XPS HIBERNATION PROBLEM COMPUTER FREEZES

I've been troubleshooting a hard disk drive error BSOD and investigated issues with sleep and hibernation. What I found is that hibernation in Windows Vista is not entirely stable. Microsoft admits that it is customary to experience problems when attempting to resume from hibernation.

 

Microsoft has stated that the forthcoming Service Pack 1 for Vista will address and rectify this problem. Service Pack 1 is a substantial update (500 Mb+) and is scheduled for release this month.

So the only solution is to wait for the Service Pack and hope that fixes this problem?

My computer is locking up every day. I've been dealing with this since I got my computer in JULY 2007.

Here is my system configuration:

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6000 Build 6000
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name XPS210
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model Dell - (personal so deleted)
System Type X86-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6320 @ 1.86GHz, 1861 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 2.3.2, 3/30/2007
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6000.16407"
User Name XPS210\XPS-OCT07
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 2,045.32 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.17 GB
Total Virtual Memory 4.21 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.99 GB
Page File Space 2.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Thank you,
Steph

Not necessarily Steph, it just looks like you need to utilize "Sleep" as your preferred low power state and keep your computer to from "Hibernating" specifically. Follow the link below to check out a tutorial for additional information:

 

Vista Hibernation Issues

 

I personally utilize the "Balanced" or "Dell Recommended" power setting with some minor modifications. When you click on "Change Advanced Power Settings" under a specific power plan, click on "Change Settings that are currently Unavailable" and click "continue". Here some of my settings that have been working fine:

 

Require a password on Wakeup = No.

Turn off Hard Disk After = 20 Min.

Sleep After = 60 Min.

Allow Hybrid Sleep = On.

Hibernate After = 1080 Min.

USB Selective Suspend Setting = Disabled.

Power Button Action = Shut Down.

Sleep Button Action = Sleep.

Start Menu Power Button = Sleep.

Turn Off Display After = 30 Minutes.

Adaptive Display = On.

Multimedia Settings > When Sharing Media = Allow the Computer to Sleep.

 

You can change these settings from any power plan. To avoid chasing your tail and "restoring defaults" when something doesn't work the way you want, I would suggest saving these options under a custom power plan with a name of your choosing. That way, you can mess around with the settings of your custom plan without affecting the others. You will be able to change from your custom power plan to either of the default plans with a simple click and save yourself some time. I personally don't share media very often within my home network. If you do, then change the "When Sharing Media" option to "Allow Computer to Enter Away Mode". Away mode will allow your computer to enter a low power state without severing the media sharing connection.

Thanks :smileyhappy: I've had it for just over a month and believe it or not - I've spent most of my time troubleshooting issues of my own, which ultimately brought me to these forums. It's pretty stable now though.

 

I have to appoligize about not educating myself about the XPS 210 system before replying to you. When you mentioned your APC back up power supply, I assumed you were referring to a laptop system. Since the 210 is a desktop system, you must be referring to a UPS backup system of some sort - yes?

 

I don't utilize a UPS of any kind with my personal system, but we do use them widely at work. If nothing else, I am the IT representative for my department and I can talk with our consultant about a possible work around with your APC back up power supply.

 

Without knowing your business or computing needs, I have to assume that you must be running a pretty sensative operation to require a backup power supply for a desktop. If at all possible, can you temporarily suspend the use of your backup power supply and plug directly into a shielded GFI rated power outlet or surge protector? If you can do this just for testing purposes and disable hibernation in the power options, it could help narrow down where the problem exists.

 

If you have ensured that you have the correct manual for your XPS 210 system and it clearly indicates the "S3" power supply option, but it does not exist in the BIOS, that could be contrubuting to your problem - if not the cause entirely. It should not exist in the BIOS in a location other than the power options section.

 

I see that you did a BIOS update - make sure that it is the newest update. You can check with the Dell Support Application (Start > All Programs > Dell Support Center), click on "Drivers & Downloads" and expand the section for "BIOS". There should be a release date for the BIOS update. If it is newer than July, 2007 when your computer was built - download and install the update.

