[Edit]
This Knol written 2011 by Will Johnson, wjhonson@aol.com for Fast Forward Technologies
Black screen of death on the Acer Aspire One
I have an Acer Aspire One notepad computer. The thing I like the most about it is that the battery really lasts eight hours or more. Not the fake eight hours that the industry has been toting for years, but it really does. I was at a client meeting all day and I'd forgotten my power cord but it didn't matter. My client was surprised as her laptop, claiming eight hours, can only go for maybe three on the battery.
At any rate, these particular models have a weird error that occurs often enough that if you google for something like Acer Black Screen or Black Screen of Death Acer Aspire... you'll find hundreds of people posting queries about how their Aspire is dead because the screen is completely black but the power light is on. This has happened to me recently a few times so I'm going to tell you about what I think is going on here.
[Edit]
So first the symptoms. Your notepad is working fine but one time when you come back to it, or maybe next time you boot it, all you get is a completely black screen, and the power light stays on. Sometimes the fan is running, sometimes its not. That's not really the issue here exactly but it points the way to the problem.
Many many many many pages on the internet reciting this problem, offer you instructions for how to flash the bios with a USB thumbdrive. You don't need to do that. Yes it will make it come up quickly but I'm going to tell you how to do it without a thumbdrive, since we don't all have one. (Such as myself.) And even those who do have a thumbdrive may look at the instructions and go... what? So now the low tech solution to this problem.
Remember how I mentioned above that the Acer Aspire can run on its battery for a long time? That's important here. Boot up your Acer without the power cord plugged in. Leave it open, on a cool surface, away from direct sunlight, all day until the battery is completely drained. You will know when the battery is completely drained because the power light will go off.
[Edit]
Now plug your baby back in to the power and reboot. It will come up normal. Why?
Your computer has overheated. When it overheats and the fan can't keep it cool enough it flips the BIOS into some bizarre 'Help Me Help Me" Mode who knows. And I suppose this tells it, "Hey why not shut off the screen and see if I can cool down". Really who has any idea what those kooky people at Acer decided to do. But whatever it is, you need to force the BIOS to reset itself back to normal.
[Edit]
That's why "flashing the BIOS" can do it, as you've already read if you've read any of the other online instructions for how to fix this issue. But it's also why draining the system power to NOTHING can also do it. No need for a screwdriver, no need for a USB thumbdrive, no need to download anything. Easy Peasy.
Provided of course that you can go one full day without the need for the Aspire at all, which most of us probably can. I suppose thinking about this, you might be able to make it reset faster simply by removing the battery, waiting a minute or so, and then rebooting from a power outlet. But you'd need a tiny phillip's screwdriver to get into the battery compartment, which is already too complex for me! I'm the laziest person you've ever met!
[Edit]
Now let's talk about how to make it never happen again. Your tiny little computer overheats easily by placing it on any surface which is either warm itself, or which does not suck heat away. So what sorts of surfaces are warm by nature? Um your bare legs, your legs in pants or a skirt, your fat belly. So don't put the computer on you at all! What else? Surfaces that feel warm to the touch as opposed to surfaces that feel cool to the touch.
Have you ever wondered why some surfaces in a room will feel cool while others will feel warm even though they are all sharing the same room? Some types of material conduct heat away quickly such as metal. Other types of material do not conduct heat away much at all such as cloth. That's why you cover yourself with a blanket not a sheet of aluminum foil because a blanket keeps you warm not intrinsically, but only by not sucking away your heat from you! So you're warm from your own heat being conserved -- nothing else.
So don't place your Acer on cloth on any sort, not even a rug. Instead put it on linoleum, formica, ceramic, metal, anything that if you touch it or walk on it in bare feet, you go brrrr that's cold!. Keeping your Acer from overheating will mean you never encounter the Black Screen of Death again.
[Edit]
This Knol written 2011 by Will Johnson, wjhonson@aol.com for Fast Forward Technologies
Black screen of death on the Acer Aspire One
I have an Acer Aspire One notepad computer. The thing I like the most about it is that the battery really lasts eight hours or more. Not the fake eight hours that the industry has been toting for years, but it really does. I was at a client meeting all day and I'd forgotten my power cord but it didn't matter. My client was surprised as her laptop, claiming eight hours, can only go for maybe three on the battery.
At any rate, these particular models have a weird error that occurs often enough that if you google for something like Acer Black Screen or Black Screen of Death Acer Aspire... you'll find hundreds of people posting queries about how their Aspire is dead because the screen is completely black but the power light is on. This has happened to me recently a few times so I'm going to tell you about what I think is going on here.
[Edit]
So first the symptoms. Your notepad is working fine but one time when you come back to it, or maybe next time you boot it, all you get is a completely black screen, and the power light stays on. Sometimes the fan is running, sometimes its not. That's not really the issue here exactly but it points the way to the problem.
Many many many many pages on the internet reciting this problem, offer you instructions for how to flash the bios with a USB thumbdrive. You don't need to do that. Yes it will make it come up quickly but I'm going to tell you how to do it without a thumbdrive, since we don't all have one. (Such as myself.) And even those who do have a thumbdrive may look at the instructions and go... what? So now the low tech solution to this problem.
Remember how I mentioned above that the Acer Aspire can run on its battery for a long time? That's important here. Boot up your Acer without the power cord plugged in. Leave it open, on a cool surface, away from direct sunlight, all day until the battery is completely drained. You will know when the battery is completely drained because the power light will go off.
[Edit]
Now plug your baby back in to the power and reboot. It will come up normal. Why?
Your computer has overheated. When it overheats and the fan can't keep it cool enough it flips the BIOS into some bizarre 'Help Me Help Me" Mode who knows. And I suppose this tells it, "Hey why not shut off the screen and see if I can cool down". Really who has any idea what those kooky people at Acer decided to do. But whatever it is, you need to force the BIOS to reset itself back to normal.
[Edit]
That's why "flashing the BIOS" can do it, as you've already read if you've read any of the other online instructions for how to fix this issue. But it's also why draining the system power to NOTHING can also do it. No need for a screwdriver, no need for a USB thumbdrive, no need to download anything. Easy Peasy.
Provided of course that you can go one full day without the need for the Aspire at all, which most of us probably can. I suppose thinking about this, you might be able to make it reset faster simply by removing the battery, waiting a minute or so, and then rebooting from a power outlet. But you'd need a tiny phillip's screwdriver to get into the battery compartment, which is already too complex for me! I'm the laziest person you've ever met!
[Edit]
Now let's talk about how to make it never happen again. Your tiny little computer overheats easily by placing it on any surface which is either warm itself, or which does not suck heat away. So what sorts of surfaces are warm by nature? Um your bare legs, your legs in pants or a skirt, your fat belly. So don't put the computer on you at all! What else? Surfaces that feel warm to the touch as opposed to surfaces that feel cool to the touch.
Have you ever wondered why some surfaces in a room will feel cool while others will feel warm even though they are all sharing the same room? Some types of material conduct heat away quickly such as metal. Other types of material do not conduct heat away much at all such as cloth. That's why you cover yourself with a blanket not a sheet of aluminum foil because a blanket keeps you warm not intrinsically, but only by not sucking away your heat from you! So you're warm from your own heat being conserved -- nothing else.
So don't place your Acer on cloth on any sort, not even a rug. Instead put it on linoleum, formica, ceramic, metal, anything that if you touch it or walk on it in bare feet, you go brrrr that's cold!. Keeping your Acer from overheating will mean you never encounter the Black Screen of Death again.
[Edit]