The fix when the P5KPL-CM won’t sleep

We’ve got a couple ASUS P5KPL-CM motherboards, and when we’d try to put them to sleep, well they’d wake right back up again. Immediately. Everything powers down, you get the click, then it immediately wakes from sleep. This happened both in Windows 7 as well as in Mac OS X Snow Leopard (a hackintosh install)

I wrote one before about sleep issues in Vista – It’s possible that a similar change in device manager would work in Windows 7, but here’s another way to fix it, in all your operating systems, for good:

It’s the little jumper you see here circled in green, located on your motherboard (I made sure to get the rear ports and CPU fan in the picture to help you locate it). By default, ASUS has in on the left 2 pins.

Pop it off and put it on the right 2 pins (as shown in the picture).

For whatever reason, ASUS is addicted to putting this jumper in the other position by default, which always causes problems with sleep. I don’t remember the specifics of what it does, but it’s got something to do with standby voltage being put through the USB ports.

In any case, both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard properly go to sleep after this change, and can still be awoken by hitting a key on your USB keyboard. If your P5KPL-CM doesn’t sleep, give it a try.

29 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1. Joe on July 17, 2010 - click here to reply
    Thanks SO much for this... I just got one of these mobos the other day and was a little perplexed that it wouldn't sleep properly, nice one on pointing out what the issue was. Definitely didn't think it would be Asus being stupid with a jumper. Saved me a lot of sleepless nights. :P
  2. ALY on July 28, 2010 - click here to reply
    I had the same problem...FOR A LONG TIME. I blamed Vista, but you are right. It was the motherboard.
  3. Jakes on July 31, 2010 - click here to reply
    Thanks a lot! I have a P5KPL-E and experienced the same problem. This led me on the right track. I had to move two jumpers regarding USB wake-up and it works now.
  4. Skool on September 13, 2010 - click here to reply
    If anyone is interested, this jumper is called the USB device wake-up (3-pin PS2_USBPW1-8).
  5. Bruinwar on November 23, 2010 - click here to reply
    Searching the net numerous times in different ways I finally hit on this blog posting... eurrrrRRREKA!! A while back I bought the ASUS P5KPL-CM for upgrading my wife's machine. It just would not go into standby, ever. I had thought there was something wrong with her XP build but when we moved all our machines to Win7 her problem persisted. -lastwake was showing it to be a USB problem but for the life of me I could not figure out how fix it.

    She was turning off her monitor, a 26" Vizio TN panel, manually & I think that may have caused it to fry. Now she has my old 26" Vizio. The new 28" Hanns-G replacement won't fit on her desk so I got stuck with it. ;) Costco actually gave me a full refund on the broken monitor & the new one came from Costco.com.

