Laptop screen stays dark if lid is left shut for too long

[mscheaf]

Hello I am having an issue with my Acer TravelMate P278-M with Windows 7 Pro. When I shut the lid for more than a day then come back and open the lid the screen stays dark. I don't know if Windows is running still when this happens, I can't tell. The only way out is to hold the power button until it turns off then reboot and select start windows normally. This can't be a good thing to do to my laptop every single day.

Every thread I have read talks about sleep and power options and lid actions, I have already checked all that. I have disabled all sleep, all hibernate, all display off, all hdd off. All of it. I have set everything under "When plugged in" to "Never" or some other equivalent. I have it set to do nothing when lid is closed. I have no screen savers or anything set. I have checked the bios for sleep modes and there are none. As far as I know, this computer is not going to sleep since it is staying plugged in during this time.

I can only assume that the display itself is not turning back on when i open the lid, but I'm not sure how to verify that. Any ideas?

 

[mrjimphelps]

You could try plugging in an external monitor, to see if the problem occurs with it as well. This might reveal whether there is an issue with the video circuitry in the computer. But it is not a guaranteed test, because part of the circuitry of the internal and external monitors is separate one from another.

You could also check the internal temperatures by running a program such as Speedfan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php). Speedfan may show you that the GPU (graphics card) or some other internal part is running excessively hot. Look at the exhaust vent - does it appear to be clogged with lint or dust? Hot air should be coming out of the exhaust vent when the computer has been running for at least a few minutes. If only cool air comes out, even when the computer has been running for a while, then there is definitely a temperature-related problem inside of the computer.

 

[Snick]

Hi mischeaf,

Here are some guides on what you can do that may help to solve the problem.

1. Start by changing some power options.
2. Right click on the battery icon and select Power Options.
3. Once open click on Change plan settings then Change advanced power settings.
4. Expand Hard disk and set Turn off hard disk after to Never.
5. Expand Sleep and set Allow hybrid sleep to OFF then set Hibernate after to Never.
6. Click Apply then OK.

Next is to change settings in Device Manager.

1. In Device Manager expand System devices, right click on ACPI lid and select Properties.
2. Click on Power Management tab and put a check on Allow this device to wake the computer.
3. Test weather if it will work or not after doing all these changes.

 

[mscheaf]

You could try plugging in an external monitor, to see if the problem occurs with it as well. This might reveal whether there is an issue with the video circuitry in the computer. But it is not a guaranteed test, because part of the circuitry of the internal and external monitors is separate one from another.

You could also check the internal temperatures by running a program such as Speedfan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php). Speedfan may show you that the GPU (graphics card) or some other internal part is running excessively hot. Look at the exhaust vent - does it appear to be clogged with lint or dust? Hot air should be coming out of the exhaust vent when the computer has been running for at least a few minutes. If only cool air comes out, even when the computer has been running for a while, then there is definitely a temperature-related problem inside of the computer.

All the temps are fine and I do not have access to another monitor. It doesn't do it all the time either, it's weird. For example I left it shut for 3 days and opened it and it popped right up immediately. But today I left it shut for 1 hour and it was frozen again.

 

[mscheaf]

Hi mischeaf,

Here are some guides on what you can do that may help to solve the problem.

1. Start by changing some power options.
2. Right click on the battery icon and select Power Options.
3. Once open click on Change plan settings then Change advanced power settings.
4. Expand Hard disk and set Turn off hard disk after to Never.
5. Expand Sleep and set Allow hybrid sleep to OFF then set Hibernate after to Never.
6. Click Apply then OK.

Next is to change settings in Device Manager.

1. In Device Manager expand System devices, right click on ACPI lid and select Properties.
2. Click on Power Management tab and put a check on Allow this device to wake the computer.
3. Test weather if it will work or not after doing all these changes.

Hello, I had already set all of those to never before my first post.

As far as the device manager thing, there is no Power Management tab on the properties dialog for my lid.

 

[Snick]

Power options, you have three Balanced, High performance, Power saver
Change plan settings, is to the right of each Preferred plan, click on the one corresponding to which plan you are using.

1. Click Change advanced power settings
2. Popup Power Options Advanced settings
3. click on + expand hard disk
4. click on + Turn of hard disk after
5. Settings: click on 20 minutes or whatever it says
6. click down arrow on scroll box until is says NEVER
7. Click Apply
8. Click OK
9. Click start ORB
10. Searchbox type device manager, select Device Manager
11. Right-Click on ACPI Lid
12. Select Properties
13. Click on Power Management Tab
14. Check Allow this device to wake computer

Test
If lid now wakes computer, you can follow 1-6 and change to whatever time you choose, like 5 minutes or so, and test again.
If it works as you wish, you can change the other power options by following steps.
I don't have my laptop working right now, replacing faulty charging component(s) on MoBo, or I'd post a screenshot.

