Optiplex 755 sleep issues?

[Darknexxus]

Welcome back to me! Been quite some time since I've visited this site. I've learned a lot since then, and most things I can diagnose on my own but this one has me stumped.

I bought a dell optiflex 755 refurbished from TigerDirect, It came with a copy of Windows7 for refurbs. Setup it for my daughter and it ran great for months. My daughter eventually opted to go for a netbook and her old pc got handed down to my son for him to play games on. I reformatted the entire computer and started fresh for him. I used the drivers from Dell for the hardware, allowed Windows update to install it's stuff. Today I updated the bios from A09 to A22. It was out of date

Okay, that's the back history. Today, my son can be watching a video on youtube, playing a game installed on his pc, or a flash game on the web, and without warning, the monitors display a message about going to sleep, both go dark. Initially I thought the computer was going to sleep, but there is no blinking light on the front. It stays solid green. Shaking the mouse, hitting any key on the keyboard does nothing. Turning the monitors on and off, does nothing. I use VNC to connect to the computers in the house, and when his goes down, I cannot connect to it over the network. Today I hooked up a usb keyboard to it, no lights would come on, no key would do anything while in this state. The only way to get out of this mode is power the machine off and back on. Each time you see the "Windows did not shut down normally" menu. Cpu fan is clean of dust, same with the power supply and the video card (pci express sparkle 1gb dual DVI output (hooking the monitor to the on board adapter didn't help). All plugs and memory are tight and seated properly.

Memory size is 4gb
Windows 7 32bit
3 Sata drives 2x240gb 1x640gb

I've googled and tested everything I could find to no avail. I should also point out that all power saving option are disabled This computer should not sleep, ever, but that's the behaviour type. And it seems that the network and usb ports shut down with it.


So.. anyone got the fix?

 

[Yevrag35]

It doesn't sound like a sleep/hibernation issue. It sounds like the graphics drivers are crashing and not coming back.

When you plugged the monitor into the onboard graphics, did you have the separate GPU unplugged from the computer?

 

[Darknexxus]

Yes, I unplugged both monitors from the separate card and plugged one into the onboard. I then swapped them out to test, nothing showed up. While it was in this idle state, I attempted to plugin a USB keyboard, no lights would show up on the keyboard. I tried connecting via lan to the computer, and it came up as host not found. The light on the NIC was lit, but not blinking. Unplugging the cord made the light go out, and it came back on when plugged back in.

The drivers are either catalyst or the ATI version, so they should be up to date, but I'm willing to give that a go. I'll see if I can find a clean remover and then reinstall. I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime, any other ideas will not go untried!

Thank you for the response.
Dave

 

[Yevrag35]

Yes, I unplugged both monitors from the separate card and plugged one into the onboard. I then swapped them out to test, nothing showed up.

I meant physically take out the separate GPU out of the computer case, and see if your problems arise when using only the IGP.

The drivers are either catalyst or the ATI version, so they should be up to date, but I'm willing to give that a go. I'll see if I can find a clean remover and then reinstall. I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime, any other ideas will not go untried!

If you haven't downloaded and installed the latest drivers for that card, you'd best do that before troubleshooting further. I have an OptiPlex 755 sitting over on our workbench, so (depending on which tower build you purchased) you're most likely going to download X2400 or X1300 drivers: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/Product/optiplex-755

 

[Darknexxus]

I meant physically take out the separate GPU out of the computer case, and see if your problems arise when using only the IGP.

Now that I haven't done yet. But I will if/when it starts back up.

If you haven't downloaded and installed the latest drivers for that card, you'd best do that before troubleshooting further. I have an OptiPlex 755 sitting over on our workbench, so (depending on which tower build you purchased) you're most likely going to download X2400 or X1300 drivers: Drivers & Downloads | Dell US

The video card I'm using is a GT520 Nvidia. I uninstalled the old drivers, then downloaded the auto updater, let it run and install more up to date drives. It was using older drivers. Before I left, I logged onto youtube and let it run a full length HD movie for an hour and twenty minutes. It did so without crashing. The real test will be my son. He plays GTA IV and it always crashes on him. If it doesn't crash on him, I'd guess you'd call it right the first time with video drivers.

 

[Yevrag35]

GTA IV is a very "video memory-hungry" game. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks it's unplayable with a GT520.

 

[carnageX]

GTA IV is a very "video memory-hungry" game. I wouldn't be surprised if he thinks it's unplayable with a GT520.

Video memory, as well as CPU hungry.

It wasn't coded too well, lol.

 

[Darknexxus]

He's only 8 so he won't mind. The video card does pretty good with the game, it's the going to sleep (we say that because it's the last thing we see on the monitors "Monitor going to sleep.") And this issue is constant with everything. He watches a lot of youtube folks build stuff in minecraft, play with RCs, stuff like that and it just shuts off. So hopefully this will stop it. If it needs a better video card and/or memory, I can always upgrade it as needed.

 

[Joe C]

try running this pc in safemode (tap the F8 key after the pc goes through it's post but before windows starts) and see if your monitor still gets the goes to sleep error

 

[Darknexxus]

I want to thank you all for your help. After uninstalling the current 520 drivers and re-installing using updated drivers, the problem seems to have gone away. It's been four days and he was on it all day yesterday, watching videos, playing GTA and other games, not once did it crash, lag, or 'go to sleep.' So hopefully this will fix this issue once and for all.