 

I will talk with my IT consultant Monday and see what he knows about UPS backup systems and hibernation and let you know what I find out.

 

Eric

That sounds like a great plan but my APC back up power supply requires hibernation to be active. I think that's where all the confusion began.

I can make some of the adjustments like you have.

Why does my manual show S3 under the power options and yet it is not listed at all in the BIOS under the power options section? Do you know what else it could possibly be called and where else it could be located in the BIOS?

BTW, you have some gorgeous system there!

Thank you!
Steph

Hi, Eric,

No problem about the system confusion. Yes, it's a desktop and I selected it for its slim form factor. I run a network of four desktops, one laptop, a NAS device, cable modem, netgear wireless router and a smartphone for my five websites, so yes, having a power backup is critical, although I save my work almost every two minutes or less due to the frequent brown outs here.

APC BACK-UPS XS 1500 - they call this a BACK-UPS which is supposed to refer to a back up power supply but the name throws people off. I have to keep saying this because I'm getting suggestions from others not to use hibernate, but APC requires it. The software is called PowerChute (I need a PARAchute to get away from this computer already!) :-)

I got the latest BIOS update directly from the Dell T.S. section for my computer and OS. The manual is for the XPS 210 and is in front of me right now. It has a "disclaimer" in the SYSTEM SETUP OPTIONS: "depending on your computer, BIOS version and installed devices, the items in this sectin may not appear, or may not appear exactly as listed." That includes pertaining to the "power management" section.

I'm sorry you're having to spend all this time tweaking your new system to get it working the way you need it to. The troubleshooting I've been attempting has been keeping me from adding the new products I sell on my websites, getting the old ones off, removing a website entirely that I can't do until I can update it AND I have to install Expression Web and convert all my websites to the new format before they stop supporting FrontPage. I bought the program two months ago and am waiting to stabilize my Dell before installing the software.

I'd really appreciate your speaking with your IT consultant! Between the two of us, I hope one of us has a supreme system working very soon! I like the suggestion of disconnecting my system from the backup unit to delve further into the problem, but would like to wait until I hear back from you.

You've been very helpful!
Thanks!
Steph

Ah, I see - web commerce requires that level of security indeed. We use the APC BACK-UPS units on our SCADA systems at work that control (8) state of the art water treatment facilties. If we lose power to the SCADA computers, we're out of business and in a ton of trouble with the EPA.

 

I understand your dilemma with not using the backup temporarily. I couldn't and wouldn't do it with my SCADA machines, so it looks like a non-issue.

 

I'll post a reply after I talk to my IT consultant - Your welcome and.. no problem. Like many municipalities and businesses, we are afraid to make a broad-based move to the Vista OS. I hope that my consultant is at least somewhat familiar with Vista. I'll let you know.

 

Take care!

Eric

Eric, I created a new power plan and updated my settings to match yours.

What about the wireless adapter settings - power saving mode? I have a wireless adapter and use it for my laptop and another desktop that is not hardwired to my Netgear Router.

The options are: maximum performance, low power saving, medium power saving and maximum power saving. It was set to maximum performance.

I have been trying to get help from the Windows Vista forum also. It was suggested that there may be some setting(s) in your BIOS or
possibly some scheduled overnight activity. There are a lot of 'wake on' settings in many BIOS's that could wake the machine, and when it shuts down, who knows what it uses for the model.

So with that suggestion in mind, I looked for scheduled tasks I created. I didn't see any except webroot spysweeper which was set to sweep at 3:00 am. I changed it to sweep during the day. I hope that helps fix the problem.

Please see my other reply, also.
Steph

Eric,

Since I have a Network Attached Storage Device for backups, I decided to disconnect the XPS from the APC back UPS and I connected it to my surge supressor per your suggestion, anyway.

I'm not quite sure the problem I'm experiencing is because of Vista but if it is, I surely will install XP. It's crazy to own a brand new computer since July 2007 and never be able to use it.

I hope your IT consultant can come up with something! If they use APC's notification software (mine is Powerchute), that will be a big help because they'll have a better idea of what I'm discussing.

