AW3420DW, won't wake up

Question

New monitor and there have been some complaints about this. First, my problem comes when I go into lock mode (Ctrl+L). My monitor won't wake up after going into that mode, and with Windows inconsistency of the Screen Saver not coming on, I've been turning off my monitor after locking it (for years). A password must be used to come out of that mode, but I have to unplug the monitor from my video card and plug it back in to wake up my monitor. If I don't lock my computer, I can turn this monitor on and off with no issues. I need the password invocation, though.

I can see the power-saving mode item, but can't get to menu functions, because the monitor isn't on. I could try to see if it wakes up if I unplug the USB cable that came with the monitor, but that would be a hassle too.

Second problem I discovered was during boot-up. My monitor won't come on until Windows recognizes it, so I can't get to bios or Safe mode anymore. My older monitor (not very old Samsung gaming monitor) has no issues seeing everything during the reboot or boot up process. What a hassle it would be to have to switch monitors to get to the bios or Safe mode. These are both known issues to users, but not acknowledged by Dell as issues.

Something's going on in the firmware of this thing if it's only talking to the operating system, not the computer bios.

KingRay · Answer

As an update, I was sitting here working, and the dumb thing went into 'Entering Power Saving Mode'

Turns out I can't disable that, and why did it go there when I was doing things? Didn't do that in the past 5 days I've had it, and all of a sudden it locked up on its own. Disconnecting the USB cable didn't help, and I had to wait a bit and disconnect the HDMI cable from the computer and plug it back in. Now this is in the obnoxious stage given it will go there for no reason. No.

Before our Alienware users can properly assist, you need to provide more data =
* To what PC model is the AW3420DW connected?
* What video card is in the PC?
* What operating system is running on the PC?
DELL-Cares

RodsterB · Answer

I have a 25' Alienware monitor. Have you tried disabling Auto-Detect in the monitor settings? I disabled that because it was causing weird issues (I have several devices connected to my monitor).

Vanadiel · Answer

Can you try display cable that came with the monitor instead of HDMI, and see if the issue goes away?

The HDMI can only go to 60 Hz, while the DP can use the full 120 Hz. Typically these black screen issues are caused by the incorrect refresh rates being send to the monitor, causing them to black out.

Personally I would never use HDMI on this monitor because of the 60 Hz refresh rate. It will look better at 120 Hz.

KingRay · Answer

No, I cannot do that. My nVidia card doesn't have a port for that cable, and I'm not buying an adapter just to test that. There are other complaints about this, and I'm in a serious back-and-forth with someone from tech support. This is what happens when Dell doesn't want to take ownership of the problem, and I'm trying to tell that person this is a firmware issue. If they would just pass this on to development, they could easily test it with different configurations and see what people are saying is true.

KingRay · Answer

I'm not sure what software menu you're talking about. This is particular to this monitor and I don't think comparing it to another monitor is sure-safe. I have a Samsung gaming monitor that never did that and I didn't have to manipulate any settings for strange things NOT to happen. Interesting, because I have an older Alienware desktop. You'd think it would be more compatible than any other manufacturer of monitor. Not so.

Vanadiel · Answer

That must be an older Nvidia card. Do you happen to know the model of the video card?

RodsterB · Answer

Pretty much every modern monitor has a menu setting. My Alienware AW2521HFL has them on the back of the monitor. It's basically a joystick and I can select color, freq settings, auto detect or manually select a display port or HDMI 1 or 2. That's what i'm referring to. The link has a few pictures that show where the menu buttons are placed. Your monitor will probably be different but it's not a bad idea to try disabling auto-detect to see if your problem goes away.

240hz Monitor: Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor - AW2521HFL | Dell USA

r72019 · Answer

'That must be an older Nvidia card.' Probably because the monitor comes with a mini dp cable instead of a standard dp cable.  Since a GPU without a dp would be obsolete for purposes of using this monitor.

Vanadiel · Answer

According to page 6 of the manual it comes with both a DP and Mini DP Cable Manual  That is why I was thinking it must be an older video card if it has no DP output connector.

r72019 · Answer

I'm trying to think of Nvidia cards without dp standard and the only thing I can come up with is 500 and older series cards, and some budget / entry level cards maybe at the gtx 1030 level. And in either of those scenarios my first thought for the problem would be the card not supporting the settings on the monitor, not the monitor.

Vanadiel · Answer

Maybe we are thinking it is a desktop and it's actually a laptop?

That could explain the missing DP output. It should have a mini DP port maybe. My G5 SE has a mini DP and HDMI.

If it has mini DP out it should include a cable for it with the monitor supplied cables.

As I pointed out earlier, using this monitor in HDMI mode is a bit of a waste as you will only be able to achieve 60 Hz refresh rate while that monitor is 120 Hz capable:

WQHD 3440 x 1440 (DisplayPort: 120 Hz, HDMI: 60 Hz)

r72019 · Answer

'Maybe we are thinking it is a desktop and it's actually a laptop?' The post above said it was a desktop.

Vanadiel · Answer

In that case I am out of ideas...

Desip · Answer

Mine started doing that also. Its not the monitor, it gets worse until it wont turn on anymore. Its the video card that has failed. None of the ports give a signal. Plugged in a monitor from my other computer and no signal. Plugged my new monitor into the old computer and it works just fine. I have the rtx 3080

d2randall · Answer

I have the same problem with AW3420DW (Firmware MOB101, manufactured Dec 2020). My system: Alienware Aurora R12 with NVIDIA RTX 3090. I also have a 2nd monitor hooked up (ASUS VG259QR) that has no problems or issues with any power save/off or startup modes. All monitors are hooked up with DisplayPort cables provided by Dell. I have verified that all my drivers (including the AW3420DW driver) are up to date via Dell Support site and NVIDIA driver update.

When 'restarting' the computer, there are no issues with recognizing the AW3420DW; however, shutdown the computer and and then start back up and after finishing bios loading and then switching to Microsoft, the AW3420WD will say it is going in to power save mode (nothing I do gets it out of power save). The graphics card is communicating with the AW3420WD because while staring at a blank screen I hit spacebar and type in my log in PIN and the 2nd monitor (ASUS) comes on line. I then power off the AW3420DW and the ASUS shows computer controls in task bar then "restart" computer and the AW3420DW initializes correctly.

I was online (remote computer) with Dell Tech Support on another issue with the AW3420DW dealing with inability to establish a 120hz refresh rate and they could find no issues (drivers, settings, diagnostics) with either the power save/off issue or the 120hz refresh rate. They consulted with Dell engineering and then told me they were shipping me a replacement AW3420DW arriving 09 July.

Another item that is of concern is the DisplayPort rating of the AW3420DW. The manual says the AW3420DW uses DisplayPort version 1.4 (NVIDIA RTX3090 also supports 1.4), but, the AW3420DW settings (buttons on back of monitor) under "Other" says DP Version 1.2? The Dell tech engineers say that should read DP1.4?

The fact my 2nd monitor (ASUS) works just fine indicates to me my graphics card is OK. IMHO, that leads to me to think the firmware (MOB101) on the AW3420DW is defective.

Alienware Desktops

AW3420DW, won't wake up

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