Alienware x51 won't wake up after Clean Reinstall

SandeepP · 22 Oct 2013

Hicoga said:

Did a Clean Reinstall with good performance, but when I choose Sleep all lights go off except large LED on side and Power Button, then won't wake-up without hard Shutdown when powering back up Resumes as if in Hibernate Mode.

To try to resolve this I reinstalled the Alienware Command Center and set AlienFusion (Power) settings to Default but the same behavior continues even with Sleep set to default 0 on High Performance. Hibernate has never showed up on ShutDown button choices so I don't know why it's Resuming after hard Shutdown but that's all it's done.

Have tried all drivers from Windows Update to latest Nvidia to Latest Dell download for Nvidia Geforce GT545. Also disabled Intel onboard graphics in Device Manager.

I left the Recovery partition on the HD so can possibly run it by restoring F8 link or booting it using EasyBCD but would rather stick with the Clean Reinstall if we can make it Sleep and Hibernate correctly. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi Hicoga,

Apologies for checking this late. First of all kindly post the screenshot for your device manger so we can check all the devices are installed properly or not.

Regarding the sleep issue, have you ensure that mouse and keyboard are enabled to wake up from sleep.

It could be an issue that indicates to the chipset/motherboard issue. Make sure that chipset driver is updated from the link below:

Chipset

If we diagnose that it is a hardware issue I can arrange for the faulty part to be replaced on the system. However, prior to that please follow the various suggestions here and let us know the outcome of it.

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

gregrocker · 22 Oct 2013

I also wonder if the trace would reveal what exactly is interfering with sleep: Gathering a Startup, Shutdown, Sleep, Hibernate, or Reboot Trace - Windows 7 Forums. The author Carl will help read the trace if you post back it's output in tutorial thread.

I'm not sure we tried disabling Hibernation to see what it does then when attempting sleep, since it was Resuming Windows after forced shutdown when it wouldn't wake up before. This reveals it was in some sort of hibernation. So disabling Hibernate would be interesting to see what transpires. Hibernate - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Forums

Hicoga you have excellent help here from top hardware experts, our top crashes analyst and our Dell resident who can hook you up with anything possible from Dell. Please work thoroughly through each of their steps.

Hicoga · 25 Oct 2013

Sorry guys, been really busy the past few days and haven't had time to check on here and see all of the replies I've been getting.

Just an update to let you know I'm here and I'll get to work on some of the stuff that has been suggested.

SandeepP · 28 Oct 2013

Hicoga said:

Sorry guys, been really busy the past few days and haven't had time to check on here and see all of the replies I've been getting.

Just an update to let you know I'm here and I'll get to work on some of the stuff that has been suggested.

Hi Hicoga,

Sure please perform the steps at your convenience and let us know the results. So we can advise you further if required.

Hicoga · 20 Dec 2013

Sorry for the very long absence. I had finals for a bit there and had completely forgotten about this.

Here are all the screenshots of my Device Manager.

I made sure the chipset was up to date and it was.

If it helps any, I believe the problem to be that when we updated the BIOS during the clean reinstall that is messed something up with the sleep and power functions. I think this because the problem only occured after the BIOS was updated and not just after the reinstall.

Hicoga · 25 Dec 2013

Anyone here?

gregrocker · 25 Dec 2013

Hi Hicoga and Merry Christmas to you!

Did you get a chance to work on these steps?

gregrocker said:

I also wonder if the trace would reveal what exactly is interfering with sleep: Gathering a Startup, Shutdown, Sleep, Hibernate, or Reboot Trace - Windows 7 Forums. The author Carl will help read the trace if you post back it's output in tutorial thread.

I'm not sure we tried disabling Hibernation to see what it does then when attempting sleep, since it was Resuming Windows after forced shutdown when it wouldn't wake up before. This reveals it was in some sort of hibernation. So disabling Hibernate would be interesting to see what transpires. Hibernate - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Forums

Hicoga you have excellent help here from top hardware experts, our top crashes analyst and our Dell resident who can hook you up with anything possible from Dell. Please work thoroughly through each of their steps.

If nothing else that's been suggested so far helps then I think you need to have our Dell resident SanDeep help you try to reflash the BIOS to the earlier version, or set it up for service. I agree that is the most likely cause. However try everything else suggested first to see if it will help.

SandeepP · 26 Dec 2013

Hi Hicoga,

It seems all the drivers are updated correctly. Have you checked in the BIOS settings if there are some options that you can change and check related to power state of the system.

As BIOS flash would make the default settings on the BIOS. Make sure you have the latest BIOS installed from here:

Driver Details | Dell US

Also, make sure all peripherals connected to the system should be removed. Is it a wireless mouse and keyboard that you are using?

Make the system to clean boot and then check if it helps:

Clean Boot

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

gregrocker · 26 Dec 2013

Sandeep, as the Sleep/Hibernate problem seems to have occurred when Hicoga flashed to the latest BIOS (and a search shows this happened to some others too) is it possible a solution might be to flash back to the older BIOS? Can you or Dell help him do this if all else fails?

Arc · 26 Dec 2013

Greg, as I posted earlier in post #9, some files may help us to figure an idea about exactly what is going on during sleep-hibernate power transition.

Upload your MSINFO32.nfo file.

Click on the start button
Type "msinfo32" (without quotes) in the search bar of the start menu, click the resulting link. It will open the System Information window.
File>Save. In the "File Name" filed, put "MSINFO32" (without Quote), give the save location to desktop, and click the "save" button.
Give the time for processing, it will save a .nfo file on your desktop.
Zip it, and upload it following the instruction.

Upload the list of all the third party drivers Using NirSoft DriverView :

Download and execute Driverview
View > Hide Microsoft Drivers
Edit > Select all
File > Save Selected Items
In the Save dialog, Set the path to desktop, Put "Driverview" in the name field, and save.
Zip the .txt file and upload it.

If the OP follows it, I can have a look.