Warning: VPC and Hibernate mode

I was doing a presentation for the Sydney Deep .Net User Group (SDNUG) last thursday on the Asynchronous Client Script callback features in ASP.NET V2.0 and had some interesting problems using Virtual PC.

I had the presentation stuff ready to go, I was running on battery (but had heaps of power left), loaded up my presentation and the VPC image with my demos on it all ready to go. I went into "Hibernate" mode on my Dell Inspiron 6000 and waited for my time to come around. I started doing the presentation and all was going well until I tried using VPC to show the demo. No image was being displayed in the main window. Itried restarting the VPC and the VPC console but it simply would not display anything in the window (although it was definitely loading). I ended up having to reboot the PC in the middle of the presentation and moving along the presentation as best as possible while this was occurring. Once rebooted, all was ok, it just took a long time and caused dead time in the presentation.

I dont know if this problem is specific with my machine or Dell's in particular, but this is simply a warning. Load up the VPC from scratch, or dont go into "Hibernate" mode with it running if you are doing a demo/presentation.

The presentation went well apart from that little hitch. Normally I would start to sweat and stuttuer but I kept quite calm and collected so my presentation skills are obviously improving (I hope :-) )

6 Comments

  • Hey,



    Been there too (not infront of a room full of people).



    I'm supprised it works just after a reboot - maybe during the 'go to hybernate' process they need to put the VM into "save state" mode (right now it looks like it just flicks off which can't be good.



    - Angus

  • Someone recently suggested to me that there was a hotfix for this. Not able to track down a link yet

  • if you find the patch/hotfix, please let me know.



    Thanx.

  • I have this happen A LOT on my Thinkpad (it suspends/sleeps automatically when you close the screen, and when it wakes up, if VPC was running, you get the non-updating screen).



    The best that I've found was to, of course, not leave VPC running when I suspend (even the VPC Console must be closed). If I do accidentally leave it running and the screen stops updating, I think I discovered that if I close all VPC windows (i.e., save state) and the console, then restart the VPC console, that the screens will start to update again. (Disclaimer: I haven't taken the time to prove that this works consistently, but was floored the first time that I discovered that it did work).

  • I own a Thinkpad too, and I have the "problem" too. I do the same trick in order to continue working.

  • Its a VPC problem when the power management of a laptop kicks in. I've had tons of problems when I'm battery but none when I run on the AC.



    Wally

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