Question Displays Not Waking After Sleep/Hibernate

Jul 18, 2022
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Hi All,

I upgraded to Windows 11 somewhat recently and have run into an issue that I did not have with Windows 10. Namely that my two displays do not wake after the computer has been idle for a while and is then woken up. Here are some relevant settings:
  • Turn off the display: 10 minutes
  • Put the computer to sleep: 20 minutes
  • Turn off hard disk after: 20 minutes
  • Allow hybrid sleep: Off
  • Hibernate after: Never
  • Allow wake timers: Enable
  • Mice and keyboards in Device Manager all have "Allow this device to wake the computer" under "Power Management"
When my computer goes to sleep after 20 minutes:
  1. My case lights, RAM RGB and CPU cooler RGB all remain active, while the displays go to sleep
  2. In this state I can wake the computer with mouse or keyboard with no issues. This is good.
The problem is, after a period of time left in sleep mode, the machine appears to be going into a deeper sleep, despite hybrid/hibernation being disabled:
  1. The case lights, RAM RGB and CPU cooler RGB all go off, while the displays remain off
  2. In this state, if I press a key on the keyboard or click a mouse button, the case lights, RAM RGB and CPU cooler RGB all come on, but the displays do not. No signal is sent to the displays. Nothing has changed in the physical state of the displays. They are powered on.
With the monitors receiving no signal, I am forced to press and hold the physical power button on my case to force the machine to shut down. I then press it once to power the machine up and the displays work again.

A few notes:
  • Windows is up to date
  • Graphics card drivers are up to date
  • BIOS is up to date
Specs:
  • Motherboard: ROG STRIX Z370-H Gaming
  • BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 2701, 7/13/2021
  • CPU: Intel Core i5 9600k
  • RAM: 2 x Corsair 8192MB 2133MHz
  • HDD: Samsung SSD 860 QVO 1TB
  • Graphics: MSI GTX 1070 8GB
  • Windows 11 Home, Version 21H2, 1/‎14/‎2022, OS build 22000.795
  • Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.795.0
Any help is appreciated!

EDIT: Clarity
 
Last edited:

Cyberat_88

Distinguished
It does sound like a Windows 11 sleep/hibernate issue, if it's built-in, there is nothing much I can do for you.
Welcome to the newer Virus, errr Windows.
Either wait until they fix it or go back to Windows 10, unless you like being the guinea pig.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
@liquidsky

Actually there are a couple of investigative things you can do:

First: make, and model displays? Do your displays have their own drivers and/or their own built power savers, hibernation settings, screen savers etc.?

= = = =

Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or even informational events that you can associate with the described problems. The entries may not be specific but if you see something that happened when the failures occur that something could be a clue.

Look in Reliability History first. Reliability History uses a time line format and colored icons that can make events and patterns stand out. Much more user friendly than Event Viewer.

Event viewer is much more cumbersome to navigate and learn your way around. Still there is no need to rush so take your time and explore.

In either tool you can click for more details. The details may or may not be helpful.

Another place to poke about is Task Scheduler. What to look for there is some app or utility that is triggered when the system is put into sleep mode. Or maybe when the system is woken up again.

That app or utility could be buggy and/or corrupted not "yielding back". However do not just starting disabling or removing potential suspects.

Find out what they are and what they do or may be trying to do. May not be easy to figure out,

= = = =

Also you can learn more by using Powershell and "powerfig /L"

From my computer:

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Try the new cross-platform PowerShell https://aka.ms/pscore6

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> powercfg /L

Existing Power Schemes (* Active)
-----------------------------------
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e (Balanced)
Power Scheme GUID: 49ef8fc0-bb7f-488e-b6a0-f1fc77ec649b (Dell)
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c (High performance) *
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a (Power saver)
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>


It is a bit early to get into all that but if nothing else turns up then the next step is to delve deeper into the power schemes on your system.

FYI (for example):

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...ice-experiences/powercfg-command-line-options
 
Jul 18, 2022
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@Ralston18 - Thank you so much for your thoughtful and detailed reply.

Monitor Details
I have two monitors:

  1. ASUS VG278Q - DisplayPort
  2. LG HDR 4K - HDMI

They are both running as Generic PnP Monitors. So, no, they don't have their own drivers installed. I have confirmed that all related power/sleep settings on the monitors are off.

  1. Smart Energy Saving
  2. Automatic Standby
  3. Deep Sleep Mode
  4. ECO Mode

Reliability Manager
I have had a look through the Reliability Manager. I can see when I've had to force the machine to shut down because it logs a Summary message of "Windows was not properly shut down". Unfortunately there do not appear to be any other events that correlate to the force shuts downs by timestamp.

Event Manager
Using the same date and time, similarly I can see a Critical Kernel-Power (Event 41) event in the Event Viewer which corresponds to each force shutdown, and a corresponding System Event Log message as well. I can then see the various applications and system services come online after the reboot. Unfortunately there is nothing much in the two hours before the reboot, when the machine was idle.

Power Schemes
C:\Users\Matt>powercfg /L

Existing Power Schemes (* Active)
-----------------------------------
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e (Balanced) *
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c (High performance)
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a (Power saver)

I'm not sure exactly what I'd be looking to change in the power scheme. I've had a look at Power Options > Advanced. What I believed to be the relevant settings are in my initial post.

Thank you again for your help. Any additional thoughts are appreciated.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)? History of heavy use for gaming, video editing, or even bit-mining?

One thought is that the PSU may be nearing or at its designed in EOL (End of Life) and starting to falter or fail in a manner that prevents proper or full re-awakening.

You can do some additional testing by simply turning off all power schemes etc.. Determine if the problem(s) stop or change in some manner.

Another thought is that there may be some buggy or corrupted files involved. Which can happen because of hard shutdowns - forced or otherwise.

Try "sfc /scannow" and "dism".

References:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

= = = =

Failing the above:

Power down, unplug, open the case.

Clean out dust and debris.

Verify by sight and feel that all connectors, cards, RAM, and jumpers are fully and firmly in place.

Use a bright flashlight to inspect for signs of damage: bare conductor showing, melted insulation, cracked connectors, kinked or pinched wires, browned or blackened components, swollen components, loose or missing screws.

Idea being to eliminate as many potential culprits as possible.

Then, if necessary move towards testing the PSU or replacing it with another known working PSU.

FYI regarding PSU testing: Good information and explanations.

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-manually-test-a-power-supply-with-a-multimeter-2626158