PC fails to start during sleep mode.
PC fails to start during sleep mode.
Greetings everyone,
I'd like to hear your opinions and suggestions regarding an issue I'm currently having.
This issue surfaced 2 weeks ago. The PC was in sleep mode for over an hour and my girlfriend wanted to power it up by pushing the power button on the case. The fans started to roll and the PC lighted up for a split second, then it stopped. The light on the case continued blinking, indicating that the PC was still in sleep mode (apparently), but remained unresponsive when interacting with the case power button, keyboard and/or mouse. The only thing I could do is, I flipped the PSU switch off/on (waited 10 seconds in between each flip), the PC powered on and worked normally, even in time of writing this. I usually use alt+f4 to quickly access "Shut Down Windows" menu for putting the PC in sleep mode, shut down, hibernation, restart and such.
3 days ago, after working on the PC, I alt+f4 and put it to sleep mode. Came back later, interacted with the keyboard, the issue surfaced again. I repeated the same steps as above, fixed the issue temporarily, used the PC for some time, put it into sleep mode again, came back later, interacted with the keyboard, issue appeared again. This time, I didn't want to take any chances and decided to intervene and figure out what was causing this. I'm aware that the reason why this is happening is because it is preventing something bad from happening to the PC itself.
Here's some background information about the PC:
The PC was assembled in August 2018. The parts:
- GPU:
ASUS GTX 1060 O6G Dual
- CPU:
Intel i7-7700k, Quad-core, 4.2GHz - w/ COOLERMASTER 212X Cooler
- MBO:
ASRock Z270 Pro4
- RAM:
x2 Kingston HyperX Fury KIN 2666MHz 8GB (DDR4, 16GB)
- PSU:
Thermaltake 730W Smart SE
- HDD:
Western Digital Black SATA3 2TB
- SSD:
Kingston A400 120GB (for OS)
- OS:
Windows 10 Pro
- CASE:
MS MONSTER
The parts were brand new when they were purchased. The PC served me well over the years, was never prone to overclocking (not much interest in that) and was maintained very well, even today. Careful dust cleaning every 2-3 months, thermal paste on the CPU changed once every 12-16 months. I never forced the PC to run on high temperatures when playing videogames, so I took good care of it and often monitored the temperatures using programs such as HW Monitor, CPUID, MSI Afterburner, CrystalDiskInfo. Every year or so, I would take all the parts out and strip the case to the very skeleton and clean the dust off. Fast forward to November 2022, the PC was then upgraded with a new GPU, more RAM, 2 SSD's and a new case (to fit the GPU). Recently started using 3 monitors.
Current PC:
- GPU:
MSI Nvidia RTX 3070 Gaming Z Trio ( 8GB VRAM ) - 3 DP's, 1 HDMI outputs
- CPU:
Intel i7-7700k, Quad-core, 4.2GHz - w/ COOLERMASTER 212X Cooler
- MBO:
ASRock Z270 Pro4
- RAM:
x2 Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 16GB 3200MHz (DDR4, 32GB)
- PSU:
Thermaltake 730W Smart SE
- HDD:
Western Digital Black SATA3 2TB
- SSD:
Kingston A400 120GB & A400 240GB, M.2 Samsung EVO 500GB (M.2 for OS)
- OS:
Windows 10 Pro
-
CASE:
MS ARMOR V500
Monitors:
- 27" DELL S2721H - running at 75Hz - ( connected via HDMI cable, using Adapter SBOX (DP(M) to HDMI(F)),
- 24" Acer Nitro VG240Y - running at 144hz - ( connected via DP cable),
- TV (Vivax 32LE95T2) - running at 60hz - ( connected via HDMI cable ),
I am well aware that the MBO and PSU have aged well and should be replaced, but the current situation prevents me from doing that, unless absolutely necessary and really sure that they need replacement. I've done the following to narrow the list of suspects as much as possible, to figure out what is the cause. I wouldn't be making a thread about it before checking everything myself. I've tried all I could think of and here's what I've done so far:
1. At first, I thought it could be related to Windows. I did a quick scan on Windows 10 using Windows Defender. Nothing popped up. I used PowerShell to initiate a safe boot of Windows 10, then scanned the PC again which provided no results to grab my attention. This was followed by a full scan in normal mode which lasted for 2 hours. Nothing appeared. (I avoid doing anything suspicious that would throw a virus or two at me. I use the PC now mostly for college projects, Blender creations, Unity and the usual Netflix/YouTube content.
2. Have done fresh installment of OS onto existing M.2 SSD 1st time, 2nd time 240GB SSD. Backed up everything on my external WD Elements before the wipe. Didn't transfer anything from the external HDD before and after testing. Issue remained in both cases.
3. Unplugged everything and taken out all parts in the case except for the case connectors, case fans, MBO, PSU, CPU w/ 212X and 1 stick of RAM (slot 2, used old RAM). Reconnected the cables to their positions, triple checked the connections and started testing. The PC turned on without any issues, multiple times even. Then started connecting the following: 212X cable, each and every case fan cable, HDD, A400 120GB, 240GB, M.2, then replaced the RAM with the newer ones (firstly slot 2, then slot 4), with the GPU being the last, the muscle that it is. After mounting/putting back each part individually, I checked the cables yet again to be sure it is alright, then I powered off/on the PC with 20 seconds waiting interval in between. Everything worked flawlessly. However, the issue didn't go away.
