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Aspire One Black Screen of Death

Updated 04/26/2010: After doing this a few times and reading some of the user comments, I’ve realized that you don’t need to use UNetbootin. It won’t hurt anything, just a couple extra steps.

After a normal restart yesterday, my Aspire One booted into just a black screen. No POST, no BIOS, no hard drive light activity, just the power button LED on and the fan running fast. I was not very happy…

I went to the Acer Aspire One User Forum and started looking thru the Hardware section. I found this thread Dead aspire one and it looked like many others had a similar experience. After reading many stories of warranty repair or replacement, I was just about to dig up my receipts when I found this post: Re: Dead aspire one.

It seems that a lot of people had success reflashing the BIOS from a USB drive using tools provided by Acer. I don’t know if it’s officially supported by Acer or if it will void your warranty, but if the computer’s a paperweight now anyway, what the hell?

It’s very easy to do, but the steps are a bit unclear so here’s my attempt to make the whole thing painless. This worked for me, but it might not for you, so do this at your own risk.

You need:

Download all the files to an easy to find location.

Steps to prepare the USB drive:

  • Format the USB drive using the FAT file system, not FAT32.
  • Start UNetbootin and choose FreeDOS as the distribution. Screenshot here.
  • Unzip the BIOS files and copy them to the USB drive
  • Make a copy of the BIOS file and rename it as ZG5IA32.FD (this appears to be very important – my reflash failed until I did the copy & rename)

Reflash the BIOS:

  • Make sure the AAO is turned off, the battery is attached and the power adaptor is plugged in.
  • Insert the USB drive
  • Press and hold FN + ESC and press the power button to turn it on. Release the Fn & ESC keys. The LED in the power button will flash.
  • Press the power button again once and wait. Mine took ~3 minutes, but I’d advise that you let it sit there for at least 5 minutes just in case your’s takes longer.

When the reflashing is done, the AAO will reboot and, hopefully, you’ll be back to normal.

If it doesn’t work, try reflashing again. The keypress sequence is a little tricky.

If the second try doesn’t work, then you’ll probably have to send it off for repair.

Good luck!!!

Credit and a boatload of thanks to macles.blogspot.com for the instructions I found and hosting the BIOS files!

Original instruction from macles: Acer Aspire One BIOS Recovery

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under AA1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

111 Responses to “Aspire One Black Screen of Death”

  1. Awesome, this guide worked out perfectly for me once I borrowed an old 256MB USB key from my dad :)

    This saves me lots of time. Thanks.

  2. Thank you so much, My baby is alive again!
    Its alive!
    Awesome Guide!

  3. Glad the guide helped you out! But all the credit goes to macles.blogspot.com for original instructions, otherwise I too would be waiting to get my AAO back from repair.

  4. Nikas Konstantinos on February 13th, 2009 at 10:27 pm

    Thanks Thanks Thanks…You save me men!!!!
    I love you!!!!!
    Thanks!!!

  5. eric & macles! you are the MEN!!! revived my AA1 perfectly! THANKS!!

  6. thank you! my aspire one bricked randomly after a reboot but is now tip top after using your trick! thanks a million :)

  7. Thank you guy ! I repared my AAO thanks to you, thank you very much !

  8. OMG, it worked. Two hours on a support call with Acer to no avail. This works. Thank you a million times, thank you.

  9. holy shit it worked! :D
    thank you!:D

  10. Thanks very much – worked exactly as you documented.
    Saved a lot of trouble for me, it’s my wife’s computer.

    Now I’m going to backup the My documents folder.

  11. Kevin Beretta on March 19th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Dude… you rock!!! this saved me! Worked as advertised. Comments: to flasg FAT, do through the control panel > .. > disk management for XP. Also, select “run” and not save for the unetbootin utility

  12. Freakin thanks man!

    I like your instructions the best of all the others. They’re clear and they include all parts of the process (some other websites are confusing).

    It works! Thanks again!

