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SP2 Doesn't sleep just shuts off

al2fast

New Member
Searched and had no luck, maybe I wasn't searching the right terms. When I had my RT I would close the cover and the device would sleep I believe and as soon as I'd open the cover back up, BAM! The login screen was there. I could hear the notifications when I would get emails and such while the cover was closed and the device was sleeping. Battery would last for days and days if I didn't use it.

I got a 256 GB SP2 on Monday and a Type Cover 2 on Tuesday. When I close the cover, the screen shuts off and it seems after 10 or 15 minutes the SP just powers off. I have to use the power button on the top to wake it up, basically turn it back on because I see the Surface logo on the screen, like its booting from a powered off state. I am getting no email notifications when it's in this state. I checked my power settings and its set to sleep, no shutdown or power off anywhere. Close the lid, sleep. X amount of inactivity, sleep.

Am I missing something? Am I expecting something that only RT can deliver? I thought the Pro supported the connected standby or whatever its called.

Thanks.
 
3 things could've happen:
a) hibernated (wakeup also show "Surface")
b) shut down
c) crashed
No connected standby for the SP2. You can look into the event log and advanced power settings to figure out what may be happening.
 
I could see in the event log there was a kernel entry where it was saying sleep to hibernate basically. I stopped in at the local MS store on my lunch today and they checked my config and could not find any issues. They suggested trying a refresh, but I'm not going to sweat it. I already have a replacement on order, the back kick stand is like a banana, so hopefully that one won't have the sleep -> hibernate thing when everything is configured to sleep only.

Thanks for the reply.
 
I could see in the event log there was a kernel entry where it was saying sleep to hibernate basically. I stopped in at the local MS store on my lunch today and they checked my config and could not find any issues. They suggested trying a refresh, but I'm not going to sweat it. I already have a replacement on order, the back kick stand is like a banana, so hopefully that one won't have the sleep -> hibernate thing when everything is configured to sleep only.

Thanks for the reply.

You might want to check the power option "plans". In the "advanced" settings dialog, under the "Sleep" heading, there's an entry for "Hibernation" where you can set the time until it kicks in running on battery vs. plugged in. The defaults are 60 and 180 min respectively, but of course it's easy to change.

Hibernation may be a good thing if you need to maximize battery life, perhaps just an inconvenience if you don't.
 
You might want to check the power option "plans". In the "advanced" settings dialog, under the "Sleep" heading, there's an entry for "Hibernation" where you can set the time until it kicks in running on battery vs. plugged in. The defaults are 60 and 180 min respectively, but of course it's easy to change.

Hibernation may be a good thing if you need to maximize battery life, perhaps just an inconvenience if you don't.

I just started getting the same problem recently within the past week or two. The Windows button has stopped being able to wake the surface up from sleep, regardless if its been asleep for 5 minutes or 5 hours. It requires the physical power button to wake it up again. Shows the "surface" screen but (usually) doesn't make me type my password. After surface is awake the windows button works normally. My hibernate is set for 60 and 180min, and I haven't recently changed any power settings to cause this to happen.

Thoughts?
 
You might want to check the power option "plans". In the "advanced" settings dialog, under the "Sleep" heading, there's an entry for "Hibernation" where you can set the time until it kicks in running on battery vs. plugged in. The defaults are 60 and 180 min respectively, but of course it's easy to change.

Hibernation may be a good thing if you need to maximize battery life, perhaps just an inconvenience if you don't.

Awesome! I didn't see that in there, it's at the default 60 & 180 so I'll play around with those and see if I can get any different action out of the SP2. I bet that's it because I'll use the tablet and it will sit for well over an hour and then it will be in the old hibernate and I'll get the Surface logo when booting up. Still accustomed to how the Surface RT behaved, I guess just ARM devices. This is an ARM form factor, but not an ARM! I tried a refresh too for the heck of it at the MS store guys suggestion. He just checked the power option advanced setting to ale sure that all of the actions were putting the tablet into sleep and then smacked the restore defaults button.

Edit: They need a thanks button, thanks for the tip jrapdx!
 
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I just started getting the same problem recently within the past week or two. The Windows button has stopped being able to wake the surface up from sleep, regardless if its been asleep for 5 minutes or 5 hours. It requires the physical power button to wake it up again. Shows the "surface" screen but (usually) doesn't make me type my password. After surface is awake the windows button works normally. My hibernate is set for 60 and 180min, and I haven't recently changed any power settings to cause this to happen.

Thoughts?

Problems with sleep/hibernation have been happening for months. Some recent difficulties are attributed the notorious Dec 10 FW distribution which caused major misbehavior on SP2's. My first SP2 was afflicted, showing strange and random awakening from sleep. Mid-January the store agreed to an exchange for a new unit, which has been more stable, but still I'vel experienced intermittent problems with the SP2 transitioning from sleep to "on" state.

A lot of theories have been launched, but no specific factors have been identified with the unpredictable on/off behavior. Some drivers are suspect, the sound driver seeming to be mentioned most often. OTOH, the WiFi has been flaky, and the bluetooth device show up in my error logs frequently.

I wish I did have a solution to suggest. A lot depends on the specs of your computer, which updates have been applied, the accessories and configuration you are using. I know some have disabled hibernation but I don't know if that would resolve the problem you are having. I have developed the habit of making sure anything worth saving is saved before I leave the SP2 idling for more than a "short" interval.
 
A lot of theories have been launched, but no specific factors have been identified with the unpredictable on/off behavior. Some drivers are suspect, the sound driver seeming to be mentioned most often. OTOH, the WiFi has been flaky, and the bluetooth device show up in my error logs frequently.
One part of the wake-up puzzle is UEFI. Not sure about the others.
 
Problems with sleep/hibernation have been happening for months. Some recent difficulties are attributed the notorious Dec 10 FW distribution which caused major misbehavior on SP2's. My first SP2 was afflicted, showing strange and random awakening from sleep. Mid-January the store agreed to an exchange for a new unit, which has been more stable, but still I'vel experienced intermittent problems with the SP2 transitioning from sleep to "on" state.

A lot of theories have been launched, but no specific factors have been identified with the unpredictable on/off behavior. Some drivers are suspect, the sound driver seeming to be mentioned most often. OTOH, the WiFi has been flaky, and the bluetooth device show up in my error logs frequently.

I wish I did have a solution to suggest. A lot depends on the specs of your computer, which updates have been applied, the accessories and configuration you are using. I know some have disabled hibernation but I don't know if that would resolve the problem you are having. I have developed the habit of making sure anything worth saving is saved before I leave the SP2 idling for more than a "short" interval.

Interesting, thanks for the explanation! I'm still on the December firmware, so that could be causing some if it. It's more annoying than deal-breaking for me right now, but I wish I new what was causing it since it just started happening. I'm not using many accessories at all right now; sometimes Bluetooth speakers but other than that just the type cover 2 and syncing my phone, iPod, and external drive. Hopefully it can be fixed with the next firmware update.
 
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