PC Monitor to responding (waking up) when PC goes to sleep and I restart PC!

[danjuma]

Hello people,

Need your advice/suggestion please.

I recently got my PC from PCSpecialist (spec below), and since I received it I have had some issues with it. One of the issues is that the graphics card, as specified in the spec below, did not come as described on PCSpecialist website. On the website/and from the spec below, the graphic card is meant to have HDMI and DVI, however, it arrived with just HMDI and VGA. Following a few emails and letter to PCSpecialist, PCSpecialist requested I returned the PC, and installed another graphics card with HDMI and DVI - a NVIDIA GeForce 210. Whether this is a better graphics card than my original graphics card - an integrated Intel HD graphics, I do not know! Anyway, what's occurred since the new graphics card was installed is that when I put my PC to sleep, and then come back to restart the PC (by pressing any key, or even pressing the power button once as suggested by Tech Support when I phoned to report the issue), the PC restarts, but the monitor does nothing and just remains blank. I have to then resort to powering off the PC completely and restarting it. This did not use to be the case before the new graphics card was installed, i.e. I put PC to sleep, come back to restart, no problem, PC and monitor restarts. When I phoned PCSpecialist Tech Support, I was told some graphics card do not like the PC being put to sleep, and basically I just have to live with the new graphics card and not ever putting my PC to sleep, and that the 'sleep mode' is really for laptops and not PC.

This just does not seem right to me. Why the sleep mode function on PC then! I like to put my PC to sleep when I want a short break, and do not particularly want to switch my PC off completely, to save on energy (good for the environment), and also to give the fan that you can hear continuously fanning and humming away (which is quite loud) a break. Do you guys agree with the response I got from Tech Support, or should I demand a solution to this? I would really like to be able to put my PC to sleep from time, and don't want it to run continuously all day without a temporary break, when I am away briefly from the PC doing something else.

Thanks
Dan


Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-2500k Quad Core (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M: M-ATX, DDR3, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED INTEL HD GRAPHICS (HDMI, DVI, 1920 X 1200)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE Battlefield 3 with 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processor-K
Quantity
1

Price: £566.10 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Corfate]

Don't really agree with what Tech Support said.. If it was me, i wouldn't be happy, as in my mind, the PC isn't working how it should be. You should be able to put it to sleep, then tap the space bar and it to all come back to life, which is how sleep is intended to work. Tbh, i think the excuse they gave you of some GPU's don't like being put to sleep is a crap excuse.

Short answer, it's not working how it should be, keep on at them until it gets sorted. What i would do anyway

 

[danjuma]

Many thanks for the response Corfate. That's what I thought. I will go back and demand a resolution. Cheers.

 

[vanthus]

I would suggest you try another driver,
if you have the latest graphics driver,try uninstalling & then reinstalling a previous one.

 

[Fear]

As vanthus has posted above make sure you have the latest drivers for the GPU from here and see how you go but tbh i have read many stories of people having problems using both sleep and hibernate and some never find out what the problem is as there are so many things that could be causing the problem you may even need to uninstall the drivers for your monitor and find the latest ones from the manufacturers website that is if you actually have any monitor drivers installed.

I am guessing (as there is nothing mentioned) you were not charged for the GPU PCS have put in, if that is what happened they have been very kind to you and have gone all out to try and sort your problems out this far so before you "demand a resolution" you really need to make sure all your drivers are properly up to date if this does not sort it then by all means get back intouch with support and see what else they can suggest, don't forget like i said earlier i have seen lot's of reports of this problem on the internet that never manage to resolve it maybe you will have better luck but if you don't there is nothing wrong with leaving the PC running while you do something else all the PC's at my home are switched on when people want them and are left on untill either not needed for the rest of the day, going out or going to bed it may be drawing slightly more power from the socket but so does leaving a socket plugged into the wall when the appliances are turned off as they still draw the electrics

 

[danjuma]

Thanks for your reply Fear. You state;

