The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Aspire 5551 Bad BIOS Flash

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by clum, Sep 7, 2011.

  1. clum

    clum Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hi there,

    I updated the BIOS on my aspire 5551 to fix some issues with the laptop charging.

    I ran the Windows based flash program and it all seemed to go well.

    It told me to restart my computer, so i did.

    Now when i start up the laptop, it powers on for around 5 seconds and then powers off again. Nothing displays on the laptop screen and the LEDs and fan all seem to work fine as well as the DVD drive LED.

    I have had a look at the service manual and it suggests that i short a CMOS jumper underneath the RAM modules, this didn't work. It also suggested i use Fn+ESC to access the BIOS recovery, but this did nothing either.

    Does anyone have any ideas that can help me? I have fully dismantled the laptop to check if there were any other CMOS jumpers on the board, but there were none.

    Thanks
     
    clum, Sep 7, 2011
    #1
  2. downloads

    downloads No, Dee Dee, no! Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    7,729
    Messages:
    8,722
    Likes Received:
    2,231
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Did you have a recovery disc inserted while you pressed Fn+Esc?
    Just asking...
     
    downloads, Sep 7, 2011
    #2
  3. clum

    clum Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Do you mean the Crysis USB Key? I did, i followed the service manual provided by Acer, which mentioned using a Crysis recovery disk (uh, what?), i couldnt find any information about it, so i just formatted a USB disk and put on the latest BIOS renamed as BIOS.fd.

    I then used the FN + ESC guide, all this did was boot the laptop up, send the fans into overdrive (much like it was flashing the bios) and the laptop rebooted back to the turning on and off quickly stage.
     
    clum, Sep 8, 2011
    #3
  4. .NetRolller 3D

    .NetRolller 3D Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    505
    Messages:
    1,127
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    56
    If your BIOS file has an extension of ".fd", then it is an Insyde BIOS. Use AndyP's Phoenix [word forbidden on this forum due to piracy connotations] Mod Tool to find the right filename to use (usually not "bios.fd"). Also, you may need to burn it to a CD, rather than copy to an USB drive (as it is the case with the Aspire 5720).
     
    .NetRolller 3D, Sep 8, 2011
    #4
  5. clum

    clum Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    It was a .fd file, i tried the above method with a different (slightly more expensive USB stick) and i sort of managed to recover the BIOS, the laptop now lets me boot back into windows, but the internal fan will not spin, although it does work when connected to a similar laptop. :/
     
    clum, Sep 10, 2011
    #5
  6. .NetRolller 3D

    .NetRolller 3D Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    505
    Messages:
    1,127
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Try to flash back your original BIOS backup now. Presumably the fan speed control has changed.

    And check the fan plug too, for good measure.
     
    .NetRolller 3D, Sep 10, 2011
    #6