Solved Why a PC goes to sleep

lapetesson · Sep 8, 2023

I work on a Beelink SER5 PC (Ryzen 5 5500U) from another PC using the Remote Desktop Connection. I'm keen on keeping the Beelink up all the time. It is set in Settings->Power to never sleep. However, it systematically goes to sleep after its keyboard hasn't been used for several hours.

I've checked the BIOS, but there is nothing there that could explain this behavior. Beelink has practically no documentation, but there is a PDF showing some setup details with Windows 11 Settings. In particular, there is a document showing how to set up the PC to never sleep, and I did exactly that.

Is there any other setting in Windows to prevent a PC from sleeping? Could there be something special about Beelink?

JAM83 · Sep 8, 2023

lapetesson said:
I work on a Beelink SER5 PC (Ryzen 5 5500U) from another PC using the Remote Desktop Connection. I'm keen on keeping the Beelink up all the time. It is set in Settings->Power to never sleep. However, it systematically goes to sleep after its keyboard hasn't been used for several hours.

I've checked the BIOS, but there is nothing there that could explain this behavior. Beelink has practically no documentation, but there is a PDF showing some setup details with Windows 11 Settings. In particular, there is a document showing how to set up the PC to never sleep, and I did exactly that.

Is there any other setting in Windows to prevent a PC from sleeping? Could there be something special about Beelink?

In sleep settings, do you have every single setting set to "no sleep"?

zbook · Sep 8, 2023

There may be an EF member that has tried this Microsoft software:

PowerToys Awake is a tool for Windows designed to keep a computer awake without having to manage its power & sleep settings.

This can be helpful when running time-consuming tasks, ensuring that the computer does not go to sleep or turn off its screens.

Microsoft PowerToys

Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for customizing Windows. Utilities include ColorPicker, FancyZones, File Explorer Add-ons, Image Resizer, Keyboard Manager, PowerRename, PowerToys Run, a Shortcut Guide and more to come.

learn.microsoft.com

Install PowerToys

Install PowerToys, a set of utilities for customizing Windows, using an executable file or package manager (WinGet, Chocolatey, Scoop).

learn.microsoft.com

General settings for PowerToys

The Microsoft PowerToys app provides custom-built utilities for Windows. Find info about the version, admin mode, app theme, startup behavior, or turn on the experimental features in the General settings dashboard.

learn.microsoft.com

PowerToys administrator mode for Windows

For PowerToys to work with an app running in elevated admin mode, PowerToys must be running in administrator mode as well.

learn.microsoft.com

lapetesson · Sep 9, 2023

@JAM83:
No. This is a desktop, so it has just these two settings: "put device to sleep" and "turn off screen". The former is set to Never. The screen is turned off after three minutes.

The Remote Desktop Connection does work for several hours even though Beelink's screen is off, so I believe the screen has nothing to do with this. After approximately four hours, Beelink goes to sleep, and an attempt to connect using the Remote Desktop Connection fails.

lapetesson · Sep 9, 2023

@zbook:
Thank you for this hint. I'll try PowerToys Awake if I don't find any other solution, based on settings. I added a new comment to this thread; I believe there is a solution.

lapetesson · Sep 9, 2023

EDIT after more tests:

The reported unwanted behavior occurs when connecting to Beelink through WiFi. I also connect from another PC through a wired connection and a router. Here, the Remote Desktop Connection gets through even when Beelink sleeps. The two network interfaces on Beelink, WiFi and wired, are set up in the same way, but the wired interface wakes up Beelink and WiFi does not.

The interfaces were set to "Allow this device to wake the computer". I've now modified the WiFi interface by unchecking "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". I'll know in a few hours if it does the trick. This does not answer the question of why Beelink sleeps, but for me, it could be an even better solution.

This text should be a part of the original question, but I'm not allowed to change it.

lapetesson · Sep 10, 2023

As all my attempts to keep the PC up using Windows settings failed, I've tried the PowerToy Awake tool. It does keep the PC up, but it's not what I want. It opens a console window and places an icon on the taskbar, while I want an invisible background process. Since the only thing necessary to keep the PC up is a single WINAPI call

SetThreadExecutionState(ES_CONTINUOUS | ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED);

I decided to create a small app of my own. It only needs to contain the above call and an endless loop to keep it alive, because Windows reverts the call to SetThreadExecutionState if the app dies.

geoalanch · Sep 10, 2023

lapetesson said:
EDIT after more tests:

The reported unwanted behavior occurs when connecting to Beelink through WiFi. I also connect from another PC through a wired connection and a router. Here, the Remote Desktop Connection gets through even when Beelink sleeps. The two network interfaces on Beelink, WiFi and wired, are set up in the same way, but the wired interface wakes up Beelink and WiFi does not.

The interfaces were set to "Allow this device to wake the computer". I've now modified the WiFi interface by unchecking "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". I'll know in a few hours if it does the trick. This does not answer the question of why Beelink sleeps, but for me, it could be an even better solution.

This text should be a part of the original question, but I'm not allowed to change it.

You seems to be using wake on LAN. Wireless wake on LAN does not work.