Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ?

Silverfox · Nov 10, 2009, 05:56 PM

Could someone give me any hints or suggestions what could be causing my Gateway 18" FPD to go into power saving mode on its own when i am actively using the pc ?

I have the power saving tabs set to never hibernate and have the screen to never go into power saving mode and it has periodically still doing this on occasions while surfing.

Intel p4 2.4Ghz
Nvidia 6200 video card
Antec 480watt P.S.
2 gig pc2700 ram
Windows XP Home edition SP2 IE6.0

I have reseated all boards and the internal housing is dustfree.
The cpu & gpu temps are all running fine.
Video card is only 4 months old with fairly up to date drivers that i used when i installed the new video board over 4 months ago and this phenom just started a few weeks back so i dont figure its a driver issue.

It just did it this morning after a 2 week period when all was fine.
I did a system restore just before this typing back to Friday last week.

All my windows updates are up to date also for my OS.

Regards & Thanks for any replys

Optix · Nov 10, 2009, 06:32 PM

What is the model of your monitor? Usually if you have that along with a brief description of your problem Google will have no problem pulling up something that will help.

Also when it goes into hypernation/power saver mode does the light stay on? Does it stay on but change color?

If it happens at random times it could be a power or cord issue.

Silverfox · Nov 11, 2009, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optix

What is the model of your monitor? Usually if you have that along with a brief description of your problem Google will have no problem pulling up something that will help.

Also when it goes into hypernation/power saver mode does the light stay on? Does it stay on but change color?

If it happens at random times it could be a power or cord issue.

The monitor model number is a Gateway FPD1830

It simply goes into power saving mode the same as if you had the power scheme set for the monitor to purposely go into power saving mode after for instance 5 minutes if you have not touched the mouse or keyboard.

Yes the green light just turns to orange the same way it does if the power scheme is set to make it go into power saving mode.

Problem here is i cannot get the monitor out of power saving mode once it does this and have to power down the pc with the main power button and re-boot and then all is O.K. until it does it again.

I have googled this problem and have come up with nothing to resolve this issue or relay any definitive causes to the intermittent problem.

Regards

Tyrsonswood · Nov 11, 2009, 03:22 AM

Not a fix, but when it goes into this state wouldn't turning the monitor off and then back on bring it back... as opposed to rebooting the system. It should always turn on and see a signal if there's one, never fire up in standby mode.

How long have you had this? Any warranty left if you need it...... without seeing this in action it sounds like a monitor problem and not a standby issue. (even though it's looking like it's in standby)

Which input are you using? and are you using any adapters? If you have proper cables try using the other input on the monitor, see if that makes a difference.

Silverfox · Nov 11, 2009, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrsonswood

Not a fix, but when it goes into this state wouldn't turning the monitor off and then back on bring it back... as opposed to rebooting the system. It should always turn on and see a signal if there's one, never fire up in standby mode.

How long have you had this? Any warranty left if you need it...... without seeing this in action it sounds like a monitor problem and not a standby issue. (even though it's looking like it's in standby)

Which input are you using? and are you using any adapters? If you have proper cables try using the other input on the monitor, see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for your reply.

The monitor was originally purchased in Nov.2002 with the Gateway pc.
I have experienced absolutely NO flickering, artifacting, or visual indication problems on the monitor screen. So i dont suspect the 4 month old nvidia 6200 video card. I use just the vga connection with no adapters. I do have the capability of using the DVI output with a DVI cable. Next time this occurs i will use the DVI cable from the 6200 video card direct to the monitor with NO adapters. Good suggestion!

I have not tried simply turning the monitor OFF & ON using its illuminated power button that turns from green to orange when the monitor goes into power saving mode on its own for no apparent reason. I will try this the next time this problem occurs. Good suggestion !

I thought about purchasing a new 22" widescreen 1680x1050 monitor providing the nvidia 6200 will provide this resolution to fill the widescreen.
I figure this way i will have a new monitor when i decide to upgrade the older P4 2.4 ghz pc. But i just dont know for sure if this Gateway FPD1830 monitor is the culprit that needs replacing.

I dont have a spare monitor to try.

Regards,

Optix · Nov 12, 2009, 12:42 AM

Doesn't the monitor get it's signal to enter hibernation from the ACPI within the OS? If all hibernation/power saver settings through powercfg.cpl are disabled then there's no reason why it should be doing this, especially when the system is in use.

Could it be a wonky power cord tricking the monitor into falling into hibernation because the available wattage is below what it needs to run normally?

Silverfox · Nov 12, 2009, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optix

Doesn't the monitor get it's signal to enter hibernation from the ACPI within the OS? If all hibernation/power saver settings through powercfg.cpl are disabled then there's no reason why it should be doing this, especially when the system is in use.

