Windows Vista Spontaneous Hibernation

Hi,

I bought an m15x with vista ultimate and it still goes into spontaneous hibernation even after I reinstalled the OS, flashed x34 bios, updated video drivers, etc etc.

The question is, should I send my m15x in for repairs? I am afraid to send it in because of a few concerns:-

1) What if alienware techs cant reproduce the problem at their facility, then what?

2) What's the problem likely to be? Hardware problem? If so then which bit of hardware?

3) What happens if the same problem occurs after the laptop has been 'repaired'?

4) Do I need to write a long and detailed explanation about the problem to the alienware technicians or do I only just a few lines about what's going wrong?

5) How long will my laptop spend being repaired?

Note my laptop only spontaneously hibernates while the laptop is set to hibernate or sleep after a certain amount of time. However, the laptop hibernates even when I'm clicking or doing something. When I delete all the references to sleep and hibernate in the power options,the backlight just turns off and on repeatedly. This spontaneous hibernation stuff occurs on both dedicated graphics and intergrated graphics. I would appreciate any feedback on this.

Thanks

 

check the power settings, make sure that none of the choices are set as hibernate.... if that does not help, right click on your C drive, go to clean up, when it comes up with a list of stuff that you can remove, make sure you check the hibernation (something) box, it'll then remove the hibernation option etc therefore it should not happen again.....

 

I was searching this issue for you and came across this guide for a Hybrid Sleep option - http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/29/turn-off-and-disable-hybrid-sleep-in-windows-vista/

Tell me if you are able to view the Hybrid Sleep tree as mentioned in the instructions. I am unable to but I'm not sure if this has to do with me being on a desktop. Let me know, Thanks.

 

ahhh, memories.
mine done this once so as cinek2 stated above,do a system cleanup. the file to delete is over 2gb in size. remember if you do delete the file you will not be able to use hibernate anymore. you will still have the sleep option.

 

Sorry guys, I wrote the wrong thing. My m15x actually spontaneously goes into sleep mode, not hibernate. Any more ideas?

Alienware James,

I will try that hybrid sleep thing.

 

Alienware James, I can see a hybrid sleep tree in the advanced power settings of the 3 power plans. All the hybrid sleep options for the 3 power plans are set to 'Never'

 

It is actually a Vista bug that you can't do much about it. Though they have already fixed few issues, few are still pending and unknown root cause at this point of time. This does not happen with all Graphic cards and mother boards but very few notebook motherboards and graphic cards

one such error is reported here...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941858

I have work around this problem by changing the default setting from sleep to hibernate... for Sleep button and for lid close change it to Hybernate... it takes a little longer but do come out of sleep mode.

 

Alienware James,

I think I need to clarify my situation. I don't get problems resuming from sleep mode. It's the fact I randomly go into sleep mode while browsing things like the internet that bugs me.

The issue is that my laptop randomly goes into sleep mode while I'm doing things, resuming normal activity is not a problem, i.e. I don't get stop error messages when trying to resume activity after going into sleep.

When I have disabled sleep and hibernate from all my power options, the laptop backlight then flickers on and off randomly. I can reproduce the problem by shutting the lid and leaving laptop for a prolonged period of time which leads the laptop display to flicker completely off (no image can be seen on the LCD screen) and then on continouosly for about 5 minutes.

If my notebook motherboard and graphics card are not working normally, then surely I should be able to get a replacement??

Also, another detail is that I have encountered this problem both after a fresh install of vista and when I have Vista SP1

 

oh.. my bad. thats not vista

 

Have you tried cleaning the microswitch for the lid? it sounds like the microswitch might have some dust or debris. This happened to me a while back on my old laptop.

Basically the laptop thinks the lid is closed, even though it isn't, therefore it's going into sleep mode.

I'm don't have my m15x with me ATM, but I can check to see where the microswitch is for you when I get back.

The backlight flicker is what sold me on this idea, that's a sure sign indicating the microswitch.....

To fix: blow some compressed air into the switch hole and open and close your lid a few times, then see if the problem continues. If yes, then contact AW, you might need a new switch.

Hope this helps, good luck!
K Shub

 

KShub,

By the way, do you know where this microswitch thingy is??

 

Wow, you know I looked everywhere for it and I can't find it!!?? Does anyone know where they hid it? It looks like they placed it inside of the middle silver hinge/bar.

Sorry evil, I wish I could have pointed you to it so that your issue would have been resolved =(

Perhaps a call to Roswell?

KShub

 

I'm in the UK, so would a call to Roswell do any good?

Also, if I do call up, do I tell them that the problem is the microswitch and that they should replace it, or should I just tell the symptoms of the problem and leave them to their own devices?

 

I'm not sure if Roswell supports UK.

I would explain your issues:
-back light flickers
-random sleep

Then suggest the lid microswitch being the cause...

Good luck and I hope this helps! Let us know what happens after you contact support. Perhaps sending the Roswell team an email first?

KShub