Acer Aspire 5738 Service Guide

							Chapter 411 3
Intermittent Problems
Intermittent system hang problems can be caused by a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with a 
hardware defect, such as: cosmic radiation, electrostatic discharge, or software errors. FRU replacement 
should be considered only when a recurring problem exists.
When analyzing an intermittent problem, do the following:
1.Run the advanced diagnostic test for the system board in loop mode at least 10 times.
2.If no error is detected, do not replace any FRU.
3.If any error is detected, replace the FRU. Rerun the test to verify that there are no more errors.  
						

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Undetermined Problems
The diagnostic problems does not identify which adapter or device failed, which installed devices are incorrect, 
whether a short circuit is suspected, or whether the system is inoperative. 
Follow these procedures to isolate the failing FRU (do not isolate non-defective FRU).
NOTE: Verify that all attached devices are supported by the computer.
NOTE: Verify that the power supply being used at the time of the failure is operating correctly. (See “Power 
System Check” on page 99.):
1.Power-off the computer.
2.Visually check them for damage. If any problems are found, replace the FRU.
3.Remove or disconnect all of the following devices:
•Non-Acer devices
•Printer, mouse, and other external devices
•Battery pack
•Hard disk drive
•DIMM 
•CD-ROM/Diskette drive Module
•PC Cards
4.Power-on the computer.
5.Determine if the problem has changed.
6.If the problem does not recur, reconnect the removed devices one at a time until you find the failing FRU.
7.If the problem remains, replace the following FRU one at a time. Do not replace a non-defective FRU:
•System board
•LCD assembly 
						

							Chapter 511 5
Main Board 
Top View
No.CodeConnector
1 SPKR_L1 Left speaker cable connector
2 KB1 Keyboard cable connector
3 AMIC1 MIC cable connector
4 SPKR_R1 Right speaker cable connector
5 PSCN1 Volume button board cable connector
6 TPCN1 Touchpad board cable connector
7 FPCN1 Fingerprint cable connector 
8 RTC1 RTC battery connector
9 USBCN1 USB cable connector
Connector Locations
Chapter 5 
						

							11 6Chapter 5
Bottom View
No.CodeConnector
1 BT1 Bluetooth board cable connector
2 LOUT1 Headphone/speaker/line-out jack
3 MICIN1 Microphone-in jack
4 LIN1 Line-in port
5 USB1 & USB3 USB 2.0 ports
6CRT1 VGA port
7 FAN1 Heatsink fan cable connector
8 HDMI1 HDMI port
9 RJ45 Ethernet port
10 DCIN1 DC-in port
11 CPU1 CPU socket 
						

							Chapter 511 7
Clearing Password Check and BIOS Recovery
This section provides the standard operating procedures for clearing the password and BIOS recovery for 
Aspire 5738G/5738ZG/5738Z/5738/5338 and the Aspire 5536/5536G/5236 Series. There is one Hardware 
Open Gap on the main board for clearing the password check and one Hotkey for enabling BIOS Recovery.
Clearing Password Check
Hardware Open Gap Description
Hardware Gap Position on the Main Board
Gap name in Aspire 5738G/5738ZG/5738Z/5738/5338 Series is G78.  
Hardware Default Setting Operation Description
Gap Open (Normal) Short (Clearing Password Check)
G78 
						

							11 8Chapter 5
Gap name in Aspire 5536/5536G/5236 Series is G106.   
Steps for Clearing BIOS Password Check
If the user sets the BIOS Password (Supervisor Password and/or User Password) for a security reason, the 
BIOS will ask for the password during system POST or when the system enters into the BIOS Setup menu.  If 
it is necessary to bypass the password check, the user needs to short the hardware gap to clear the password 
by following these steps:
• Power off the system, and remove the HDD, AC adapter and battery from the computer.
• Open the back cover of the computer and look for the hardware gap on the main board as shown 
in the picture(s) above.
• Use an electric conductivity tool to short the two points of the hardware gap.
• Plug in the AC adapter while retaining the short condition on the hardware gap. Press the power 
button to turn on the computer until the BIOS POST routine is finished. Finally, remove the tool 
from the hardware gap.
• Restart the system. Press the F2 key to enter BIOS Setup menu.
• If there is no password request, the BIOS Password is cleared. Otherwise, repeat the steps above 
and try again.
NOTE: The steps are only for clearing the BIOS password (Supervisor Password and User Password).
G106 
						

							Chapter 511 9
BIOS Recovery by Crisis Disk
BIOS Recovery Boot Block:
BIOS Recovery Boot Block is a special block of the BIOS. It is used to boot up the system with minimum BIOS 
initialization. Users can enable this feature to restore the BIOS firmware to a successful one once the previous 
BIOS flashing process failed.
BIOS Recovery Hotkey
The system provides a function hotkey: Fn+Esc, for enabling the BIOS Recovery process at system power-on 
during BIOS POST. To use this function, the AC adapter and the battery must be connected. If this function is 
enabled, the system will force the BIOS to enter a special BIOS block called Boot Block.
Steps for BIOS Recovery by Crisis Disk
Before doing this, prepare a Crisis Disk (refer to the “Steps for Creating the Crisis Disk in Windows XP/Vista” 
section below) and keep it ready in hand. 
Follow these steps for BIOS recovery:
1.Power off the system.
2.Connect a removable USB storage device containing the Crisis Disk to a USB port connected to the BIOS 
flash failed system.
3.Under power-off state, press and hold Fn+Esc and then press the power button. The system should be 
powered on with the Crisis BIOS Recovery process.
4.BIOS Boot Block starts to restore the BIOS code from the Crisis Disk to BIOS ROM on the failed system.
5.After the crisis flashing process is finished, the system will restart.
After the Crisis Recovery process is finished, the system should have a successful and workable BIOS after 
power on.  The user can then update the latest BIOS version for this system using the regular BIOS flashing 
process.
Creating the Crisis Disk in Windows XP/Vista
Follow these steps to create the Crisis Disk:
1.Prepare a removable USB storage device (size greater than 10MB).  Note that all data on the USB 
storage device will be cleared during the creation of the Crisis Disk.
2.Set up another computer loaded with Windows XP or Vista operating system. 
						

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3.Decompress the Crisis Package Source.  Select WINCRIS.EXE  and then select Run as administrator 
under Vista.   
4.Keep the default settings and then click on the Start button.
5.When the pop-up warning dialog box appears, press OK to continue creating the Crisis Disk.    
						

							Chapter 5121
6.The Crisis Disk will be created after a few seconds. 
7.Press No if you do not want to create another Crisis Disk.  
						

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8.Reconnect the USB removable storage device and check if it contains the 3 files shown in the following 
figure.