    Thanks for posting the clear solution.
  6. trout on January 26, 2011 - click here to reply
    that fixed my computer. i also have an asrock board that has a similar jumper setting but it doesn't give me problems
  7. CreativeMad on February 28, 2011 - click here to reply
    Oh man...
    I thought my mobo died and it was this jumper... I have P5QPL-AM... And i guess all asus mobos have same thing... When in default position i.e. switched in pin 1 and 2, my pc would boot some time and sometimes wouldn't... Now in this config its working fine.. Thank GOD... Thanks to you too man...
  8. PaulD on January 14, 2012 - click here to reply
    Thank you dude, just thank you, ok. 3 years of my HTPC running 24/7, putting wear and tear on all parts and finally at 6AM morning from night of troubleshooting I found this blog, THANKS GOD!
  9. Jesus on November 19, 2012 - click here to reply
    Thanks mate, I was about to discard my mobo as faulty, but then I found this. Keep up the good work, these tips are priceless!
  10. Vince on February 16, 2014 - click here to reply
    Freaking awesome! It works. Thank you so much.
  11. Paul on October 11, 2014 - click here to reply
    Hi. many, many thanks for this, worked like a charm on my P5KPL-AM motherboard. Keep up the great work.
  12. Eric Pendergrass on February 5, 2017 - click here to reply
    Still working! Just replaced a bad board in an old PC and had this same issue - switched the jumper, now goes right to sleep. Still wakes up with key press too!
  13. BleuHammer on November 15, 2017 - click here to reply
    ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I've owned this computer for 9 years now, and I've NEVER been able to get it hibernate. 9 YEARS of occasional spurts of troubleshooting, changing all sorts of bios and windows settings. All I had to do was follow your instruction and move ONE JUMPER. Oh GOD. The HIBERNATION BLISS. THANK YOU.
  14. Bob of SD on July 2, 2018 - click here to reply
    Damn! you are amazing! thank you so much for this fix...I was ready to replace this board! never had issues when using Windows 7...only when I switched to Windows 10....still have 1 issue left..popping sounds!
  15. Eyal on December 9, 2018 - click here to reply
    Thank you very mach.
    Works for win 10
  16. Joro on March 13, 2020 - click here to reply
    Thank you very very very much dude. You are my hero ...
    Works for P5KPL-AM SE with Win10x64
  17. Stephen McCann on April 12, 2020 - click here to reply
    Brilliant. Your advice sorted the sleep. I've been wondering for a long time and trying different things. This is the only way to make it work. The Supplier's manual didn't tell me
  18. risa24 on October 4, 2020 - click here to reply
    Just remember to have the jumper in either position, the PC will not boot without it (complains about USB overvoltage). Although it won't fry your USB devices if that error shows up ^_^
  19. Pedro on March 26, 2021 - click here to reply
    Thank you. I was sick to death of the "awakenings" of the plate.
  20. Dan on January 11, 2022 - click here to reply
    Nice! OMG! And who would have thought that a MB from 2008 would still be relevant in 2022? THANK YOU!
  21. Anonymous on May 11, 2022 - click here to reply
    How brilliant. Thats was really an issue. Next was power up no screen. This was fixed by unpluged everything pressing powet to drain whats left and reconnecting repower. Heres manual about that pin
    https://www.manualslib.com/manual/438370/Asus-P5kpl-Cm-Motherboard-Micro-Atx.html?page=36#manual
  22. Anonymous on February 21, 2023 - click here to reply
    What do I have to do when ASUS P5KPL-VM won't wake up the monitor?
    The monitor goes to sleep mode once I sleep the PC as well. When I wake up the PC, everything works (mouse, keyboard, fans, HDD, etc.), but the monitor stays in standby mode and doesn't wake up. When I force the monitor ON, it stays on black screen and after few second goes to standby mode itself.
    The monitor is connected to nvidia geforce gt730 via VGA cable. I tried with another monitor with its own VGA cable and the result is the same issue.
    This started since last December and until now the only possible action is to switch off the power of the PC and then to power on. Then, when the PC runs, the monitor is on too.
    Through all the time I red and tried tones of suggestions: power plans, advanced power options, drivers, etc. and nothing helps.
    Any help and ideas about how to fix this terrible problem?
    Big thanks in advance!
    • Matt Gadient on February 21, 2023 - click here to reply
      I'd actually suspect the GeForce GT730 might be the culprit. If this problem existed from Day 1 I'd normally suggest looking through the BIOS options to see if there are any sleep option that might be related to the PCI-E port and/or try drivers and/or see if the video card has extra settings available in Device Manager.

