Windows 10 energy options aren't working

[Unknowniti]

Hi everyone.

I have a problem with my Windows 10 installation.

I installed Windows 10 Pro completly from scratch on a new ssd and wanted to use the energy options to have my pc go to standby when I'm not using it for x minutes (30 for now). I also set the display timeout to 10 minutes.

 

The problem is that it just doesn't work. After 10 minutes both my displays (one displayport, one displayport to dvi) turn black and imediately on again. This repeats every 10 minutes. It does not even try to go into standby.

 

My energy plan is balanced and I changed some settings (found in other forums) in the advanced settings, including but not limited to:

- hybrid standby: on

- timer until activation (don't really know the english name): deactivated

 

powercfg /H on - does not help

powercfg /A - shows Standby (S3), Hibernation and hybrid standby as available.

powercfg /waketimers - says no activationstimer active

powercfg /lastwake - says activationhistory 0

powercfg /energy - output file says 10 errors (every error says it has nothing to do with not activating standby), 4 warnings (pending timerrequests)

 

Windows fast boot is deactivated

 

I installed every driver, yes - even the stupid realtek audio console and network driver - on the MSI support page - except the raid driver.

I installed the lasted version of the Nvidia gameready driver

 

I'm posting this because I have no idea and searched hours on the web without any results.

I just want my screens to go off after x (10) minutes and my pc to "turn off" (as in standby? The thing you can activate at the start button that is not reboot and shutdown) after y (30) minutes.

 

I have set windows to german so some settings may be called something else.

 

I'm thankful for any help.

If anyone needs more information just guide me through it and I will deliver.

 

Thanks so far.

 

 

My components:

Ryzen 7 5800X

MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk

32GB Vengeance LPX ddr4 3600MHz

Gigabyte rtx 2080 super turbo

Windows 10 Pro

OS: 2TB PCIe 3x4 SSD

Games: 4TB Samsung 870 Evo

 

Peripherals and others:

wired usb mouse and keyboard

active 8 port usb 3 hub for usb sticks and more

passive 3 port usb 2 for keyboard, mouse and wireless keyboard receiver

bluetooth usb stick

elgato cam link 4k

focusrite 2i2 2nd gen with drivers (only audio in, audio out via onboard 3.5mm jack)

[Kid.Lazer]

Windows and sleep is quite the fickle affair, as you've come to learn. Often the /lastwake command will return useless information. Try "powercfg /requests" to check for something specific, though that may also yield no results. If it has anything other than "none" for all entries, track down that specific item.

 

This could be a plethora of problems, but let's start with the easy ones to see if they help at all. First of all, your specs don't say you have one, but I'm going to throw this out there: If you have a game-pad connected (xbox, ps4, etc...) Windows will not go to sleep automatically. Ever. So if you have one of those, disconnect it when you're finished using it.

 

For a simple thing, try disabling the ability of certain devices to wake the computer. This may seem counter-intuitive as your computer isn't actually going to sleep yet, but these things can also prevent sleep without showing up as a problem in "powercfg /requests." You can do this in Device Manager. Here's an example:

 

Deciding which devices to change is up to you. I don't use wake-on-LAN, so starting with the NIC is usually my go-to. You can make this change to almost any device, but start with obvious things, like interface devices that you don't intend to use to wake up the computer. For instance, I only use my keyboard to do that, so I also disable the "wake" ability on my mice.

[Unknowniti]

TL;DR (to save some time): It seems to work. Problem appears to be Microsofts own wireless stick for their media keyboard...

 

Thank you for your comment. Really appreciate it.

 

1 hour ago, Kid.Lazer said:

Try "powercfg /requests" to check for something specific.

There is indeed one:

Execution:
[PROCESS] \Device\HarddiskVolume5\Windows\System32\MoUsoCoreWorker.exe
USO Worker

It's the "Update Orchestrator Service" and seems to handle the windows updates. stopping the service did remove the "warning" but did not yield any results.

 

Quote

For a simple thing, try disabling the ability of certain devices to wake the computer.

I forgot to say it in my list but I did indeed changed the default "allow this device to wake this computer" on both of my NICs to "Only allow a magic packet to wake this device". I don't need it now but I may use it in the future so I didn't want to disable it.

 

But before going to disable everything, I wanted to try your other suggestion:

 

Quote

If you have a game-pad connected (xbox, ps4, etc...) Windows will not go to sleep automatically. Ever. So if you have one of those, disconnect it when you're finished using it.

I have gamepads but none connected. Since I installed Windows only a couple of days ago I never had anything connected. The only thing is the bluetooth stick and the idk what stick for my microsoft AiO Media Keyboard.

 

And there it is.. the culprit.

I was going to ask if they can possibly be the point where it fails but I just tried it and I have to say.. respect Microsoft.

Their own Media Keyboard wireless stick hinders windows to go to sleep (well at least turn of the monitors, but the result is the same)

 

I only tried it with 1 minute until turn of the monitors but they didn't "flicker", instead they stayed black for some seconds.

 

 

I will unplug the adapter and test things out (waiting longer to see if the monitors turn back on) and even try to let windows go to standby by itself. If I don't forget I will report back - hopefully with good news.

 

Thank you very much. Sometimes the problem is a very simple solution you just don't think about.