I opened my Acer Nitro 5 to replace the thermal paste and disconnected the battery before working inside. After putting everything back together, the laptop powers on, the keyboard backlight comes on, and the fans spin briefly before stopping, but the display remains completely black. It seems to stay stuck during startup, since the keyboard lighting remains on. I've checked and reseated the components and ribbon cables I disconnected, and I also redid the thermal paste, but the problem hasn't changed. What should I check next, and what could have gone wrong?
3 Answers
Since the fans briefly start and then stop while the keyboard stays lit, the laptop may be failing its hardware check before it reaches the operating system. Make sure the RAM is fully locked into its slot and that no thermal paste got onto nearby contacts or components. Also verify that no screw, metal shield, or cable was left in the wrong position and causing a short.
The paste application itself usually won’t cause a black screen unless there’s contamination, too much pressure, or the heatsink was reinstalled unevenly. Remove the heatsink once more, clean the CPU and GPU surfaces with high-percentage isopropyl alcohol, apply a small amount of paste, and tighten the screws gradually in the numbered order. Before doing that, try connecting an external monitor to determine whether the issue is limited to the internal display.
The most likely cause is a connector that is slightly misaligned or not fully seated. Check the display cable at both ends, the keyboard and power-button connectors, RAM, and any storage or motherboard cables you moved. Unplug the battery again, hold the power button for about 30 seconds to discharge the system, then reseat the RAM and display connector carefully before testing it.
I went back through the connectors I unplugged and pressed them in again, but I’ll specifically check the display cable and RAM with the battery disconnected.
I already redid the paste without changing anything, so I’ll focus on testing an external display and checking for any paste or connector damage.