UEFI firmware corrupt? Neither ethernet nor wireless controller detected anymore

Question

The problem

My computer is a 64-bit Acer Apsire V5-572G currently running with Arch Linux. I wanted to use some programs that dont run with Wine. So i set up a Windows-To-Go on an external hdd. Upon booting it said something like Devices are being prepared.... However after booting I wasnt able to reach the internet anymore, neither wired, nor wireless (it worked before!).

I suspect UEFI firmware damage for reasons given furhter below. Do i now need to flash my UEFI? If so can you give any guidance (Where to get the correct file, how to flash, what to pay attention to?)? Or do i even have to replace the whole motherboard?

Symptoms

• The system does not properly shut down any more, you have to manually power it off.
• The touch pad is not recognized any more
• Some weird random key mapping happens after some time, like if you press P it writes * or instead of i it writes 5.
• After selecting exit & save in my UEFI menu it now doesnt save, exit and reboot any more, but instead, save, freeze and power off.
• On several different Linux live systems, Windows-To-Go and Arch on my hdd all dont show any of the devices mentioned (ethernet and wireless controller) after lspci or in the device manager (as network adapter) respectively.
• Corrupted entries in the UEFI-menu, e.g. Serial Number is 8 or Manufacturer is left blank.

What i tried

I thought thats not too bad, so I restarted my computer with Arch Linux. There, too i was unable to connect to the internet.

So i typed sudo wifi-menu and it returned the following message:

Invalid interface specification
Usage: wifi-menu [-h | --help] [-o | --obscure] [INTERFACE]

Interactively connect to a wireless network on INTERFACE using netctl.
If only one wireless interface is available, INTERFACE can be omitted.

lspci returns:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 750M] (rev ff)

No controllers detected!

I also tried to reset the UEFI to the original configuration with no improvement (thereafter disbaling secure boot again of course).

Additional information:

Motherboard is an Acer Dazzle CX.

Although my processor is an Intel i7-3537U.

Please help, i need internet access on my machine ASAP. Thx in advance!

Answer 1

I have found a partial solution, curing the following symptoms:

• Ethernet and network controller not detected.
• Touchpad not detected.

I did a hard reset (physical) reset of the UEFI by (the software reset via the UEFI-menu did exactly nothing):

• Removing the AC power.
• Taking out the battery.
• Pressing the power button for 15 seconds to remove any residual charge from capacitors.

However the UEFI-menu is still corrupted and also shutdown does not work properly. As of now strange keymapping has not occured yet, but maybe later, stay tuned.

I found a UEFI/BIOS flashing software on the official acer site, but did not dare to use it. Link here: http://www.acer.de/ac/de/DE/content/drivers .