Acer Nitro 5 AN515-51 504A Black Screen on boot, attempting fix through BIOS recovery

toch49
toch49 Member Posts: 9

Tinkerer

edited October 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hey everyone. 

So yes, I've run into the highly sought after black screen of death. I'll list what I've tried below:

-Connecting to external display, which did not work (using fn key and all that). Also the screen is completely off, no image showing with flashlight in dark room etc. 

-the device has two RAM sticks (16gb total) which came with it. I've tried switching them and booting with only one in each slot, no luck. Tried each one on all slots, nada.

(Oddly enough, switching both ram sticks stops the pc from booting at all. It just flashes blue light indicator at the side 3 times along with keyboard LED and switches off, don't know if that's important).

- tried disconnecting the battery and reconnecting, both regular and cmos, no dice. Unseated the HDD and RAM sticks dozens of times, nothing. The SSD (where it normally boots from) I've unseated only once I think. Not eager to try anymore than that cos I'm terrified of it, unless that's necessary. 

Now the fun part: BIOS recovery, using fb + esc which is the only thing that gets my fans running as opposed to windows  + b. The flashes I've tried using are 1gb and 8gb, formatted to fat32.

I've gone nuts at this point. I got the latest bios update for my acer, 1.22. Ran it on another pc, got what was supposed  to be a .fd file from the Temp directory (mine was iscflash.bin). 

I've renamed it all sorts of ways. AA, BB, AAHW, BBHW (gotten from platform.ini within extracted exe, as platformname 1 and 2). Also changed file extension to .fd, .rom, and .bin. Used Andy's tools to get a filename but that really didn't work. NB: Most of these extensions and filename I tried all at once, I read somewhere the pc can decide what it wants. Please correct me if I'm wrong, so I can begin the absolutely marvelous grind of trying them all one at a time.

I also tried renaming to C5PRH (filename of the extracted exe from bios file), that proved a dead end as well. 

Through all of this I have never even gotten telltale signs that something is happening. No beeps except when I disconnect the cable, no flashing indicators anywhere, just fans blazing away and red backlit keyboard.

Now, here are the things I HAVEN'T tried:
Factory reset: Not keen, plus I heard it didn't even fix the problem for someone else. I'm saving that for the last hail Mary shot.

Running bios stuff without ssd: again, not super excited about this, but open minded on the matter. I just figured the fn + esc bit would make the computer ditch the SSD on its own.

Repair people: where I live doesn't have many trustworthy guys. And the closest repair center for acer is about half  continent away. Plus, I doubt I'd be able to afford it. Also, pride maybe? 

Important thing to note, is that I had just updated windows before this party started. On Sat the 21st, windows sneakily downloaded an update and forced me to install it. I did, and the pc restarted just fine. Then I shut it down, tried to boot, and the black screen lovingly embraced me.

I think that's all the information I know to give.

In summary, I'm sad and I need help. 

Answers

  • When you upgraded windows, was there any updates to the insyde firmware driver or something? Have you tried resetting the battery like this?
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    I'm not exactly sure what was updated, didn't check. I'm running windows 10. And yeah, I tried the battery reset, a lot of times while doing different stuff, no change
  • Although it is a suggestion that has nothing to do with any windows update, have you checked that this button is being pressed correctly?
    Resultado de imagem para boto de interrupo an515-51
    Try adding a few layers of electrical tape to better press the button:

    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Although it is a suggestion that has nothing to do with any windows update, have you checked that this button is being pressed correctly?
    Resultado de imagem para boto de interrupo an515-51
    Try adding a few layers of electrical tape to better press the button:

    Tried that as well, didn't work. Opened the bay and manually held down the button while booting the laptop.

    Sorry I left out so many things I've already tried, been such a long journey I've forgotten quite a bit.
  • Have you tried disconnecting ssd and booting with an hd?
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Have you tried disconnecting ssd and booting with an hd?
    No, I haven't. I could though. I guess I'd have to load windows on to to the Hd first right? 
  • Are you sure the firmware driver has not been updated by windows update? When the update was completed, was windows restarted correctly?
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Are you sure the firmware driver has not been updated by windows update? When the update was completed, was windows restarted correctly?
    I'm not sure if that's been updated, but yes windows did restart correctly. I used the laptop for a few hours then shut it down. Started it up again and met the black screen. 

    While I have you, do you know if I'm running the BIOS recovery properly? Like if its fn+esc, the filename, all that? 
  • If windows was restarted normally then I believe it is not a problem in bios. Do you reset the bios parameters by disconnecting the RTC battery?
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    If windows was restarted normally then I believe it is not a problem in bios. Do you reset the bios parameters by disconnecting the RTC battery?
    I assume by RTC battery you mean the CMOS battery? For the bios? Cos I did that.

