Recurring Sleep Problem on T400

Hey guys,

I've been having a problem with my T400 when it comes to putting it to sleep. When I press the Fn+F4 button, it will go to sleep and then wake up when I need it. But when I close the lid (set to go to sleep) and select sleep from the Start Menu options, it will not go to sleep. The battery/plugged cord, power, and WiFi lights will all be on and I can still hear my system running. I can even turn on the ThinkPad Light and set caps/number locks on and off and the power button does not do anything when I press it. Every time this happens I have to hold down the power button and shut it down which I'm afraid is not a good thing to do all the time.

Any help?

 

This is a common issue with T400 and Vista. I've had the exact problem. The solution is to go to Windows 7. I'm not kiddding. I love my T400, but the sleep problem is crazy, even on a clean build.

Went to Windows 7, and it works perfectly.

 

That's really strange. So all T400 running Vista have this problem?

 

I've seen this problem on about a dozen T400's, but I would say it's not only Thinkpads. A LOT of laptop with Vista have this issue - HP, Dells, etc.

Again, there is something with the ACPI and Vista that puke on some laptops, esp those that try to do their special power management. Also, there are apps and drivers that don't release properly, and Vista won't sleep.

Windows 7 basically says "eff you, app, I'm not waiting - we're going to sleep" and does it.

 

You can solve this problem without going for an expensive upgrade to Windows 7. There are two possibilities. First, make sure your hibernate works properly. I have a feeling it doesn't in your case. See what to do here: http://annoyances-resolved.blogspot.com/2009/08/laptop-wont-resume-from-sleep.html . At this point if you revert everything to hibernate from sleep you should be fine. Even sleep should work fine as long as you have a good battery. Let us know if this helped.