Can't get monitor to wake from sleep

[BigRed]

(My first post here. I found this site and wanted to try it after excellent support from Hans on Microsoft site for programming issue!)

I have IBM Thinkpad T14s with AMD Ryzen 7 and AMD Radeon Graphics chip. Running Windows 11 version 22631.3155.
For purposes of this post, this is my "laptop monitor." This monitor has a built-in camera that I use for facial recognition to log into the OS. The laptop is under warranty for about another three months and that's why I am now posting here...to try and get help identifying if this is a hardware issue or if there is a software bug or software configuration that resolves this.

I have a second, external monitor connected through a USB hub. I use the second monitor in dual monitor "Extend Mode" to enlarge my desktop area (versus "duplicating" or mirroring my laptop monitor). I call this my "2nd monitor" or "external monitor."

My problem (and it is a common problem reported by many, for many years, and over many operating systems and hardware configurations!) is that I frequently cannot get my laptop monitor to wake after sleeping. The problem is so random that I cannot replicate it at will. I'm not exactly sure when it started, but I definitely DID NOT have any issues the problem for "a few months" after I bought and configured the laptop for dual monitors.

After it started manifesting itself, I worked through hardware troubleshooting with warranty support for the laptop and they said hardware is fine. have since scoured internet and tried every so-called remedy I could find to no avail. I even rolled back OS updates a couple of times and thought that may have fixed it but problem always returned. Again, it is so random that it is hard to tell if any changes actually correct the problem!

A couple of notes/observations.:
1) I had default power config settings re-established for the laptop at one point.
2) I run the laptop on AC power most of the time, but problem happens when on power or battery
3) the problem occurs (again, randomly) whether I force the computer to sleep or let it sleep after inactivity

4) current power settings are:
a) "sleep" the computer on power button press,
b) to "do nothing" on laptop lid close", and
c) to "Wake on laptop lid open"

5) sometimes, infrequently, and I cannot tell why, when the monitor won't "wake", I find that it is because the Dual Monitor setting have changed on their own to "display on Monitor Two only." When that's the case, I can "usually" simply set dual monitor mode back to Extend mode and the laptop monitor will wake. I say "usually" because this specific scenario is infrequent and I'm not positive it always works. (I suspect this could have something to do with the timing of the sleep and wake process and monitor visibility through the USB hub during wake and sleep...but just guessing on this)

6) when this occurs I am not sure if the laptop monitor is actually "sleeping." I say this because I can definitely tell that it is in a different state that it was in when it actually went to sleep. What I mean is this: when the monitor is truly sleeping, it is a black as if it was actually turned off (as it should be). But when I expect it to "wake" and it doesn't, it is no longer completely black. There is some color emitting from it (as if its brightness properties were turned down way low), but there is no video signal.

7) when laptop monitor appears to have "not woken" after sleep, the camera is still operational and does its job with facial recognition to log me back into the operating system!

My ultimate goal is to find a fix. But immediate goal is to find a way to eliminate the hardware as the problem before my warranty expires.

I'm willing to prioritize this and work with anyone that can help me! I don't think it's an easy fix (and it takes time to verify if anything I try actually solves the issue permanently!

Thanks in advance for advice!

[JoeP]

Does this happen if you disconnect the external monitor?
Have you checked for updated video drivers?

[BigRed]

I continue to run Lenovo's laptop monitoring software to update bios and drivers. I will try and dig into more specifics though about my video chip and driver and see if anything more recent is available from AMD.

DRIVER UPDATE: there was a new driver released by AMD two weeks ago. I installed it and it was horrible. Immediately uninstalled it. May try again later but got the old driver back for now. Microsoft has not released that new driver yet and will likely wait for them to do so!

I'm sure I have run in a single monitor config to test this bug can't remember the results, so I will start running exclusively with just the laptop monitor and should have some results by tomorrow for that!