 

[mscheaf]

I have already set everything in the power options to never

there is no power management tab on the lid properties for me

I get the feeling you are not actually reading what I am writing...

power options, you have three balanced, high performance, power saver
change plan settings, is to the right of each preferred plan, click on the one corresponding to which plan you are using.

1. click change advanced power settings
2. popup power options advanced settings
3. click on + expand hard disk
4. click on + turn of hard disk after
5. settings: Click on 20 minutes or whatever it says
6. click down arrow on scroll box until is says never
7. click apply
8. click ok
9. click start orb
10. searchbox type device manager, select device manager
11. right-click on acpi lid
12. select properties
13. click on power management tab
14. check allow this device to wake computer

test
if lid now wakes computer, you can follow 1-6 and change to whatever time you choose, like 5 minutes or so, and test again.
If it works as you wish, you can change the other power options by following steps.
I don't have my laptop working right now, replacing faulty charging component(s) on mobo, or i'd post a screenshot.

 

[Marie SWE]

One thing you can try is to reinstall the drivers to the graphics card.
It may be a driver that stops responding when the computer should wake up again.

 

[mscheaf]

One thing you can try is to reinstall the drivers to the graphics card.
It may be a driver that stops responding when the computer should wake up again.

It is a brand new computer with the driver that came with it still installed. It is still the latest driver available on Acer's website. I will see if I can find an updated driver from NVIDIA and try that. It might be a few days before I get to that and respond here. Thanks

 

[Marie SWE]

It is a brand new computer with the driver that came with it still installed. It is still the latest driver available on Acer's website. I will see if I can find an updated driver from NVIDIA and try that. It might be a few days before I get to that and respond here. Thanks

Okay, but even brand new things can be faulty. A small driver can very easily become corrupt, so to reinstall the driver even if it is the same version can solve much.
God luck and i hope it's solves the problem.

 

[mscheaf]

Okay, but even brand new things can be faulty. A small driver can very easily become corrupt, so to reinstall the driver even if it is the same version can solve much.
God luck and i hope it's solves the problem.

OK so basically it has nothing to do with video or lid or anything. I gave up and just decided to leave the lid open 100% of the time, and now it still freezes up, but the screen stays on. It shows my desktop but nothing works as far as keyboard or mouse input. ctrl alt del does nothing. You have to hold the power button, its the only option.

I think I am just going to buy a new laptop and I will stay away from Acer. Was my first and will be my last.

 

[Marie SWE]

OK so basically it has nothing to do with video or lid or anything. I gave up and just decided to leave the lid open 100% of the time, and now it still freezes up, but the screen stays on. It shows my desktop but nothing works as far as keyboard or mouse input. ctrl alt del does nothing. You have to hold the power button, its the only option.

I think I am just going to buy a new laptop and I will stay away from Acer. Was my first and will be my last.

Graphics/video drivers can get an entire computer to freeze. Of course the small microcontroller in the lid can cause a lot. But when you tested the lid open and it's freezing anyway, that switch is innocent this time.

I have two acer laptops and I'm pleased with them. I also have an asus and I've had more problems with that one than my acer's. My asus i3 computer and my mother's asus i5 does not start sometimes if the battery is 100% discharged. (The solution if someone else is reading: Remove the battery and power, then hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then reconnect the battery and power and the computer will start up.)

you can try to see if you have corrupted files... open the command prompt as administrator and type: sfc/ scannow
And you can also try: chkdsk c: /f

Those times I've had problems with computers freezing, it often has been corrupted files in the operating system or the drivers.. some times caused by a bad hard drive.. or caused by that the computer has been turned off incorrectly/power has disappeared while it is on. Once in my life I have experienced that the power supply in one desktop computer gave a little bit of low power so the computer froze. But it's probably not in your case.. that happened all between 40-120seconds from a cold start.

 

[mscheaf]

I have a 10 year old Dell with Windows Vista that has been on continuously for 8 years now and hasn't frozen up at all in that time. That old computer runs circles around this thing. It's a clean install. It has the latest drivers from Acer (most of them only have one version). I can't install the video drivers from Intel because it tells me I have manufacturer drivers already. It has been doing this freezing since taking it out of the box, it just took me months to figure out it wasn't the lid or the OS trying to sleep. I'm not going to be able to fix it that's for sure. I will just buy another one and pay someone to set it up for me. I have so little time, by the time I get around to getting a new computer set up it's already out of warranty. Of all the things I am sick of in life, tinkering with computers that just get worse and worse every year is probably near the top. I just want something that works. I really don't want to buy a mac, but....

