Why doesn't my laptop hibernate or standby when on AC power?

On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:17:51 -0500, Yousuf Khan wrote:

> On 07/12/2010 1:56 PM, Stefan Patric wrote:
>> What's the make and model of your laptop? The specs? What OS
>> originally came on it? How long has the current OS been installed on
>> it? Is it fully updated? Have you checked the viability of the
>> hardware and OS recently?
>
> It's a Gateway MX6440, AMD Turion processor, 2GB of DDR. It came
> originally installed with XP Home, and that's where it's remained ever
> since (though I had Ubuntu installed on another partition, until I had
> to get rid of it for space reasons). And yes, it's fully updated.

Okay. 5 or 6 years old. Not THAT old. And I'm going to assume the OS
has never been reinstalled or repair installed in that time. It could be
some System file or dll has gotten damaged in all that time, and is
preventing AC standby. Windows does break itself sometimes or something
else does.

> I'm not willing to reinstall the OS, as there's some critical software
> and data on the system that does not have replacements anymore.

A restore or complete reinstall would be a last resort option. A Repair
Install only checks and repairs the OS. So, if it's damaged, a Repair
should fix it (Most of the time). It shouldn't touch any of the apps or
settings or your data. But back up everything just to be safe.

Do you still have the hidden Restore Partition on your laptop or did it
get wiped out by the Ubuntu install?

>> Since your laptop will manually suspend and hibernate, and assuming all
>> the power settings are properly set, I would see if you can set it to
>> suspend on AC when you close the lid. I know you said you don't ever
>> do this, but this a test that doesn't use the keyboard to initiate it.
>> If it works, try hibernate, too. And check that the system "returns"
>> properly afterwards. If it doesn't do either, consider a Repair
>> Install.
>
> Actually, if you will remember, I did say that I tried the lid test, and
> it didn't work.

I remember you said you don't use the close-lib-standby-hibernate option
at all. I didn't remember you saying you tried it and it failed.

Have you contacted Gateway Tech Support? If they don't have the answer
to your problem, no one will.

Stef

"Stefan Patric" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ie1jej$85o$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:17:51 -0500, Yousuf Khan wrote:
>
>> On 07/12/2010 1:56 PM, Stefan Patric wrote:
>>> What's the make and model of your laptop? The specs? What OS
>>> originally came on it? How long has the current OS been installed on
>>> it? Is it fully updated? Have you checked the viability of the
>>> hardware and OS recently?
>>
>> It's a Gateway MX6440, AMD Turion processor, 2GB of DDR. It came
>> originally installed with XP Home, and that's where it's remained ever
>> since (though I had Ubuntu installed on another partition, until I had
>> to get rid of it for space reasons). And yes, it's fully updated.
>
> Okay. 5 or 6 years old. Not THAT old. And I'm going to assume the OS
> has never been reinstalled or repair installed in that time. It could be
> some System file or dll has gotten damaged in all that time, and is
> preventing AC standby. Windows does break itself sometimes or something
> else does.
>
>> I'm not willing to reinstall the OS, as there's some critical software
>> and data on the system that does not have replacements anymore.
>
> A restore or complete reinstall would be a last resort option. A Repair
> Install only checks and repairs the OS. So, if it's damaged, a Repair
> should fix it (Most of the time). It shouldn't touch any of the apps or
> settings or your data. But back up everything just to be safe.
>
> Do you still have the hidden Restore Partition on your laptop or did it
> get wiped out by the Ubuntu install?
>
>>> Since your laptop will manually suspend and hibernate, and assuming all
>>> the power settings are properly set, I would see if you can set it to
>>> suspend on AC when you close the lid. I know you said you don't ever
>>> do this, but this a test that doesn't use the keyboard to initiate it.
>>> If it works, try hibernate, too. And check that the system "returns"
>>> properly afterwards. If it doesn't do either, consider a Repair
>>> Install.
>>
>> Actually, if you will remember, I did say that I tried the lid test, and
>> it didn't work.
>
> I remember you said you don't use the close-lib-standby-hibernate option
> at all. I didn't remember you saying you tried it and it failed.
>
> Have you contacted Gateway Tech Support? If they don't have the answer
> to your problem, no one will.

ROTFLMAO!! You are kidding, right? After the experiences I've had with
Gateway-to-Hell support, I'd rather advise someone to call the Geek Squad
(and I wouldn't do that to someone I hated).

Sorry for the interjection.
--
SC Tom
-There's no such thing as TMI when asking for tech support.

>
> Stef

On Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:18:00 -0500, SC Tom wrote:

> "Stefan Patric" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ie1jej$85o$(E-Mail Removed)...

