Znote 6324W - Resume from Standby only shows a blank screen

I got the Zepto Znote 6324W which is a great laptop however I'm facing one specific problem. When it goes into standby, I press the power button to resume from it but at that time, the screen remains black / blank so nothing is shown at all. The leds on the front (HDD etc.) do show that it's alive again but nothing it shown on screen. Even switching between the laptop monitor / external monitor does not change the behavior.

The system is running on Windows XP Pro SP2 and has the latest firmware installed as well. Does anyone ever faced such problems or any suggestions on what could be the cause of this behavior. Needless to say that this is pretty annoying so I'm desperately looking for a solution ....

 

1. Does it resume OK from hibernation?

2. Have you tried experimenting with the video options in the BIOS? I recall seeing something which might relate to this.

Historically, I have encountered similar problems with resuming from sleep so I tend to use hibernation by preference. I will have to make a specific test on my 6024W with XP, but this may not be conclusive because I have the X3100 GPU. However, that will have to wait until later.

John

 

I agree on using the Hibernation as well as that worked better on my other laptop (Toshiba Tecra M2) but anyway, hereby the results.

1. Hibernation: same problem as with Standby.

2. The BIOS only has an option called Video Repost [Disabled,Linux,Enabled]

Item Specific Help

Select IF a Video Repost is to be performed during resume from S3.
Disabled: Never Perform a Video Repost upon resume from S3.
Linux: Only perform a Video Repost IF the OS is Linux.
Enabled: Always perform a Video Repost upon resume from S3.

It was set to Linux but I've tried them all without any luck.

Installed drivers are the ones from laptopvideo2go (version 165.01). Maybe I should just try some others as well to see if that makes any difference.

 

OK. Blank screen also when resuming from hibernation is bad.

From memory, those S3 options are similar to what I have seen in my 6024W BIOS.

Get the latest chipset driver from Intel plus the latest Infupdate file. Have you got any unrecognised devices in Device Manager?

I'm using XP SP2a. It is possible that it includes something which avoids this problem. Searching Microsoft reveals a number of possibilities.

Finally, you had better go back to Zepto's driver for the GPU before you pass the problem to Zepto.

John

 

i experienced the same thing when using a driver version from laptopvideo2go (dont remember which one). if you install another version (the driver you got from zepto or a different laptopvideo2go driver) it should be fine

the same thing happened in linux too, and i think i used the same driver version. anyways, its fixed on my computer now.

 

I experience something similar.. I try to hibernate.. but the screen only goes blank.. and the computer is still on... and I have the Zepto-supplied drivers.. But then again, I can't even shut down my computer.. it reboots after a few seconds off..

 

@sob & John: I went back to the Zepto original drivers (101.19) and that did the trick so for some reason it doesn't seem to like the ForceWare 160 series.

Download link: ftp://ftp.zepto.dk/Znote6324W/Drivers/XP/VGA/Nvidia_101.19_8600M_GT_XP.exe

The Zepto drivers are rather old already (Apr/07), even within the 100 series as the latest here is 101.63 ( link). I am still unsure though what the real difference between the 100 series and 160 series is.

@Glue: In your case I'd say you have a problem with e.g. the Intel chipset drivers or maybe you need a firmware upgrade of your laptop.

For a matter of interest, I've got a thread running on the laptopvideo2go forum: link

 

Thanks for the update.

John

 

how do I fix it then? I've already installed the chipset drivers supplied..

 

Did you pick all the drivers from the Zepto FTP server or did you use any others besides those?

 

Your "always restart problem" seems to be a little different to the blank screen problem.

I think we have already explored all the easy options:

(i) Reset the BIOS to the default settings (however, move the network boot option down the list of boot priorities).

(ii) Reinstall the drivers.

XP had a few problems like this which were fixed by patches, but Vista should behave properly out of the box.

The next course of action would be a clean reinstallation of Vista + Zepto's drivers. If the problem still arises then we have to suspect the hardware.

John

 

i had a similar problem on resuming from standby with the 165.01 gpu driver. Now i use 163.11 and they seem to work fine.

Edit: I'm using vista.

 

all the drivers were from either zepto ftp or the cd supplied

 

My 6024W wouldn't hibernate last evening when I wanted to stop for the day. More precisely, it would hibernate but then wake up immediately. Same for sleep. However, it shut down normally.

Yesterday I had made two changes to the BIOS. One was to enable DFOROM (Robson), the other was to disable the TPM support (since I have no TPM which I can use).

I've just done a series of tests and confirm that, for my 6024W, TPM enabled gives proper sleep / hibernation and TPM disabled causes immediate wake-up.

If restoring the TPM setting hadn't fixed it, then I would be looking harder at the meaning of the MA driver error (attached). Yesterday morning I found my computer sitting with that message on the screen when it should have been sleeping. It is a little bit worrying that my notebook may not stay hibernated. There have been a number of horror stories over the years of owners opening a bag to find an extremely hot computer. So maybe this needs more BIOS development work. One safety measure I have come across is that if no key is pressed within two minutes of a computer waking up, then it will return to sleep / hibernation.

