Acer Aspire Home Theater

[Sydney]

My friend has an Acer Home Theater problem.
When puting the power on, nothing appears on the scren.
Connecting an outside scren shows "no graphics input."

Apparently the graphics card is out of order. Acer asks for 600 €uros to
repair.
I wonder if graphics cards exist on the market so I can repair myself.
I assume the card is separated from the main board.

Thanks a lot

 

[Paul]

My friend has an Acer Home Theater problem.
When puting the power on, nothing appears on the scren.
Connecting an outside scren shows "no graphics input."

Apparently the graphics card is out of order. Acer asks for 600 €uros to
repair.
I wonder if graphics cards exist on the market so I can repair myself.
I assume the card is separated from the main board.

Thanks a lot

What is the model number of the product ?

Paul

 

[Sydney]

Le 09/02/2015 16:33, Paul a écrit :

What is the model number of the product ?

Paul

I should have written in the first place that the computer is all in one
piece ! everything (except keyboard and mouse )is compacted in one block.

I am afraid the video card in integrated to the motherboard.

Nevertheless here are the data
Model Home Theater Aspire Z5761

then the SNID number (the reference number for Acer France representative).

SNID 209 00 77 00 30
S/N DOSGYEF00320901E143000

I assume that before going farther I have to figure how to open the unit.

 

[Paul]

Le 09/02/2015 16:33, Paul a écrit :

I should have written in the first place that the computer is all in one
piece ! everything (except keyboard and mouse )is compacted in one block.

I am afraid the video card in integrated to the motherboard.

Nevertheless here are the data
Model Home Theater Aspire Z5761

then the SNID number (the reference number for Acer France representative).

I assume that before going farther I have to figure how to open the unit.

I like to see the model number, so I can become familiar with it.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/acer-aspire-z5761-all-in-one-sports-touch-screen-tv-tuner-8-usb-ports/

"NVIDIA GeForce GT440, GT435M, or GT420 graphics"

A user here seems to think the machine has a "burnout problem".
Some part was replaced, and the problem comes back.

http://community.acer.com/t5/Desktops-All-In-Ones/ASPIRE-Z5761-Driver-Display-problems/td-p/215759

This article casually mentions MXM form factor. That
means the video portion can be unplugged and is not
soldered to the motherboard. That seems unusual for
an all-in-one.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-435M.35836.0.html

"According to rumors, the power consumption of the GeForce
GT 435M should be about 40-45 Watt (TDP including the MXM board
and memory), and therefore suited for 15†laptops.

Furthermore, the 400M series supports Optimus to automatically
switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the
Nvidia GPU. However, the laptop manufacturers need to implement
it and it cannot be upgraded."

This is what an MXM card would look like.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-NVIDIA-G...0p-Graphics-Card-P-N-608545-001-/261366424032

*******

Grinder has tried to give some general advice on
debugging the problem.

It sounds like the problem happens even at the BIOS
level, so maybe it's not an OS driver problem.

The graphics would look like this.

Intel graphics --------+ LVDS Internal LCD panel
+-----------
NVidia_MXM_graphics ---+
+---> External Video connector available ???

This picture is bleak...

http://www.conrad.at/medias/global/ce/8000_8999/8700/8760/8767/876723_ZB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg

But look at this one, all the I/O is on the side I couldn't see.
I think I see a VGA connector you could test on there, using
an external monitor. Then, see if the user manual
mentions alt-F5 video toggle, to select the VGA connector
as an output. Usually, there is a function key like F5, and
pressing a couple keys toggles the video mode. That's
to see if you can get a signal from the VGA instead.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/440311/chnaging-graphic-card-in-aspire-z5761/

It's really hard to say whether they'd use Optimus on that design
or not (the ability to switch between Intel GPU and Nvidia GPU).
The picture on that last page shows the unit is actually pretty thick.
It has a 220W supply and the supply is one of those weird form factors
(possibly near the bottom of the unit?).

Not shown on the picture of the MXM board, there is a cooling
solution that bolts over the GPU. So you'll have to remove the
cooler on the MXM board, before you can change it out. Apply
a little fresh thermal paste to the new GPU, before putting the cooler
back on.

Paul

 

[Sydney]

Le 10/02/2015 08:41, Paul a écrit :

I like to see the model number, so I can become familiar with it.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/acer-aspire-z5761-all-in-one-sports-touch-screen-tv-tuner-8-usb-ports/


"NVIDIA GeForce GT440, GT435M, or GT420 graphics"

A user here seems to think the machine has a "burnout problem".
Some part was replaced, and the problem comes back.

http://community.acer.com/t5/Desktops-All-In-Ones/ASPIRE-Z5761-Driver-Display-problems/td-p/215759


This article casually mentions MXM form factor. That
means the video portion can be unplugged and is not
soldered to the motherboard. That seems unusual for
an all-in-one.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-435M.35836.0.html

"According to rumors, the power consumption of the GeForce
GT 435M should be about 40-45 Watt (TDP including the MXM board
and memory), and therefore suited for 15†laptops.

Furthermore, the 400M series supports Optimus to automatically
switch between the integrated graphics card from Intel and the
Nvidia GPU. However, the laptop manufacturers need to implement
it and it cannot be upgraded."

This is what an MXM card would look like.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-NVIDIA-G...0p-Graphics-Card-P-N-608545-001-/261366424032


*******

Grinder has tried to give some general advice on
debugging the problem.

It sounds like the problem happens even at the BIOS
level, so maybe it's not an OS driver problem.

The graphics would look like this.

Intel graphics --------+ LVDS Internal LCD panel
+-----------
NVidia_MXM_graphics ---+
+---> External Video connector available ???

This picture is bleak...

http://www.conrad.at/medias/global/ce/8000_8999/8700/8760/8767/876723_ZB_00_FB.EPS_1000.jpg


But look at this one, all the I/O is on the side I couldn't see.
I think I see a VGA connector you could test on there, using
an external monitor. Then, see if the user manual
mentions alt-F5 video toggle, to select the VGA connector
as an output. Usually, there is a function key like F5, and
pressing a couple keys toggles the video mode. That's
to see if you can get a signal from the VGA instead.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/440311/chnaging-graphic-card-in-aspire-z5761/


It's really hard to say whether they'd use Optimus on that design
or not (the ability to switch between Intel GPU and Nvidia GPU).
The picture on that last page shows the unit is actually pretty thick.
It has a 220W supply and the supply is one of those weird form factors
(possibly near the bottom of the unit?).

Not shown on the picture of the MXM board, there is a cooling
solution that bolts over the GPU. So you'll have to remove the
cooler on the MXM board, before you can change it out. Apply
a little fresh thermal paste to the new GPU, before putting the cooler
back on.

Paul

Thanks Paul for the info. I 'll wait until my friend returns to me to go
farther.