    *****************************************
    There is, however, one thing I would change about your instructions. Because of the wording of one of your points, I did the process wrong the first time but figured it out the second time. It is regarding your instruction that says:

    “Make a copy of the BIOS file and rename it as ZG5IA32.FD (this appears to be very important – my reflash failed until I did the copy & rename)”

    I took this to mean that you may need to have the original (ie. ZG5_3309.fd) file AND the new copy (ZG5IA32.FD) on the USB drive. I did this and it didn’t work. Then I figured you probably meant to have a copy of the original BIOS file SOMEWHERE ELSE AND NOT ON THE USB DISK while putting the renamed file onto the USB disk.

    Just a suggestion to your wording.
    ***********************************************************

    Thanks again!!!!!

  13. you`re god! thanks alot;) it rhymes :D

  14. Thank you thank you thank you! I had already sent the computer back once because of this problem and having just moved to China a few days ago, I was dreading sending it in again.

    You saved my butt! Big thanks.

  15. Hi!… I’ve done exactly what have been said in the tutorial and I’ve tried with the 3309 and the 3305…. but still got the same problem…
    When I press Fn + Esc and the power button, everything seems to work. The power button blinks, and so do my usb. but after 5 secs or something, it stops(Well the USB stops blinking and remain unlit, while the power button stops blinking and remains lit). Very strange. I’ve treid whith different time intervals, but can’t get it to work.
    Somebody please help me save my loved AA1!

  16. Just did this procedure about two hours ago and thought I’d clarify something.

    The unetbootin part is totally extraneous, at least if you had the same symptoms I did (no BIOS, no attempt to POST) and if you’re doing the special Fn+Esc routine. The unetbootin part is good for routine flashes. I think Acer even advises that normal flashes be done through DOS from a bootable USB stick (these days, FreeDOS is the best alternative)… under normal circumstances.

    BUT, if your BIOS is hosed (as it was in my situation) and your AA1 isn’t POSTing, and you use this Fn+Esc procedure, you’re doing a BIOS flash that totally bypasses the normal POST+boot process. The Fn+Esc routine is for restoring the BIOS when the BIOS itself is FUBARed. If the BIOS is hosed, how can the AA1 boot FreeDOS from the stick anyway?

    My AA1 “black screened” a few days ago and after a few messages back and forths with Acer support, they gave me this procedure without the Unetbootin part. It’s just not needed if you’re doing the emergency flash procedure with Fn+Esc. I had a bootable FreeDOS stick around, but I didn’t use it for this – just a FAT-formatted stick with the Flashit.exe, a batch file, and the firmware file as provided to me by Acer.

    Cheers.

  17. i freaked up for a while there when i saw that black screen T_T thanks!!! this is way easier than that on the macles site….

    btw, the black screen of death happened to me when i was trying to reformat my AA1 using a USB bootable XP installer.

  18. das, I am in your same situation: none of the procedures I have read so far have worked for my AA1, and this includes the one posted here. My USB drives (I’ve tried 4 of them, different makes, capacities and OS) don’t seem to be getting accessed (not lighting up). Could you post a copy of the files you got from ACER, or send me a copy to basuraesgw@gmail.com ? What OS did the working USB stick that you used have?

    Many thanks!

  19. Sorry, last comment was meant for forkbomb, not das.

  20. Sapo:

    This is the link Acer sent me. Be sure to rename the file.

    http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/portal20.cfm?recordid=1319&formid=3390&website=acerpanam.com&siteid=7117&areaid=2

    Just to clarify as I must have been unclear: I did this with a USB stick that did NOT have an OS installed on it. It was a fresh format (regular FAT) and I followed that procedure. The USB stick does not need an OS installed, because the process in that link and above in this blog post bypasses the _normal_ boot process!

    (If the machine truly can’t post, it wouldn’t be able to do a proper OS boot from the thumb drive.)

  21. ACE!
    Thanks a lot for that guide!

  22. thnks 4 that but ,this trick not work to me
    i dont know maube i m not do that true
    can u show me that on video plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    help me plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  23. Sherrie Super on May 22nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Wow, this worked on the first try. It took me a while to figure out the files and what-not, because before reading this, I didn’t even know what a BIOS file was. (Actually, I still don’t know what that is, but that’s okay, because I didn’t need to, thanks to these handy-dandy instructions.)

    Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH for these instructions. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am to not be sending my little computer off to some distant repair center and hoping for the best. You saved me time, money, and worry. Yay!!!