Thank you and have a good weekend! :-D
Steph

Steph,

 

My Network power saving setting is set to "Medium Power Savings". I have a 1TB network-based ethernet backup drive also. I generally back up the files I want manually, so I'm actively using the computer when I do it. If you have automatic backups enabled with your storage device, then you probably should leave it at "Maximum Performance". When the automatic backups occur, your ethernet adapter will wake the computer or prevent the computer from sleeping.

 

I have heard all of the horror stories about Vista and how everyone is switching back to XP. Personally, I've used XP, Vista and even owned a MAC with Leopard recently and I think Vista is superior to them all. I'm going to try and stick it out with Vista because I remember what XP was like in it's first year before the service packs. I purchased a new Dell Dimension 8200 back when XP was new and probably had more software compatibility problems than I do with Vista currently. Before XP was a year old, many software manufacturers had updated drivers available and the XP service packs made it the most stable OS around.

 

Apple would like you to believe that OS X is better, faster and more stable than Windows Vista and it was true for a while. When they released OS X 10.5.1 (Leopard), they shipped it with the same instability Microsoft did with Vista. All of a sudden I was having sleep issues, crashes & software problems. Microsoft has their future invested in Vista - not XP. I would be surpirsed if Service Pack 1 doesn't successfully rectify the primary issues.

 

I'll send myself a reminder e-mail and raise the UPS issue with my consultant tomorrow during our usual Monday status meeting. I'll be in touch...

 

Eric

Eric,
I don't use automated backups. I also manually back up my files. I know what you mean about sticking with Vista because like XP, it has to be fine tuned and updated and so on and then we'll be happier with it.

One note for you to let your IT consultant know about, please. In the Windows Vista support forum, they suggested I try going into hibernation with a DOS command and it worked! The command is shutdown -h

The thing is with all the money I spent on the computer, I should not have to revert to old methods from the 80's!

Looking forward to anything you can suggest! :)

Steph

Alright Steph, here's what I found out from my consultant...

Hi, Eric,

Sorry for the delay, but the websites were bogging me down. Priorities, ya know. :-)

>>>>He said that you should be able to set "hibernation", "sleep" or "off" as choices in the preferences of the PowerChute software in reference to low power states.

I use the personal edition and it doesn't have those selections. Instead, it has two preferences under the configuration section options:

1. "preserve battery power" ("shut down the computer when it has been on battery backup power for 1 minute to five minutes (whatever I choose) to save battery power for successive power outages") or

2. "keep my computer on as long as possible" to "shut down my computer when the time left on battery backup power is (for five to eight minutes - my choice) to "use this option to extend operating time while on battery power. Please ensure that you allow sufficient time to save all your files and shut down your system properly".

I prefer "preserve battery power" so that it will shut down my computer on its own.

>>>>He also asked why you were running the PowerChute software. He said that if you are using it to allow the UPS system to power down your machines "softly", then that's fine.

Just in case you or he don't know this, the PowerChute S/W did not initiate this problem. I installed it after I tried fixing the computer with various other settings, however, I want the s/w to shut down my computer ("softly") especially if there is a huge electrical storm which we have many of. BTW, I installed it when I first got the BACK-UPS but then uninstalled it to solve the hibernation - sleep - (nap!) problems.

So, the bottom line is I still have this problem unless I use the DOS command shutdown -h when I get off the computer for a while. When I do that, it has been waking back up.

Here is a conversation between APC Tech Support and me which you may understand better than I do so that we can hopefully resolve this situation, pretty please?

Steph: What are the correct power options in windows vista home premium for my back UPS? I cannot get it out of sleep mode. It locks up. The APC pop up advisor said I needed to enable hibernate. I tried but still get this problem.

APC Tech Support: Vista software is designed to hibernate the computer. It will not shut down the computer. When the power restores, the computer will turn ON. There is no need to manually turn ON the computer.

APC: The PowerChute software will disable the USB host controllers which will cause the loss of communication when the computer goes into hibernate or standby. You will need to keep the computer in an "on state" in order to establish the communication between the APC UPS and computer.

