Acer Aspire 5315 shuts down on its own

Hello from France.
The machine was bought in Nov. 2007, so there is no warranty left to think
about.
Now, as soon as October 2008, it started to shut down on its own--really shut
down, with no warning, in the middle of whatever. The first time I contacted the
after-sales service, but they answered I had to start it again and keep it
running as in a setup session, and then launch Vista if the machine had not shut
down, and wait until it did under Vista. Only it didn't, for a few more months.
Now, it keeps shutting down all the time. I brought it to a repair shop, but
they say it doesn't shut down with them. I've been doing this several time now.
There is no regular pattern I can come up with: sometimes it shuts down after a
few minutes, sometimes while I am using it, sometimes while it is being idle ;
same thing when I start it up again: sometimes it wants to go into an attempted
repairing process, sometimes it just resumes Vista.
Of course I've scanned it every way I could: it doesn't appear to be infected.

Now, would anyone be able to give me any clue as to why the machine does it?
What parts may be the problem? Has the Aspire 5315 been reported to do this?
Thanks for any help and advice, really.

 

I forgot to mention:
- the fan seems to work all right
- the machine has been cleaned by the repair shop

....

 

Oh, and the battery doesn't seem to be the problem either.

 

1. Check all the power settings. Make sure when it's plugged in they are
all on and nothing is shutting down.
2. Time how long it takes for the computer to shut down. Is it the same
every time you turn it on, or does it get faster and faster? (Overheating)
3. It's very unusual for the operating system to shut a computer down. Try
safe mode and see what happens.
4. If the computer is running hot it will shut down. Check for dirt and
dust in the vents. Seriously, run the computer in the fridge and see what
happens.
5. Bad memory will shut a computer down. If the computer has two memory
cards remove the secondary card and see what happens. Then switch them and
see what happens.
6. A bad CPU will shut a computer down. If you are able to restart the
computer and it shuts down faster and faster after restarting that could be
the culprit. Most new notebooks have the CPU plugged into a socket.
7. Could be a bad motherboard. Was the computer ever dropped? Does it
"bend" when you pick it up?
8. Same symptoms when you run it on battery? How does it run when you
remove the battery and run it on AC only?
9. Have you tried wiggling the power input?

Anything on a notebook computer can be fixed for less than a new one, but
you will probably have to do it yourself and get a decent price on the
parts. The one I'm typing on now had the motherboard replaced, by me, and
the board cost me $250. But, a new comparable notebook was twice as much.
If I had it fixed at a shop it would have been cheaper to buy a new one.

 

"Sheldon" :
Thanks for bothering to read and answer, Sheldon! Kindly see below:

I've been through this already.

I never could find out any regular pattern: sometimes it takes only ten minutes,
the next time two hours...

I've been having computer since 93, and I never came across this indeed, but
then again I never had a laptop before. Now, Google keeps countless records of
people complaining that their machines (in many cases the very same Acer Aspire
5315, it seems) do shut down on their own.

It will also happen when I go F2 and enter Setup without even having launched
Vista--as I think I forgot to mention, *sorry* about that!

I've already opened it up and found quite an amount of thin, white dust covering
the fins of the radiator, but I cleaned it all--and the machine continued to
shut down abruptly.

Well, what's inside the fridge will turn hot, as I won't be able to shut the
door properly?

Do you mean memory *modules*?

Well, the machine will beep because it has lost one of its two memory sticks, I
suppose, and I'm unable to reconfigure it so that running with one module only
is okay.

This at least I can do.

But changing the CPU is a most expensive thing, don't you think? Besides I'd
need to make sure that it the CPU. I know some people seem to get rid of the
problem after changing the thermal paste (it that right?), but then again others
don't...

No problem of the kind.

This I did mention: it may shut down the same way while on battery, and on AC
with the battery removed.

: 9. Have you tried wiggling the power input?

Well... no, frankly, I never thought of it, but I will.

I bought mine for 500 euros, and the motherboard must cost at least half that
much, so I wonder...

What really bothers me is that I need to make sure what part in the problem
first. Now, from what I get to read here and there on the Internet, people who
encounter the same thing with their Acer Aspire 5315 get away in many different
ways: reinstalling Vista, changing the thermal paste, changing the power unit,
changing memory modules, and so on and so forth!

....Thanks again for reading, and I'll be reading whatever you think fit to add.

 

....so, to sum things up a bit, the machine will shut off on its own even when in
a F2, setup session, with or without the battery on, wether on AC or not.

 

Loose contact somewhere?

 

Start with the easiest stuff first, reseating cards and connectors. More or
new heatsink compound may very well solve the problem. When looking for
parts check eBay. I've never bought a bad computer part on eBay.

It's a tough symptom to nail down. Could be just about anything. If you
are finding symptoms and solutions on the Net start with the easiest and
progress to the hardest.