UPDATE: I just ran two test real quick and both showed the symptoms:

First a) set display settings to only display on laptop.
b) shutoff external monitor (but did not connect USB cable from laptop to USB docking station
c) rebooted. Display fine on laptop.
d) closed laptop lid waiting for pulse light to indicate sleep mode. Never came. Remembered power settings set to "do nothing" on lid close
e) reopened lid. display is fine
f) pressed power button to initiate sleep mode.
g) once power light was pulsing to indicate sleep mode, pressed space bar to wake up PC. Camera light flickered as it woke up to log me in via facial recognition. stopped flashing. NO DISPLAY!!!
(I recovered by using function keys (with no video) to select 2nd monitor for display output. at which point I ran the next test)

Note that I tried to replicate this and the first time it did not fail. The second time it did fail to display again (but I noticed that even though the external monitor was powered off, the reboot process had caused the dual monitor mode setting to be set to "extend the displays")

Second: a) set display settings to only display on laptop.
b) disconnected USB cable from laptop to USB hub
c) rebooted. Display fine on laptop.
d) Closed laptop lid for three seconds and reopened. NO DISPLAY!

I tried to repeat this process. First though, I verified in power settings what was supposed to happen when lid is closed. Confirmed it was set to "Do Nothing." So it is odd that it failed after step D on the first test!

in trying to replicate the second test, I ran steps a, b, and c. Then pressed the power button to initiate sleep mode. Once asleep, tried to rewake using space bar. No display.

So, since this is failing with no connection to USB hub and secondary monitor, that complication can be eliminated from the equation. (and I'm still researching AMD Ratheon drivers)

Finally, the problem is recurring in single monitor mode frequently as before. Not sure where to go from here at this point. I've turned off one other piece of software that uses the camera and interfaces with the display, called Glance by Mirametrix. It isn't running any longer. I was onto that because I've noticed that while it doesn't sleep, my display does dim after 20 seconds of no movement in front of it then it goes black (PC is NOT in sleep mode until sleep rules execute). Can't figure out how to stop this dimming behavior either after much other troubleshooting.

I'm ready for more questions/suggestions.

[JoeP]

Have you checked which sleep states are available on the PC? In a command line or powershell use "powercfg /availablesleepstates" (without the ").

Do you have Fast Startup enabled?

[BigRed]

Have you checked which sleep states are available on the PC? In a command line or powershell use "powercfg /availablesleepstates" (without the ").

C:\Windows\System32>powercfg /availablesleepstates
The following sleep states are available on this system:
Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) Network Connected
Hibernate
Fast Startup

The following sleep states are not available on this system:
Standby (S1)
The system firmware does not support this standby state.
This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.

Standby (S2)
The system firmware does not support this standby state.
This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.

Standby (S3)
The system firmware does not support this standby state.
This standby state is disabled when S0 low power idle is supported.
The current Device Guard configuration has disabled this standby state.

Hybrid Sleep
Standby (S3) is not available.
The hypervisor does not support this standby state.

Do you have Fast Startup enabled?

Yes it is enabled

[JoeP]

You may want to disable Fast Startup. See How to enable or disable fast startup.

After sleeping for a time your system will hibernate. You can also try disabling Hibernation.

I recommend only changing one thing at a time. I know it takes longer but that way if it is fixed you can tell what fixed it.

[BigRed]

I will try disabling both. And post again in a day or two as soon as I have more feedback! TY.

[BigRed]

Well some good news...after almost 24 hours of light use, I have not had the problem recur. It hasn't been long enough, and the computer hasn't had enough chances to sleep during that time frame to confidently say the problem is gone, but I'm very hopeful now!

Unfortunately, I did end up changing two things, not just one at a time. I disabled Fast Startup and I created a new power plan (and switched between "Balanced" and the new plan a couple of times to validate what was going on with screen brightness. when I was done with the new plan, I reset the plan to the default "Balanced" plan to monitor the effects of disabling Fast Startup.