John

 

Have you tried pressing "enter" to log in? It sometimes happens to me when I've had my 6214W connected to a different monitor, and I can't get the screen working again. I press Enter to log in again and then screen turns on again

 

Ok I have tried a clean install of windows.. still the same problem.. When trying to shut down.. it shuts down, and then starts to boot again after a 5-6 seconds..

 

I wonder if this problem is related to my 6024W sometimes bouncing out of hibernation after 5 seconds of being off. I haven't yet managed to pin down the cause but I discovered that it doesn't happen when the fan is stuck in the fast mode (but I can't stand the noise). However, my previous post about the TPM being a cause is not correct. I've now got it set at disabled. I've also removed the Turbo Memory module.

I keep trying to identify the cause of the problem. Is it that "removable" optical drive. When my 6024W bounces out of hibernation, the last thing it does before briefly shutting down is to access the optical drive. Whatever the cause of our different problems, I'm sure it is the BIOS and not the operating system.

I keep hoping that Zepto will release the next BIOS update which might fix these problems and a few others. I want to finish my 6024W review on a positive note about the battery life.

John

 

Yes I find it hard to be software related when the computer shuts completely off, and then powers up again after a couple of seconds..

 

We have received a BIOS update with the C3 Deep sleep and Super Low Frequency mode (800MHz) but it wasn't ready for release. We are awaiting a new BIOS which has some other fixes also.
Unfortunately BIOS updates are not just something you pull out of a hat so we all need to be patient

 

have you tried to switch off the Wireless/unplug cable and then shutting down/hibernate/sleep. Sometimes there can be a thing called Wake-on-Lan enabled, and it wakes up the computer straight away (it can be used to wake a computer after 5h or w/e). Another guy had the same problem, and it was solved with this

 

I've tried switching off the wireless yes.. still no go.. also checked windows settings for wake-on lan.. and it was off..

and this seems to be more then a bios problem? since I'm the only one having this problem

 

There are similarities between your restarting from shutdown and my immediate resume from hibernation. In my case the problem is erratic. I keep trying to think of what may cause the problem, which only started after a couple of weeks.

John

 

my problem has been there since day one.. now I dont know what to do.. do I send it back or just wait for a solution?

 

I think you need to pester Zepto.

You have reinstalled Windows in order to exclude any software problem, so it it either the BIOS or the hardware configuration. Have you tried both versions 004 and 005 of the BIOS? I think we have already been through using F9 to reset the defaults.

Unless Zepto acknowledge that there is a BIOS problem which can cause the malfunction, I think you may need to send it back to have the main board changed.

John

 

I tried upgrading bios also.. still the same problem..

 

Ok, borrowing this thread again.. The strangest thing, my computer is currently at zeptos for repairs.. But they cant find a problem.. Apparently it shuts off correctly when they try.. Could it be a faulty power supply?

 

I have difficulty in imagining how the PSU could cause this problem. Did you have any peripherals plugged into your 6324W. Their drivers might trigger a problem.

I have concluded that my problem of the 6024W coming straight out of hibernation is caused by a combination of (i) the Intel Matrix Storage driver; (ii) the Turbo Memory driver and (iii) the Silicon Image driver for an eSATA ExpressCard. I think that either / both of (ii) and (iii) can mess up the Matrix Storage Driver but something must go wrong at a very low level for this to result in an immediate resume from hibernation. I wonder whether there is a related bug in the BIOS.

I had a recurrence of the problem some days back after installing (iii) so I then reinstalled (i) and hibernation has behaved for some days. However, I wait to see what happens when I next plug in and use the eSATA card and the Silicon Image driver gets reloaded.

John

PS: Slightly off-topic, but I don't like the ExpressCard eject arrangement wherein pushing in an inserted card then releases it. Normally, I put the card in the slot first then put the plug into the card. Pushing the plug into the card then releases it. Not a clever design IMO.

 

Im starting to wonder a bit, cos my hibernation and shutdown (not sleep tough) has been behaving improperly (bouncing/rebooting STRAIGHT after it shoud cut the power. I solved the problem by allways plugging out the PSU cable, wich was a bit annoying, but now again, it has hibernated properly 2 times with PSU plugged in It would be fun to know whats really causing this wierd stuff

 

As it turns out, the brilliant RMA guys have tested my computer with a XP disk.. When in fact I stated that the problem occured in Vista. So no even they found the problem...

 

Perhaps they should come and read what we are discussing. My hibernation problems have been with Vista but never with XP.

At least you have got an update on the situation.

John

 

they have been testing my computer for 3 days without finding anything wrong.. thats when they tested vista instead :| which means a lot of waiting for me