    Also, thanks to Ray, for clarifying that two (ZG5IA32.FD) files weren’t needed. I also had kept the original along with a copy, before I saw the clarifying post.

    THANKS AGAIN!

  24. Booyah! Thank you so much, your instructions worked-like-a-charm.

    I’m so relieved that I got my netbook working within 30 minutes of failure … if it wasn’t for you, I’d still be looking for my damn reciept.

  25. Used my Aspire One to format the USB drive to fix my friend’s Aspire One. Worked first time, he was thrilled! Thank you!

  26. Yet another troubled acer user, totally fixed it! thanks !!

  27. Hi there – just wanted to say a big THANKS! – I was sooo gutted when I got the black screen of death… someone suggested that I take a look at flashing the bios and here I came… and perfect!

    Have a great day eric & macles!
    Neil in Scotland

  28. Word can not express the relief of finding this site and the joy of getting the aspire going again. Thank you so much…

  29. thanks for this, the whole process worked perfectly
    michael
    leeds, uk

  30. THANKS!!!!!!

  31. I have never tried to flash a BIOS before and this step by step procedure made it really easy. Plus, it also solved my problems with the AAO.

    I am so happy, thanks!

  32. Thank you very much. I have followed your instructions and it has worked at first try. You are genious. Wish you all the best.

    GREETINGS FROM CROATIA

  33. It doesn’t work for me, can anay help please? thx

  34. hey….
    my AA1 had died earlier this year
    and i used your instructions and all was good again,
    then it died again…last week…
    but again i used your instructions and its alive again.
    but is that normal…multiple deaths?
    thx

  35. It worked perfectly! I thought it was just a bad screen, but once I read your info I decided to try this first. So simply, so easy.
    Thank you so much.

  36. Yes!!!! It has worked the firt time. Thank you very much!

  37. Awesome!!!! I´m on the other side of the world and probably ´d lost my money if you havent put this tutorial!
    Thanks a lot, the little blue still lives!
    we are the champions my friend!

  38. It works like a magic~ Thank you so much.

  39. Worked first time like a charm , thanks for great instructions which meant even a Luddite like me was able to get the brick working

  40. Yup! It worked like a charm…

    Just to clarify for the less tech savvy…

    1 – Format the flash drive [I used FAT32 (default)] and it worked fine.

    2 – Download the UNetbootin installer into a folder on your C: drive – use the utility to install the 4 files onto your flash drive.

    3 – Download the BIOS into a separate folder on your C: drive – (I used version ZG5_3310.zip) and it worked fine. You must have some kind of compression/ decompression utility to extract the file (I use winrar) right click the file and extract the file (here). Copy and paste all 4 of the extracted files excluding the .rar file into the flash drive.

    4 – Now, access the flash drive contents and copy and paste the ZG5_3310.fd file/ change the new file name to ZG5IA32.FD – close flash drive and safely remove it from the system.

    The flash drive is now ready to be used

    5 – Proceed with flash instructions as directed…

    Good Luck!

    Marc

  41. Thank you. This was easy and timesaving. Did not have to send it to Acer.

  42. Thank you so much , it took a mere 10 seconds and it rebooted .
    thanks again , you saved me a week in the repair. :)

  43. Hi

    Took me several hours to get it right but got it working in the end.
    I should point out that the you MUST have 2 bios files on the USB drive one original as well as the renamed one.
    Also worth pointing out that the digit after the 5 is a capital I and not a number 1 as I first thought.
    Also the case is important as in all capital letters for the ZG5IA32.FD file.
    Thanks very much to the writer of this article for rescuing my acer aspire one !!!

  44. Thank you. You are a life saver. None of the IT Support Staff in my High School knew what was up with it and here you are with all the answers. Thank you. Now I don’t have to use the Toshiba Satellite Pro L10 that I borrowed from the Support Staff. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

  45. Worked first time like a charm , thanks for great instructions which meant even a Luddite like me was able to get the brick working…

  46. Aumar G. Daguia on September 6th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Thank you so much! It works for me too! :)

  47. It’s not working for me… Still stuck at a completely black screen… I followed all instructions correctly (I think) and the the power button LED just keeps blinking but nothing happens… I’ve let it sit blinking for 15 minutes… Does anyone have any suggestions??…

    You can send me an email at: gemston1@optonline.net

    Thanks for any help!!