Could it be a wonky power cord tricking the monitor into falling into hibernation because the available wattage is below what it needs to run normally?

If the monitors power cord was bad then the monitor would simply power completely down and require me to turn it back ON with its power button.
The green power ON button is just turning to amber orange like it normally should when it goes into power saving mode if you power scheme it to do so when the mouse or keyboard is left attended for the set-time.

Regards

Optix · Nov 12, 2009, 01:20 AM

How about this. When your monitor does go into hibernation, can you still hear what you are doing such as music playing or sound effects from a game? If so I would say it is certainly a monitor issue somewhere along the line. If not you may have a power supply issue.

Tyrsonswood · Nov 12, 2009, 02:47 AM

Just a thought and this may not apply, but if your computer is quite old (like 2002 as the monitor is) it may not know to look for input from a USB keyboard and mouse to come out of standby (if that's what you now have). There may be some settings in CMOS that control ACPI power management from hardware and not the OS..... You may be able to disable this setting.

It's a stretch and I still think it's the monitor but something else to look for.

comp_ali · Nov 12, 2009, 12:56 PM

When exactly does the monitor goes Standby , if it happens once you enter full screen game or something like that because I had this issue with my previous monitor.

Silverfox · Nov 12, 2009, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrsonswood

Just a thought and this may not apply, but if your computer is quite old (like 2002 as the monitor is) it may not know to look for input from a USB keyboard and mouse to come out of standby (if that's what you now have). There may be some settings in CMOS that control ACPI power management from hardware and not the OS..... You may be able to disable this setting.

It's a stretch and I still think it's the monitor but something else to look for.

I have never changed any settings in CMOS in regards to power management. Dont even know where to access the CMOS settings !

I normally always had the power scheme set to automatically go into power saving mode on the monitor after 10 minutes and when it does it always comes back-up whenever i touch the mouse or keyboard and it still works like this just fine.

So i dont suspect any changes have been made regarding cmos power management that i know of.

This problem occurs when simply looking at various sites. I do not do any gaming or stress related application work.

I know i have never changed the cmos battery in the pc.

Regards & Thanks to ALL for your suggestions !

Tyrsonswood · Nov 12, 2009, 04:47 PM

I wouldn't think it's CMOS battery.... when they go you'll know it because it won't know what date it is among other issues.

Quote:

This problem occurs when simply looking at various sites.

Weird! Have you run any spyware/anti virus scans on this system recently? I never heard of anything like this before.... not doubting it, just never heard of anything like it. The bit about when yours does this though????? Is it repeatable, meaning if going to site X causes it once, does going back to site X after a reboot cause it again? But never when going to site Y.......

The reason I keep thinking "bad monitor" is because I had a Dell 17" that looked to be in standby (amber led, etc.) but would never come out of "standby" until I changed the bad capacitors..... not exactly what yours is doing but yours could be on it's way out.

comp_ali · Nov 12, 2009, 06:08 PM

Yeah , IS it random or happens in the same spots every time ? I doubt it is a software issue but you can verify but installing a clean fresh copy of windows and try it without installing any additional softwares.

For my previous monitor , the problem was just the capacitors need to be discharged . It was a old screen. Unfortunately I kept having other problems with it after it worked fine so I get a new one.

Optix · Nov 13, 2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrsonswood

The reason I keep thinking "bad monitor" is because I had a Dell 17" that looked to be in standby (amber led, etc.) but would never come out of "standby" until I changed the bad capacitors..... not exactly what yours is doing but yours could be on it's way out.

That is all I seem to be able to find online when looking for similar instances.

If you come up empty here on DH you could always see if there is any support through Gateway directly.

Silverfox · Nov 13, 2009, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optix

That is all I seem to be able to find online when looking for similar instances.

If you come up empty here on DH you could always see if there is any support through Gateway directly.

That might be the case since i have had it since Nov. 2002.

It did it again today and instead of powering down the computer & re-booting i tried simply turning the monitor OFF with the amber orange button and when i turned it back ON it stayed in Power Saving Mode.

I then shut the computer down and unplugged the main power cord to everything and dis-connected the VGA cable and hooked-up the dedicated DVI cable from the nvidia 6200 video card to the Gateway FPD1830 monitor. Powered back up and am at present writing this reply and all is O.K.

I do not have any viruses or spyware and the 120gig harddrive still has 76 gig spare space.

When it occured today i was simply surfing on Amazon.com shopping.

Dont play any games and dont visit porn-sites !!!

So this occurs randomly and might occur once every 2 or 3 days or once a week.