Graphics/video drivers can get an entire computer to freeze. Of course the small microcontroller in the lid can cause a lot. But when you tested the lid open and it's freezing anyway, that switch is innocent this time.

I have two acer laptops and I'm pleased with them. I also have an asus and I've had more problems with that one than my acer's. My asus i3 computer and my mother's asus i5 does not start sometimes if the battery is 100% discharged. (The solution if someone else is reading: Remove the battery and power, then hold the power button for 30 seconds. Then reconnect the battery and power and the computer will start up.)

you can try to see if you have corrupted files... open the command prompt as administrator and type: sfc/ scannow
And you can also try: chkdsk c: /f

Those times I've had problems with computers freezing, it often has been corrupted files in the operating system or the drivers.. some times caused by a bad hard drive.. or caused by that the computer has been turned off incorrectly/power has disappeared while it is on. Once in my life I have experienced that the power supply in one desktop computer gave a little bit of low power so the computer froze. But it's probably not in your case.. that happened all between 40-120seconds from a cold start.

 

[Marie SWE]

I have a 10 year old Dell with Windows Vista that has been on continuously for 8 years now and hasn't frozen up at all in that time. That old computer runs circles around this thing. It's a clean install. It has the latest drivers from Acer (most of them only have one version). I can't install the video drivers from Intel because it tells me I have manufacturer drivers already. It has been doing this freezing since taking it out of the box, it just took me months to figure out it wasn't the lid or the OS trying to sleep. I'm not going to be able to fix it that's for sure. I will just buy another one and pay someone to set it up for me. I have so little time, by the time I get around to getting a new computer set up it's already out of warranty. Of all the things I am sick of in life, tinkering with computers that just get worse and worse every year is probably near the top. I just want something that works. I really don't want to buy a mac, but....

Yes, I understand you very well. it's nice to have a computer that just keeps on going.
My Acer (aspire 3610 winXP) is so old that I don't even remember when I bought it. I have made factory restore on it a dozen times, and it's almost as fast as my Acer Aspire E1-572 i5. (as long as I do not use it for demanding applications)

This will be a little like swearing in church. But I advise my family and friends to get mac instead of a pc with win10.
Self I'm starting to learn linux before win7 EOL in 2020.
So I have two years on me, which is a small challenge

After you have acquired another computer, try installing linux on this one, and see if it may work then.
It costs nothing to try when Linux is free, and then you can always re-enable the recovery partition and install Windows again.
Just remember don't remove the recovery partition when repartitioning it for linux.

 

[mscheaf]

Thanks for the help.

Yes, I understand you very well. it's nice to have a computer that just keeps on going.
My Acer (aspire 3610 winXP) is so old that I don't even remember when I bought it. I have made factory restore on it a dozen times, and it's almost as fast as my Acer Aspire E1-572 i5. (as long as I do not use it for demanding applications)

This will be a little like swearing in church. But I advise my family and friends to get mac instead of a pc with win10.
Self I'm starting to learn linux before win7 EOL in 2020.
So I have two years on me, which is a small challenge

After you have acquired another computer, try installing linux on this one, and see if it may work then.
It costs nothing to try when Linux is free, and then you can always re-enable the recovery partition and install Windows again.
Just remember don't remove the recovery partition when repartitioning it for linux.

 

[Marie SWE]

Thanks for the help.

You're welcome,
too bad that we could not solve the problem. But try with linux on it when you have another computer to rely on. It may be fun to try something new when you have some time over now and then.
I recommend Linux Mint Mate if you try it. My acer i5 is like a rocket with it.

 

[mscheaf]

You're welcome,
too bad that we could not solve the problem. But try with linux on it when you have another computer to rely on. It may be fun to try something new when you have some time over now and then.
I recommend Linux Mint Mate if you try it. My acer i5 is like a rocket with it.

That sounds interesting, but there is just no way I will be doing that. I barely have time to install Windows, and I am 100% comfortable with that and have done it dozens of times. I absolutely do not want to learn how to install and use Linux. It's just never going to happen. The most likely thing to happen is for me to just drop it off at a repair place and tell them I don't want it back until it's right.

 

[Marie SWE]

That sounds interesting, but there is just no way I will be doing that. I barely have time to install Windows, and I am 100% comfortable with that and have done it dozens of times. I absolutely do not want to learn how to install and use Linux. It's just never going to happen. The most likely thing to happen is for me to just drop it off at a repair place and tell them I don't want it back until it's right.

I really, really like your thought. :tell them I don't want it back until it's right.
I would like to do that with my winter car, but i don't have the money for it.