Dead Acer laptop advice

grumpycrab

DavidP24 wrote: »

If you have no ram just how do you expect ANY code to run, you would be lucky to get POST to work.

Ok thanks - if a laptop has no RAM then I won't see anything on the screen. With RAM I see nothing on the screen either; I guess I need to find some different RAM to rule that out as a problem.

donniedarko

grumpycrab wrote: »

How to do a "BIOS recovery".

You would need to supply an exact model number. It's not the same for every machine....

DavidP24

If the CPU is OK but the Ram is faulty there is usually some POST activity, if you have two modules try using just one and swap the slot you put them in.

Then when you power up the box watch and listen, see what activity there is and whether any bleeps. It may well be the CPU, Ram or motherboard, it is very rare to lose the Bios. Usually you find the model on Acer site, there will be a utility for flashing and code file for it to flash, but they usually require you can actually boot a USB or CD. Buy a cheap CPU from same family on eBay and swap it out

forgotmyname

Try booting with an external monitor.

donniedarko

DavidP24 wrote: »

If the CPU is OK but the Ram is faulty there is usually some POST activity, if you have two modules try using just one and swap the slot you put them in.

Then when you power up the box watch and listen, see what activity there is and whether any bleeps. It may well be the CPU, Ram or motherboard, it is very rare to lose the Bios. Usually you find the model on Acer site, there will be a utility for flashing and code file for it to flash, but they usually require you can actually boot a USB or CD. Buy a cheap CPU from same family on eBay and swap it out

That is why it is a BIOS recovery, not a traditional BIOS flash.
If it was that rare, they wouldn't have a recovery process.
It's far more prevalent than you imagine.

DavidP24

Too many years, too many PC's, Servers and Laptops, never seen that, even when flash mucked up half way through.

I just go with what is more likely anyway!:rotfl:

donniedarko

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c02693833

If the BIOS on your notebook PC becomes corrupted, the computer might show one or more of the following symptoms:
The computer displays the error message BIOS APPLICATION ERROR 501.
The computer stops at a black or blank screen and does not enter any of the start options, such as the BIOS Setup Utility, Hardware Diagnostic Tools, or System Recovery.
The computer does not start the operating system and the Caps Lock or Num Lock light blinks twice, or the computer emits beep codes.
The computer turns on, for example the fan might spin, but there is no video on the internal display or external monitor, and the computer does not start the operating system.
If the computer shows any of these symptoms and it does not start the operating system, recover the BIOS.

Just one example.

There are likely a lot of things that you don't know about computers. Which is why it's good to have people with different experience on the board.

grumpycrab

Thanks guys. The Acer is back with owner deciding what to do (they have a spare Toshiba in the meantime); nothing appears when a VGA monitor is plugged in; its an Acer p253 travelmate. I need to try some different memory and will check for BIOS recovery.

DavidP24

donniedarko wrote: »

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c02693833

Just one example.

There are likely a lot of things that you don't know about computers. Which is why it's good to have people with different experience on the board.

Absolutely, I just try to go with most probable.

Thanks for post though, all input useful, to a degree.

DavidP24

grumpycrab wrote: »

Thanks guys. The Acer is back with owner deciding what to do (they have a spare Toshiba in the meantime); nothing appears when a VGA monitor is plugged in; its an Acer p253 travelmate. I need to try some different memory and will check for BIOS recovery.

Do let us know. Always interesting to get to the bottom of such errors.