dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
11161

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

APC UPS hibernate or sleep question

I have an APC UPS ES750 and reading through the help file it recommends that you enable hibernate on your PC. On my Windows 7 Pro x64 hibernate and sleep modes are both off. I have my UPS set to shut off my PC after 3 minutes if there no power at all.

My question is should I enable hibernation on my PC and do I need to set it to 3 minutes to match the time setting on my UPS??? I would prefer not to set my PC to hibernate in 3 minutes unless I have no choice.

Also will it work with sleep mode instead of hibernation???

Freddy
Premium Member
join:2005-05-17
Arlington, VA

1 edit

Freddy

Premium Member

gugarci,

The APC battery backup is good for shutting-down your computer only when your computer is up and running.

When your computer is in hibernate mode, it's already shut down. In that event, there is no need for the battery backup to shut-down the computer because it's already shut-down. That's the reason APC recommends you use hibernate.

In sleep mode, most computers do not provide power to the USB port. Therefore, the battery backup software, connected by USB cable, cannot communicate with the computer to shut it down.

Get it?

Freddy

Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium Member
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC

Jahntassa to gugarci

Premium Member

to gugarci
If I understand your question, I would say do not enable either Sleep or Hibernate. Leave it as-is and simply let the UPS shut down the PC if there is a power condition.

Generally I leave the PowerChute software at the defaults, meaning, it will keep the PC on until there is approximately 5 minutes of battery power left. I personally prefer that to having the PC shut down after (x) time when power is lost.

As you seem to leave your PC running 24x7 (or at least, don't have it auto-sleep / auto-hibernating), as said, you do not need to enable either sleep or hibernation in order for the UPS to successfully shut your system down when there is power loss.

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

Thanks for the replies. But I'm curious as to why they recommend you enable hibernation.

Freddy
Premium Member
join:2005-05-17
Arlington, VA

Freddy

Premium Member

gugarci,

They recommend hibernation because you get a faster boot than you do by doing a boot-up from a full standard shut-down. In other words, it's more convenient.

You can do it either way. That is, shut-down the computer in the standard way, or put the computer into hibernation.

Hibernation writes your configuration to the hard drive. When you boot from the hibernation mode, the system reads the configuration from the hard drive. That method boots faster than when booting from a full shut-down.

Also, hibernation is a safe mode because you computer is shut down while in that mode. You can pull the power plug from the wall while in hibernation, plug it back in and boot with no issues.

If you use sleep mode while using a battery backup and the power goes out, the computer will run off the battery and stay in sleep mode as long as the battery has sufficient charge to keep the computer in that mode. If the battery runs down, the computer will crash.

Since sleep mode takes little power, the computer should run a long time before it crashes. Just how long depends on the battery. The battery if in good shape could keep the computer in sleep mode for hours. It depends.

Freddy

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

Got it. Last question. If I do enable hibernation how many minutes should I set it for???

I don't keep my PC on 24x7 I shut it off every night when I go to sleep, around 11:30, and I turn it back on every morning about 7am.

Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium Member
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC

Jahntassa

Premium Member

said by gugarci:

Got it. Last question. If I do enable hibernation how many minutes should I set it for???
Up to you. Like I said, I tell mine to wait until there's around 5 minutes of battery power left before it does anything.

You don't want to set it too short, because if you have a situation where the power is going in and out, it'll be hibernating every time you turn it back on.

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

Also the other day we had a small power outage while I was at work. The PC was off when I came home home so I'm assuming the UPS shut it off. But I was concerned because I had an error in my event viewer saying that the PC was shut off improperly due to a crash or a power outage.

I did not have hibernation enabled the day this happened. Should I be getting error message in my event viewer when the UPS shuts off my PC??? Will having hibernation enable make a difference???

Thanks.

Freddy
Premium Member
join:2005-05-17
Arlington, VA

Freddy

Premium Member

gugarci,

From the message in the Event Viewer, it looks as if your system crashed, not shut down by PowerChute.

I don't know anything about your setup, so I'll let someone else comment about what went wrong.

You shouldn't need to set hibernation. PowerChute can just shut down you computer in the normal way.

Crashes can cause hard drive related issues. Sometimes you can't boot after a crash. Not good.

Freddy

Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium Member
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC

1 recommendation

Jahntassa to gugarci

Premium Member

to gugarci
said by gugarci:

I did not have hibernation enabled the day this happened. Should I be getting error message in my event viewer when the UPS shuts off my PC???
You shouldn't be getting that error, no.
Will having hibernation enable make a difference???
Possibly. Not sure. One difference (I believe) between Hibernation and Shut down is that if you have programs with unsaved files, Hibernation won't cause a 'do you want to save' dialog, which would delay the shut down.

Also, make sure your computer is actually plugged into the Battery Protected outlets. Most consumer UPS units have 'Surge Only' outlets as well as 'Battery' outlets. If your PC is connected to 'Surge Only' then it won't be protected by the battery.

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

OK thanks, I'll have to keep my eye on her.
gugarci

2 edits

gugarci to Jahntassa

Premium Member

to Jahntassa
said by Jahntassa:
said by gugarci:

I did not have hibernation enabled the day this happened. Should I be getting error message in my event viewer when the UPS shuts off my PC???
You shouldn't be getting that error, no.
Will having hibernation enable make a difference???
Also, make sure your computer is actually plugged into the Battery Protected outlets. Most consumer UPS units have 'Surge Only' outlets as well as 'Battery' outlets. If your PC is connected to 'Surge Only' then it won't be protected by the battery.
I think you hit the nail right on the head. The documentation with this UPS IMO is horrible. I have 1 master outlets and 3 master controlled outlets. When I read the documentation the first time I thought it said that the master control outlets were for peripherals only. My PC was not plugged into the master outlet and from re-reading the documentation it should be plugged into the master outlet.

Freddy
Premium Member
join:2005-05-17
Arlington, VA

Freddy

Premium Member

gugarci,

Stuff happens. Good to hear you got it sorted.

Freddy

gugarci
Premium Member
join:2004-02-25
Lyndhurst, NJ

gugarci

Premium Member

I'm pretty sure this is it.

signmeuptoo94
Bless you Howie
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
NanoParticle

signmeuptoo94

Premium Member

Hitting the breaker would tell you. Unplugging isn't good because it disconnects the ground and common for discharge. Of course, you run the risk of a crash, but if something is still not right, such as the UPS is underpowered for your needs, you need to know now anyways.