Acer Aspire 5625G starts up but does not display images (power is on, but does not boot)

Often on AMD platforms there is a troubleshooting problem: the system starts up, but the screen shows nothing. The problem may be that the northbridge (chipset) is faulty.

Today we are going to examine a patient - laptop Acer Aspire 5625G. Remarkable fact in this model is the presence of 2 video cards:

1. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (1024 MB DDR2, clock speed: 550 MHz, memory speed: 800 MHz) - this is a discrete graphics card.
2. ATI HD 4250 - is a hybrid GPU which is built into the chipset (with separate memory capacity of 320 MB DDR2) can provide graphics processing after a manual switch. This saves power when using battery.

Notebook motherboard

The sad thing is that the northbridge ATI Radeon IGP (ATI HD 4250) 216-0752001 is the most common cause of the motherboard failure.

How to diagnose?

ATI Radeon IGP 216-0752001 on the motherboard

Let's have a look at the typical malfunctions of chipset ATI Radeon IGP 216-0752001, in this specific case, and in notebook model Aspire 5625G in particular:

• There is no initialization, with PC power on.
• Glitches, artifacts or distorted images on the screen.
• No image on the screen.
• Either the screen is white or with thin stripes, or only the back-light is turned on.
• Video drivers don't load, lags with any 3D applications.
• Only on the external monitor any image quality is displayed.

For more precise diagnostic use diagnostic baking (applying high temperature air on the crystal of the chip for a short period of time - maximum 10 seconds) using hot air rework soldering station.

Diagnostic chipset warm-up

Then wait for the chip to cool down, reassemble the laptop and start it. If there is a picture on the screen, the diagnostic was conducted properly. This is not a panacea, and sometimes the system won't start, then probably the problem is not in the chipset.

Please note:

1. If the notebook is on warranty - under no circumstances open it.
2. Diagnostic baking has nothing to do with chip repair.
3. You can't exert those high temperatures on the chip for too long - this can cause damage to the chip or the motherboard.
4. Not all chips react to baking.

Repair

If you correctly diagnosed the problem and your laptop boots, it will work, for some time (from couple of hours up to 3-5 months) but the chip is faulty and must be replaced. This procedure can only be done with special equipment. In future articles we will talk about this equipment.

P.S. You always have an option of contacting nearest service center for laptop repair ;).

Conclusion

Today we talked about the typical troubleshoot problems of laptop Acer Aspire 5625G and diagnostic methods. All of these techniques can be used only in non-warranty repairs.

Important notice: this article is for informational purposes only and the author holds no responsibility, whatsoever, for the material damage to the equipment as a result the repairs.

Link Ref : http://hardware-today.com/articles/notebooks/acer_aspire_5625g_starts_up_but_does_not_display_images_power_is_on_but_does_not_boot