Good luck.

 

"Han" :
: Loose contact somewhere?

Maybe, but of course "somewhere" would be the problem actually: how long would
it take to someone with the proper equipment to test each part of the whole
thing? With the cost of an hour's work in France, just how worth would it be?
Provided it really was a contact problem in the first place of course.
Thanks for answering anyway.

 

"Sheldon" :
: Start with the easiest stuff first,
: reseating cards and connectors.

I will (actually I am, starting with reversing the two memory modules).

: (...) Good luck.

Thanks for answering.

 

And it could be its a piece of junk Acer.

 

Hi!

It really does sound like something is overheating. Either that, or a
thermal sensor is "spinning out" and reporting a reading that is way too
high or too low, which triggers a system shutdown from the BIOS.

I would suggest trying the SpeedFan utility
(http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) as it should be able to see the
temperature sensors in your system. If one of them acts up, you may get a
chance to see the reading jump or drop before the system quits.

Find someone who has a bigger fridge.

Or put a fan near the computer, so that it blows on the system unit.

It's certainly possible--and worth considering, given that you've found
other people complaining of the same problem--that this is an issue with the
system. Acer may have done something wrong when they made it, and perhaps
they can fix it with a BIOS or other software update to work around the
issue.

William

 

"William R. Walsh" :
: (...) I would suggest trying the SpeedFan utility

Of course I knew about SF, but seeing as many people found numerous, diverse
solutions (hardware and software), I had given up all hope; NOW, here're the
readings:
- SF finds only one sensor it calls Core0
- when I launch SF, it reads 70C at once
- if I leave the machine idle, it reaches 80+ within a few minutes (then I close
my eyes, refusing to watch a machine suffer like that).
If I get it right, the "normal" reading should be around 40, with 50 being when
the alarm should ring off, so I guess changing the thermal paste (how English
izat?) may very well solve the whole thing?
What do you think, William?

: (...) perhaps [Acer] can fix it with a BIOS
: or other software update to work
: around the issue.

Problem being that I read lots of complaints from people having downloaded
whatever file the Acer website had told them to, and then finding out way too
late that there'd been some kind of mistake and the advised file wasn't the
right one.

Hope to read you on that thermal issue, William.

 

A few amendments:
- when I wrote the above statement, I was not aware that the machine had been
running some time before (until it shut down by itself as is usual now), so I've
done it all over again this morning, and here goes:
- starting from cold, SF soon reads 50+
- then it reaches around 80
- then the fan starts, and it cools down to 50-
- then the whole process starts all over again, only this time it would seem
that the fan doesn't start too often

Hoping this helps better understand.
Thanks for reading, if not answering.

 

More so for a while the fan was triggered soon enough so that the
temperature would cool off down to about 47C...but after a while I noticed the
temperature was rising and the fan wouldn't start, so that it reached 99C (!)
and suddenly the machine shut down. From what I read the Athlon CPU is rigged to
that it can bear 100 and then shut down.
Now the question definitely is: what makes the fan *not* start after a while, do
you think? Would a BIOS flashing fix that?
Thanks again, thanks in advance.

 

"Albédo" :
: the Athlon CPU

....should have read Celeron (530@1.73GHz).

 

I keep learning: It seems the problem is that the fan won't start after the
machine was put into sleep (and/or *deep* sleep?) mode.
From what I can see, even if you reboot the machine, SpeeFan says the
temperature is like 66C, and the fan won't start.
So from what I read you need to flash the BIOS, the upgrading solving the issue.
Now I need to decide if I do a DOS mode or a Windows mode flashing. . .though I
can't really figure out what they call DOS for a machine that runs under Vista.
Thanks for any help on this (too).

 

I did it!
I did flash the BIOS (couldn't wait any longer, with life being so short and the
Mexican flue around and all) from Vista (the zipped files allow the two modes).
As instructed, I tried not to faint when the machine shut down after the
flashing was complete, I took a deeeep breath, booted up, went F2 and checked
that BIOS version had gone from 1.14 to 1.43, entered Vista, saw that FanSpeed
was reading some 83C, grasped my hands, pricked up my ears (the rest of what I
did being none of your business ;-). . .and then I heard the fan start to run!
Sure did! The reading quicky dropped to some 45C, then I launched the deep sleep
mode (can't remember what the proper English is here), and still the fan was
rolling, then the machine quited down completely, so I revived it. . .and the
fan started again!
At first glance it seems that the fan starts when the reading reaches 70C and
until it falls to some 40-45.
Eric, I guess tomorrow we'll have lunch and no surgery after all!
Thanks for reading. Hope this'll help once it's archived and Google-recoverable.

 

:-(

 

Changed the thermal compound, updades the BIOS, tried lots of things suggested
in forums, and still the fan starts randomly--or just doesn't.