  48. PROBLEM SOLVED! Ok, I went ahead and upgraded my ram without a hitch. I come to turn my AAO on to the black screen of death. I tried to reflash the bios per the instructions, but like many before me the usb stick was unresponsive. The way I solved it a few hours later, REMOVE THE BIOS BATTERY, and then put it back in. This time it booted up without even updating the bios. Simple.

  49. hi there! thank you so much!
    i tried your instructions and it worked! so AMAZING!
    now, i don’t have to worry and i’ll be able to sleep
    tonight with a smile on my face!

    tnx again,
    mYkLyN,philippines

  50. See my post here on Sept. 11… Did not work for me… I went onto the ACER support site and into their “Live Chat support”… They walked me thru a couple of other procedures like plugging in an external monitor (!) and a power drain process (!) but nothing worked… So they finally gave me an RMA# and my unit is on it’s way to the ACER repair depot in Texas for warranty repair… I hope to get it back in about 2 weeks…

  51. I was searching online for warranty info on the Aspire One ZG5 when I stumbled upon a link at fixya.com that took me here. My Aspire One had the same symptoms and I thought I would either have to send it off for warranty repair or tear it apart and pull the HD to recover the data.

    I really had doubts that this would work but I like tinkering so I thought I would give it a try.

    It worked perfectly!! I am beyond astonished. I used the ZG5 3310 BIOS. I am completely amazed that this actually worked.

    Thank you so much!

  52. so now i know what i did wrong!!!
    you have to copy the file and the rename it!!!
    thanks man!!!

  53. Thanks so much!!! Been searching for hours to try to figure out how to fix my AA1, thought it might be headed for the trash. Have to find my thumbdrive and will be trying this tomorrow.

  54. can someone PLEASE explain this in more detail.
    i’ve been trying this for 2 hours and can’t seem too do it right.
    the instructions have a lot of wiggle room, at least for me.
    please someone help. :/

  55. you just saved my netbook! thank you.

    FYI, my flash drive was fat32 and it still worked.

    The flashing process took 30 seconds for me.

    Thank you very much.

  56. Can you tell me please how to remove the BIOS BATTERY send me at email removed for privacy thanks

    I’ve never had mine apart so I can’t tell you for certain, but via this post at macles there’s a link to tnkgrl’s flicker photos of an Aspire One. I’m not sure if it’s visible on the “top” when you open the case or if it’s on the “bottom” but it looks like a standard “coin cell” & shouldn’t be too hard to identify.

    Good luck!

    Eric

  57. I was very surprised to wake up this morning to find my Aspire One bricked. and with all the assignments i had been using the AAO to work on, needless to say, i was disappointed.

    Luckily, i knew to google the problem before digging for my receipt, and sure enough, it took me to your site.

    I followed your instructions, and within 10 seconds, Windows 7 was greeting me warmly!

    Thank you very much for this post. It’s thanks to kind people such as yourself who take the time to document these solutions, that the rest of us can be up and running faster than ever. It’s what truly makes the internet a vital research tool.
    (i’m in the I.T field, probably obvious now :D )

  58. My Acer Aspire One A0A 150-Bb worked fine little bit over year. Couple of weeks ago when i shutdown the machine and tried boot it up next day, it wouldn’t started :(

    I was just to take it to the store were i buyed it, when i luckyly find more information with google why the hell it won’t work.

    Thanks to you for the help and instructions! ZG5 3310 BIOS worked perfect on my acer :)

    Good lucky everyone else on their pcs! (sorry about bad english :D )

  59. I got an Acer Aspire One ZG5 (XP version, not Linux) from someone who had this problem and had already tried the above tutorial. They either bricked the MoBo by doing it wrong or there is something else wrong. Now I’m trying to fix it and am not getting anywhere. It powers on and when I hold down the Fn + Esc keys while hitting power the power light still flashes but it doesn’t go solid after hitting power the second time and it just keeps flashing and doesn’t every do anything else. I have read the tutorial several times and retried the procedure over and over. I have also tried making the USB drive an active partition and not using unetbootin.
    Any ideas?

