Solved! Computer Does Not Boot Up (CPU Fan, screen)

[abc617]

Acer Aspire 5535 Computer Specs

So I put my computer into standby mode last night, and when I tired to wake it back up, its screen didn't turn back on.

So I hard-reset it (held the power button until it shut off) and then tried to turn it back on.

Now when I try to boot it up, everything sounds like its working, but the monitor doesn't turn on and the fan starts spinning for 5 seconds, then stops.

In bullet form:
-Put computer in sleep
-Tried to wake up, screen did not turn on-Hard reset
-Try to boot up, screen does not turn on at all, HDD and fans spin up
-CPU fan then stops spinning after 5 seconds, screen still does not turn on

I've tried taking it apart and tried booting with the minimal parts (1 stick of RAM and the HDD) and that didn't work.

I also tried rearranging the RAM so it would somehow work, didn't work either.

Even when I take out the RAM, HDD, and wireless card, the CPU fan still spins for about 5 seconds, then completely stops.

The only other thing I could think of is a motherboard or CPU problem. But I was wondering if anyone else here has an idea of why its not booting up?

One other thing to note is that I did update my drivers earlier that day. But it worked fine the next few hours I had to use it. I updated the drivers around noon, and was using it at 5pm, then around 9pm when I tried to wake it from sleep it stopped booting/screen did not turn on.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AntiZig]

did you reboot after installing drivers? if not, the other likely culprit is you had a power surge during the night that damaged power supply/motherboard.

 

[frozenlead]

What happens when you hook the machine to an external monitor? Does the machine stay on after the 5 seconds?

When you pulled everything off the machine, did you find the BIOS battery? If so, you can remove it, unplug the machine, and take out the main battery. Let it sit for an hour or so; this will clear the board's CMOS, and may allow you to boot.

 

[abc617]

I tried a buddys monitor, still the same problem. I took apart thr laptop and tried taking out the CMOS battery and putting it back in, that didn't help either.

As far as I could tell, there wasn't a power surge or anything, I just put the computer in sleep mode whle I was watching TV. I do have a laptop fan and it runs even while the computer is on sleep so I didn't notice if it went off or not.

I asked another friend and he thinks it could also be the internal GPU. And my computer's warranty is up so no chance aced will take a look at it without a fee.

So now it could either be a problem with the:
CPU
GPU
motherboard

I don't know anyone with a spare AMD CPU to test the CPU. And the GPU is soldered into the motherboard so I don't know if it is even possible to replace the GPU.

I know the only other solution is to replace it at this point. But dies anyone have any other suggestions I could do to test it out?

 

[frozenlead]

What GPU is in the machine?

 

[abc617]

AMD Radeon HD 3200

 

[frozenlead]

Hm. The 3200's generally don't break like their Nvidia friends. I would probably blame this one on the motherboard. Is the machine under warranty?

 

[Murissokah]

My 2 cents:

1. A VGA problem should not preced a memory failure. Removing your RAM should cause your computer to beep or otherwise present a different problem.

2. If turning the computer on with or without memory makes no difference, than your issue should be between CPU, BIOS, Power Supply or Motherboard.

3. I don't know about notebook power supplies, but desktop one can be tested by shorting the green pin with a black one (causing it to start with no load). There should be a similar proceadure for notebooks, though I can't help you there.

I would blame your power source.

 

[abc617]

The computer is 2 years old so its no longer under warranty. I think I disabled the beep in th BIOS but I don't know if it'll mess with the beep if the computer doesn't even boot up to BIOS. But when I try booting the computer with no components at all, it doesn't even beep. So it may be a motherboard issue.

I couldn't take it completely apart but I couldn't find any wiring problem anywhere. There wasnt anything wrong with the power connector as far as i can see Unless something was short circuited and not physically damaged in which case there'd be no way for me to test what's broken.

At this point I'm leaning towards motherboard problem (since it doesn't even beep at all). So I think it might be better to just replace the laptop right now.

As for troubleshooting, anyone have any other ideas?

 

[gnuman]

Have you removed the laptop battery and AC adapter and hold down the power button for 20 sec and put back the parts?

Another thing that it could be is a short in the battery causing the issue with the display not coming up. I've seen batteries act up and cause strange issues.

 

[AntiZig]

^ that type of behavior is typical of dying batteries (they also tend to heat up a lot)
a short in the battery can cause all sorts of issues depending on the mobo power circuit, but unless something got damaged that problem should be easily solved by removing the battery and running the laptop on AC adapter