I am guessing (as there is nothing mentioned) you were not charged for the GPU PCS have put in, if that is what happened they have been very kind to you and have gone all out to try and sort your problems out this

Yes they did not charge for this, but working out the cost of the additional graphics card (if I ordered it originally), would have cost me only about £19 extra. They had to do this because I could have returned the PC for a refund under the trade description act as I was sold a PC without the full spec as advertised. Not to talk of being without the PC for a week and having to take sometime off to wait at home for it to be collected and delivered. So it is not like they have done me any favour or been kind to me like you are insinuating. In fact they actually ignored my emails when I first raised these issues and I only got a proper response from them after I sent in a letter requesting the issues be resolved or I get a refund. I also have some other minor issues with the PC. However, I will give the suggestion you and vanthus gave and see how it goes. Cheers

 

[danjuma]

The other issues I was having (before the new graphics card was installed) were:

1. When I click on my list of bookmarks in my browser and select a link, the list of bookmarks get left behind on the screen instead of disappearing. When I raised this issue with tech support, I was told it was probably due the the version of my Firefox browser that I was using. Although, this was not happening on my old PC even though I was using the same version of Firefox browser.
2. Sometimes when I switch the PC on, the mouse does not respond. I then have to unplug the mouse from the USB and replug it. Tech support could not help with this.
3. Sometimes, my monitor just starts going blank for a couple of seconds intermittently, and can be really bad at times.

All the above did not occur with my old PC, using the same monitor, browser and programs.

I have not experienced 2 and 3 since the new graphics card has been installed, which is good. I am still experiencing 1, but not as bad.

 

[Wozza63]

The email system is probably their lowest priority and ive had some ignored, if you want a quick response it is best to phone them, the phone line is also low cost if thats what was putting you off of phoning

Also they have been extremely busy lately being christmas and all

 

[tom_gr7]

1. When I click on my list of bookmarks in my browser and select a link, the list of bookmarks get left behind on the screen instead of disappearing. When I raised this issue with tech support, I was told it was probably due the the version of my Firefox browser that I was using. Although, this was not happening on my old PC even though I was using the same version of Firefox browser.

problem 1. This sounds more like a firefox problem to be honest. Have you ensured that windows update dates are always up to date? sounds daft but this can solve problems like this, maybe even your sleep problem. try another browser

problem 2. sounds like a driver issue with the mouse? do you have the latest drivers installed for the device? Tech support cant help you with a problem involving a product they did not sell you.

problem 3. hmmm could be a driver problem again. find nvidia update on ya pc, just put it in the search bar if ya cant find it. open it up, click help, then click update, check to see if anything needs updating.

 

[danjuma]

The email system is probably their lowest priority and ive had some ignored, if you want a quick response it is best to phone them, the phone line is also low cost if thats what was putting you off of phoning

Also they have been extremely busy lately being christmas and all

Thanks for the reply Wozza. This was actually early November. I got delivery of the PC first week of November I think, and immediately phoned a few hours later after I set up the PC and noticed some of the issues, but either didn't get answered or got some message about no one available to help or something (can't remember now), so I sent an email. After a couple of days with no response, I phoned, and this time somebody answered and gave me the line that they were very busy and got a back log of emails going back a week, which made wondered whether that's how much customer complaints/issues they have got that they have a week's back-log of emails! When I did not get any helpful response to my email and follow-up emails after about 4 weeks or so, that was when I sent the letter.

 

[LFFPicard]

Ok,

Going to take a shot at this but I have been away for a while so ignore me if you wish.

When you put a PC to sleep the PC goes into low power, so all non essential hardware is powered down, this also means the video output of your graphics card is turned off, hence why your monitor will go black.
Now.. When you "wake" your PC the video signal is restored, that is why monitors sometimes take a moment to display again as it picks the signal up again.

