Long title, but it pretty much says it all.

I have a USB input device, a game controller.  When this is plugged in, 
my monitor never gets turned off by the Windows power management (the 
hard drives, however, spin down as they should, so the problem is only 
limited to the display).

Unplugging the device (inconvenient, as I only have rear USB ports) 
makes everything work as it should.

This is a major inconvenience, as I often leave my computer on for long 
periods of time, and I like having my monitor turn itself off to save power.

Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this?

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

PS Yes, I've tried Google.  Nothing came up that looked useful (mostly 
just reviews for the game controller I'm using).

PPS Yes, I know that I can unplug the controller.  I'm looking for a 
method of making the Windows power management behave as it should, not a 
way to work around it.

PPPS Yes, I know I can manually turn the monitor on and off.  See PPS, 
above.

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On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:44:54 -0800, Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:

>
>Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this?

Press the power button on the monitor when you go away

Regards
	Stephen

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Chambers wrote:
> 
> Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this?
> 

Have you tried reconfiguring the power saving settings while the 
controller is connected?

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:44:54 +0100, Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
> I have a USB input device, a game controller.  When this is plugged in,  
> my monitor never gets turned off by the Windows power management (the  
> hard drives, however, spin down as they should, so the problem is only  
> limited to the display).

It is possible that the device prevents the system from entering a reduced  
power state, in which case the problem is not limited to just the display.  
Note that the hard drives are controlled by separate timers.

One thing to try is updating to newer drivers (if available), both for the  
device itself and for the USB controller (i.e. chipset drivers).

If on Vista, make sure to enable "USB selective suspend" in the power  
management options.

If on XP, there is a hotfix that may or may not help.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918005


-- 
FE

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Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
> -- 
> ...Ben Chambers
> www.pacificwebguy.com

> PS Yes, I've tried Google.  Nothing came up that looked useful (mostly 
> just reviews for the game controller I'm using).

> PPS Yes, I know that I can unplug the controller.  I'm looking for a 
> method of making the Windows power management behave as it should, not a 
> way to work around it.

> PPPS Yes, I know I can manually turn the monitor on and off.  See PPS, 
> above.

  It's a bad idea to put relevant information *after* your signature.

  Many newsreaders will color signatures differently from the rest of
the post, and this causes natural signature blindness to people, and
they will miss your relevant info.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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> On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:44:54 -0800, Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
> 
>> Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this?
> 
> Press the power button on the monitor when you go away

That saves much more power than letting it turn off automatically. 
However, see PPPS on his post.

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Chambers wrote:
> PPS Yes, I know that I can unplug the controller.
 > I'm looking for a method of making the Windows
 > power management behave as it should, not a way
 > to work around it.

If you find a way to make anything in Windows behave the way it should, 
come back to us.  Inquiring minds want to know.

Regards,
John

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Fredrik Eriksson wrote:
> On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:44:54 +0100, Chambers <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote:
>> I have a USB input device, a game controller.  When this is plugged 
>> in, my monitor never gets turned off by the Windows power management 
>> (the hard drives, however, spin down as they should, so the problem is 
>> only limited to the display).
> 
> It is possible that the device prevents the system from entering a 
> reduced power state, in which case the problem is not limited to just 
> the display. Note that the hard drives are controlled by separate timers.
> 
> One thing to try is updating to newer drivers (if available), both for 
> the device itself and for the USB controller (i.e. chipset drivers).
> 
> If on Vista, make sure to enable "USB selective suspend" in the power 
> management options.
> 
> If on XP, there is a hotfix that may or may not help.
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918005
> 
> 

I tried the hotfix, and no go - it still won't sleep.  Thanks for the 
tip, though.

-- 
...Ben Chambers
www.pacificwebguy.com

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And lo on Sun, 09 Mar 2008 06:44:54 -0000, Chambers  
<ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> did spake, saying:

> Long title, but it pretty much says it all.
>
> I have a USB input device, a game controller.  When this is plugged in,  
> my monitor never gets turned off by the Windows power management (the  
> hard drives, however, spin down as they should, so the problem is only  
> limited to the display).
>
> Unplugging the device (inconvenient, as I only have rear USB ports)  
> makes everything work as it should.
>
> This is a major inconvenience, as I often leave my computer on for long  
> periods of time, and I like having my monitor turn itself off to save  
> power.
>
> Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this?

If you're using Vista there's a known problem with some wireless USB  
devices disabling the screensaver (and by extension perhaps the power  
saving) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911895 had the same thing happen  
on a laptop and after a couple of reboots seems to be working properly  
now. Might be worth a try. Oh and the device needs to be plugged in before  
it shows up in the Update screen.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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John VanSickle wrote:
> If you find a way to make anything in Windows behave the way it should, 
> come back to us.  Inquiring minds want to know.

It is behaving as it should. The game controller device driver is 
telling Windows not to stop supplying power to it. So Windows does what 
it should.

Now, if the game controller doesn't have problems with going into 
low-power mode, then it should let Windows do that. Blame the controller.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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