Member Avatar for chekwech

Hi,
My Acer Aspire One mini laptop gives me a black screen after powering on. Power light on, battery light on, NO hard drive light on and never shows anything but black. I have tried a lot of the strategies I've read here (remove battery, replace, unplug, etc., pressing various function buttons, holding power button down), still nothing. This happened once about 2 weeks ago and then it came back on after being off for a couple hours but that has not worked this time.
I do not know how to take out/replace ram (is that for Random Access Memory? I can't find anything on it that I could unplug), and I am too afraid to remove the hard drive but will do it if necessary.
Any advice???
Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sekovar

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For : symptoms (power and battery LEDs on, HDD LED never active, persistent black screen after power-up, earlier brief recovery) point to a simple isolation sequence rather than immediate drive removal. The replies from , and already hint at the usual suspects (display/backlight, memory, or early motherboard/BIOS failure). Below is a safe, ordered troubleshooting workflow and what each result implies.

  1. Power-reset: disconnect AC and remove battery, hold power 20–30 seconds, then try AC-only boot. This clears residual charge and resets the embedded controller.
  2. External-display check (as @Xlphos suggested): connect VGA/HDMI and power on. If the external shows BIOS/POST, the laptop panel or its backlight/inverter is at fault.
  3. Backlight flashlight test (related to @sekovar): in a dark room shine a bright flashlight at the screen—if a faint image is visible, the LCD is working but the backlight is dead.
  4. Listen and watch: note fan spin, drive noise, and any POST beeps or keyboard lights. No activity beyond LEDs suggests a board/firmware failure.
  5. Memory reseat/swap (building on @anirudh.soni.7): only after powering off and removing power, open the service/access panel, discharge static, and gently reseat RAM modules. Try one module at a time if there are two. If RAM is soldered, do not force.
  6. HDD isolation and data safety: the HDD LED not blinking is normal if POST never completes. If data recovery is needed, remove the drive (power off, remove battery/AC), place it in a USB-SATA adapter/enclosure and attach to another computer.

If none of the above produces POST or external video, the likely causes are motherboard/BIOS or power circuit failure; professional repair is recommended. All internal access steps carry ESD and warranty risks—avoid forcing components and seek a service shop if unsure.

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Member Avatar for Xlphos

Hello,

Have you tried connecting your laptop to a monitor to see if it is the laptop display?

Member Avatar for anirudh.soni.7

i have same model aspire4739z i think u should catch the root of this prob. if external monitor also behave like that then open ur laptop and first of all clean ur ram slot and also clean ram ..if not works then change ur ram and test ....i think it will working. after this process

Member Avatar for sekovar

Hi there. have a good look to see if the back light of the monitor isnt going out. I have worked on a few models that have had the back light issue. After turning the unit on it displays for a short period then blanks out but if you look closely you can see the screen is working just without the backlighting.

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