Keep PC Awake

[bertie97]

Had opportunity to test this feature & couldn't find any resources (FAQ etc) on the way it works.  (Using 6.6.0.78)

• 1 - is there a count-down timer visible anywhere that shows me how long remains of the set period?
• 2 - is it possible to set a custom timer length?
• 3 - over-rides?  e.g. existing non-sleep processes interaction with the timer.

I was copying a HDD for a manual backup.  Had a few 00k files, so figured I'd leave it overnight, the job would take approx 3hrs.  Set the timer to 4hrs as nearest option.
No other progs running & 6 hours later the PC is still awake.  Check has gone from the 4 hr marker.
Without invoking the timer the PC will go to sleep mid copy.  Don't know if the copy process can be a non-sleep function outside the parent exe.

[BenYeeHua]

Why not set "Prevent sleep when running" to the Process?
Or that process don't closing itself?

[bertie97]

Nihao BenYeeHua
In this case, No it doesn't close  - it halts & gives the verbose results.
Useful for the review of what actually got done without using a comparison util like winmerge etc.

[BenYeeHua]

I think the sleep time is adding.
Foe example, you are putting "keep PC awake" 4 hours on Process Lasso, then you are setting the powerplans - Put the computer to sleep: 1 hour.
Then they will adding up to 5 hours?

[bertie97]

My inactive->sleep is 30 mins so 4 + 30 is way off. 

The point is that it seems the 'keep awake'  remains active beyond it's time setting, I cannot see a way to determine what the remaining time actually is & maybe the sleep process is being totally overridden...

Does your system sleep after the sleep prevention timer finishes?

[BenYeeHua]

Nope, I just shutdown the computer as the standby has some issues on this laptop.
After resume, sometimes I will found one of the thread on the "system" process will biting 25% CPU usage, and you can't shutdown/restart normally the computer after this happen...

And yes, sleep also strange on windows 8, one times I just close the lid and it go into sleep, after I resume it, I found out I has disable all sleep setting...
----
If we need to test this setting, I think we need a setting like prevent the computer sleep for 1 min, so it will be easy to testing it.

[bertie97]

Oh I thought this was your rig -





Would be nice to be able to set an interval & have a timer to show what is happening...

[BenYeeHua]

lol, nope, I don't has that much of money to buy it.
I think we need to wait first, as I think he is very busy now.

[bertie97]

OK  I will probably be able to live without it for a while. 

[Jeremy Collake]

Would be nice to be able to set an interval & have a timer to show what is happening...

A countdown timer for Keep PC awake?

[bertie97]

A countdown timer for Keep PC awake?

Yes... because the current 'time left' is not displayed nor could I tell if it could be over-ridden by other processes.  (ie a log entry showing the countdown had been reset/cancelled etc.)

Additionally these areas need review/explanantion I think:
- currently the duration options are fixed: x hrs or indefinite.  Could they also be a user set value?
- is the time til sleep cumulative with existing sleep after xxx mins as set in the active power plan?  i.e. Keep awake for x hrs then allow sleep after the req'd xx mins of the plan is reached.
- & perhaps most important - it doesn't seem to work for me. 

The instance in question was a one-off task so I figured a 'keep awake for x' state to be most expedient.  The job would take 2+hours so I set 4 hours, 6 hours later PC was still awake.  No 'prevent sleep' processes were active. 
I figured that was an error as my sleep time for inactivity is 20 mins.

[Jeremy Collake]

I am going to write the timer over the graph, and will keep working on things. I maybe can add a custom timer too, just a matter of doing it.

I am concerned when you say it doesn't work for you. Did you keep the GUI running? This is one feature that is currently implemented in the GUI. The 'prevent sleep' processes are taken care of by the governor, but not the 'Keep awake' timers.

[bertie97]

OK thanks.  Look forward to seeing it.
IIRC the GUI was closed or minimized to task bar.  It wasn't 'fully' open on the desktop.
Haven't had chance to test it again yet to see if the PC will sleep at timer-end using different software running etc.

