for relevant information and what I've tried to fault-find so far:


Answers

  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Laptop is 7 months old, purchased March 2020, so still in warranty.
    OS Windows 10 Home 64-bit Version 1909
    BIOS V1.16 
    Fault occurs  when both plugged in & on battery (full or 1/2 charge)
    Fault occurs without any movement or typing on a hard, flat surface.
    Set power settings to never turn off/ never hibernate (on battery and plugged in)
    Disabled screen saver
    Fault occurs in Safe Mode
    Installed Speccy to check temperatures and fault still occurs with CPU temp not exeeding 40 degrees C
    Have tried tightning the case screws, but made no difference.
  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Update: Not Random!
    Hard Shutdown occurs exactly 1/2 hour after pressing the power button.
    I've run schtasks.exe from CMD but there's nothing visible that will run after 30 minutes.
    Run a full scan with Malwarebytes; came up clean.

    Anybody got any other ideas?
  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Event viewer shows:
    Event Type Critical, Event ID 41 Source Kernel-Power
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,276 Trailblazer
    My guess is the issue is going to be heat related. Those are the typical symptoms that occur when a CPU hits the magic 100C level. Try running one of the utilities in the background that displays temperatures (I'm using Core Temp, but there are others). If it is the case that things are getting too hot then it's time to contact Acer support for a warranty repair. They will likely replace the thermal grease or replace the motherboard. Make sure your data is all backed up before sending it in, because it's likely to come back with the factory software load only.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Hi Billsey, thanks for your response.
    I Installed Speccy to check temperatures and fault still occurs with CPU temp not exeeding 40 degrees C
    Also, I timed it with a stopwatch and it is exactly 30 minutes from pressing the power button. Too exact to be heat related.
    It even shuts down  after 1/2 in BIOS

    From what I've gathered so far, it could be an issue with the drivers for Intel Management Engine, (although it's not showing up in Device Manager)
  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    I've just read this article(from 3 years ago) about Intel's Management Engine disaster,

    https://www.northamptoncomputerrepair.com/ask-a-techie/intel-amt-active-management-a-we-told-you-so-moment

     and I saw the advice "leave just enough of the Management Engine present because Intel chips will shut down every 30 minutes if it isn’t detected" I realised this the fault with my laptop that I've been searching for, the last 2 days! My Acer has been crashing to blackscreen at exactly 30 minutes after powering on, and the best solution I'd seen was to open device manager and reinstall IME, but it's absent from my computer. Tried to install it from Acer's support site, but it stops the install saying incompatible.
    Any ideas you could give to try next? 
    Cheers
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,276 Trailblazer
    Which version of the BIOS is installed? I see they redid some of the Intel microcode in 1.09...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Spankplanker
    Spankplanker Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    BIOS V1.16 came installed on the laptop, and still shows as the most current version on Acer support site. 


  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,276 Trailblazer
    Then the Management Engine is at it's latest revision. That article from 3 years ago doesn't apply any longer, other than the magic 30 minutes. It's definitely time to get Acer support involved, they should be able to duplicate the issue easily enough and fix it for you.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.