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Issue with Unexpected Predator Boot Animation & Intermittent Freezing on Acer Nitro AN515-58

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing an issue with my Acer Nitro AN515-58 that I haven’t been able to fully resolve despite updating BIOS and checking my SSD health. I’m hoping some additional insights or solutions. Here’s a detailed rundown of the problem and what I’ve tried so far:

  • Startup Anomaly:
    Every time I boot up, instead of seeing the usual Nitro boot screen, I see a Predator logo and hear the Predator startup sound. This is odd since my laptop is a Nitro model, not a Predator.

  • System Freezes and "No Bootable Device" Error:

    • When the laptop is idle for a while for example, when I leave apps open and step away for some other work upon returning and using the trackpad or keyboard, the system sometimes freezes it happens sometimes like in a week 2 times and sometimes doesn't happen at all, but the Predator logo and sound is consistent

    • In these cases, the system doesn’t immediately respond to input, and after a hard reboot, it occasionally displays a Blue screen "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” error. However, when I then boot into Safe Mode, through the F 12 menu and the system seems to recover, and then i restart from the safe mode the error doesn’t persist until after a period of idleness., but even i don't have this BOSD i still having the predator logo and sound on boot that should not be there on a nitro device it started to appear in the month of January and last week of dec 2024, but was resolved by me by reinstalling the windows with setting of keeping all my files and apps option in settings, but now it has again started

  • General Observations:

    • My Task Manager shows SSD usage remains around 0-1%, normally

    • The issue seems to correlate with extended idle times and then a sudden input causing a freeze or when i doing heavy task like browser with many tabs or using Solidworks or using WhatsApp video call, when the video call is disconnect the laptop frizzes

What I’ve Tried:

  1. BIOS Update & Reset:

    • I’ve updated my BIOS to the latest version available from Acer’s support site.

    • I reset the BIOS to default settings, but the Predator boot screen still appears.

    • I've also reinstalled windows once with keeping all my files and deleting all the apps to rule out any app related issue, it was temporary solved but happened again

    • Then i repaired the windows install and reinstalled with keeping my files and apps option from the settings, it was resolved but started happening again, since last 2 weeks

  2. Power Settings Adjustments:

    • I’ve adjusted power options (setting the hard disk to “Never” turn off, in both Battery and plugged in option

  3. SSD Health & Re-Seating:

    • CrystalDiskInfo shows my SSD health at 94%.

    • I checked that the SSD is securely connected, although I have also physically re-seated it.

  4. Boot Configuration Repair:

    • I ran Windows Startup Repair and used command prompt to fix the boot issue it was resolved but temporary

Questions & Request for Help:

  • Predator Boot Animation:
    Has anyone else seen the Predator logo/sound on a Nitro model? Could this be a firmware glitch or mis-flashed BIOS asset? What steps did you take to correct it?
    How to resolve this issue and could this corelated with the blue screen i am getting once in a while

  • Freezing & Boot Issues:
    My system freezes after periods of idleness and sometimes throws a Blue screen DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error upon hard reboot. Could this be linked to power management (like the SSD or PCIe link going to sleep) or a boot configuration issue that resets after Safe Mode boot? Any advice on further troubleshooting this behavior would be appreciated. or is it that my ssd is bad or my ram is faulty as i haven't ruled in ram yet

    i have attached all the ss and video of issue in google drive link

Currently my laptop is working fine but in between fans ramping up and also the temp spike but i guess those are fine, But the thing is whenever i restart of bootup the laptop the predator animation and sound is still there, the blue screen is not there yet, but i occurred on 2nd march again, the freezing happens out of blue moon without me even pushing the laptop to its limits, currently i am not even using Solidworks and heavy CAD software's still this happens
I appreciate any guidance or insights from those who may have encountered and resolved similar issues. Thanks in advance for your help!

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Hi Karan,

You can try forcing a reflash of the official Nitro BIOS from Acer’s support site using the DOS-based utility, which should overwrite any incorrect branding data and potentially resolve the Predator logo issue.

Once that’s done, run an extended memory diagnostic (for example MemTest86) to confirm that your RAM is stable, and then install a fresh copy of Windows from a bootable USB to ensure no leftover driver conflicts remain.

If the Predator branding still appears or the freezing recurs even after those steps, it’s likely a deeper firmware mismatch that will require Acer’s intervention to reprogram the system board.
Francisco Montilla

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Hi,

For the predator logo, I believe in the app NitroSense, there is the option to change the boot logo.

Please have a look and see if it is adjustable.

Thanks

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I've flashed the latest bios available from acer website I downloaded the bios file and run the executable file, but nothing changes the Predator logo is still there, but now a new issue has started that it is freezing now constantly after 1hr ot 2hr it is freezing and I had to hard restart and then it works fine but then again it freezes, for ram I've used windows ram checking it shows it is fine in even viewer and in crystal mark info my ssd is at 94% good now I don't know what this issue is as I've last month did the windows reinstall also with keeping all my files option, but now it is freezing very frequently. And almost daily, from last night it is going on

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I experienced the same issue with my AN515-58. After checking everything (Windows, drivers, Boot SSD, RAM, BIOS), I found BIOS version 2.13 to be stable. You can roll back by using the Bios_Version_Check flag variable in platform.ini. To fix the issue, disable the Intel Management Engine Interface from Device Manager. First, uninstall it; it will be removed. Restart Windows, and it should be back again. If not, wait for about an hour, then disable it.

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My laptop is now also having a issue that sometimes it is not switching off, when I do switch off its keyboard lights and fan is still on, had to hard shutdown and then it takes ages to just turn it on again after that, same happens with restart also

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Last updated April 16, 2025 Views 38 Applies to: