# Solve S3 issues



## Deleted member 67555 (Jan 14, 2012)

Quick explanation of "S" Modes
S0 (Working) is lit. The CPU functions in entirety; the conservation of power is on a basis of by-device. 

S1 (Sleep). The CPU is stopped; The RAM is regenerated; the system functions in reduced power. 

S2 (Sleep 2) The CPU does not have any power; The RAM is regenerated; the system is in lower mode of the S1. 

S3 (Standby) The CPU does not have any power; The RAM regenerates at minimum; the power supply unit is in mode of reduced power. This mode is also called “Save to RAM”. 

S4 (Hibernate). All is powered off, but the memory was saved like temporary file on the hard drive. This mode is called “Save to disk”. 

S5 (Off) Everything is shutdown. Means you need a full reboot.

S3 is the best. It uses less power and reboots faster.

Vista and Win 7 have hybrid sleep.

If you are having issues with your PC waking on it's own and You have already exhausted all the BIOS options and your getting annoyed try this simple solution.

In the Windows Vista or Windows 7 start menu type:


*CMD* and select the *command prompt*









On the Command line type:


*powercfg -lastwake*








You will get a short list of your wake history at the bottom look for the *Friendly Name* such as *Reatek PCIe GBE Family Controller* 








Then go to Device Manager through Control Panel> System and Security> Sub menu SYSTEM and then select Device Manager.













In *Device Manager* find the device listed under the  *Friendly Name* from the command prompt.


In this case *Reatek PCIe GBE Family Controller* would be found under *Network Adapters* 


Highlight the device by left clicking on it once and then *Right Click* and select *Properties*.








In the Properties tab Select the *Power Management* Tab and make sure that the * Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power* is checked.


and make sure that the *Allow this device to wake the computer* * IS NOT CHECKED *.








Click *OK* and this will hopefully solve your Sleep issues.

*More advanced solutions* If you've made a hardware change such as a GFX or Mobo
Remove Ghost Hardware:

Open CMD as Administrator 
Type or Copy Pasta
*SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1*

Then start Device Manager by typing:
*devmgmt.msc*

Then in *"View"* click *"Show Hidden Devices"*
Click on the device tab and remove the "Ghosted" Hardware....It will be the gray translucent device 

Do Not Uninstall the Device Software Unless you are 100% you don't need it...
Example: You changed motherboards and your previous board had "VIA HD Audio" and your new Motherboard has "RealTek HD Audio".

Not every Ghost needs removed as some items are simply the same devices such as a Keyboard on another USB etc...

Run cCleaner
Remove unwanted software and Run the Registry Cleaner only after you understand what could happen and have taken the correct precautions.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Feb 1, 2012)

*Updated*
To add  How to remove Hardware Ghosts..
Which also works if software still sees your old hardware like the "Hawx Benchmark" that seen my old  GFX but not the new card.


It would also be cool if this thread could be renamed to "Solve Sleep Issues"


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## Aquinus (Feb 1, 2012)

This might work in one case, but setting a device to be able to wake the machine only says that when it can be woken up. Not how it wakes up. If S3 is enabled, I'm assuming ACPI 2.0 is also enabled. If a system is unstable at all and it sleeps, good luck waking it back up too. I find on most towers I build that S3 doesn't work right either, this including a 2600k SB, a Phenom II 940, and a Core 2 Duo E6600 (Conroe, first gen.) builds.

Does S1 work right?


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## Deleted member 67555 (Feb 7, 2012)

Sorry for the late reply.
So you are saying that if a system is unstable you cannot get it to wake properly? correct?

Simply put if your system is unable to wake from S3 and the other obvious issues are addressed and it still does not wake then the next thing you should check is your memory settings.

If your memory Voltage is slightly to low the PC will not wake properly.
If your memory timings are off slightly for the set speed the PC may not wake properly.
If your PC is OC'd to aggressively it may not wake properly.

I'd check with the maker of your RAM to find the proper settings and voltages for the speeds you're trying to achieve and go from there.


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## Mussels (Feb 7, 2012)

just throwing in my two cents, any unstable machine really will have issues with S3 sleep.


it doesnt mean sleeps at fault, it just means your machine is, most likely ram timings/voltage.

RAM is definitely the first thing i check on machines that fail to wake from sleep.


edit: and a very big cause for machines waking from sleep is cordless mice. some of them wake your PC from button presses, others just from moving the mouse. if you ever change the USB port its on windows sees it as a new device and you have to change the setting again.


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