Aspire A515-44 - Startup hangs on green acer logo

iark
iark Member Posts: 2 New User
edited October 2023 in 2020 Archives
I've just bought this laptop a week or so ago, so it's still brand new.
It came with freeDOS, to which I immediately installed the latest windows 10 and everything worked and is still working with no issues.
The SSD is also really fast, which is why im having trouble finding the problem. Could it be something to do with the unit or is it a windows thing?
I've disabled fast-boot, hibernation, etc... Nothing helped or changed the speed at all. It just decides to bootup normally (about 10 seconds), while sometimes it just hangs at the acer logo for a solid 1-2 minutes.

The full specs:
Aspire A515-44/NX.HVZEX.004
Ryzen 7 4700U
8GB RAM
512GB SSD

(Picture of the screen, the circle spinning the whole time)

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,904 Trailblazer
    Shut down Windows normally leaving it in slow boot mode (fast boot unchecked). Remove charger. Insert a  paperclip into the battery reset pinhole on the bottom for about 30 seconds. Plug the charger back in. Cold boot it a few times. If it continues to hang at the logo, immediately return the machine to the vendor due to a suspected faulty SSD for a refund or exchange. Don't wait too long because vendor returns policies are usually only a few weeks. After that, you'll be dealing with ACER warranty service which might take longer to resolve. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • iark
    iark Member Posts: 2 New User
    JackE said:
    Shut down Windows normally leaving it in slow boot mode (fast boot unchecked). Remove charger. Insert a  paperclip into the battery reset pinhole on the bottom for about 30 seconds. Plug the charger back in. Cold boot it a few times. If it continues to hang at the logo, immediately return the machine to the vendor due to a suspected faulty SSD for a refund or exchange. Don't wait too long because vendor returns policies are usually only a few weeks. After that, you'll be dealing with ACER warranty service which might take longer to resolve. Jack E/NJ
    Thanks for your help!
    I tried doing just what you said, but after the first startup it didn't seem to make a difference. It was pretty much a 50/50 on whether it's going to boot slow or fast...
    After you mentioned that it could be a faulty SSD i tried running both memory and ram tests, checking sectors, etc... to which none of the tests showed any issues, and everything was in the green.
    As the laptop is still pretty new, I concluded it must have been something to do with windows but I couldn't figure out what. Giving up, I completely wiped the laptop, reinstalling windows 10 from a fresh download and after around 10-15 restarts by now the issue is not happening...
    I have no clue what changed, but it must have been a faulty installation...
    Hopefully I won't be needing to contact acer support, and thanks again!
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,904 Trailblazer
    Good luck. Check to make sure DeviceManager doesn't show any red or yellow warnings since you are now on the Microsoft generic Win10 instead of the ACER-factory Win10 using the ALT+F10 cold boot reset. The two Win10 systems versions are not the same including the drivers. Jack E/NJ 

    Jack E/NJ

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,188 Trailblazer
    edited November 2020
    iark said:
    JackE said:
    Shut down Windows normally leaving it in slow boot mode (fast boot unchecked). Remove charger. Insert a  paperclip into the battery reset pinhole on the bottom for about 30 seconds. Plug the charger back in. Cold boot it a few times. If it continues to hang at the logo, immediately return the machine to the vendor due to a suspected faulty SSD for a refund or exchange. Don't wait too long because vendor returns policies are usually only a few weeks. After that, you'll be dealing with ACER warranty service which might take longer to resolve. Jack E/NJ
    Thanks for your help!
    I tried doing just what you said, but after the first startup it didn't seem to make a difference. It was pretty much a 50/50 on whether it's going to boot slow or fast...
    After you mentioned that it could be a faulty SSD i tried running both memory and ram tests, checking sectors, etc... to which none of the tests showed any issues, and everything was in the green.
    As the laptop is still pretty new, I concluded it must have been something to do with windows but I couldn't figure out what. Giving up, I completely wiped the laptop, reinstalling windows 10 from a fresh download and after around 10-15 restarts by now the issue is not happening...
    I have no clue what changed, but it must have been a faulty installation...
    Hopefully I won't be needing to contact acer support, and thanks again!

    Just for anyone else that is experiencing your problems that you have experienced, a problem like that is because of a bad MBR “Master Boot Record” that can be diagnosed and fixed with the ‘Windows Install Media’ by booting to it and doing the following:

    1] Press F8 while booting the system to go into the Windows Recovery Menu or you can use the ‘Windows Install Media’

    2] Click on Troubleshoot.

    3] Click on Advanced options to get into the Automatic Repair menu.

    4] We need to use the Bootrec.exe tool. Click on command prompt and type in the following commands, one after the other:

                      bootrec /RebuildBcd

                      bootrec /fixMbr

                      bootrec /fixboot

    Exit and now go ahead and reboot your system. In some cases, you may need to run some additional commands.

                     bootsect /nt60 SYS or bootsect /nt60 ALL

    It’s wise to backup MBR or create a System Recovery Disk so that in case something like this happens again you don’t have to run for the Windows Recovery Disk. To create a system recovery drive in Windows, follow these steps:

    • Press Win + R and type in RecoveryDrive.exe
    • Click Next
    • Once you insert the USB drive, it will start creating the Recovery for your USB drive.