I am currently running the nvidia 175.16 drivers and was considering purchasing a new Acer 22" widescreen monitor providing the existing Nvidias 6200 video card can display a resolution of 1680x1050 to fill this 22" Acer widescreen monitor. Just hate to waste the money on a new monitor if thats not the culprit causing my problem.

Regards & Thanks for all the replys !

Optix · Nov 14, 2009, 01:04 AM

Here's hoping the switch to DVI fixes the problem. This is the first that I have heard of a monitor entering hibernation/low power mode while in use since again the monitor should take it's queues from the OS.

Silverfox · Nov 14, 2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optix

Here's hoping the switch to DVI fixes the problem. This is the first that I have heard of a monitor entering hibernation/low power mode while in use since again the monitor should take it's queues from the OS.

I totally agree ! Thats why this phenom is so hard to diagnose.

If it does it again thru the DVI cable i am going to switch over to another 120gig harddrive i have in the pc that is running the same version of windows xp home but has SP3 installed & IE7. I always keep a spare back-up HD in my pc`s just for instances like this to help diagnosis problems. Of course if its a video card problem or mouse, keyboard, etc. common hardware the problem will still exist but at least this harddrive switch will eliminate a software glitch right ? I leave the spare 120gig HD always disconnected so no problems or spyware can enter both HD`s simultaenously.

Regards,

Silverfox · Nov 22, 2009, 07:48 PM

Well unfortunately the monitor went into power saving mode on its own last night while simply reading on a legitimate website. I went to my sons house and swapped out my Gateway FPD 1830 monitor with his Gateway FPD1930 monitor and will see if this phenom occurs with this monitor hooked-up to my pc and also see if he gets the problem on his Intel similar rig with my 18" monitor.

regards & still scratching my head !

Tyrsonswood · Nov 22, 2009, 07:58 PM

Good that you have that availability...... a monitor swap will give you some more clues at least.

Phillyphantom · Oct 20, 2010, 05:11 PM

Hey Silverfox, not sure if you are still active here as this thread is almost a year old. Just wondering if getting a different monitor fixed your issues. I am having the same problem with my monitor.

Nov 10, 2009, 05:56 PM	#1
Silverfox HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 304 Rep Power: 0	Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ? Could someone give me any hints or suggestions what could be causing my Gateway 18" FPD to go into power saving mode on its own when i am actively using the pc ? I have the power saving tabs set to never hibernate and have the screen to never go into power saving mode and it has periodically still doing this on occasions while surfing. Intel p4 2.4Ghz Nvidia 6200 video card Antec 480watt P.S. 2 gig pc2700 ram Windows XP Home edition SP2 IE6.0 I have reseated all boards and the internal housing is dustfree. The cpu & gpu temps are all running fine. Video card is only 4 months old with fairly up to date drivers that i used when i installed the new video board over 4 months ago and this phenom just started a few weeks back so i dont figure its a driver issue. It just did it this morning after a 2 week period when all was fine. I did a system restore just before this typing back to Friday last week. All my windows updates are up to date also for my OS. Regards & Thanks for any replys __________________ Silverfox

Nov 12, 2009, 12:56 PM	#10
comp_ali Sniper Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Egypt Posts: 10,469 Rep Power: 339 System Specs	Re: Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ? When exactly does the monitor goes Standby , if it happens once you enter full screen game or something like that because I had this issue with my previous monitor. __________________

Nov 12, 2009, 06:08 PM	#13
comp_ali Sniper Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Egypt Posts: 10,469 Rep Power: 339 System Specs	Re: Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ? Yeah , IS it random or happens in the same spots every time ? I doubt it is a software issue but you can verify but installing a clean fresh copy of windows and try it without installing any additional softwares. For my previous monitor , the problem was just the capacitors need to be discharged . It was a old screen. Unfortunately I kept having other problems with it after it worked fine so I get a new one. __________________

Nov 22, 2009, 07:48 PM	Thread Starter #18
Silverfox HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Texas Posts: 304 Rep Power: 0	Re: Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ? Well unfortunately the monitor went into power saving mode on its own last night while simply reading on a legitimate website. I went to my sons house and swapped out my Gateway FPD 1830 monitor with his Gateway FPD1930 monitor and will see if this phenom occurs with this monitor hooked-up to my pc and also see if he gets the problem on his Intel similar rig with my 18" monitor. regards & still scratching my head ! __________________ Silverfox

Oct 20, 2010, 05:11 PM	#20
Phillyphantom HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Re: Monitor goes into Power Saving Mode ? Hey Silverfox, not sure if you are still active here as this thread is almost a year old. Just wondering if getting a different monitor fixed your issues. I am having the same problem with my monitor.