Acer Aspire 5920 - Black screen of death ... HELP !

The Acer Guy Forum » General Discussion

Acer Aspire 5920 - Black screen of death ... HELP !

(27 posts)

Started 2 years ago by Paul
Latest reply from Nadion

Posted by: Paul
Member

Hi

I have an Acer Aspire 5920 Laptop.

When i switch th laptop on the lights come on, the hard drive spins and the CDROM also makes noises.

But, i get nothing on the screen. Not even if i attach an external monitor to the laptop.

Someone told me that the bios may need to be upgraded.

Can anyone tell me how i can do this using a usb mem stick?

Looked online but i need to be 110% sure of what i am doing.

Thank for you help.

Posted 2 years ago #
Posted by: u6b36ef
Member

Hello,
Before doing any of that bios upgrade mem stick stuff try the following. It's easy.

- Turn your laptop over.
- Remove the rear access panel.
- Inside you have; graphics card, fan, heatsinc etc, system ram: but most importantly, two installed cards that are about the same size. [Also maybe a small modem thing somewhere but forget that.]

One is the wireless lan card (Intel 4965).
The second is the Intel (turbo) memory controller: it has some drive application aswell, but forget that for now.
[These two cards I believe are on 'PCI' slots]

Remove the Intel memory controller card: it's not clearly marked but easy enough to decide it's not the wireless card. {No wires attached that are lead off to antennas}.

Turn your laptop back over - be carefull because you may not have replaced the rear cover. Press the power button to start the laptop. Does it work?

I hope so. Once your system is running you may try replacing the Intel card, and reinstalling the drivers 'if you need to'. It will probably all work fine.

P.S. Pure speculation but, did you by any chance try installing unidentical memory modules. The 5920 is dual channel symetrical, so maybe it upsets the memory controller. If so, I'm just guessing; I havn't googled for any insight on this.
I did however google the Intel memory controller to understand a bit about what it does. It appears unessential for a fully functioning laptop. Therefor if Intel mem controller is faulty, your still ok, It's got something to do with Readyboost and Readydrive.

Adios

With reference to the following comment of yours.
[[[[-Someone told me that the bios may need to be upgraded. Can anyone tell me how i can do this using a usb mem stick?-]]]]

Updating bios is a precarious job. Do it only if you need to. I've done it twice - luckily successfully. It's like writing a file to a flash disc: a mistake, corrupted, or interrupted copying means your PC/laptop can't start. New motherboard scenario. Attempting to alter the Basic Input Output System without display? - I've not heard of that.

Posted 2 years ago #
Posted by: Paul
Member

HI
I have tried taking the mem mudles out and starting the laptop but it still dosnt start up. As usual, the lights come on and the hard drive spins up.

I have tried various ways of starting up the laptop but none have worked so far.

Earlier today i spoke to acer, not very useful and wanted the laptop for repair etc.... and this comes at a price.

Any other ideas greatly welcome........

thanks

Posted 2 years ago #
Posted by: u6b36ef
Member

NO. A computer will not show you an image if you take out the memory modules. It can't if it can't remember what it is doing. I did not suggest you remove the memory modules.

I explained, 'take out the Intel turbo memory controller'. Re-read carefully the post that I have already written. I virtually gaurantee it will work.

When the rear access panel is off, you need to be looking at the card which is closest to the vacinity of the sub woofer speaker grill. This card is held in by two screws. Carefully undo the screws, and gently remove the card.

Try starting the laptop. If it works and you're happy your machine is ok - you might want to switch off your laptop and try a boot after re-replacing the card.

Just have a go, it's easy. If you are worried, take it to someone who's happy to try, and show them the posts I have written for you.

-------------

Actually have you tried installing the system ram (memory modules) separately. If one has died you would get these syptoms too. Try this test.
Method: Take out both, put just one in one slot. Try a boot.
If no boot, take it out. Put in the other mem in a single slot. Try a boot.
This is your way of testing each memory module individually.

-------------

I have re-read the first post I sent to you and can see a sentence which may have confused my explanation.
WHERE I HAVE WRITTEN:
The second is the Intel (turbo) memory controller: it has some drive application aswell, but forget that for now.

I meant forget the fact that this card has drive application aswell. Concentrate on the fact that this IS IS IS the card you want.