If no more failures after one more morning of typical laptop use, I'd feel confident calling the issue related to Fast Startup. But I wouldn't reenable it for another week or so to test that theory further!)

Creating a new power plan (and/or selecting that new plan for the first time after creating it) did have an immediate (positive) impact on something I have separately been trying to diagnose and locate: why my screen was dimming (not sleeping) consistently after 20 seconds and then going black (still, not "sleep" mode) after 25 seconds. Now that I have created a new power plan, even with the plan set to the default "Balanced," my screen is no longer diming and going black until the time it actually goes into sleep mode (minutes after no activity).

[JoeP]

I believe that Fast Startup requires hibernation to be enabled. If you are going to re-enable anything just try hibernation first.

Anyway, glad it seems to be resolved.

[BigRed]

I believe that Fast Startup requires hibernation to be enabled. If you are going to re-enable anything just try hibernation first.

I will keep that in mind! And yes, after an additional day of normal processing, the laptop monitor continues to wake from sleep mode as you would expect it to. Thanks (SO MUCH!!!!) for your help!

[JoeP]

You're welcome. Glad you stuck with it.

[BigRed]

Crap! It's back...and after two days or so of no issues. I swear I didn't change a thing! (I haven't even tried to fix something else - probably related - that is driving me crazy) I'm gonna see if any Windows updates or other updates have been applied....

First quick pass: looks like there were three updates yesterday (3/8/2024)...Microsoft Edge, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft OneNote

Fast Startup and Hibernate are both still disabled!

Happy (and need!) for your guidance on what /were to look...I hope you are still around!

[stuck]

Does this post suggest something else for you to investigate?
https://eileenslounge.com/viewtopic.php ... 96#p315096

Ken

[BigRed]

Does this post suggest something else for you to investigate?
https://eileenslounge.com/viewtopic.php ... 96#p315096

Updated 3/11/2024: deeper dive into what that other post is about. I don't want to hijack that other post since it is current and moving along through troubleshooting techniques. I am definitely having the similar issues as described in that other post and they are also fairly recent development as described there too. While it may be related to the issue I am describing, my problem is actually worse and more troublesome. Those issues are second priority for me (at least at the moment). Nevertheless, I am going to do all of the troubleshooting the other thread is suggesting just in case it can positively impact my issues to (or at least fix those issues for me). I won't chime into that other thread until I have something appropriate and additional to add.

Updates to follow later today or tomorrow morning!

[BigRed]

Update: As fast as the problem came back on 3/9/2024 (see above), it went stopped occurring on 3/11/2024...hence I have not tried any additional testing. Due to the sporadic and unreproducible nature of the issue, I am hesitant to try anything until it is failing regularly again. I will get back to testing the other article's suggestions if/when this recurs.

I noted above what had changed on the PC when the problem started occurring again on 3/9. Well, the only other update made to the computer since then happened to be on 3/10/2024...and it was "Microsoft Edge Webview2 Runtime."

(I have long suspected that this problem was first introduced for me when Microsoft upgraded my laptop to 23H2 sometime before November of last year. I had various degrees of success/failure rolling that back and testing my problems back in November, so I can't definitively blame that update - though it is installed now on my PC and I do not have the Feb 2024 preview version of same installed! Given that I have had recent updates from Microsoft on two different dates and my problems showed up again and then disappeared again following each update - with no tother config changes to laptop - I have stronger "gut" feeling that Microsoft is to blame. And I'm getting more comfortable that this isn't a hardware issue on my laptop.)

For now at least, I'll continue to post updates and treat this post as if it is my journal.! I do have a few things I can/will try based on that other article referenced by Ken above and the more recent OS updates MS has available if/when my "won't wake from sleep" issue returns.

[JoeP]

These days troubleshooting is very time-consuming and often frustrating. It is often easier and faster to do an in-place upgrade of your system. Make an image backup of your system. Backup your data files separately. Then do an in-place upgrade. That gives you a fresh copy of the OS but retains your files and programs.