    Well I didn't bring the battery out of the black tape or anything like that, but I did remove and reattach the connector of the battery to the motherboard.
  • Yes, that's right! Can you record a problem video and post on youtube? Do the battery and power LEDs light up or flash?
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Yes, that's right! Can you record a problem video and post on youtube? Do the battery and power LEDs light up or flash?
    At first they used to flash, then when I switched the RAM sticks it'd just light up and stay on.

    Actually got it to a repair guy today and he got it to boot up, at least at the time. His diagnosis was when I switched the RAM sticks, I should have booted up with the internal battery disconnected (which I hadn't tried before).

    Unfortunately after I got home I was back to square one: the power LED and keyboard backlight just flash about 3 times, then the laptop shuts off.

    As for the video I don't have the laptop on hand right now, but I'll make one as soon as I can.
  • I will also call some friends to check this post. @JackE and @billsey.
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • sri369
    sri369 ACE Posts: 2,763 Pathfinder
    edited December 2019
    Considering BIOS recovery means BIOS updating... I am not sure why you went for BIOS updates/resets without trying out basics... based on your first post. Personally, updating BIOS on a malfunctioning system is to be deferred as a last and ultimate step - and done only if you are sure it is a BIOS issue.

    If you are not performing any BIOS update, skip directly to here.
    Does the laptop make any "beeps" when powering on? If there is an issue with RAM or such, the system would me a bunch of distinct beeps.

    Can you even get to see the BIOS? Does the screen turn on when you use F2 repeatedly after turning on power?
    If screen does not turn on here, send it to service center.

    If screen turns on and you are able to see the BIOS, try the below options.
    1. Get Linux live usb and see if that works.
    2. Create a USB bootable windows installation disk on a different PC and boot with it and clean install windows.
    -----
    Karma...
    LIKE - if helpful
    ACCEPT - if helped resolve
  • AddressFinder
    AddressFinder Member Posts: 2 New User
    toch49 said:
    Yes, that's right! Can you record a problem video and post on youtube? Do the battery and power LEDs light up or flash?
    At first they used to flash, then when I switched the RAM sticks it'd just light up and stay on.

    Actually got it to a repair guy today and he got it to boot up, at least at the time. His diagnosis was when I switched the RAM sticks, I should have booted up with the internal battery disconnected (which I hadn't tried before).

    Unfortunately after I got home I was back to square one: the power LED and keyboard backlight just flash about 3 times, then the laptop shuts off.

    As for the video I don't have the laptop on hand right now, but I'll make one as soon as I can.
    Did you fix the rpomblem I got this too
  • @AddressFinder Ideally, you should create a new topic by clicking ask a question. Add me by putting an @.
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    Hey guys! 

    So sorry I'm replying this after all this time. Left my laptop with a repair guy and had to head back to school without any real warning. We had to shut down though, Covid and all.

    Anyway, I got it back from the guy and he said that the issue was with one of my RAM sticks. I have two sticks (8gb each) and while one could power the laptop, the other couldn't. So I guess with both of them in there the laptop tried off of both and kept getting stuck.

    Anyways, he said the bad stick wasn't dead per se, it just needed to be "reflowed" (?). I don't know, I guess that's a thing. 

    Anyways, thanks for your help everyone! Sorry again for ghosting. Tagging @AddressFinder in case he's still stuck. 
  • I don't think it's a good idea to do a reflow in ram. I think the cost of this procedure may be higher than purchasing a new ram.
    Oi! Eu não sou sou a cortana! Mas estou aqui para ajudar! Hi! I'm not the cortana! But I'm here to help!
    Se você gostou da minha resposta, marque como solução clicando em sim! If you liked my answer, mark it as a solution by clicking on yes!
    Aceite somente a resposta que ajudou a solucionar o seu problema! Please accept only the response that helped to solve your problem!
    Detection tool click here to find the serial number or partnumber of your model!                                                          
                                                      
                                                     egydiocoelho Trailblazer
     
    ProductKey clique aqui para descobrir o serial do windows! click here to discover the windows serial!
    Para usuários da comunidade inglesa, espanhola, francesa e alemã, usarei o google tradutor! :)
    For users of the English, Spanish, French and German community, I will be using google translator! :) 
  • toch49
    toch49 Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer

    I don't think it's a good idea to do a reflow in ram. I think the cost of this procedure may be higher than purchasing a new ram.
    Oh okay, thanks for the heads up. I didn't plan on doing it or getting a new RAM stick anyways. Think I'll just carry own with a single 8gb stick until I get a new system next year or something 
  • Bryant231
    Bryant231 Member Posts: 1 New User
    Im having this same issue right now