How do I turn off the display instead of going to sleep

[dlord369]

Just got a new surface pro 3 and i'm having issues with it going to sleep on me. I was trying to download the latest update from MS and it kept getting interrupted when it went to sleep. So I tried adjusting the power profile. I have a docking station and I have it docked, so I set the power options to never go to sleep when plugged in. Then I went into advanced settings and changed under Display to turn off the display after 6 mins. Well after 6 mins it puts the SP3 into sleep mode and cuts out the network activity. Then when I wake it back up and go back into the power options it shows that it is set to put the computer to sleep after 6 mins.

I'm I doing something wrong? Is anyone else able to just have the display turn off but not have their SP3 go to sleep?

Thanks,
-Jeff

 

[ven07]

Found this; hope it helps surface pro sleeps after 2 minutes FIXED | Microsoft Surface Forums

 

[jnjroach]

Just got a new surface pro 3 and i'm having issues with it going to sleep on me. I was trying to download the latest update from MS and it kept getting interrupted when it went to sleep. So I tried adjusting the power profile. I have a docking station and I have it docked, so I set the power options to never go to sleep when plugged in. Then I went into advanced settings and changed under Display to turn off the display after 6 mins. Well after 6 mins it puts the SP3 into sleep mode and cuts out the network activity. Then when I wake it back up and go back into the power options it shows that it is set to put the computer to sleep after 6 mins.

I'm I doing something wrong? Is anyone else able to just have the display turn off but not have their SP3 go to sleep?

Thanks,
-Jeff

No you are not doing anything wrong except that you are wanting the Surface Pro 3 to act like a traditional laptop. The Surface Pro 3 uses Connected Standby (S0iX Power State) that Microsoft markets as "InstantGo" but it is also a modified version of Connected Standby.

Connected Standby is more like a Smartphone or ARM based Tablet and that the device doesn't enter a traditional Sleep State (S3 Power State) it goes into a low powered state that allows Connected Standby Enabled Apps to function (WinRT or Modern UI Apps Only), all Win32 (Desktop Applications) on the other hand because they are not Connected Standby Enabled (and without a complete re-write can't) get suspended.

So Screen Off = Connected Standby

I also stated that this is a modified version of Connected Standby, what I mean by that is the SP3 while on battery will only stay in Connected Standby for 4 hours, after that it will enter a modified version hibernation (Lite S4 Power State), it will stay in this Power State for 8 Hours, after that it will enter a deep hibernation state and can maintain the battery level for up to a year.

Your next question will be...."Can I make behave like a normal Laptop?" and the answer is not really, there are work arounds using the Registry Hacks or CMD Line Scripts or enabling Hyper-V but you will not get Sleep (S3), your only options will be Hibernation (S4) or Off (S5).

 

[dlord369]

Thanks for the response. That clears things up for me somewhat. I'm thinking that my only alternative is to set it to never go to sleep/turn off display when plugged in and just setting the screen saver to kick on using the blank screen option. The only thing I don't like about that is that it still keeps my monitors and the actual display on the surface on and powered. But it sounds like that might be the only way to do this.

-Jeff