Off-Topic

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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Sandringham
The It Crowd - Help!!
Yesterday my laptop died. Just gets stuck in a loop where it shows the first Acer logo then powers off again.

I've tried removing the battery, leaving it overnight to recharge ... No luck.

Any guesses whether the battery is buggered or software related?

Hopefully this video and pics work to show the issue. (Damn can't get the vid to upload)

image.jpg
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
Laptops should work without the battery even in, so if it won't start without the battery but with mains, you've ruled that out (though what you're describing is largely unrelated).
If you're getting to the Acer splash then it reboots before it actually attempts to boot, then you have a hardware issue. If it manages to get past the Acer screen then tries to hit windows then restarts, it's possibly software (ie Winblows).
Without seeing the video, it's kinda hard to tell which point you're getting bjorked at.
 

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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Sandringham
Good point about the battery, just tried without it and same issue.

Get this screen for 3 seconds then turns off and tries again.

We've had issues a few times with it turning itself off when on Skype or watching a movie and the IP camera at the same time, overheating I think.
image.jpg

So not looking good? Hope the hard drive is recoverable at least ... Lots of photos on there not backed up :rolleyes
 

grimnir

Member
Aug 12, 2013
197
98
Parkinson
First things I would do before stripping it down to reseat the CPU is;
Remove the HDD and see if it at least gets to a prompt asking to insert a boot device. - if so the HDD could be on its last legs.
Also remove and reseat the RAM. if it has two SODIMMs try just booting up on one.
to test the HDD you could either direct attach it to a PC via SATA cable, or put it in an external 2.5" USB enclosure and see if it 1 detects and 2 lets you see the data.
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
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Ballarat, Victoria
Assuming that this isn't under warranty?

Try the above, though I doubt a dodgy HDD is going to cause a spontaneous reboot at POST (dealt with hundreds of dead/dying HDDs and never seen one do that to a machine that I can recall, but without a video I can't see if its actually getting past POST). Up side to this is that it usually means that your HDD contents should be OK (so the enclosure mentioned above is a good investment). If you remove the HDD and try and start the laptop you should just get a message about not being able to find an operating system.

RAM maybe, so worth a shot given the spontaneous reboots you've reported while using it, but normally the machine would attempt to boot and get funky rather than just fall over during POST. Still worth a shot. At least RAM and HDD are easily accessible on laptops (with some exceptions).

Overheating is a pretty common laptop issue - especially if you use it in bed, on lap, or anywhere that isn't a flat surface. What kind of fan noises have you had out of the machine - a lot or none? Can you feel airflow around the side vents? If the fan has died or is otherwise not functional, you'll get it to cook quickly.. though starting from dead cold (ie leave it off for a few hours), should allow you to progress further before it has a fit. If it can be narrowed down to overheating, that's really a tech job - unlike PCs, laptops are a lot more delicate, and far more people can dismantle them than can properly reassemble them (including half the kids from manufacturer repair agents....).
Assuming it's not just a dead fan, a dodgy RAM module or a freaky HDD, then you're rapidly going into the territory of repairs that may well hurt the budget.. a lot... as there aren't many parts in laptops that can be replaced, and beyond the hard disk and RAM modules those parts are model specific and bloody expensive. In such a case.. always ask for a quote to repair (and acknowledge what the quote fee is given its most of the repair labour to find the problem).
 

MTG

Moderator
Jul 10, 2011
10,664
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Gold Coast
looks like a hardware issue, do as above. reseat the ram for starters, and if no go, try removing the hdd to see if it gets any further, i have seen hdds cause issues like this before, if both of the above dont work its highly possible that the thermal paste has degraded and the cpu is over heating (only takes a few seconds) or even worse motherboard failure
 

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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Sandringham
Thanks everyone. Looks like I need to check out the inner workings of a laptop! Haven't messed with RAM and motherboards etc since old desktop days.

Still can get the video to upload, iPhone/iPad videos not allowed? Anyway, literally shows just that screen posted above.

Cheers
 

chimaera

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May 13, 2012
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Okay I removed and replaced the memory and processor, no impact.

Removing the hard drive did generate the prompt about no bootable device.

So sounds like the hdd is at fault? :(

Don't massively care about the laptop, more so the hdd contents.

Guess I will try taking it into work an seeing if IT girl (yep there are some apparently) will help me try to test it.
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
Okay I removed and replaced the memory and processor, no impact.

Removing the hard drive did generate the prompt about no bootable device.

So sounds like the hdd is at fault? :(

Don't massively care about the laptop, more so the hdd contents.

Guess I will try taking it into work an seeing if IT girl (yep there are some apparently) will help me try to test it.
If you're lucky, Winblows might just be bjorked and was throwing a quick BSoD without you seeing it. That would be a the better of the possible scenarios ;)
 

MTG

Moderator
Jul 10, 2011
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Gold Coast
damnit chim didn't you have a backup? i run tripple backups im so anal about data loss, see it happen every single day :(
 

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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damnit chim didn't you have a backup? i run tripple backups im so anal about data loss, see it happen every single day :(
Worst thing is I have a 1TB hard drive, just haven't done an actual back up for a long time, like a year.

Our daughter's baby photos are the biggest potential loss : (
 

MTG

Moderator
Jul 10, 2011
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Gold Coast
Worst thing is I have a 1TB hard drive, just haven't done an actual back up for a long time, like a year.

Our daughter's baby photos are the biggest potential loss : (
worst comes to worst you can send it away to get the disk platter taken out and data recovered. doesent come cheap but worth it if its memorys that will else be forgotten!
 

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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worst comes to worst you can send it away to get the disk platter taken out and data recovered. doesent come cheap but worth it if its memorys that will else be forgotten!
Any companies or people you could recommend? Might end up being the way we go.

When you say not cheap ... How much is not cheap?
 

MTG

Moderator
Jul 10, 2011
10,664
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Gold Coast
Any companies or people you could recommend? Might end up being the way we go.

When you say not cheap ... How much is not cheap?
not to sure havent had to do it yet but i can try ask around. can range from couple hundred to couple thousand :o
 

chimaera

enjoy the little things
May 13, 2012
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I just bought a SATA-USB enclosure so I can see if my work laptop can 'see' the drive and data. Figured spending $5 was worthwhile before going to a data recovery specialist. I also have an old laptop on which Windows needs reinstalling (was on its last legs so just bought the new laptop instead), so hopefully can recover some pics etc from that drive too.