Monthly Archives: October 2009

Realtek’s network controller deep sleep mode issue

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As I’ve noticed a fair bit of visitors interested in my post of Windows 7 and Network Controller Deep Sleep Mode problem, I thought I should write a “clean” version of the post (basically the fix for the problem minus my ramblings 🙂 )

The problem starts when the computer goes into sleep/standby mode, a few components of the PC including the network controller (or adapter) are turned off. The issue occurs when the PC wakes up and power to everything is restored. The network controller doesn’t come on and as per Realtek installation message:

The Realtek Network Adapter/Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep Mode enabled Please Plug the Cable

The best fix is to reset the motherboard and the best way to reset your motherboard is to remove your RAM chips. Leave them out for some time (in my case 30 seconds) and put them back in. And that is all! The motherboard will be reset and the network controller will come out of deep sleep mode!

Note: If this doesn’t work, leave the RAM out for good 10 minutes. Leaving the RAM out longer has worked for some people (see comments below).

Note 2: For laptops, removing the battery for 5-10 minutes has worked for a few.

Note 3: If nothing works, turn off the system and plug in a external hard drive (or a USB thumb drive) and then turn the computer on. Once on the desktop, Windows will try to install the external hardware. This, in some cases, has worked and wakes up the network controller.

Note 4: Some people have reported that “Loading Default Settings” in the BIOS solves the issue as well. You will need to go into the BIOS at start up by pressing the Delete key (can be F2 or some other, please check the message at the start of the screen). Once in BIOS, you can press F10 to “Load Default Settings” (If you don’t see that, look for a button saying that. It is usually around the “Save & Exit” Button). Once loaded, hit “Save & Exit”. This will restart your computer and some people have reported this fixes the issue.

Once you have it working, to make sure the network controller doesn’t go into sleep mode again, try this:

  1. Open Device Manager by:
    1. Go to Start
    2. Click Control Panel
    3. Choose System and Security
    4. Click Device Manager (under System)
  2. Open Network Controller properties by:
    1. Double-click Network adapters to expand it
    2. Double-click the Realtek Network Controller
  3. Turn off Deep Sleep mode by:
    1. Choose the Power Management tab
    2. Untick “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”

Doing this will make sure the network controller is not put in to sleep mode till someone fixes the issue!

Finally, if something does work you please post the Motherboard/Laptop model and the method that worked to help others!

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Google launches Rich Snippet Testing Tool

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Now this is one feature (tool) that I’m really really excited about! Why? Because I suggested it this summer! And I have proof 😉

Posted on YouTube on 19 August 2009

Adeel from Manchester, UK asks:ac
“When do you recon Rich Snippets will be made widely available? Can I suggest a tool in Google Webmaster Tools that lets you view (or preview) Rich Snippets from your site?”

This video is part of a “Grab Bag” series in which Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, answers questions from users.

At the time Matt Cutts played down saying: “[…] its a good suggestion […]” and recommend that we look at the current website using Rich Snippets and try to understand how they have implemented them.

And, to be honest, I was happy with the answer. But I was thrilled to see the notification in my Google Reader saying there is an update about Rich Snippets.

Rich Snippet Tool

Rich Snippet Tool

The tool is pretty good, all you have to do is enter a URL of a page that has microformats or RDFa format embedded in the HTML. When you hit the magic button, the tool displays an example of the Rich Snippet which includes the star rating and the extra information (in this case the price info).

What I really like about the tool is that it goes a step further and shows the extracted information. This is really helpful when debugging the formats. One other hidden gem is the rating calculation which clearly specified how the rating that is shown in the format of stars was achieved.

Finally, I want to tip my hat in thanks and recognition to the Google Webmaster Team and anyone involved in making this tool!

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No network adapter/controller found on waking up from Sleep Mode

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UPDATE: I’ve made a separate post for people interested in quick fix: Realtek’s network controller deep sleep mode issue

Yes, you read the title right. It is my second day of Windows 7 and trust me it was a long one. Its 1 o’clock in the morning and I finally got my internet working (after I got my Network Controller to work). So, lets start from the top.

Windows 7 does not like waking up from sleep

As it seems, Windows 7 really doesn’t like waking up from “Sleep” mode, most of the times for me, it just crashes. When I say crashes, it means I get a message on my monitor screen saying “No video input”, and the system is frozen because pressing the Num Lock key does not make the light of Num Lock go off.

No internet connection

I restarted the system (something I hate to do as it is my fresh install!) and was greeted by the screen asking me if I wanted to do a clean start up or try to restore the sleep mode again (as if it was my fault!). I had some work to do, so I jumped to the clean start up option and went straight onto Windows 7 desktop. So far so good. But then I noticed, Windows was screaming at me that I had “No internet connection”!

Network Controller/Adapter Gone

I went through several steps and came to conclusion that my network adapter had ‘died’, ‘gone to sleep’, ‘cuckooed’! It seemed that Windows 7 just could not see my Network Controller/Adapter, as if it has disappeared or vanished or just didn’t exist! There wasn’t even a section for Network Adapters in Device Manager.

Network Controller in Deep Sleep Mode

I tried to install the drivers for my Network Adapter (RealTek by the way) but I got a really nice error message during the RealTek setup:

The RealTek Network Adapter/Controller was not found.
If Deep Sleep Mode enabled Please Plug the Cable

And that’s when I noticed something interesting, my network adapter wasn’t flashing. Just for curious minds, I own a SilverStone Raven (photo) in which the whole motherboard is turned 90° clockwise and the back-panel becomes the top-panel. This means, luckily, I could saw the problem.

Getting your Network Adapter/Controller Back

I instantly knew this isn’t a Windows 7 only issue. The first thing popped in my head I have to reset my motherboard. As I own a M4A79T Deluxe, resetting is as simple as sliding the RAM out and popping it back in (the normal way of resetting your motherboard by using BIOS/CMOS jumper).

And guess what, it did the job. I got my Network Controller/Adapter back!

Once I got my internet back, I tried to find out why does Windows 7 crash on trying to wake up from Sleep mode, I believe it has something to do with the S1 and S3 settings in the BIOS. I will investigate and report back here soon. But for people having trouble getting the Network Controller working, I hope this helps.

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Shortcut for shutting down Windows 7

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I had been using Microsoft XP since 2004 and being a power user relied heavily on its keyboard shortcuts. I had pre-ordered a copy of Windows 7 and installed it last night. What I’m shocked to realise is they have broken one the most used keyboard shortcuts, i.e. the one to shut down Windows.

In Windows XP, it was as simple as pressing the Windows key and ‘U’. Now that no longer works and I have to use my mouse to turn off my PC. Not a problem for most of the users but for people used to shortcuts its a big nuisance.

I went through the booklet provided to find out if they had put a replacement in it but of no vain. I switched to plan B, tinkering around till I find a shortcut.

To shutdown Windows 7 the shortcut is: Windows key > Left Arrow key > Enter

To open the Shutdown options’ menu, you need to press the Left Arrow key again followed by the shortcut key for the required action.

Shutting down the PC, although different, takes same number of key presses but sleeping (Standby mode in Windows XP), Switch User and log off are two more extra keys.

Is this better than Windows XP? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

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