PC Wakes from Sleep if TV is off or unplugged

[andreww]

Hi Folks,

My HTPC system has had no issues sleeping/waking for the past few years. However, a couple of weeks ago, it developed insomnia--even though I didn't change any settings (that I'm aware of!). I've gone through all the basic troubleshooting, and am now completely stumped.

Here's the issue: If I put it to sleep while my TV is turned on, it will sleep and stay asleep. If I then turn my TV off, it'll wake up. If I turn my TV off first, it'll go to sleep and then wake up immediately after going to sleep.

The TV is connected via an DVI->HDMI cable. If I unplug the cable from the video card, the system still wakes (as if the TV is off). So the PC will only sleep properly now if the TV is turned on and connected.

When the problem started, my system was running Vista 64-bit. I then installed a new SSD drive and installed Windows 7 SP1 64-bit -- and the problem followed, to my surprise.

System Specs:
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 Motherboard
AMD Opteron 180 CPU
NVidia GeForce 8600 GTS (latest driver, v337.88)
Samsung Plasma TV

What's weird is that the "powercfg -lastwake" command reports the "Power Button" as the source for resuming from standby.. But if I disconnect the front power button from the motherboard, the problem persists (and the button appears to be behaving normally for all other purposes).

If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate the help!

Thanks,
Andrew

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\system32>powercfg -devicequery wake_armed
HID Keyboard Device
HID-compliant mouse (001)
eHome Infrared Receiver (USBCIR)

C:\Windows\system32>powercfg -lastwake
Wake History Count - 1
Wake History [0]
  Wake Source Count - 1
  Wake Source [0]
    Type: Fixed Feature
    Power Button

[dmagerl]

What happens if you put the computer to sleep with the TV on, put a blanket or pillow or some such over the IR receiver to block IR, and then turn the TV off.

Plasmas are notorious for jamming IR receivers. I'm thinking as the TV turns off, it spoofs the receiver into thinking a wake command was sent.

The other thing is that as the tV shuts down, the DVI connection loses voltages from the TV and that could make the PC think it needs to wake. A few years back, whenever I turned my TV off, the PC would blue screen. Something in the nvidia drivers didnt like the TV being turned off. I had to revert to a way earlier driver to fix the problem and ran with that for over a year until finally nvidia fixed the problem.

[andreww]

Hi dmagerl,

Thanks for jumping in to help. Covering the IR receiver doesn't make a difference.

I think you're right about the voltage... as long as the TV isn't on (or plugged into the DVI port) then the computer won't sleep. It's almost like the power control settings for the DVI port are backwards -- ie, the computer should sleep when the TV is off, not on.

[newfiend]

There have been some reports on here with problems with the latest NVIDIA drivers. Try rolling back to a previously known good driver set that you know worked previously. When installing the new NVIDIA drivers select custom install, then the check box for a clean installation. This should remove all previous traces of the currently installed drivers and install the older package.

[andreww]

Hey Newfiend, thanks for chiming in as well.

I just rolled back to several old versions, doing a "clean install" each time, and still no luck. The oldest I tried was from August 2009 (v190.62, from here ). Unfortunately I'm seeing the same exact problem, no matter which drivers are installed.

What's so strange to me is that the problem persisted even after a fresh installation of Windows 7 (the problem first appeared when I was running Vista)...and apparently it's not a driver issue, either.

I'm completely stumped and am ready just to give in and buy a new card (ATI this time!)...though at this point I'm not even sure a new video card would solve it, either.

Any other ideas?

Thanks again.

[newfiend]

It could be a number of things.. Of course.. but..
I would try a few things. If the TV has updateable Firmware check to make sure the TV has the latest version.
If you use a AVR in between the TV and HTPC try removing that from the loop and hooking the DVI>HDMI cable directly to the TV.
In the TV settings is there an option to disable any HDMI CEC? Such as Sony's Brava Sync ETC.. does that make any difference?

Your Mainboard, Power Supply or PSU Wiring may have an issue as well. Since the last wake command says its the power button it makes me wonder if it's Mainboard or PSU related??
Might be something to check.. What NVIDIA Card are you currently using?
newfiend~