Thinkpads Forum

Strange. It used to work. I had power options set to Hibernate after 30 minutes on battey. Now, the computer goes to sleep as usual, but will not hibernate automatically.

If I force the computer to hibernate manually, it will do so without any problems.

Can anyone suggest what to check when diagnosing? First thing I looked at was my LAN settings, and the WOL settings are disabled.

Very strange...

OK.. this is even stranger. After running some tests, I've noticed that the computer will automatically hibernate on AC power. Switch over to battery, and the computer will not automatically hibernate. Any suggestions?

Throwing out some random thoughts...

- I've seen Windows sometimes gets confused about the power settings. Changing to another power profile and then back to your original settings usually cures that.
- BIOS Power setting? An R61 that I sometimes use has separate settings for AC and battery only operation.

I checked the BIOS settings; all seem normal.

There must be some kind of resource or service preventing the computer from hibernating only when running on battery power.

As I said before, hibernating while connected to the AC adapter works fine.

I'm trying to figure out what could be preventing hibernation, and nothing seems to be obvious. The only program I installed recently was Google Earth.

I've even created new power plans; no luck there...

Google Earth, huh.... Any chance that your video drivers were updated/disturbed? I ask because of this post:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 786#406786

Don't have any personal experience with this type of problem with my systems since I almost always run them on AC and manually put them into hibernate.

Thanks for the tip Ray. I'll check my video drivers, although I doubt that could be the problem.

I'm curious... perhaps this thread should be moved to the Vista section after, but was wondering if someone may have an answer to this question.

When the laptop is in sleep mode, do event timers such as hibernate still function if the BIOS option to ignore system events when NOT on AC power is enabled?

This is the option that comes with a warning; turning it off may allow the computer to wake for system events, and if the unit is moved while the hard drive is on may cause system damage. There is also a statement that this could void your warranty.

This may explain why the system will only hibernate automatically when its connected to the adapter.

Does this theory sound plausible?

Addendum: OK, just tested this by turning that safety feature off. Hibernate automatically kicked in. So I guess that solves that. However, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I would assume that most would want their laptops to automatically hibernate after a set period of time when on battery, and can afford to let the computer sleep or remain on when plugged in. By keeping this particular power option enabled in the BIOS, you're preventing the OS from doing its thing....

Good info, I've been curious about the same conundrum on my laptops which doesn't happen on desktops. What is this BIOS option called, I haven't seen it before?

bri wrote:Good info, I've been curious about the same conundrum on my laptops which doesn't happen on desktops. What is this BIOS option called, I haven't seen it before?

It should be the first option available under POWER settings in your BIOS. Enabling it will cause a disclaimer screen to appear.