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Acer Aspire 5630

Last updated on 7 hours ago
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magoriumSoftware Dev
Posted 7 hours ago
#20

Quote


Thanks, but I actually can't find it (so far I've only prised the front apart because I'd have to remove the screen and deal with a stuck screw at the side to open it up completely). I did however find a CMOS reset jumper, so maybe using that should be just as good? Bridging the jumper for ten seconds didn't change anything that I can see.

There is indeed a reset BIOS jumper that is easy accessible from the bottom (for me it is white). There is a service manual floating around on the web (I have it as well and more than willing to share but am not at home for a couple of weeks).

Quote


I think I'll give up on it, as it doesn't seem to want to live! As well as the other faults I mentioned, the back two USB ports don't work.

There are a lot of (hidden) key/button-combinations that are acer specific that makes your neck-hairs raise such as f.e. turning on/of wifi, bluetooth, turn on/of the display/trackpad and more of such things you would not expect.

Sorry to hear it gave/gives you so much trouble already.

Quote


EDIT: I found the battery under the PCMCIA slot, but it appears to be soldered in Sad

The cmos battery itself you mean ?! Darn, that is mischievous. The one over here has some glue-like blob of paste on it (nearly impossible to remove without destroying some surrounding things but at least it moved).
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 11 hours ago
#19

Amiwell79 wrote:

@Amiwell79 - I can give you mine, you pay the shipping costs


Thank you, but I don't want to take it away from you, as it seems to be a nice AROS laptop for you to enjoy when the hardware is OK Smile
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 11 hours ago
#18

terminills wrote:

@terminills

Try pulling the CMOS battery and resetting the bios that way ... it's on the left/front near the speaker or right/front with the machine upside down.


Thanks, but I actually can't find it (so far I've only prised the front apart because I'd have to remove the screen and deal with a stuck screw at the side to open it up completely). I did however find a CMOS reset jumper, so maybe using that should be just as good? Bridging the jumper for ten seconds didn't change anything that I can see.

I think I'll give up on it, as it doesn't seem to want to live! As well as the other faults I mentioned, the back two USB ports don't work.

EDIT: I found the battery under the PCMCIA slot, but it appears to be soldered in Sad
Edited by ncafferkey on 01-02-2026 17:16, 11 hours ago
A
Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 2 days ago
#17
I can give you mine, you pay the shipping costs
ncafferkey
T
terminillsJunior Member
Posted 2 days ago
#16

ncafferkey wrote:

@ncafferkey - Thanks Jeff. I don't think it's a display fault as normally I could turn off the laptop with a quick press of the power button when it hasn't got past the BIOS. I took a look with a torch anyway, but I don't see anything. It's an original power supply. Also, remarkably, the battery stores a reasonable amount so I've also tried booting with just the battery.



Try pulling the CMOS battery and resetting the bios that way ... it's on the left/front near the speaker or right/front with the machine upside down.
ncafferkey
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 2 days ago
#15
Thanks Jeff. I don't think it's a display fault as normally I could turn off the laptop with a quick press of the power button when it hasn't got past the BIOS. I took a look with a torch anyway, but I don't see anything. It's an original power supply. Also, remarkably, the battery stores a reasonable amount so I've also tried booting with just the battery.
J
Jeff1138Member
Posted 2 days ago
#14
Hi,

My only thoughts are switch on and use a torch/flashlight to see if the display is really dim, i.e. the backlight has blown. If so, is an external display vga or s-vhs plugged into the back edge an option?

Is the ac power original or an aftermarket one?

Jeff
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Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 2 days ago
#13
I'm sorry it broke
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 2 days ago
#12
Bad news. My 5630 died after two days! It was already in bad shape, with faulty keyboard, trackpad and speakers.

I was making progress with debugging the network problem, but I had to turn it on and off a lot during testing and after one power cycle it wouldn't boot.

I've removed the battery, HD, optical drive and wireless card; swapped the RAM around, held down the power button for 30 seconds with battery and power removed. Nothing helped. The laptop turns on but the screen stays off, and I can only turn it off by holding the power button down for 5 seconds. Caps lock doesn't turn on its light. No beeps (speaker is mostly broken anyway) or LED flashing.

Does anyone have any other ideas?
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Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 4 days ago
#11
ok Neil
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 5 days ago
#10
My 5630 arrived and I've experienced the same problem with the NIC. It also crashes soon after I start networking. I hope to have time to investigate further soon.
deadwood, retrofaza, aha
A
Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 7 days ago
#9
Thank you very much Neil
ncafferkey
N
ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 7 days ago
#8
Thanks for testing with Debian. I should have my own 5630 to test on by the end of this week, so hopefully I can fix the problem.
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Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 8 days ago
#7
I tested the network card with Debian and it works.
ncafferkey
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Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 8 days ago
#6
OK, I understand. I'll try with another operating system.
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 8 days ago
#5
Yes, the PCI information you shared is almost identical to the PCI information for the Broadcom 44XX in my Dell Inspiron 6400, so in theory it should work.
A
Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 8 days ago
#4
I am using 32-bit Aros. According to pciinfo, I detect a Broadcom 44XX. Perhaps there are different models of this laptop; in fact, it indicates 5630 but also 5633WLMI.
Edited by Amiwell79 on 25-01-2026 05:36, 8 days ago
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ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 8 days ago
#3
I forgot to ask: are you using 32-bit or 64-bit AROS?

EDIT: I see from a post of yours about two years ago that you tried the driver with a previous 5630 you had and it also failed then. So if it failed on two instances of this laptop model, it's unlikely to be a dead Ethernet port. Therefore I think I'll buy one that I can get locally for €22 including shipping in order to debug the problem.

https://www.arosw...#post_2714
Edited by ncafferkey on 25-01-2026 05:26, 8 days ago
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Amiwell79Distro Maintainer
Posted 8 days ago
#2
Yes, the LEDs light up. I need to try another operating system.
ncafferkey
N
ncafferkeyAROS Dev
Posted 8 days ago
#1
Is the hardware definitely OK? E.g. can you run another OS on the laptop to check if the NIC works on it? Do any lights turn on on the router or at the NIC's connector when you plug it in or start networking?
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Users who participated in discussion: magorium, terminills, Amiwell79, Jeff1138, ncafferkey