      However, since you said this only started in December, assuming you didn't change any settings that may have led to it, my thought would be either issues with new drivers, issues with a Windows Update, or the Windows install is broken. Also possible something in the background is trying to use the card when it goes to sleep and causing it to flake out (GPU mining or game related). A fresh format and re-install (using old drivers) would normally be the first thing I'd do to try and start eliminating possible causes, though on older hardware this can get risky if you can't get a hold of all the motherboard drivers you may need beforehand.
  23. Anonymous on February 23, 2023 - click here to reply
    Dear Matt,
    I work on my PC many years and I've never played with the BIOS and drivers. Since years ago the PC works flawlessly, therefore I didn't update drivers or whatever. I even didn't install Windows updates since maybe 2016 and everything was fine. Since the problem started, I checked every settings of GT730 in the Device Manager and couldn't see anything wrong. I've never used my PC for mining or games. I was thinking of fresh format and re-install, but this would take a lot of work and time and then if the problem appears again, it would be wasting of time.
    By the way, a friend advised me to disconnect some components (the 2nd physical HDD, DVD, etc.) and then to power on the PC and trying to sleep and wake it up to see if the monitor will wake up or not. The idea is to see if the problem may be because of the PC power supply. And if the power supply is the reason, then how can it work fine when starting the whole PC but unable to power on the monitor after sleep only?!?
    Also is it possible to be some capacitor or other element on the MB? I checked everything with a strong lens and nothing seems to be wrong or damaged.
    Another idea of mine is if the problem is because of a virus, malware or whatever. I checked all my system, even in Safe Mode. I still have only the Avast Antivirus in the startup, no any weird processes in the Task Manager.
    • Matt Gadient on February 23, 2023 - click here to reply
      Hardware issues could certainly be worth investigating. In addition to what your friend suggested, if your CPU supports on-board video, I believe the P5KPL-CM has a VGA output - it could be worth removing the GT730 and using onboard video to see if it starts working. Or swap in a spare video card as a test to help eliminate that as a possibility.
  24. Anonymous on February 26, 2023 - click here to reply
    Well, Matt, I think I tried everything already. Removed the GT730 and connected the monitor to the onboard video (Intel G31/33). Also disconnected the DVD and 2nd HDD from the power supply. Unfortunately, the result is still the same - the monitor doesn't wake up from sleep.
    I also connected the monitor to my laptop via HDMI cable to test if it will wake up. Once I just closed the laptop (the screen down to the keyboard), the monitor went to sleep as well together with the laptop. Then when I opened the laptop, the monitor woke up together with the laptop. So the monitor is ok.
    Of course, during sleeping, the monitor kept staying ON, i.e. doesn't go to standby mode as it should if it was connected via VGA cable. Let me know if I am wrong, but as long as I know and tested before, a PC can't let a monitor go to standby mode as if connected with VGA cable. Right?
    Will a PC turn off automatically a monitor (sleep) via DVI cable or Display port-to-VGA cable or Display port-to-DVI cable?
    • Matt Gadient on February 26, 2023 - click here to reply
      VGA should go to sleep/standby via DPMS (certainly for anything made within the last 20 years). DVI/HDMI/DP generally all go into sleep/standby without issue, though weird things can exist (I have a motherboard that specifically won't sleep a monitor when both DP ports are used in Ubuntu but that's either a Linux or Ubuntu issue).

      As to VGA-to-X adapters, I don't know how DPMS translates - it's possible a passive adapter might not work. I've found DP-to-X adapters to be fickle to the point where I'll go to lengths to avoid having to use them.
  25. Anonymous on February 26, 2023 - click here to reply
    Sorry, Matt, my typing mistake - PC CAN let a monitor go to standby mode as if connected with VGA cable. What I meant is that I am not sure about other cables. But I know for sure that a monitor won't sleep via HDMI cable. Yes, the monitor will go to black screen, but not to sleep. For example, when you turn off your TV with the remote control, the TV turns off, i.e. goes to standby mode. But if you connect a laptop to your TV via HDMI cable, I deeply doubt that it will go to standby after you sleep the laptop. Yes, the laptop will go to sleep mode, but the TV will stay ON with empty "no signal" black screen. Try and see. Same with a monitor via HDMI.
    • Matt Gadient on February 26, 2023 - click here to reply
      It's very possible I'm misinterpreting something you're saying, but all the HDMI monitors I've owned have gone into a low power sleep/standby/save mode of about 1 watt, generally indicated by the power LED changing to an orange color within a few seconds of "no signal" happening. My DVI monitor (from 2008) also goes into a sleep/standby/save mode which it indicates by slowly blinking the power led. Both our HDMI TVs that are computer-connected will power off after a period of "no signal" as well - I wrote about the behavior of my Samsung TV (used as a monitor) back in 2012 here if curious: https://mattgadient.com/samsung-un22d5003-review-a-tv-and-an-awesome-pc-monitor/ - short version is that it drops to 15 watts at "no signal" and completely powers off 10-15 minutes later.

      To be clear, I'm using the terms sleep/standby/save interchangeably, but using them to mean the low power mode that tends to hit approximately 1 watt power draw.

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