My laptop (ACER Aspire 1640) is struggling. The symptoms are:
1) It started with the keyboard behaving oddly. First, random keys didn't work (mostly the s key).
2) Then, whilst booting, beeping sounds would prevent the booting process. However, I was still able to boot by using f12. Both these symptoms indicated that a key was being pressed (assuming the s key since this was usually the one behaving strangely). Therefore, I removed some keys and cleaned underneath. This didn't seem to make much difference.
3) More and more keys would stop working after booting. However, once the laptop has "warmed up", 10 minutes or so after it has been turned on, all keys are again working.
4) The touchpad has stopped working.
5) The ACPI reports battery power incorrectly. It indicates that there is only 50 minutes of power left when 100% charged. However, I have verified that there is actually 80 minutes. When the battery indicator reached around 5%, I let the computer run until the battery was drained. This draining took more than half an hour where it should have been a matter of minutes considering that the indicator said that only 5% was left.
6) The PCMCIA slot has stopped working.
7) The mobile phone that I connect to the laptop via a USB port is having trouble getting reasonable Internet speeds. I have tested the phone on another laptop with the same configuration and the same cable, and here speeds are as expected.
My assumption is that the laptop is not generating enough power which results in these strange patterns. Can anyone offer a diagnosis and advice on how to proceed?
1) It started with the keyboard behaving oddly. First, random keys didn't work (mostly the s key).
2) Then, whilst booting, beeping sounds would prevent the booting process. However, I was still able to boot by using f12. Both these symptoms indicated that a key was being pressed (assuming the s key since this was usually the one behaving strangely). Therefore, I removed some keys and cleaned underneath. This didn't seem to make much difference.
3) More and more keys would stop working after booting. However, once the laptop has "warmed up", 10 minutes or so after it has been turned on, all keys are again working.
4) The touchpad has stopped working.
5) The ACPI reports battery power incorrectly. It indicates that there is only 50 minutes of power left when 100% charged. However, I have verified that there is actually 80 minutes. When the battery indicator reached around 5%, I let the computer run until the battery was drained. This draining took more than half an hour where it should have been a matter of minutes considering that the indicator said that only 5% was left.
6) The PCMCIA slot has stopped working.
7) The mobile phone that I connect to the laptop via a USB port is having trouble getting reasonable Internet speeds. I have tested the phone on another laptop with the same configuration and the same cable, and here speeds are as expected.
My assumption is that the laptop is not generating enough power which results in these strange patterns. Can anyone offer a diagnosis and advice on how to proceed?