Good Luck!

Posted 2 years ago #
Posted by: Recon1
Member

Hi,
I am having the same problem today.

I got a blank screen after the installing windows updates->restart->windows vista start up(heard windows start up music) but realized the screen is blank.

Had to shutdown and restart. But now it no longer boots up. No logo, some activity on HDD and then stops. Still blank screen.

I followed your instructions but realized that on my 5920G, it does not have the intel memory controller?

tried swapping memory as well with no luck.

Need your help.

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: dvruger
Member

I had a simular problem where it appeared the computer was running, but only had a blank screen, with the exception I did have a mouse I could move around.
My problem turned out to be the boot sectors on my HD went bad.
Here's what I did, and it worked, but I can't guarantee it's your problem since you say you have NOTHING on your screen. (do you see the bios info on screen when it "starts"?)
1. Google and download a program called HDD Regenerator. It's not free, but it says it repairs bad sectors rather than hiding them like a lot of programs. All I know is it worked for me.
2. After you make a boot disk from that program, boot and scan your drive, and let it repair the sectors it finds. (this is going to take a while)
3. Boot your computer.

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: u6b36ef
Member

@ Recon 1

The method I posted on this page works mostly for the situation where the lights come on, black screen of death, no boot.

However I'll post in here as much as I've done on other pages about 'no display showing'.

From this page:
http://www.theacerguy.com/forum/topic/5920g-cmos-battery#post-4436

Re-seating - take out and re-insert parts.

1. Reseat all adaptors (and maybe clean the adaptor and socket contacts);
the wireless card, intel turbo memory card, and the memory modules, modem. Even try the DVD, hard drive - everything.
Power up a couple of times with each adaptor removed (then switch off), re-insert (re-boot), removed, and replaced again. If your laptop starts working again, re-insert the removed adaptor. If not re-insert and try powering up anyway.

2. It's a slim chance, but re-seating the graphics card might work. Again it's worth a try to power up the machine with the graphics card removed, and re-inserting it again. You'll probably only get a grey screen with this test, but it'll show if you are powering on.

I'm not sure but maybe this works on the same principle as your other technique of 'holding in the power button for forty five seconds', i.e. dischaging a static or otherwise charge.

Re-seating ram modules is a technique that has proven track record.
Method: Take out both, put just one in one slot. Try a boot.
If no boot, take it out. Put in the other mem in a single slot. Try a boot.
This is also your way of testing each memory module individually.

##(Try Arcan's method from this page too.)##

THERE IS ALSO THIS POST:
http://www.theacerguy.com/forum/topic/5920g-graphics-card-change-help#post-4437

If a laptop has stopped displaying, the first thing to do is link it to an external display.

1 - If it displays on the monitor, then the graphics are ok. It's needed then to divert your attention to the LCD display.
Check: solutions:
.. The LCD cable: check connections at both ends.
.. Consider replacement of the screen
.. Power on the machine with the graphics card removed. If the backlight illuminates; it narrows down the problem slightly, because a dead backlight in the LCD panel would give the problem of no display.
.. Of course another primary test is whether or not the inverter is working. Inspect the laptop in a brightly lit room. Boot up. If there is a dark trace of display on the screen, check the inverter connections, and or look at having to replace the inverter.
.. There may be another option but I don't know of it.

2 - If you have no display on the external monitor, it looks like a graphics card issue. It's a slim chance, but re-seating the graphics card might work. Again it's worth a try to power up the machine with the graphics card removed, and re-inserting it again.

Re-seat all adaptors (and clean the adaptor and socket contacts); the wireless card etc, intel turbo memory card, and the memory modules. Even try the DVD, hard drive - everything.
Power up a couple of times with each adaptor removed. If your laptop starts working again, try re-inserting the removed adaptor.

Good luck.

FINALLY,
Having a boot with windows sound but no display followed by no boot seems suspiciously like a failed graphics card. A dead card can prevent a laptop from booting, (it will only show power light). I have seen it happen.

Good luck.
This is almost everthing I know about no display.

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: imken79
Member

Hi

I am having the same problem...

