PC standby(sleep) problem

[Mathragh]

Hi all,

when I got my PC, it would go to standby fine, but after a while, for no apparent reason, it suddenly decided to not correctly go to standby anymore.

What it does at the moment after i give the standby command, is that it takes really long to shut down, and then when normally it correctly turns everything audible off, it keeps all the fans running. The only thing similar is the flashing power LED, which still flashes. After I try to wake up the PC again after such a faulty standby, it wont turn on, and the PC needs a reset in order get it running again. After this reset it will give the message that windows did not close correctly.

I've read something that this relates to the correctly functioning of the S3 state of my mobo, however, there is no such option in the bios(uefi), so there is no way i accidentally messed that up. I also checked things like lan controllers on their wake-up behavior, tried it with every variable, but the system still wont work correctly.


Is there anyone with an idea about this weird and annoying motherboard(?) behavior?
I would really like to be able to turn my PC to standby(sleep), instead of shutting it down completely, since my HDD's arent the fastest around, and the 16GB prefetch buffer(my RAM ) really helps in keeping my system nice and snappy at normal use.

[Asylum]

Look and see if there is a update for your motherboard bios.

Make sure to follow the steps correctly when flashing.

[Mathragh]

The mobo came with the most current bios when i bought it.

[Asylum]

There maybe a more current one now.

Did you try resetting to defaults in bios to see if that will sort it?

[Sasqui]

Do any driver updates recently, or install any new hardware? Some hardware (particularly video) needs to support sleep state too for it to work properly.

[95Viper]

You may wanna try "powercfg.exe" command to help sort out which devices/settings are/maybe causing your problem.
You can use it to help diagnose S1/S2/S3/etc. problems, device problems, sleep state problems/compatibility caused by hardware/software, and more.

Links below:

Use PowerCfg in Windows 7 to Evaluate Power Efficiency
How do I: Use PowerCfg in Windows 7
Powercfg Command-Line Options
Good document from Microsoft: Using PowerCfg to Evaluate System Energy Efficiency
Use new Powercfg Options to Find and Fix Energy-Related Problems

Basic Diagnostics for Hibernate and Sleep

How to Troubleshoot a Vista or Windows 7 Sleep Mode Problem@Windows Vista forums

Google info

[Mathragh]

Ok! Update! Thanks for all the help people, greatly appreciated, but this morning I just got a wild idea and started testing in a different direction: for some reason, when I clock my RAM lower, it will correctly go to standby. Relaxing the timings or upping the voltages with my current frequency does not help. The ram is totally stable in windows and with booting with my current frequency aswell, so I don't get it ?

[Jetster]

Check the device manager. See if the mouse or keyboard is keeping it from going to sleep. Right click and check power settings uncheck let this wake from sleep

And I take it you checked your power settings? Sometimes windows updates will change your sleep settings

[Mathragh]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Check the device manager. See if the mouse or keyboard is keeping it from going to sleep. Right click and check power settings uncheck let this wake from sleep

And I take it you checked your power settings? Sometimes windows updates will change your sleep settings

Yeah, i'm definately sure it bios related now, Resetting my bios helps, and running my OC profile with a lowered RAM frequency also helps. I'm currently reading up on RAM drive strengths, and whether that could potentially lead to the issues I seem to have.

[Mathragh]

OK, for everyone interested in what the problem was and how I fixed it: Apparently the FSB fluctuates quite a lot during startup/shutdown and the difference can be about 5 MHz (so in my case 250-260 instead of the 255 I set in bios). This this caused the memory to get unstable and ruin the shut-down. I dont know why the FSB frequency varies that much, but setting the FSB 5 MHZ lower in bios, and setting it 5MHz higher again in windows( I didnt do all that tweaking and stresstesting for nothing!).

The only question remains is, why does the FSB fluctuate that much during startup and shutdown? But atleast i've found a way around it.

[mastrdrver]

How do you know that the FSB fluctuates so much? I'm interested.

[Mathragh]

I'm not sure, but the bootscreen reports a higher FSB then i set in bios, and when windows is still loading (but already on the desktop) the ASUS EVO tool also reports a variant FSB. I actually do not have proof that the FSB fluctuates during shut-down, but everything looks that way.

As to the reason: HWmonitor reports the 12V rail at 11.73-11.58 and the 5V and 3.3V also are lower then they're supposed to. However, the ASUS evo tool reports the voltages being just fine, so I dont know what to believe. I also did not fiddle with the FSB voltage. Other voltages have been altered though.

In the end, everything works again, so i'm not that bothered, since setting the FSB to 255 in windows after booting isnt a lot of work.