Is monitor needed for drive bay to open?

*Wassercrats* · 10-23-2012, 05:02 PM

My monitor went black and only the power light lit up when turned on and off. The fluorescent light above the monitor broke the same day, maybe the same time. Not just the bulb but the whole fixture. I needed a new monitor anyway, so I threw it out and now I have no monitor (I'm going to order a Dell E2213). My computer power button lights up when I turn it on and something hums, but the DVD drive won't pop out. Is this a sign that my computer is broken?

**Kevin** · 10-23-2012, 05:09 PM

Sounds like you might have gotten hit with a surge (lightning?). Unfortunately it is difficult to tell without a monitor.

Most optical drives will not eject during the BIOS POST phase of booting. Try leaving the system on for a few minutes and then see if it ejects. Assuming there isn't a bootable disc in there.

*Wassercrats* · 10-23-2012, 05:16 PM

Yeah, no bootable disk. I left it on long enough. A light on the surge protector I think indicates there was a surge, but the outlets work. I'll get a new surge protector.

*Wassercrats* · 10-27-2012, 01:25 PM

I got my new monitor and it gave me an error message about not receiving a signal from the computer, which is still under warranty, so I'm sending it in (I'll supposedly "receive an email shortly with Shipping and Packaging instructions" from Acer but it's not happening and when I try checking the trash folder I get "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" on this library computer). I thought the surge protector detected a surge because the box says that one of the lights that's lit is the "surge indicator light" but I read more on the manufacturer's website and it sounds like it's supposed to be lit when it's working.

The computer crashed at least three times in the few months it was "working" causing me to have to press the power button. I hope I'll be able to get an upgrade for a discount instead of just a repair.

Oh...I see I have to wait for Acer to "accept my case" before I mail it in.

**Kevin** · 10-27-2012, 02:34 PM

That is pretty standard. They want to issue you an RMA number for tracking purposes after they validate your warranty status and possibly suggest trying something first before wasting the time and money on shipping.

*Wassercrats* · 11-05-2012, 12:21 PM

After about 5 days I told them I didn't get their email, the next day they sent it to me. The only new information was suggestions like use 3" tape and no peanuts and ship anyway except USPS. I pretty much followed none of them. Staples wanted $50 to ship UPS. I walked out and went to the post office which charged $20.00. Staples was about $2 cheaper for insurance, which was meaningless considering shipping is more than twice as much. I used various methods to seperate the computer from the peanuts pretty well. I didn't save my peanuts for 15 years to not use them.

**Kevin** · 11-05-2012, 12:28 PM

Unless something is worth a lot of money I generally use the UPS Store and take the standard of $100 insurance.

*Wassercrats* · 11-17-2012, 01:32 PM

Acer said:

Quote:

I understand that enquired about repair details.

Please be informed that our repair technician has found that the unit powered up and
booted into desktop of operating system with a very slow process.

Our repair technician have checked Disk Drive to correct the problems with the slow
boot and no other faults were exhibited. Unit powered up and booted into desktop
with no errors or BSOD ( blue screen of death ) were exhibited during this
operation.Found all of the functions responding normal.

Unit is powering up and booting properly without any faults, errors, or BSOD being
display or part of the operations.

Doesn't exactly say what the problem was or that the DVD drive could now open. You don't fix a slow process by checking something. If it happens again, I don't know how long to wait for it to boot before giving up and I don't know how to fix it. Now I have to decide whether to ask for more detail.

*Wassercrats* · 11-23-2012, 01:24 PM

The computer was returned to me with the note "Wiped, Checked Disk Drive to Correct Issue Of Boot Failure." I was pleasantly surprised when I booted up and saw all my desktop icons and custom background. I think I prefer not knowing what fixed it over thinking the hard drive was erased.

**Kevin** · 11-23-2012, 01:35 PM

Maybe they wiped the dust off of it