I was using my computer and went away from my laptop for dinner...Once i got back the screen was black and could not do anything with it. When I restarted my computer, I can hear to HD and DVD making noise and the fan then goes full speed with my blue tooth button lighted up.

I have tried to connect to an monitor but nothing appears....

Tried reinstalling my memories and GPU also but still the screen stays black.

Does this sound like my GPU gone bust?

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: u6b36ef
Member

@ imken79
See point 2 in the second half of the above post; 2 - If you have no display on the external monitor, etc.

I've seen a 5920 conk twice.

First time removing the Intel Turbo Memory card gave a boot first time. After a while I gingerly put the 'Intel Card' back in. Everything was fine.

Second time, that didn't work , but I carried on removing and replacing other items. This time it was the hard drive. I removed it, tried a boot - nothing; switched off. Replaced it, tried a boot same as before - black screen.
I don't know why but I tried it again straight away, removed the hard drive tried a boot: got a result. Powered off, replaced the hard drive and booted - and everything was fine. Working laptop, been ok ever since.

I've even seen a screen inverter pull a laptop boot down. Obviously do all the obvious and more accessible components first.

Your bluetooth light on, and the fan speed thing - odd.

u6b36ef

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Paul
Member

Hi there

I have had a look at my Acer 5920g Laptop. I think that the graphics card is built on to the mother board as thee are NO connectors for a graphics card or graphics card slot.

Also, i dont have turbo card, that too is built on to the mother board i think.

The laptop was started in the usual way, but onece again there was no graphics on the screen and also, there were no graphis on the external monitor.

I have tried everything to sort this problem out but i am not getting anywhere fast.

How do i check to see if the mother board has been damaged?

Anymore clues as what to do ....?

Thanks

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Peter
Moderator

Paul, what is the exact revision of your Acer 5920G? ie: 5920G-_ _ _ _ ?

Such as 5920G-6313

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: elos
Member

Hey there

I have had the same problem, when i turn on my acer 5920 the lights show the hdd and fans spin but the screen doesnt show anything at all and also nothing is shown on an external monitor.

I turn the laptop on, the lights show, it then seems to restart itself, then it just runs but with no display at all.

This is happening after I put in a new motherboard as the laptop would not turn on at all before. The replacement motherboard is a used one so maybe the build in graphics does not work? I have re-seated the components, does anyone have any ideas? Getting frustrating as I cant afford to pay for someone to repair it!!

Thanks in advance

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Subiaco
Member

Good day gentle Acer users & techs!

I hope if people don't mind if I hijack this thread regarding my very similar problem with my Aspire 5920-6524.

Computer is about 2 years old now.
I was having the same problem of not even reaching POST on boot.

The computer would either sound off two short beeps or sometimes just one (not sure if it was long or short) then nothing happens.

This is the final act in a cascading list of problems. First my main battery looses it juice (as a peace corps volunteer I don't have the funds to go searching for new parts right away). Once the juice on my battery was totally gone my cmos rtc battery had lost most of it's charge as well. Time and date would be reset to factory default if the computer was left unplugged for long enough.

Immediately after the obvious cmos battery fail I start getting other similar failures that other people on this forum and elsewhere have been having; weird boot up and shut down problems. In fact, with mine if the cmos battery had no juice then the computer would not boot if you pressed the power button UNLESS you pressed and held the right mouse button for 1 second. Same thing with shut down. After the computer had been used for awhile and through a couple of restarts the cmos battery would appear to have some charge and would keep time and date on restart and I wouldn't have to use the right mouse button trick to shut down/restart/boot up the computer.

So finally yesterday I used the computer at school and for the first time in a long time used an external monitor to do some website work. When I took it home that afternoon I got the beeps and black screen. I either read here or elsewhere a similar thing happening to someone else who had used an external monitor and then got the BLSOD later that day.

Decided to take apart the laptop fully today. The usually running hotter than hell 8600GT has really cooked the inside of this thing. Removing the heatsink and the gpu shows that my thermal pads and paste are done for.

Anywho that's where I'm at right now. What I'm hoping for by posting here is that someone can enlighten me about the BIOS beeps I heard as I can't find an exact match to any beep codes for Phoenix or Acer. My theory right now is that I might just need a new cmos battery and new thermal paste not to mention a new main battery. If someone could confirm that, that would also be helpful!

