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View Full Version : Standby Mode => Complete Blackout!


LoRd_MuldeR
14th November 2007, 21:43
I got the following strange problem with my "new" machine concerning Standby Mode:

The CPU is an Intel Core2 Q6600, the board is a Gigabyte P35-DS3R (Intel P35 chipset), VGA is an ATI Radeon X1950 XT (R580) and my current OS is WindowsXP x64-Edition. I think that's not an uncommon configuration these days. Now my problem: As soon as I enable Standby Mode in Windows, I see the splash screen for a few milliseconds and then the computer abruptly switches off power completely! That wouldn't be that critical if I could switch it on again. But I can't! Next time I turn on power - after my attempt to go Standby - all I get is black a screen! No BIOS screen, no Beep from PC-Speaker, nothing! I can only hear all the fans speed up to maximum, so fan control obviously isn't working either. And of course power LED is on, but that's it. All I can do in this situation is holding the power-button until the machine switches off again. This happens every time I switch on power! No way to see a booting screen. Fortunately I found out that unplugging the power cable, waiting a few moments and plugging it in again finally does reanimate my machine. But it's getting even more strange at this point: After that "reanimation" procedure I switch on power and the following happens: The PC turns off power automatically after about 5 seconds and then switches on again automatically after another 5 seconds! This repeats for 3 times! First time I was really shocked, thinking the machine is completely broken now. But after the third of those "magic" on/off events the PC suddenly boots up just fine. I can continue working as nothing had happened. Sigh! Only thing I noticed is that all my BIOS settings were reset. Especially the RAM timings were reverted to factory defaults. So I have to go to BIOS menu and set up everything again. What a pain...

Don't get the wrong idea: My machine runs 100% stable, unless Standby mode comes into turn! I can encode videos (at 100% load on all 4 cores) for many hours, I can run Prime95 Torture-Test for hours, I have even tested the latest 3D Games (Bioshock and Crysis Demos) and all works fine. In fact this machine runs ~16 hours a day since I got it (with Folding@Home running in the background all the time) and I'm yet to see a blue screen or system hang. Also I never had any problems booting up or shutting down before. It's only damn Standby mode that makes me worry!

So my question: Is there anybody who has a similar system configuration and/or is there anybody who has encountered similar problems? Does anybody have an idea what could cause these strange things? I can live without Standby mode just fine, but sometimes I happen to enable it by mistake and then all the pain starts again. So I'd be happy for any advice or information. Thanks in advance :)

squid_80
15th November 2007, 03:56
In the BIOS, is standby mode set to S1 (suspend while remaining on) or S3 (store to ram)? My system works in S1 but if I try S3 it won't wake up.

LoRd_MuldeR
15th November 2007, 13:14
In the BIOS, is standby mode set to S1 (suspend while remaining on) or S3 (store to ram)? My system works in S1 but if I try S3 it won't wake up.
I don't know. I will check that as soon as I get home this evening...

LoRd_MuldeR
15th November 2007, 16:58
Okay, it's set to "S3 (STR)" at the moment.

Do you think changing to "S1" could solve my problem?
I would simply give it a try, but I really don't want to go trough that mess again... ;)

squid_80
15th November 2007, 18:08
Well you said you only use it by mistake, so change the setting to S1 now and forget about it. Next time you make the mistake you'll find out if it works or not. :D

I think the common cause of S3 (Store-To-RAM) failing is not enough current provided by the power supply on the +5VSB line.

LoRd_MuldeR
15th November 2007, 18:13
Well you said you only use it by mistake, so change the setting to S1 now and forget about it. Next time you make the mistake you'll find out if it works or not. :D

I think the common cause of S3 (Store-To-RAM) failing is not enough current provided by the power supply on the +5VSB line.
Okay, thanks for the Info :)

My power supply is a Chieftec GPS-450AA (450W Total, 145W Combined Power 3,3V/5V)
According the specs it should provide up to 2 Amperes on the +5Vsb ...

BTW: Last time "by mistake" was my cat walking over the keyboard while the Windows Login screen was displayed ;)


// EDIT

According to EVEREST there are 5.11V on the +5Vsb line and 4.97V on the +5V line ...

LoRd_MuldeR
18th November 2007, 16:29
squid_80, I gave S1 a try today and it worked. Thanks for the info again :D