>> [snip]
>> Have you contacted Gateway Tech Support? If they don't have the answer
>> to your problem, no one will.
>
> ROTFLMAO!! You are kidding, right? After the experiences I've had with
> Gateway-to-Hell support, I'd rather advise someone to call the Geek
> Squad (and I wouldn't do that to someone I hated).

The worse that will happen is Tech Support can't fix it either. Will
only cost you time. How much has the OP already spend trying to fix the
problem?

In any case, it's worth a try, since everything else has failed. And,
sometimes, long shots do pay off regardless of other people's experiences.

> Sorry for the interjection.

Stef

Have you tried System File Check? Sometimes helps.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

Ted

"Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:4d030980$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 07/12/2010 1:56 PM, Stefan Patric wrote:
>> What's the make and model of your laptop? The specs? What OS originally
>> came on it? How long has the current OS been installed on it? Is it
>> fully updated? Have you checked the viability of the hardware and OS
>> recently?
>
> It's a Gateway MX6440, AMD Turion processor, 2GB of DDR. It came
> originally installed with XP Home, and that's where it's remained ever
> since (though I had Ubuntu installed on another partition, until I had
> to get rid of it for space reasons). And yes, it's fully updated.
>
> I'm not willing to reinstall the OS, as there's some critical software
> and data on the system that does not have replacements anymore.
>
>> Since your laptop will manually suspend and hibernate, and assuming all
>> the power settings are properly set, I would see if you can set it to
>> suspend on AC when you close the lid. I know you said you don't ever do
>> this, but this a test that doesn't use the keyboard to initiate it. If
>> it works, try hibernate, too. And check that the system "returns"
>> properly afterwards. If it doesn't do either, consider a Repair Install.
>
> Actually, if you will remember, I did say that I tried the lid test, and
> it didn't work.
>
> Yousuf Khan

In news:ie7d9f$2b7$(E-Mail Removed),
tango <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
> Have you tried System File Check? Sometimes helps.

Have you checked to be certain there are no "battery" vs "on AC Power"
selections in Power Options in Control Panel? My old Gateway laptop has that
feature. I can set the on-battery settings different than the on-AC
settings. On battery it runs thru the process to hibernate, or whatever you
wish yours to do, much quicker than while it's on AC power (by default).

This is an old Gateway Pentium laptop. I now use it as a hardware firewall.

>
> http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true
>
> Ted
>
> "Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:4d030980$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On 07/12/2010 1:56 PM, Stefan Patric wrote:
>>> What's the make and model of your laptop? The specs?
>>> What OS originally came on it? How long has the current
>>> OS been installed on it? Is it fully updated? Have you
>>> checked the viability of the hardware and OS recently?
>>
>> It's a Gateway MX6440, AMD Turion processor, 2GB of DDR.
>> It came originally installed with XP Home, and that's
>> where it's remained ever since (though I had Ubuntu
>> installed on another partition, until I had to get rid of
>> it for space reasons). And yes, it's fully updated.
>>
>> I'm not willing to reinstall the OS, as there's some
>> critical software and data on the system that does not
>> have replacements anymore.

Uh, oh! That "critical" software and data is at high risk of being
lost/corrupted/otherwise compromised, since you say it can't be replaced
anymore. You need to get that data backed up, archived, whatever you want to
call it, and soon!
Also, if you mean you don't have the installation disks for the
application, you're once more in big trouble; Sooner or later you WILL need
to do a reinstall. If you do have them, the disk/s should be backed up, same
as the data so it resides in more than one place. It would be prudent to GET
discs, or do backups such that you can reinstall it that way. It takes a
little knowledge and experience to be able to do that, but it can be done;
just be sure you test it afterwards.
Copy the "critical" stuff to DVD for long term safekeeping.

>>
>>> Since your laptop will manually suspend and hibernate,
>>> and assuming all the power settings are properly set, I
>>> would see if you can set it to suspend on AC when you
>>> close the lid. I know you said you don't ever do this,
>>> but this a test that doesn't use the keyboard to initiate
>>> it. If it works, try hibernate, too. And check that the
>>> system "returns" properly afterwards. If it doesn't do
>>> either, consider a Repair Install.
>>
>> Actually, if you will remember, I did say that I tried the
>> lid test, and it didn't work.

All in all, it sounds like you have encountered some system file corruption.
No opinion whether it's gremlin related or possible malware; doesn't sound
like maware, but ... can't hurt to check.
A Repair Install might be a good idea since it doesn't disturb any data.
However, things can always go wrong, especially with a machine that's not
working quite right, so it's still important to do a full backup before
doing any repairs anywhere.
For newsgroups, please post in Text mode rather than HTML or RTF. There
are still newsreaders around that cannot display an html post so it'll be
easy to read.

HTH,

Twayne`


>>
>> Yousuf Khan