All fans in the PC are running without any issues, the RAM sticks are working fine, double-checked everything in the BIOS for any irregularities, anything that could be read from the displayed information provided to me by third party apps, BIOS and Windows itself. Have updated the drivers too after each new and fresh OS install. Nothing.
Interestingly, the PC powers on and off without any issues when it is completely shut down or hibernating. What I have noticed is this:
- Regardless of the amount of time it was running from the moment it was powered on until the moment I put it to sleep, the PC would wake up from sleep mode without any issues only if a short amount of time has passed since it was put to sleep, we could be talking about +/- 10 minutes. Anything more than that, it would just not be possible for the PC to wake up normally and the issue would surface. This makes me think that not enough power is being pulled for the PC to be up and running in that very moment. Also the 2 out of 3 monitors are powered off whenever I turn on the PC. The case connectors have been checked multiple times if there's anything wrong with them, wasn't able to notice anything.
I can perfectly play videogames on the PC. Elite Dangerous, Just Cause 3, Cyberpunk 2077, AC Black Flag and such.
And that's about it. I suspect the culprit could be the PSU. Unsure if the MBO could also be the culprit here.
Thank you for reading my wall of text. What do you think? All opinions and suggestions are welcome.
Hello everyone again.
My new PSU arrived five days ago. I've connected all the cables, double-checked everything to ensure proper connection and powered up the PC. I stress-tested the PC with FurMark, everything worked fine. Played a bit of Just Cause 3 and ran Elite Dangerous Odyssey for about 3-4 hours. Put it into sleep mode, came back after two hours, but the issue reappeared.
I took the PC to a nearby service or repair shop just minutes away from my home. The technicians connected everything, inspected the PSU and the PC itself, and confirmed there were no problems. They even replaced the ThermalTake Smart SE 730W, stating it was in perfect condition, though they were just as puzzled as I was. Got back to normal.
Hey there,
As you've mentioned before, it might be related to PSU. It seems outdated, possibly not delivering clean power, which could be causing unusual behavior.
What operating systems are you using? Are they the newest versions? The system is stabilizing, so updating the OS might help with stability or fixing bugs.
It could also connect to your power settings. You can restore them to default by entering these commands in powershell:
Ultimate Performance: powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
High Performance: powercfg -duplicatescheme 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c
Balanced: powercfg -duplicatescheme 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e
Power saver: powercfg -duplicatescheme a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a
Copy and paste these into powershell to reset them. Then test all options and see if the issue continues. It might be a simple oversight that was missed.
I appreciate the prompt reply.
Just returned home to restart the PC, which was already off. The problem occurred again, but it managed to turn on. The choice is made—will purchase and install a new PSU tomorrow.
I noticed the current BIOS version for my MBO is v2.70; after checking SysInfo, I see it’s running on v2.20. I plan to update it as well tomorrow.
Regarding power plans, I’ll follow what you shared. I’ll share any updates once they’re available.
Thank you.
Throughout my experience, the power configuration has remained consistently balanced, with minimal adjustments from my end—just small tweaks like preventing the display from turning off or putting the system to sleep, essentially keeping it in a "never" state. Hibernation was enabled but rarely used. Still, despite your advice, nothing has altered the old PSU's behavior.
While trying to troubleshoot step by step, connecting everything finally worked and the GPU joined last. During that process, the PC operated normally.
It’s also noteworthy that even with the newest Intel HD Graphics 630 drivers for i7-7700k, I couldn’t locate an option to activate sleep mode in the power settings. I was aware of its location but it wasn’t listed. This might be due to outdated MBO drivers. Regardless, the PC functioned adequately.
In the past two days, the system would fail to start even after being shut down multiple times. I’ve replaced my current PSU and ordered a new one—ThermalTake Smart BM2 750w.
Hello everyone again.
My new PSU arrived five days ago. I connected all the cables, double-checked everything for proper connection and powered up the PC. I stress-tested the system using FurMark, everything was fine. Played a bit of Just Cause 3 and ran Elite Dangerous Odyssey for about 3 to 4 hours. Then I put it into sleep mode and came back after two hours—just as the problem started again.
I took the PC to a nearby service center, which is just a short drive away. The technicians connected everything, inspected the PSU, and checked the PC thoroughly. Nothing seemed wrong. They even replaced the ThermalTake Smart SE 730W and confirmed it was in perfect condition, saying it was as good as new. They were just as puzzled as I was. Once back home, I gave it another look.
But here’s the twist—this is how I finally solved the issue.
The CMOS battery on the motherboard was the culprit. The CR2032 battery I used hasn’t been changed since I first built the PC in 2018. I swapped it out for a fresh one. Since then, everything functions properly. All components, including the PSU, are still intact. I returned the new PSU and received my refund.
This experience is something I’ll definitely remember and share.