The Acer Aspire One Death

Ok it didn't die, but now I know what did happen.

The loose chain of events was:

• Install OSX Leopard
• Use OSX Leopard
• Remember I had Windows XP, and needed something for some stupid reason
• Reboot some day later into XP, only to find I had a "Welcome" screen with no users to choose from to login, and no auto-login. Mouse worked, keyboard did something (?) but couldn't get further.
• Hold down power button to force-off & reboot, try something different
• Rinse
• Repeat
• On the _th Repeat, AAO powers up, fan spins up, HD spins up (?), and NOTHING else. Blank screen (of Death), unresponsive other than to cool itself a little more by ramping up the fan.

Then after some searching I find that it's not too uncommon to almost-brick these, and my BIOS probably needed to be re-flashed. Found it, stuck on a USB stick, stuck USB stick into Ethernet port, and couldn't understand after 5 tries why the BIOS update seemed to NOT work. Yes, I said I jacked the USB stick into the Ethernet port, which just happens to be millimeters from the USB port on the left side. "My bad." So, once I got that fun stuff sorted out and put a dent in my desk and my forehead, it updated painlessly.

http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html
"First format an USB stick with FAT.

Download the latest BIOS, and put both FLASHIT.EXE and the BIOS file in the root directory of the stick. Rename the BIOS file to ZG5IA32.FD, that's important. Do not remove the USB stick.

Turn the AA1 off, make sure both battery and AC adapter are connected. Press Fn+Esc, keep it pressed and press the power button to turn the AA1 on. Release Fn+Esc after a few seconds, the power button will be blinking. Press the power button once. The AA1 will now initiate the BIOS flash, do not interrupt it under any circumstances. After a while the power button will stop blinking, and the AA1 will reboot shortly after. Wait patiently.

The BIOS has been flashed and all settings reset to default."

Happiness

Having a good time at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Baja Cafe!