Laptop not responding

MrRoBoT696969 · August 28, 2024

I have recently taken my sister's second-hand laptop i.e. Acer Aspire A315-53-C8RK. After installing fresh Windows 10 official iso I have tweaked some settings because it's a 4GB laptop but my tweaks made Windows bearable enough for simple browsing. But a few days ago It suddenly stopped working.

When I press the power button, the blue LED turns on, and the cooling fan spins for a few seconds but then it turns off, I can't see any color change in the display, which means there is no display output (even in HDMI).
I have tried everything, long pressing the power button plugging or unplugging the power cable, reseeding the hard disk and battery (not to mention resetting the battery using the pinhole provided in the laptop).
Opened up the laptop to see any faults but I am not a hardware expert so can't tell much, everything was seated and connected as far as I could tell.

How can this happen suddenly after normal usage and all, What are the next steps?

Sawa Takahashi · August 28, 2024

It may be a battery fault. The battery no longer provides enough voltage for the laptop to boot properly. Yes, it can happen suddenly with an aging battery.

But it can also be a lot of other things. Even a small shock may misplace something and the laptop no longer boots. You did a very good troubleshooting from what you wrote. I think you did not mention reseating the RAM module. It is an easy task; just remove the module(s) and insert it(them) back into the(ir) socket(s).

It may also be a bad capacitor or some other component that failed. Since that is an older laptop, I don't think it is worth replacing components on that machine.

Hope that helps.

MrRoBoT696969 · August 29, 2024

10 hours ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

It may be a battery fault. The battery no longer provides enough voltage for the laptop to boot properly. Yes, it can happen suddenly with an aging battery.

But it can also be a lot of other things. Even a small shock may misplace something and the laptop no longer boots. You did a very good troubleshooting from what you wrote. I think you did not mention reseating the RAM module. It is an easy task; just remove the module(s) and insert it(them) back into the(ir) socket(s).

It may also be a bad capacitor or some other component that failed. Since that is an older laptop, I don't think it is worth replacing components on that machine.

Hope that helps.

RAM is inbuilt into the motherboard maybe because all I can see is a slot for extra RAM and a slot for PCIe, probably hardcoded in the motherboard, the battery can be at fault but it's not turning on even when power is plugged in.

PS: In my home office PC I have done reseeding and cleaning of RAM several times when the system crashes.

Sadly If what you have told is true, then i have two dead laptops, ones got broken hinge so broken display and now this.

Sawa Takahashi · August 29, 2024

13 hours ago, MrRoBoT696969 said:

RAM is inbuilt into the motherboard maybe because all I can see is a slot for extra RAM and a slot for PCIe

Yes, that is a way of saving costs for manufacturers.

13 hours ago, MrRoBoT696969 said:

Sadly If what you have told is true, then i have two dead laptops, ones got broken hinge so broken display and now this.

Unfortunately, I fear that is what it tends toward at this point.

Another unfortunate fact is that I can't really recommend a brand or model of laptop that is made to last. Laptops are effectively more fragile than desktops.

You may want to take a look at the framework laptop for a repairable device. Whether it fits your needs or not, only you can answer that question.

MrRoBoT696969 · August 30, 2024

16 hours ago, Sawa Takahashi said:

Yes, that is a way of saving costs for manufacturers.

Unfortunately, I fear that is what it tends toward at this point.

Another unfortunate fact is that I can't really recommend a brand or model of laptop that is made to last. Laptops are effectively more fragile than desktops.

You may want to take a look at the framework laptop for a repairable device. Whether it fits your needs or not, only you can answer that question.

I like framework concept a lot i follow their progress.

Sawa Takahashi · August 30, 2024

8 hours ago, MrRoBoT696969 said:

like framework concept a lot i follow their progress.

I like it too, but it's way overpriced for my current needs. If one day I need a laptop as main computer, I'll get one. In the mean time, I make do with an old outdated, partially broken, Asus laptop with a C70 processor...

Got it for free and it can display videos, browse internet and run libreoffice.