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Use as an alarm clock

kevroc

New Member
ok folks lets keep the tone down please, I don't want this turning into a argument just because someone asked a legitimate question... on that note I have to agree with some folks here that using an alarm clock is not doable on a $1000+ device is pretty bad, there is $75 dollar devices that can do this with no problems, MS should have a way to enable alarm programs to wake the device out of hibernate and ring to wake the person at the intended time..

Just because you spend a lot of money on something doesn't mean it should do everything. My car can't mow the lawn either.

It's a computer, not an alarm clock, I'm not sure why that surprises people.
 

Moonsurface

Super Moderator
Staff member
There is a difference between the sp3 and an android tablet. My Nexus 7 tablet battery lasts only a few days on standby where I'm pretty sure my SP3 would last for well over a week, they manage power differently. This is the problem with the alarm, if you turned off the hibernate it'd probably work at the expense of battery life.
 

msolok

Member
The issue is the Hibernation part. Windows Hibernation effectively saves the System state and RAM contents to HDD and shuts down the PC. This means software isn't really running, so the Alarm isn't triggered. This is a Windows thing, and how Windows handles Power saving differently to 'Always On' devices (such as Phones or tablets).

Try something like the software WakeUpOnStandby:
http://www.dennisbabkin.com/wosb/
It is basically able to wake your device from Hibernation based on a schedule. This will allow your Alarm to run successfully.
This is a bit more annoying as you have to remember to set this as well as your Alarm (or just leave it set all the time, so when you eventually do wake up your Surface is ready for the day already) but it might be a decent work around.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Any idea the impact on battery life if one disables hibernate?

Best,

Ben
If you don't have too many Activators you would lose 5-9% over 8 hours, if your system has many Win32 Programs installed it could be far higher. Not sure if the Firmware on the SP3 allows for the Hibernation to be turned off, haven't tested it.
 

kundas1

Well-Known Member
Just because you spend a lot of money on something doesn't mean it should do everything. My car can't mow the lawn either.

It's a computer, not an alarm clock, I'm not sure why that surprises people.

you analogy doesn't make any sense, we aren't talking about cars and mowing the lawn is so far off the spectrum of normal that you make no sense! having an alarm go off on a set time is not difficult to achieve on a TABLET.. and YES a tablet should be able to do everything another tablet can do, the only thing I can understand is that the hibernation is what is affecting the alarm app from working but there should be away to allow it to work together.. after all this is a TABLET and it needs to have connected stand by and I don't know why this is so hard for MS? anyways I'm not going to bicker about this as this is off topic and not helping the OP.
 

guymalloc

Member
I agree, my comments were a little terse, and I apologize. I'm old school, I use my devices to do a specific task, and enjoy turning them off when I'm done. I'm not going to pass on smelling the roses so I can see whose posting on Facebook, or check email incessantly as some people do. There's still a whole world out there, and MY time is getting shorter every day.....
 

surfdock

Active Member
Ben, try using task scheduler.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=windows task scheduler alarm clock

There are a few guides that cover the scenarios better than I ever could.

It may be possible to do this in a friendly modern app without disabling power management features, but you probably have to follow the MSDN guidance very closely and use "AllowedWithWakeupCapability". Most apps do not follow the guidance well: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dn451440.aspx

I suggest learning Visual Studio and creating a good one that actually works, then get everyone on this forum to buy it and you'll have your Surface paid for in no time :)


Anyway, if this helped at all, pls mark the thread solved.
 
OP
B

Ben Freedman

New Member
Hmmm.... Learn Visual Studio so I can have a working alarm clock.. Don't think so....

Perhaps time to close this thread, mods?

Ben
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Ben, try using task scheduler.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=windows task scheduler alarm clock

There are a few guides that cover the scenarios better than I ever could.

It may be possible to do this in a friendly modern app without disabling power management features, but you probably have to follow the MSDN guidance very closely and use "AllowedWithWakeupCapability". Most apps do not follow the guidance well: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dn451440.aspx

I suggest learning Visual Studio and creating a good one that actually works, then get everyone on this forum to buy it and you'll have your Surface paid for in no time :)


Anyway, if this helped at all, pls mark the thread solved.
I don't see how this overcomes hibernation.
 

surfdock

Active Member
I don't see how this overcomes hibernation.

Oh yeah good point. OK I think I found a better solution. No Visual Studio required:

powercfg /change hibernate-timeout-dc 600


That ought to keep the machine in connectedStandby mode for 10 hours on DC power instead of automatically timing out and hibernating after 4. If you enable-hyper-V or disable CS, this will not work. The machine will still auto-hibernate if the battery drains too far, so this is not a 100% reliable solution. But if there aren't too many apps polling in the background it should work.

You can also set the AC power timeout value independently:

powercfg /change hibernate-timeout-ac 600
 
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RémiM

Active Member
I agree, my comments were a little terse, and I apologize. I'm old school, I use my devices to do a specific task, and enjoy turning them off when I'm done. I'm not going to pass on smelling the roses so I can see whose posting on Facebook, or check email incessantly as some people do. There's still a whole world out there, and MY time is getting shorter every day.....

I appreciate and accept your appologize.
Thank you.
Rémi.
 
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