  60. 1. Formatear USB con FAT (NO FAT32)
    2. Correr programa para que la memoria sea booteable (FreeDos) en Folder (Programa para crear USB Boot) Ver imagen (Opciones FreeDos.png)
    3. Copiar archivos (No carpeta, solo archivos) del folder (Bios a copiar en Raiz de Memoria) en Raiz de Memoria
    4. Seguir procedimiento para cargar boot en Acer One
    4.1 Preciona FN mas esc, etc..

  61. First I have to say thank you thank you thank you so much for taking the time to research this and post with the links included. I would be absolutely nowhere without this post and the time you all have put into it. Thank you also to macles.blogspot.com for the original posting. Now that I am reasonably sure that you know I am insanely grateful that this post was here, I have to say…

    Oh my gosh you guys. You have to be more clear. I can’t believe how many different blogs and forums I had to go to in order to get this figured out. I tried so many configurations of renaming files ZG5IA32.FD. The “BIOS” file means nothing when none of the files are called “BIOS.” For anyone who is having trouble with the renaming process.

    1. Once you have unzipped the zipped file (I right clicked on the zipped file and selected “extract here” which places the unzipped contents in the same file you have the zipped one in) four files will be extracted.

    This next part is key. I was looking for a file called BIOS or looked like it might be related directly to the bios. I renamed a file that was named after the version of the bios I had downloaded and it looked like a .exe file THIS WAS NOT THE RIGHT ONE. I can’t even begin to list all the different things I tried.

    the file you need to rename ZG5IA32.FD has a name very similar to ZG5IA32.FD. It’s a file that looks like it doesn’t even matter, especially next to those two others that seem to be .exe files. There is a FLASHIT file, then there is a file called 3310 (if you used that version of the bios), then there is what looks like a readme file called “release note.” None of these are the file you need to rename.

    2. The file you need to rename is the forth one, it just looks like dogeared piece of paper, but if you don’t rename this file everything is for naught.

    Sorry if I seem to be going on and on about this, but it was so frustrating not finding very specific instructions. If someone were talking to me and said “rename the ‘bios’ file,” the first thing I would ask is “WHICH OF THE FOUR FILES IS THE BIOS FILE?”

    Thanks again for all the help.

  62. Thanks alot! Amazing guide and instantly fixed my issue.

    Cheers!

  63. [...] no hope at all that it would come back. Well, let me tell you, it all changed after I saw a post here. Thanks Eric Chromick for it! I wont re-post it here and his instructions are pretty straight [...]

  64. works great. thank a lot.

  65. Thank YOU!!! It worked just as you said it would. I would just like to know Why this happens? And if it will happen again. They always say two heads are better than one. Love you guys! It’s nice when people share good news. Thanks a million. :) Lisia

  66. Mine had died early this year in february…
    managed to get it working until
    it died again last night…
    was able to get it working again today…
    but how long will that keep happening?

  67. Hello, The other day same thing happened to me. I use UBuntu (latest Edition) . I am having a lot of trouble figuring this out. It just doesnt work for me. Tried other possible website for help. If anybody can help. I would be forever grateful. Inviiere@gmail.com

  68. Thanks for the help.
    Have a few problems that noone else seems to…

    WIRED LAN no longer works

    AOA 150 had the black screen and no bios post…
    Tried following instructions.. but USB drive never appeared active.
    However, restarting it did work
    I checked my bios and had version .3114 (attempted flash with .3310)
    Windows started and I download the file from Acers website directly.
    http://support.acer.com/drivers_download.aspx

    Unzipped and ran the insydeflash program directly as indicated by the readme file.

    Flashed my Bios to version .3310 and PC has booted every day since.

    However… I now have NO WIRED Internet connection.

    The WIRED connection is not recognized by Windows or Linux.

    Almost like the new BIOS deactivated it.

    Anyone else have this problem? or know ways to fix it?

    Should I flash to an earlier bios?

    Some release notes included in an earlier BIOS file includes this section.. notice the bios is .3114 … the version I had originally had and the LAN worked.

