Windows Vista: Won't awake from sleep mode, no image, fans turning

[RapidSnail]

A recent issue with my PC which is becoming increasingly frustrating is the random occurrence in which the computer will not wake from a sleep cycle.

I have always put my computer to sleep when not in use to lower power requirements and avoid the fairly long boot cycle that comes with Vista. I have never had this problem before, and strangely enough, hard resetting the computer with the physical button on the chassis does not fix the issue. I have not figured out what a proper solution is, however, I have noticed that powering off the computer, turning off and then back on the PSU, and unplugging and reconnecting any USB peripherals seems to work the best (although still unreliably) and is currently the best "fix" I can offer.

When the problem occurs, I can hear the fans turning mid to high rate and sometimes see my keyboard and other USB peripherals light up, but no image on the screen. I know when the problem occurs because the fans run loud and no image appears. However, sometimes the USB peripherals don't light up. A normal awaken would have the fans mostly inaudible except for the first few seconds of repowering.

I doubt any of my hardware is causing the issue, though it could be, and tend to think this could be a driver issue of sorts, particularly USB. Or maybe Vista has altered power management settings without me knowing. I'm not sure whats wrong, and am hoping others here might be able to help.

 

[cl-scott]

This actually sounds like a good potential candidate for the bad caps problem that plagues most consumer electronics these days.

http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5

 

[RapidSnail]

I will open the case and inspect and clean the motherboard this weekend. I certainly hope that this isn't a hardware problem. I'm puzzled as to why the computer can sometimes awake from sleep and other times not. I would think that if this were a hardware problem that it would be more consistent. Also I am not sure why hardresetting doesn't work or cutting power to the PSU and then restarting can allow the computer to POST (although often I have to do that more than once; it's random).

 

[VirtualLarry]

could be psu problem

 

[ninaholic37]

I remember having this happen on some old laptops too (just sits there and hangs on a black screen when awakening from sleep). Pretty sure I had this issue in both Windows XP and Vista laptops, and just came to the conclusion that "Sleep" is unreliable and just stopped using it on all those machines.

We're not alone, I found countless other people experiencing this issue...

http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&q=Sleep+mode+black+screen
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&q=Sleep+mode+black+screen+Windows

Honestly, it seems like there's ten thousand people with this problem! I've just read posts in like 10 different threads so far, some with like 50 people chiming in with their 'awake from sleep with black screen' experience. It seems that completely different suggestions and solutions may or may not work for different people too. I haven't found a "common" theme yet. Maybe I'll read more links tomorrow. Good luck.

 

[Matt1970]

Typically problems waking up from sleep is a driver issue but your mileage may vary.

 

[RapidSnail]

Thanks for the replies so far. I unfortunately didn't get a chance to take a look at the motherboard this weekend to look for hardware defects. However, taking a look at some of nina's links and doing my own searching has shown me that this is not an isolated issue. Hopefully I can find a solution to this problem.

As an aside, is there any alternative to sleep mode that will put my computer in a low powered hibernation state so that I can resume access quickly, rather than shutting down completely?