On 03/14/2011 12:06 PM, Cranky Frankie wrote:
I've been having a similar problem with an Acer Aspire One netbook.
This is a replacement netbook. On the first one the screen failed
right at the 90 day warranty so they gave me a new one. Then it ran
fine for about 18 months until it started to shut off randomly. It
turned out that the way my daughter was using it when plugged in was
putting stress on the DC input jack. I brought to the authorized Acer
service center in Albany, which is Liberteks. For $130 they repaired
the input jack. However, when we got it back it still kept shutting
off. I brought it back to them and they claimed they were able to run
it all day on a Linux boot cd with no problem so it must be a Windoze
issue. I spent $24 to get recovery cds mailed to me, reinstalled XP,
then set up a dual boot with Ubuntu Netbook on it, plus I picked up a
9 cell battery for it, since a small netbook like this could be useful
on the road to me (I gave my daugher my other working netbook).
The jury is still out, however. When I re-installed XP it had to down
load a ^&%load of patches and updates; several times during that
experience it shut off. However it seems to run fine when running
Ubuntu, although, during that weekend, it shut off when running Ubuntu
as well.
I'd been leaving voice mails at Liberteks about this with no response,
then I emailed them and they said to bring it in. Of course, yesterday
I had it on for several hours in both OSs and it didn't shut down
either time. Go figure. It's that the way it always goes.
Researching this I find:
- clogged and dusty fan inputs/outputs can cause overheating, but this
one appears to be clean
- when it gets too hot it will shut down to protect the chip. This one
gets noticeably hot on the bottom, yet now it seems to be not shutting
down.
- loose DC input jacks can cause it to cut out. Liberteks told me
these jacks are a week point, and that when they repair them they use
extra epoxy to strengthen the area so this at least should be OK
- the Acers are known to have battery charging issues. The replacement
9 cell battery seems to be working OK, though I've not run it long on
the battery alone so much since I've been having these iss bues
- heat paste between the chip and heat sink has to be there and
working. I'm hoping it is.
At this point, until the system settles down, I'm not sure what the
problem and/or fix is. I'm not going to write off Acer yet either,
since I let my daughter use this box for 18 months and you know how
tough on electronics teenagers can be. However, when a system keeps
shutting down it's very frustrating for sure.
I had a similar problem with the same notebook when I was using it in a
warm climate. The solution was to run it from the battery only. When
the battery ran down, I shut down and recharged it.
Bob Burroughs
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