What's up with my Acer Aspire 5532? The screen backlight keeps randomly turning off.
Asked by
Afos22 (
3990
)
September 7th, 2012
Earlier this week, while using my laptop, the screen went black. The lights on the keyboard (power light/internet light) were still on. My computer didn’t shut off. I closed the laptop to lock it, and opened it again. The screen was lit up in the log on screen and everything went fine from there. The blank screen happened to me again randomly later, and I solved it the same way; Close it and open it. The next day the light turned off, so I closed the laptop opened it, and the back-light turned off just a second after I opened it. I found a new solution and that was to: Hold [FN] and press [F6] twice (as to turn off the back-light and turn it back on). I had to do this a couple of times yesterday. And today, after coming back to my locked computer, I had a fight with it pressing fn and f6 a dozen times because the back-light would not stay on for more than 2 seconds but finally I won the fight.
What could be wrong with my laptop and is this a common problem? And how would I fix it? Thanks
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5 Answers
My guess is that you actually have a loose connection. Pressing keys causes subtle vibrations that may shake the connection back into place… or back out. As for fixing it, oy! Taking apart laptops is never fun.
I think @jerv is right, it sounds like a connection.
He is also right that it’s usually tough to take a laptop apart, without damage that is.
Since the problem seems to respond to key presses on the top row it sounds to me like the ribbon connector from the motherboard to the display might be loose. That connection will be in the lower section which is usually easier to dismantle than the display section.
If you feel courageous, and have all your stuff backed-up, and you have some eensy-weensy screwdrivers you can try to open the lower section slowly & carefully. If you get it open far enough, you can re-seat the connectors to the display, put it back together and see what happens. Don’t hesitate to take pictures while you are disassembling so you can find your way back while re-assembling.
It is not just responding to the force of me pressing the key. It is the key that turns the backlight on and off. And I have to press it twice. One to turn it “off” and one to turn it back on.
This could also be because of the brand of laptop that it is. Acer has a terrible reputation. They are very well known for making computers that are just, well, junk. They are cheap, and low in quality. Many people I know who own Acer computers have had to repeatedly send them back to the company for repairs. When i was in high school I was talking to one of the computer administrators who was responsible for purchasing and setting up the schools computers, and network. Somehow Acer came up in our conversation, and he mentioned that he recently ordered 24 brand new Acer desktop computers. He ended up shipping them all back the same day he received them because not one of them turned on. So it seems to me you might have gotten one of the flimsy Acer computers, and I would recommend looking into your warranty before using any tools to take your laptop apart. Contact Acer and ask them what you should do. Hope this helps! Here’s a link to Acer Support Good luck! :)
@Mr_Grimm YMMV. The only Acer I ever owned was perfectly reliable despite the abuse I heaped on it, and lived long enough to be replaced with a more powerful machine (>2 years). Maybe I was lucky?
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