Thanks for reading folks!

Hope to hear from you soonish!

-Sub

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Subiaco
Member

Here to report graphics card is fixed using the oven trick. :)

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Subiaco
Member

doble

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Reymark
Member

It happens when I’m browsing in the internet and my anti virus detects a virus(I cannot remember the name of the virus) when I’m asked to restart the computer, I restarted it and after that my modem(SmartBRO) was not recognized. I even tried uninstalling it and install it again but still it was not recognized. For my further attempt of troobleshooting it, I decided to restat again my laptop. After that it does not boot again but the fan inside is working. There were no display in the monitor.What could be the problem, is it because of the virus?

Please help me…
God bless you….

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: rony59
Member

The black screen problem was diagnosed as being caused by a usage of "improper" soldering material on VIDEO CARD (GPU).

See:

http://www.theacerguy.com/2008/12/morris-aspire-5920-gpu-swapupgrade/

http://www.theacerguy.com/forum/topic/acer-aspire-5920g-screen-blinksflickers

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: APS
Member

I experienced very similar symptoms a couple of weeks ago.
I switched the laptop on, the lights came on, the hard drive spinned for a few seconds and then stopped and the DVD was powering up but stopped after a short while. But nothing on screen.
I removed the hard drive and put it back in, same with the graphics card. I swapped the memory modules but nothing worked.
Until I removed one of the memory modules and surprise surprise! I experienced my first boot after 2 weeks!
Message came up on screen: your computer failed to come out of hibernation, you will lose any data you haven't saved, press Enter to continue (at that point I remembered that the last time I used the laptop I didn't switch it off and it must have gone into hibernation - not sure if it's relevant but I thought I should mention it anyway). I pressed Enter and the laptop started ok.
I shut the computer down and put the memory module back in, same problem as before, lights on but nothing on screen.
I tried a few more combinations and eventually realised that one of the mem modules is faulty.

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: DocNorton
Member

Hey people - got the same issue here for a customers machine.

Are there any finite answers or repairs?

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: Peter
Moderator

If the computer uses a dedicated video card the MXM module needs to be replaced. (video card)

Posted 1 year ago #
Posted by: SpeedDevil
Member

The symptoms of my problem seem to point to a problem with the graphics card (Peter called it MXM module?) When I power it up, power button and for a bit the 'working" LED are on, HDD sounds to be spinning and DVD is operational (eject button works), but fan stops working after a couple of seconds and all this time I get a completely black screen, like it's not powered at all. If I remove the graphics card, screen lights up to white but stays like that. It also sounds like it entered Windows logon screen (I can hear the 'welcome' sound) and I believe I can log in to windows as well. Would replacing the graphics card fix this, or this could have caused a number of other problems with the motherboard? Buying a new module can be expensive, and would hate to see that money going to waste.

Posted 11 months ago #
Posted by: djkeenan
Member

Hey

Ive just replaced the motherboard on my acer 5100 2 weeks ago and it was working great except for a "media failure pci" message that sometimes occured after post.

yesterday the laptop screen went black so i restarted it. Then when i turn on my acer 5100 the lights show, the hdd and fans spin, disc ejects but the screen doesnt show anything at all and also nothing is shown on an external monitor. Using caps lock button dosnt make the caps lock light light up so i think it isnt booting into windows.

I tried the solutions posted by u6b36ef and did get a boot screen (windows logo, logon to my account etc) when i swapped out the pci wireless card but after a restart i had the same problem as above. Also removing the battery also caused the same temporary solution and after it went back to being black.

I'd love to know how to fix this or contact members such as u6b36ef for help. So any information would be great.

P.s. im sure its not a graphics card issue because the caps lock button dosnt work when the system "SEEMS" to be booting. It would work if the system was booting but without producing a image (due to faulty graphics card)

Hope that all makes sense and hope somebody can get back to me ASAP as i need to get this laptop working urgently.

Posted 10 months ago #
Posted by: jeandamme
Member

double post

Posted 10 months ago #
Posted by: jeandamme
Member

Had the same problem on my 5920G. Got black screen at startup and after removing the graphic card the "back light" worked.
I tried what u6b36ef recommended. Didn't work for me.
After watching some movies on youtube i found some ideas on how to fix it. search for "Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT And The Oven"

I did it as a last try (don't recommend it unless you otherwise would trash the computer/graphic card).
180Degrees in the oven for 10 minutes. did the trick for me. But then again, i don't know how long it will last.

