My HP Omen Obelisk freezes when idle nearly 100% of the time.

[pgthielen]

Within a couple weeks of getting a brand new computer (Feb 2020) it started to freeze every time it enters an idle state, requiring a hard reboot in order to turn it back on.  I've since updated countless drivers for things, software updates (including OS updates obviously), uninstalled unnecessary software, ran every system diagnostic (all said no issues), and eventually reinstalled Windows.  After reinstalling windows the computer stopped freezing when idle for about a week, and now it's back to doing it again.  The computer has always worked flawlessly in every other regard.  It never freezes, glitches, or has any trouble running basic software or even photo editing software or modern video games.  I'm thoroughly perplexed and at this point, and a little angle TBH considering this is roughly as good of a computer as money can buy right now, and I'm to the point that I'd probably like to submit this under warranty.  Thoughts?

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363 System Type x64-based PC

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9900K CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3600 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date AMI F.21, 11/25/2019

SMBIOS Version 3.2

Embedded Controller Version 30.38

BIOS Mode UEFI

BaseBoard Manufacturer HP 8509.00

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB

Available Physical Memory 26.5 GB

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

Intel(R) PCIe Controller (x16) - 1901

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

That is very unusual.

I am assuming idle means sleep.

I would touch base with HP support. Normally older hardware drivers or corrupt system files cause this but you have reinstalled Windows. But if W10 updates to a newer version this can cause strange issues.

So you could have a weird hardware driver problem if W10 updates to a newer version.

Have you run HP diagnostics to check hardware to eliminate this as a cause?

Regards

[pgthielen]

Hi Grzwacz, thanks for the reply.  By idle i believe i mean sleep, yes.  Basically, if I'm not around the computer for an hour or so, and I walk back into the room, the monitor will have gone to sleep and won't wake back up because the computer is frozen.  if the monitor hasn't yet gone to sleep, the computer will be on the lock screen, and will be frozen there not allowing me to type in my password.  To be clear, i would typically not be leaving any major processes being active.  So typically i walk away from my computer with no significant programs open.  It doesn't matter.  I thought perhaps it had to do with disk defrag auto process, but it happens about 90% of the time i've been away from the computer for more than an hour; and about 100% of the time i've been away from the computer overnight (or longer than 8 hours).

Yes I ran every aspect of software, OS, and hardware diagnostics from the HP Support Assistant, and it all came back with no issues.  My computer literally works perfectly (amazingly actually) in all regards, except i can't leave it alone for more than an hour without it freezing.  Crazy.

HP support wants me to create backup media and then reinstall Windows from that.  They think the fact that I merely used the "reset this PC" function the first time around wasn't enough.   Any other thoughts?

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

You're very welcome.

I would try boot time hardware diagnostics.

Power on your PC, press Esc, then F2 at the prompt. Choose System Tests. You could also run component tests.

You may have some type of hardware problem if your PC is doing this when running the HP factory image.

This may explain why HP Support is telling you to create HP backup media and reinstall Windows using the HP backup media. HP will not do a hardware return authorization without justification.

Your PC should wake from sleep when using the HP factory image.

I would disconnect from the network when checking the factory image.

Regards

[pgthielen]

Thanks again.  I did a USB reboot and reinstallation back to original factory, and still had this issue BEFORE applying all the Windows and driver updates as well as AFTER doing that.  HP is going to accept a return/repair/exchange so i'm just going to go that route rather than continue to spend my time on this.  Frustrating to spend close to $3k on a computer and have it be a lemon but at least the process to return/exchange it doesn't appear to be too difficult.

[Grzwacz]

Hi,

You're very welcome.

It could be a hardware problem if you are only connecting known good: keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

Connecting other external devices when testing wake from sleep using the HP factory image could cause this issue if the external device is faulty or you have a driver problem.

Regards