    Date : 2008/07/17

    BIOS Version : v0.3114

    EC Version : 3.1

    BIOS:

    1. Base on 3113, modify something as below.

    POST

    1. Set C4 timing to 0×06.

    2. Disable LAN device and host L0s and L1.

    3. Enable PCIE break event.

    OS

    1. Check if OS is XP, then

    1. Set C4 timing to 0x0A.

    2. Enable LAN device and host L0s and L1.

    3. Disable PCIE break event.

  69. Worked better then my “Hammer” Fix :-)

  70. [...] googling for a short while, A tutorial titled “Aspire One Black Screen of Death” told the AAO users the solution that they could fix the problem. I followed the instruction and [...]

  71. thanks this worked just fine!!!!

  72. Bloody BRILLIANT MAN Thank you for the time and effort you and associates take to work this stuff out.
    saved me a trip to the computer guy and wad of cash i would guess, also got my daughter off my back as notebook was just a week out of warranty when she got the screen of death……. typical! anyway all sorted now thanks again.

    spook from down under

  73. Brother’s laptop not worked for some time, he thought it was dead forever. This worked perfectly. Thank you. Had to think about it for a while though, not a techie, but I did it.

  74. thanks a lot worked very well!

  75. OMG, thank you so much for posting the solution to this problem! You are an absolute lifesaver. My laptop stopped working over the weekend (power led flashing, no screen or booting up) and I was frantically trying to dig up my receipt thinking that the laptop had died. Luckily I found this site, with your clear instructions I did not have any problems whatsoever with the re-flashing. Took me 20 seconds to get everything back to normal :D Who would have thought it would be so simple to get my laptop working again!! Thanks once again I really appreciate your help xx

  76. I have repaired over 3000 laptops at work.
    My friend ask me to clean the fan on a AA0.
    A easy task.
    I think!

    Black screen of death after reassamble!

    Doh.
    After reading this, I get it to work.
    Thanks AL LOT!!!

  77. Wow! You saved me, it just worked for me, thanks so much :)

  78. terimakasih atas solusinya, AA1ku hidup lagi, cuma ikuti langkah2 yang telah dijelashan, thank you guy.

  79. Wow thanks a lot your solution works and very easy to follow. Never thought so many people suffer from this problem. Thanks again!!

  80. To see a video that shows how to fix this problem go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHkGkw9EE8c

  81. Just to say: YOU ROCK, MAN!
    My AA1 was dead.
    Thank you so much.

  82. Thank you for the solution I was working on it, but unfortunately When I was updating my bios then suddenly power breakdown and my system is now dead, when I Put charger lead in it … won’t respond and neither on battery
    so as I believe my Bios is stuck in middle of updating so is any body here to help me how to restore my system bios to restore my system
    in previous or in the new version …. :(

    Best Regards,

    Dr. Wajahat Najam (Ph.D Affairs, MBA-IT)

  83. Worked like a charm! Great work MAN!

  84. Eduardo Islas on March 10th, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Hi. I have definitely this problem. But I can’t get the computer to read the USB. I get to the blinking part, but the USB is never read. The light in the USB that turns on when i read data is always off and the blinking of the power button stays forever.

    I’ve tried 5 different USB sticks of all brands and sizes, all formatted in FAT, with the FLASHIT.EXE and the ZG5IA32.FD. I’ve tried with the 3309 and 3310 bios versions.

    I’ve tried all USB ports with no success. I’ve tried using the unetbootin although other posts don’t include it.

    I also tried removing and putting back the motherboard battery.

    What can I try???

  85. Worked for me too.

    I had some trouble at first as I tried to use an old (ancient) 256mb stick. I tried the key sqeuence few times and the usb stick blinked the led few times but thats it. Then I remembered that I had tried to use that same USB stick for live OS but it wouldn’t boot from that. Then I tried with one USB stick I had succeeded to get to boot the Live OS from. And it worked!!

    So, you have to have to have an usb stick that is able to boot, as apparently not all the usb sticks are able to. So try first does the USB stick boot on any other computer.

  86. Worked like a charm for me too.

    Thank you!