Steph: Are you saying that I should NOT let the computer go to sleep or hibernate?

APC: Hibernate is ok. You have to disable the sleep mode to establish the communication between the UPS and the computer.

Instructions to disable the sleep mode or you can follow the below link instructions to disable the sleep mode:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-hybrid-sleep-mode/

End of conversation between Steph and APC tech support.

When I visited that link the first time I tried to resolve this problem, it did not fix it. I gave up and have been letting this "new" computer basically be a paperweight and have been using my older computers for everything.

Hope you can help! :-)

Eric, thank you and please thank your consultant for me.

Steph

While I don't have a MCSE certification, everything I have researched about the differences between sleep and hibernation in Vista tells me that the APC rep has the situation backwards. APC talked about maintaining communication with your USB connections, but either low power state mode will cut off such connections by default. This can be changed in the Device Manager however, regardless of your power scheme. APC also said that hibernation would maintain the communication connection, but hibernation is a MUCH deeper state of low power than sleep is. In fact, hibernation actually shuts down your computer in the same manner as you would from the start menu - it just saves your working session to memory before it shuts your computer down. When you re-start the computer, it calls up the saved memory profile to restore your last session precisely how you left it - in theory :smileyhappy:. Sleep mode however, maintains your session and allows critical components to enter a lower power state.So, my research tells me that sleep is a more viable option for most users.

 

In any case - If the Back-UPS absolutely requires hibernation specifically, then you need to make sure Windows is told to maintain connection to the USB ports. Open the Device Manager (Right-Click "Computer" > Manage > Device Manager). Expand the area labeled "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" - richt-click one of them and select properties. There should be a tab for "Power Management" for the USB ports that have the feature available - usually the ones labeled "USB Root Hub". By default, there is usually a check box (checked) next to "Allow the Computer to Turn Off This Device to Save Power". In either sleep or hibernation mode, connections with these USB ports will be severed. Based on what the APC rep said, this could be a problem for you. If a piece of software such as PowerShute is looking for these connections and they become severed, it very well may experience a problem, potentially causing a critial error with Windows. You should un-check this box for all the ports you need to maintain communications with. This could be why APC requires hibernation versus sleep. By disabling the computer's ability to turn off the USB ports (or anything else) to save power, the computer will repetitively come out of sleep mode in an attempt to re-establish their connections. This is also the case with your network adapters, mice, keyboards, etc.

 

If this is the case, you should diable sleep mode as APC said, and ensure that all the check boxes that allow the computer to turn off your USB ports are... un-checked. Let me know if this doesn't help so i can have my consultant take a look at your last post.

 

Good Luck! (fingers crossed)...

Eric,

With all the minor changes done my computer is now waking up properly, as far as I know. (Since I've never seen it work properly, this may only be partly true!). I don't know which tweak finally did it or if it really isn't fixed yet, since I haven't shut it down altogether. I'm going to do that after I get offline tonight and hope it doesn't lock up again when I leave it on afterwards.

As for the conversation with APC, every time I questioned him I got a slightly different answer and that's where a lot of the confusion came in.

I have seven USB Root hubs listed and none of them have either option checked. The options are ALLOW THE COMPUTER TO TURN OFF THIS DEVICE TO SAVE POWER or ALLOW THIS DEVICE TO WAKE THE COMPUTER.

Some of the hubs are "operating at full speed" and some at "high speed".

In the event of a brownout or blackout I want the computer to close all open programs and shut down. I do not want it to automatically power back on. I'd rather turn it on when I'm prepared to use it. That is what I thought APC's PowerChute program was supposed to do.

I also want to be able to leave programs open, have the computer "rest and save power" (I'm refraining from using those other two words - sleep and hibernate to avoid confusion on my part) when I'm not using it and be able to resume working where I left off when I come back to it (which is what I thought the whole point of certain power features of Vista are).

I'm going to shutdown now and see what happens later on. I'll let you know. Thank you very much for the help!

Steph
PS - every time I click on "edit as html" the message gets posted instead of letting me make changes.