Intel D945GCLF2 Motherboard: Unable to use suspend-to-RAM, resume broken?

Thanks for trying, I guess that means it's not a bug, and should generally be working just fine, so this issue is limited to my setup only.

I already suspected the power supply (since it's a PicoPSU), but the green onboard standby power LED above the power connector is on at all times, so even when the computer is turned off, as well as when going to suspend, and during a failing resume.

I'll nevertheless will try a normal fullsize power supply as well, but if that also does not change anything, the last option is to assume that this motherboard is faulty, and has to be replaced.

I'll close the opened bug for this issue now, and will report back with further results.

Thank god, i'm not alone!!

I also have the Intel D945GCLF2 and have been experiencing problems similar to the ones you have described. The system i've put together is:

* Intel Dual Core Atom 1.6GHz Mini-ITX D945GCLF2 Motherboard
* Corsair 2GB DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5400 Memory Non-ECC Unbuffered CL5
* Western Digital 320GB 2.5" Hard Drive Scorpio Black SATAII 7200rpm 16MB Cache
* Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7633A - DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM drive - IDE
* Happauge WinTV Nova 500 Tuner
* picoPSU-90 DC-DC ATX power supply (90 Watt) and 80W AC Universal Adapter

I originally built the system to run Ubuntu 8.10, with a view to running MythTV as a media PC. Ubuntu ran fine, but I struggled with MythTV (bad tearing on playback of TV). Consequently, I gave up before I ever got round to trying the sleep function in Ubuntu. Now, I know it's not big and I know it's not clever, and I hang my head in shame as I write this, but i've gone over to the other side and bought Vista. All playback problems solved but i've encountered the sleep problem that you describe.

In brief, I can get Vista to sleep (S3, confirmed in BIOS) but nothing I do will get the PC back to the OS again. If I hit the keyboard, or the power button, the system powers-up, i.e. fans come on, lights come on, drives spark to life, but then I'm left with a blank screen and no further activity. I have to cold-boot to get the PC back again.

Here's some of the things i've tried to get round it:

* I've booted from an Ubuntu Live CD and tried sleep from there - no good.
* I've stripped the PC down to bare minimum (at Intel's support desk suggestion) with a view to reducing the power requirements of the board - * no good.
* I've tried the latest version of the BIOS, plus revisions 0103 and 0099 - no good.
* I've fiddled with every setting I can find in Vista - no good.

The OS seems to acknowledge that the motherboard supports S3 sleep mode, i.e. the "powercfg -a" command reports that S3 sleep state is supported and SiSofts Sandra Benchmark app shows support for S3 sleep.

I currently have a support call open with Intel and I seem to have finally got past the "have you tried turning it off and on again?" type questions and have been put through to a regional (UK) helpdesk.

I'd be very interested to know if you've got any further with this and i'm happy to post anything sensible that Intel pass on to me.

Have you tried switching the power supply yet? What happened?

The only similarity seems to be the picoPSU, and that's still my major suspect. I was too busy since last week to go on with this, but I have two different additional power supplies here to try, one is a full-size ATX-PSU, and another 60W DC-DC + AC-DC adapter kit from a miniITX chassis.

Since I already switched the system memory to a different brand one (and both are known to work with this kind of motherboard), disconnected the optical drive from the IDE port, and BIOS version is also confirmed to be not responsible for our problem, the only thing that's left is the power supply. Maybe the picoPSU does not offer enough or too unstable juice on the 5V line when in S3 mode to power the RAM (although the green onboard LED still lights as bright as always). If it's not the PSU, I have nowhere to go, and the only possibility left to assume is, that my motherboard is defective (then your's would most likely suffer a similar problem).

I'll look forward to test the two other PSUs within the next few days, and report back here. If you find out anything in addition to that, please do the same.

I can confirm now, that it's the picoPSU causing these ACPI S3 Sleep problems!

I swapped the picoPSU-90 for a fullsize ATX power supply, and ACPI S3 Sleep worked just fine with the D945GCLF2 motherboard.

The issue seems to be general one, so not limited specifically to my picoPSU unit, because I also tried another picoPSU-90, and it is showing exactly the same problem. Of course I also tried swapping the AC-DC adapter, but that had no influence, so it definitely is the DC-DC part (= picoPSU-90 unit).

That's pretty bad, because I do not have any other power supply, that would fit into the used chassis, so it looks like I'll have to stick with hibernation instead of suspend-to-RAM (unless I find a PSU small enough and ACPI S3 Sleep able).

I'll write a support-request to mini-box.com now, they surely should have a clue about this. I'll report back, as soon as I have an answer.

Good news, in a way. It's not good that it doesn't work, obviously, but it's nice to know what's causing the problem. I'll see if I can borrow a full size ATX power supply from work tomorrow. I'll post the results when I get to give it a try.

Given that the picoPSU doesn't seem to work, and I have a case that isn't going to take anything much bigger than a picoPSU, I don't suppose you can recommend a suitable alternative?

Had a bit of an update from an eBay seller (fullspeedit) who specialises in these things. His response is :

There was a modification made in August to increase compatibility with some boards. You can tell if your PSU is one of the upgraded units by finding C4 on the board (same side as the HD power output header, directly beneath it between 2 x ICs). On modified units it should stand proud of the ICs due to an extra capacitor piggybacked to the original one. I do have details of the modification if you have a very steady hand and the ability to work on surface mount devices!

I asked for a bit more details and he replied with:

Pull the PicoPSU off the motherboard and then remove the output lead that goes to the hard disks. Directly beneath the white connector you'll see two black squares (ICs) with two components between them. Below one of these components you should see 'C4' in white print on the board. If the component labelled C4 is level or slightly proud of the height of the ICs then it's the modified version and should work. If C4 is lower than the height of the ICs then it's unmodified.

Anyway, i'm going to have a look later on and see if I can figure out whether mine's the unmodified version. If I need to replace it for a modified one (i'm not going to attempt the mod myself, no way!) then the seller's offered me a full refund if it doesn't work - go eBay :p

Got to say though, i've been really dissappointed with the support i've received (or not, in this case) from the vendor of the picoPSU. I bought the PSU from www.mini-itx.com and, after several emails asking for help, I haven't received a single response, not even to confirm that they've received my email - eejits!

Will update when I have some new info...

I am very interested in this modification, which I surely can do by myself. I also sent a support request to mini-box.com, but did not get a reply yet.

OK, i'll be sure to ask how the mod is done when I place the order for the replacement part (assuming that's causing the problem!).

mini-box.com just responded to my support-ticket:

Quote:

---

Problem was fixed in Aug by installing a 0.1uF on top of C4. Capacitor case size is 0603. It should be pretty eacy if you have a fine tip soldering iron. Capacitor cost is very low...

---

I'll do the mod asap, and report back here.

Me too. Although, i'm not brave enough to try the mod myself (plus, I don't own a soldering iron). The nice eBay man has some of the updated PSUs' so i'm going to order one of those and sell the other on eBay, to try and recover some of my costs.

Still be interested to hear how you get on, especially if it fixes the problem.