I did notice something today that might be somehow related.
Whilst playing a game, I'd paused it & the monitor went to sleep.  Technically the game was still active & gaming mode was on - so should the monitor have been allowed to sleep?
In reality sleeping whilst the game was paused didn't hurt anything & may have been a good thing.  Made me wonder tho.

[Jeremy Collake]

Alright, I'm going to be sure to check things thoroughly... and also move the implementation to the governor I think. It really belongs there.

The countdown timer will make the feature a whole lot easier to monitor. I'm adding it now!

[BenYeeHua]

And ya, sometimes the services prevent the computer to sleep, as I just running the powercfg /energy and sawing some system process is preventing the computer to sleep.

I think using powercfg /energy might finding some clue?

[bertie97]

Hopefully it won't be to difficult to resolve.  My normal 'sleep' settings seem OK.  Just these 2 unusual instances in environments that I wouldn't normally be running / pausing for extended periods.

[Jeremy Collake]

v6.6.1.5 beta adds this countdown timer .. it will probably go final pretty fast

[bertie97]

Finally got back to this & had time to try it out. 
All looks good & is doing what I needed it to do (so far!)  so wanted to say thanks. 

[BenYeeHua]

Great to hear that, and I am still having a new issues is.(Off-topic)

Did I need update windows 8 to windows 8.1 or not, as windows 8.1 broke more software and driver function than windows 8...

[bertie97]

I am glad to see BYH still OT 

I had Win8 in a VM to play with.  Decided it was a waste of time before any SPs were released, now with 8.1 it's better in some ways but I am waaay past being tired of paying to beta test MS OSs.... 
Then, as you know, there is the nonsense & cost of upgrades to find things that run properly etc.   
I have 7x64 Ult. & that is enough $s from me for a while.   

[BenYeeHua]

And ya, always OT. 

The only 2 issues on win 8.1 that I can't accept is, they broken the non-unicode software language, so many software are affected, for example, Adobe.
The second one is, the mouse, they mess up the direct input for mouse, which many games are affected.

I just need make sure this 2 are fixed first, then I will see how's optimus going, as optimus/enduro has some improve in windows 8.1, then I will install it to find out how's going on the core-parking and other power save feature.

As I know, windows 8.1 increase more performance for game that CPU bound, so it is a must for me too.

[Hotrod]

I love the option  to keep PC awake indefinitely and use it on my laptop to keep an automated process running while I sleep. My problem is that whenever PL auto-updates it turns this off while I am AFK. Is there any way to make this setting persist between updates??

[Jeremy Collake]

I love the option  to keep PC awake indefinitely and use it on my laptop to keep an automated process running while I sleep. My problem is that whenever PL auto-updates it turns this off while I am AFK. Is there any way to make this setting persist between updates??

Yes, this is something that I need to better handle. It is one of the few things handled by the GUI and not the core engine. Thus, this behavior. When I move it (or refactor the core engine), it'll be fixed. Sorry for any inconvenience until then, especially for beta users .

[Hotrod]

bump 

[Jeremy Collake]

This is still on the agenda, and part of on-going development I can't elaborate on.

I have *not* forgotten about it! Sorry it's taken so long. It is a big architectural change, and I've been playing it safe lately to focus on product marketing and business development. Hard to wear so many hats, but that's the life of a microISV.

[lmstearn]

This is a great feature, used quite often as an alternative to the Sleep option, now very much lothe to hibernating an old rig any more.
"Keep PC Awake" will prevent the screensaver from starting, which is set to run after 15 mins idle on the machine. Guessing there is nothing that can be done because machine isn't idle. Or can there?
Thanks!

[Jeremy Collake]

Thanks, I also use this feature regularly! More people should .

I'm afraid there is nothing that can be done about the screensaver. Providing both display and/or PC keep awake caused the UI to become too convoluted.