Posted 10 months ago #
Posted by: u6b36ef
Member

@ jeandamme,

Hi, I'm really glad there is here another solution to this black screen no boot. It means more fixes available. I have read of the 8600M GT's doing this to laptops, when they go funny.

However, my solution worked for me twice. I can not stress loud enough, that it is not allways just a case of reseating the parts. You HAVE to try a boot with each part removed and then replaced, try a boot. Remove it again try a boot and then replaced again, try a boot. Meaning twice each.

For me the first time it was the Intel turbo card, which assigns itself operating tasks, like a mini SSD disc. The second time it was the HDD removal that fixed if. Too much of a coincidence I think to ignore.

Good luck with your fixes.

@ djkeenan

Good to see you getting a result. If I were you I might be tempted to keep going with more parts. If you eventually decide your laptop is booting but no image, it may just be your graphics card has died though. (Windows welcome sounds are the giveaway sign in this case.)

@ SpeedDevil

Yeah I didn't see your post until now. I'd kind of given up on this thread, because I thought no-one was following it. Again, I think with your symptoms I would keep going trying more parts. My third and fourth post on this page say everything to try. Failing that you might need a new GPU.

U6b36ef

Posted 9 months ago #
Posted by: xaxdxi
Member

i have the same problem an i am convinced that the video card is gone. is there away to adapt another monitor, what can i doo ? thank´s

Posted 8 months ago #
Posted by: Nadion
Member

Maybe a bit old thread from the start, but it was this one that helped me. And, since I stumbled upon it, somebody else might, so I'll add this.

Baking the graphics card in the oven at 180° celsius for 5 minutes did the trick for me (turn off the oven after putting the card).

Tried pretty much everything, replacing and rebooting with every possible combination, flashing bios, some other electricity discharging. Oven thing was the way to go.

As I learned from reading around, there in very little chance of destroying your graphics card even if it isn't the source of the problem (please, correct me if I was wrong). Confirmed on few places, but still wouldn't give my hand for this (with english not being my native language, this old saying might sound strange). So, be advised... Still, I would recommend this step before flashing bios.

Also, make sure that the problem is the same. I read around a lot, only to find out that many people post in a wrong way, and that the problem isn't explained correctly.

In my case the problem was caused by either disconnecting power cable from the power socket (while the laptop was turned on, no battery), or connecting it into faulty power socket (my adapter burned few days before it one the same socket, but I bypassed it). Not sure witch one, and I hope I'll never find out. After that, the screen wouldn't light up. And this is IMPORTANT, there was nothing going on on the screen. HDD was working, optical drive, fans... but not the screen, and no booting, no sound. When I removed the graphics card, and then started the laptop, the screen DID light up (nothing on it, just was a bit lighter), and this is also IMPORTANT. If this is your definition of the problem, than it is almost 100% graphics card. The oven thing might not work, but replacing the card with the new one should. After that, everything was as if this never happened...

Be advised, as with everything about home repairs involving this kind of work, something could go wrong... faulty oven, not turning off the oven when placing the card in, letting it in for to long... and so on... So, be sure that you would rather risk than going to the professional. My knowledge of computers is only around advanced at best (expert, pro and master on the way, but I'm modest), so take that in consideration.

Also, if your laptop is 5920g, the graphics card isn't integrated in motherboard...

My Acer really went through a lot of things, I wasn't giving it any slack. From being spilled by all sorts of liquids, overheating like crazy, falling on the flour and getting cracked on few places, working 18+ hours a day... real Gem :)! Optical drive went down fast (as expected), but also make sure that you blow it with air compressor every few months to avoid more damage. VERY IMPORTANT! And be careful when doing it.

As already said, just wanted the people to know what solved my problem. I was skeptical at first, but that is chemistry.

Hope you all solve all your problems!

And, as I found out on many occasions, it is crucial for other people that you post what solved your problem (if that happened). Give your feedback, just to add more options for others with same/similar problems.

Stay good and strong!

Posted 8 months ago #