  87. I love you man. Was ready to chuck it in the bin before i read this.

  88. Thank you thank you thank you thank you – my day has been saved!

    I first assumed the screen was dead (hardware fault) because the fan was coming on, but then I noticed the drive light wouldn’t come on either.

    As pointed out in other comments, the reference to unetbootin is a little confusing because it never gets mentioned in the actual instructions. I installed unetbootin and never used it, but that’s fine because my dinky netbook is working!

  89. Well…well…WELL DONE…I am sooooo relieved, can now go off into the sunset with my acer one. Seriously you have saved my day….

    My Netbook is working again!!

  90. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Was nervous about doing it but it WORKED!!

  91. owww yeah, big-THX for you dude.
    i just fixed 2 acers with the tumbstick.
    great work for putting it up here.

  92. ypou are the daddy :-)

  93. Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!

  94. Tweets that mention Aspire One Black Screen of Death | Eric.Chromick.com -- Topsy.com on April 29th, 2010 at 11:58 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by harveybetty. harveybetty said: Thanks to http://eric.chromick.com/aa1/aspire-one-black-screen-of-death/ fixed daughters computer and will be a hero when she comes home! [...]

  95. omg!!!! it worked! my acer turned on after months of black screen….ty ty ty !!!! wooooooooohooooooooooooooooo

  96. yess it works make sure you copy and rename the file.

    thanks a million
    thanks to everybody

  97. Me-ow, black screen fixed right away! Thanks for your expertise. *****

  98. The gift that keeps on giving…. My 13y/o is forever in your debt!

  99. Oooohhhhh, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Worked a charm. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  100. Thanks for this easy to use tutorial. Fixed my little computer on the first try. Can’t thank you enough.

  101. after days of my husband accusing me of sabotaging his “Mini Me” computer, I have now been able to redeem myself due to this easy to use tutorial!

    I simply went & bought a new flashdrive (all of mine are either in use or I was unwilling to sacrifice one) for $10 at Office Max, play some Amateur Surgeon, then spent less than an hour downloading the files & restoring his little Acer.

    (I am keeping this lil’ flashdrive by the pc desk in the office for future restoration of diva-like status…err…loving wife…)

  102. I having this problem now…and I still can’t fix it…I don’t know why…I followed your instruction and even watched some videos about flashing bios…my acer model is acer aspire 4535..I did not see my pen drive is flashing or the power button is flashing..any idea?

  103. @Alex

    These instructions are only for the Acer Aspire One. The procedure in general might work on other Acer models, but the BIOS file(s) will almost certainly be different.

    Here’s a link to the Acer US Support site http://support.acer.com/us/en/drivers_download.aspx – you’ll have to use their navigation system to find the 4535 & you can download the correct BIOS file(s) from there. I don’t know if the procedure will work on this model – I’d try searching for your model number & “flash BIOS” to see if anyone has posted specific instructions for your laptop.

    Good luck!
    Eric

  104. First of all,thank you for your reply!!
    Before I receive your reply, I already visited that link and downloaded the latest version for acer 4535. The latest version that I downloaded is Bios 2.0.7 , inside this Bios 2.0.7, there are 2 folders, “DOS” and “Windows” , I just don’t know what to do next because there is no instruction or procedure in order to proceed.
    Anyway, thanks for trying. =)

  105. I downloaded the BIOS from ACER website and icon appeared is the VLC icon. After this i am totally lost. any help please.

  106. Thank you so much. It worked like a charm.

  107. I had this problem three times. For the first and the second time the bios flashing did the trick. But the third time… no way jose.

    So I ended up installing ubuntu remix netbook OS. Luckily I had nothing valuable on this netbook. Since I mainly use this to browse the net nothing is lost.

    Now this thing boots and shuts down in matter of seconds… all drivers were there.

    And while running windows the screen did flicker time to time. That’s gone too.

    Only feature I’m missing is the possibility to rotate the screen fast… but some linux-guy might be working on it at the moment…

  108. thank you, it really works. you saved my netbook from going to the garbage bin. mine took less than 1 minute to flash on AAO-110L.

  109. Thanks, man.
    Got it up and running in a few minutes.

  110. Thank you

  111. sick man worked!!!!

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