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PC Randomly Enters Sleep Mode (Kernel Power Event 42)
Hello all,
I've tried to troubleshoot this issue in which my laptop will enter sleep mode at random times. Strangely, it only happens when my computer is plugged in to the adapter. Looking in the Windows event logs showed that entering sleep mode was either caused by Event 37 (system is limited by firmware) or Event 42 (entering sleep because of the sleep button or lid). I have since installed every software update provided by Dell's website for my laptop model (Inspiron 7720), including the latest BIOS update, but the issue persists. After receiving the Event 42 warning in the log, I deactivated the power button in the power options for the current power plan, which only caused the system to freeze up entirely when it entered sleep mode again. The power light was still on, but the screen turned off and neither the touchpad nor the mouse nor the keyboard would wake the computer up. I've also tried using a different adapter with this laptop - a 90W adapter instead of the 130W one that came with the laptop - but this only prolonged the time it took for the computer to enter sleep mode again. I even deactivated sleep mode in the power options to ensure that this wasn't the cause. It will enter sleep mode regardless of whatever I'm doing, too - even while I was typing this post, the screen turned black and the power button began pulsing. The only way I can turn the laptop back on again is by closing the lid and opening it again, since for some reason pressing the power button won't do anything in this state. I've even tried the more obvious solutions for random sleep problems, like using canned air and running antivirus scans, but no viruses or malware have been found and I barely cleaned any dust out of my relatively new laptop. The randomness of the problem indicates that it's probably a software issue, but I can't locate whatever is specifically causing the problem. Sometimes, my laptop will go into sleep mode with no programs running, and other times it has waited about two hours into playing a game to enter sleep mode. A few times, it's even gone to sleep as soon as I plugged my computer in to the adapter again after running on battery. Any suggestions for how to solve this problem are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Fiero