HELP!! My screensaver won't activate when the comp is on idle!!

[NauTiKa128]

I just built a new computer w/ the following parts but it won't go into standby/suspend or screensaver won't activate within the specified amt of time (10mins).. Is it my bios settings?? Any help will be appreciated!


MOBO: Asus P4P800 Deluxe w/ latest bios
Video: Sapphire Radeon 9500 128mb softmodded to 9700 and OC'ed w/ RivaTuner 2.0
Onboard LAN
Onboard sound (for now)
RAM: Kingston 512MB DDR400 CL3 X 2 (Dual Channel mode)
WinXP w/ the latest updates

Some of the things that I don't understand in bios: (the manual could be quite useless!)

Graphics Aperture Size [64mb]
[4MB] [8MB] [16MB] [32MB] [64MB] [128MB]

Spread Spectrum [Enabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

ICH Delayed Transaction [Enabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

MPS Revision [1.1]
[1.1] [1.4]

OnBoard LAN Boot ROM [Disabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

Plug and Play O/S [No]
[No] [Yes]

Suspend Mode [Auto]
[S1 (POS) Only] [S3 Only] [Auto]

Repost Video on S3 Resume [No]
[No] [Yes]

ACPI 2.0 Support [No]
[No] [Yes]

ACPI APIC Support [Enabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

BIOS -> AML ACPI Table [Enabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

Power Management/APM [Enabled] Should I enable or disable this??
[Disabled] [Enabled]

Video Power Down Mode [Suspend]
[Disabled] [Standby] [Suspend]

Throttle Slow Clock Ratio [50%]
87.5%/75.0%/62.5%/50%/37.5%/25%/12.5%

System Thermal [Disabled]
[Disabled] [Enabled]

TIA!!

 

[NauTiKa128]

Oh one more thing.. When I set my screensaver to "wait 1 minute".. then it works.. what gives??

 

[pspada]

check your power settings - the "Power" button on the bottom of the Screensaver tab of Display Properties. Your monitor is probably set to go off before the screen saver kicks in.

 

[NauTiKa128]

hm... no i set the monitor to go off in 20mins and hard drive off in 2hrs.. =\

 

[pspada]

And how long is your screensaver set for? > 20 minutes, and it should kick in.

 

[NauTiKa128]

it's set at 10mins..

 

[KF]

I don't know about blocking screensavers (which I have quit using) but programs that run automatically in the background can keep the computer from going into standby.


>ACPI 2.0 Support [No]
>[No] [Yes]

This could possibly be a problem if you installed XP without ACPI, because XP does use ACPI. ACPI=Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. OTOH it may only mean that an earlier or later version of ACPI was enabled. ACPI is more than what it sounds like. It is really a second BIOS more powerful than the old, conventional BIOS. ACPI is the means by which the computer is put into Suspend Mode, for instance.

>Spread Spectrum [Enabled]
>[Disabled] [Enabled]
This should have no effect, but it is often claimed to reduce system stability slightly if enabled. It is intended to reduce computer electrical noise affecting TVs and radios. If you don't have a problem, you don't need to have it enabled. What it does is vary the timing of bus signals. That spreads the spectrum of frequencies present in the noise wider, which reduces the intensity of noise at the central frequencies. The net effect is for the noise to be less obtrusive.

>Plug and Play O/S [No]
>[No] [Yes]
This should have no effect. But XP and W9x are Plug and Play OSes, so Yes would be the logical answer. If you say No, the BIOS enables and sets up all PnP devices so they work within non-PNP OSes. If Yes, PnP devices, other than those needed to boot the computer, are left alone. In either case XP redoes the whole shot completely. Exactly why they give you the choice of Yes, I don't know. Maybe it reduces boot time slightly.

>Power Management/APM [Enabled] Should I enable or disable this??
>[Disabled] [Enabled]
I think it should be disabled. It may need to be disabled in order for Windows to handle it completely. I always disable it myself, but I never checked to see what would happen the other way.


>OnBoard LAN Boot ROM [Disabled]
>[Disabled] [Enabled]
Unless you plan to boot the computer by loading an OS over the Network instead of off the HD, which is the function of the LAN Boot ROM, it should be disabled.

>Graphics Aperture Size [64mb]
>[4MB] [8MB] [16MB] [32MB] [64MB] [128MB]

I believe this is the amount of system memory the video card is allowed to use. I leave it at whatever the BIOS suggests. I understand that fancy video cards seldom use much system memory. OTOH if you spent the bucks for a fancy video card, you probably want the video card to be able to use any amount of system memory it might.

>ACPI APIC Support [Enabled]
>[Disabled] [Enabled]
Enabled. APIC is what controls the interrupts. APIC=Advanced Peripheral Interface Controller. Formerly, chipsets just had PIC. Enabling the advanced version gives you a lot more interrupts than plain PIC, so that interrupts don't need to be shared between onboard devices and more are left for PCI.

That's about as much as I know.

 

[NauTiKa128]

hey thank you so much for the info!

still doesn't work tho.. =\
help anyone??