With this in mind, I am inclined to ask how you have the monitor connected.. via DVI or HDMI, do you have the monitor set up to scan all inputs or use a specific source? (My monitor has multiple sources and I connect via HDMI, so on the monitor on screen options I set the source to HDMI not auto) - If you monitor is set to auto it might not be activly scanning for a source and therefore will not turn back on. If you set it to have a permanent source of HDMI or DVI dependant on how it is connected then it should pick up the video output when you "wake" the PC.

This is purely assumption, so give it a go.
Also drivers will play a part in this also, check the driver support forums to see if anyone has complained functions like "sleep" and "wake" are not working with the current driver revisions.

Hope that helps!

 

[danjuma]

problem 1. This sounds more like a firefox problem to be honest. Have you ensured that windows update dates are always up to date? sounds daft but this can solve problems like this, maybe even your sleep problem. try another browser

problem 2. sounds like a driver issue with the mouse? do you have the latest drivers installed for the device? Tech support cant help you with a problem involving a product they did not sell you.

problem 3. hmmm could be a driver problem again. find nvidia update on ya pc, just put it in the search bar if ya cant find it. open it up, click help, then click update, check to see if anything needs updating.

Thanks for your suggestion tom_gr7.

You are right, it seems to occur with only Firefox. However, why does it not occur on my old PC, and I am using exactly the same version of Firefox, albeit my OS is Win XP, as opposed to Win 7 on the new PC?
I did update my monitor's driver and installed all windows updates at the time, but this did not resolve the problem.

With regards to the mouse, yet I ask again, why did this not happen with my old PC?

I will follow you suggestion, like others, and update the driver for NVIDIA, if available, and see how it goes.

Thanks
Dan

 

[danjuma]

Ok,

Going to take a shot at this but I have been away for a while so ignore me if you wish.

When you put a PC to sleep the PC goes into low power, so all non essential hardware is powered down, this also means the video output of your graphics card is turned off, hence why your monitor will go black.
Now.. When you "wake" your PC the video signal is restored, that is why monitors sometimes take a moment to display again as it picks the signal up again.

With this in mind, I am inclined to ask how you have the monitor connected.. via DVI or HDMI, do you have the monitor set up to scan all inputs or use a specific source? (My monitor has multiple sources and I connect via HDMI, so on the monitor on screen options I set the source to HDMI not auto) - If you monitor is set to auto it might not be activly scanning for a source and therefore will not turn back on. If you set it to have a permanent source of HDMI or DVI dependant on how it is connected then it should pick up the video output when you "wake" the PC.

This is purely assumption, so give it a go.
Also drivers will play a part in this also, check the driver support forums to see if anyone has complained functions like "sleep" and "wake" are not working with the current driver revisions.

Hope that helps!

Many thanks for your reply LFFPicard, and I am also grateful to everyone who have come up with suggestions, and not just 'fob me off' like tech support by saying it's the norm with some graphics card and I just have to live with it!

Now this is how my PC is currently set up.. I have got the Intel integrated graphics card installed (which was the original spec) with a HDMI and a VGA connection. I now have the newly added NVIDIA graphics card with a HDMI and a DVI connector. My monitor is currently connected to the NVIDIA graphics card HDMI. At a later date, I intend to connect a second monitor to the NVIDIA DVI. One thing I did notice since the PC came back with the newly added graphics card is that it takes slightly longer than before booting up, and seems to go through a process of checking some devices etc that I never noticed it did before.

Cheers
Dan

 

[tom_gr7]

However, why does it not occur on my old PC, and I am using exactly the same version of Firefox, albeit my OS is Win XP, as opposed to Win 7 on the new PC?

Could be that firefox is better suited to xp, I may be wrong though. Check that you have downloaded the correct version, did you select win7 with either 32 bit or 64bit depending on the os you have? try to uninstall firefox download fresh version.

With regards to the mouse, yet I ask again, why did this not happen with my old PC?

What mouse is it? is it an older mouse? Could be that the mouse was designed for xp and the fact the drivers have not been released for win7. I have a old printer and the problem that no drivers have been released for windows 7. lol

 

[vanthus]

For the problem with firefox,try clearing browser cache,
Click on tools/options/advanced/network/click on"clear now"at off line storage.

 

[danjuma]

Ok,

Going to take a shot at this but I have been away for a while so ignore me if you wish.

When you put a PC to sleep the PC goes into low power, so all non essential hardware is powered down, this also means the video output of your graphics card is turned off, hence why your monitor will go black.
Now.. When you "wake" your PC the video signal is restored, that is why monitors sometimes take a moment to display again as it picks the signal up again.

With this in mind, I am inclined to ask how you have the monitor connected.. via DVI or HDMI, do you have the monitor set up to scan all inputs or use a specific source? (My monitor has multiple sources and I connect via HDMI, so on the monitor on screen options I set the source to HDMI not auto) - If you monitor is set to auto it might not be activly scanning for a source and therefore will not turn back on. If you set it to have a permanent source of HDMI or DVI dependant on how it is connected then it should pick up the video output when you "wake" the PC.

This is purely assumption, so give it a go.
Also drivers will play a part in this also, check the driver support forums to see if anyone has complained functions like "sleep" and "wake" are not working with the current driver revisions.

Hope that helps!

Many thanks for your reply LFFPicard, and I am also grateful to everyone who have come up with suggestions, and not just 'fob me off' like tech support by saying it's the norm with some graphics card and I just have to live with it!

Now this is how my PC is currently set up.. I have got the Intel integrated graphics card installed (which was the original spec) with a HDMI and a VGA connection. I now have the newly added NVIDIA graphics card with a HDMI and a DVI connector. My monitor is currently connected to the NVIDIA graphics card HDMI. At a later date, I intend to connect a second monitor to the NVIDIA DVI. One thing I did notice since the PC came back with the newly added graphics card is that it takes slightly longer than before booting up, and seems to go through a process of checking some devices etc that I never noticed it did before.

Cheers
Dan

 

[danjuma]

Ok with reference to the sleep mode issue. I have downloaded and installed the latest driver (version 285.62) for the version of my NVIDIA card, and also checked that I have got windows up-to-date. Unfortunately, this has not resolved the problem - monitor still failing to 'wake-up' from sleep.

LFFPicard, how do I access the 'on the monitor on screen options' so as to be able to 'set the source to HDMI not auto'? My monitor - a Benq G2222 HDL, does not seem to have this option.

With regards to the Firefox issue, I have tried your suggestion vanthus, and yours tom_gr7 (now installed the latest version 9.0.1, though there was no choice of selecting for either a 32-bit or 64-bit). Unfortunately, the issue still remains.

Cheers
Dan

 

[vanthus]

Could still be an issue with the graphics driver,
try a previous driver as I suggested.
Failing that,phone PCS again after the holidays,
I can assure you they know what they're talking about & if it's in any way possible
they will sort it out.

 

[Fear]

@danjuma sorry been out for xmas eve with friends hic anyway with regards your mouse as i have had similar problems before make sure both mouse and keyboard are connected on the 2 highest USB ports on the back of your PC (i have no idea why but they seem to take priority on boot up) so that should cure your mouse problem, i only use the 32bit version of window explorer (i am running windows 7 64bit) so maybe try that and see how you go on just to eliminate your web browser at least. You have said you updated the GPU driver to the latest version but have you tried updating your monitor drivers from the website yet ? windows may not find and update monitor drivers on it's own tbh most of the time you do not need them but if having problems getting a fresh download of them may fix the issue, and with regards to selecting which input your monitor makes as priority you should have a menu button on your monitor and options on there to change brightness, contrast etc. and on one of the options pick which input to use if not you may have a button to switch between the different inputs manually (i am using a samsung monitor and have changed settings on there for using DVI port as the main so i never have to let it search or change it myself) so basically if your is set to auto detect then after your PC going to sleep and you waking it up if it is set to look for either of the 2 connections you are not using first it will not know to look for any of the others as it will not wake the monitor (sorry again far too much to drink i have forgotten what input you are using) let us know how you get on and have a nice xmas day