Omen 16 2022 Intel I7-12700H: "Windows" key not working after wakeup from sleep (modern standby)

[vittopascu]

Hello, I have an Omen 16 laptop with i7-12700H, 32GB of RAM and RTX3070-Ti (Model number: 65Z98EA#ABH) with Windows 11 and US keyboard layout.

The " Windows" key works regularly at boot, meaning that when pressed it brings up the start menu and works in the combination " Win + R"  to launch applications.

If I put the computer to sleep (modern standby) and then wake it again, the Windows key does not work at all, it just does not register the keypress as if it weren't there, until I reboot the laptop. What is most interesting is that pressing the windows key does in fact wake the laptop from sleep, but then once the laptop is awake again the key looses all functionality.

What I have done:

- Updated to latest BIOS F.05 (Revision A)

- Wiped Windows 11 installation and reinstalled from scratch from an installation media, and performed all updates, including drivers.

- Checked for updates in the HP Support Assistant

- Ran the keyboard test within the HP Hardware Diagnostics Tool, which confirms that before sleep the "Windows" key does register the keypress regularly, while after sleep it does not at all.

I suspect this might be a problem with the BIOS so I would be interested to see if anyone with the same identical machine can reproduce the issue to try and figure out whether the problem exists across the board or my particular unit is somehow defective.

Thank you

[Nirvana_95]

Hi @vittopascu

Welcome to the HP Support Community. Thanks for bringing this to our notice.

I see that you are facing Windows key-related issues on your system. Do not worry, we are here to fix it.

May I know from when are you facing this issue?

Did you make any hardware or software-related changes to it?

Please follow the steps shared below and let me know the outcome of it: 

Faulty settings in Power Management is also one of the likely reasons for this problem. You can change to a different setting mode to see if the problem is resolved: 

1) On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter. 

2) Expand Mice and other pointing devices. For keyboard driver, expand Keyboards. 

3) Right-click the device name of your mouse or keyboard driver and click Properties.

4) Click Power Management, make sure the box for Allow the computer to turn off his device to save power option is un-checked and click OK.

5) Reboot your computer. See if this problem occurs again.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. 

Click the “Yes" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping. 

[vittopascu]

Hello, The problem was present since the very first time I booted the laptop, though I only noticed it after I ran all windows updates, driver updates and bios update. Other than that I hadn't changed anything in software nor in hardware. As I mentioned I even wiped the ssd and reinstalled windows 11 from scratch.

Performing the steps you mentioned did not help, I unchecked that box from every single device in the device manager but the problem still occurs. I think the quickest way would be for someone with a laptop similar to mine (same CPU at least) to try and reproduce the issue.

Kind regards,

[Nirvana_95]

Thanks for getting back.

I have sent you a private message with further instructions to get this issue sorted in order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link.

Thanks!

[vittopascu]

By the way I went through an additional troubleshooting step. I booted into a live-usb of Fedora Linux KDE. The behavior of the windows key is identical as with windows: works at boot, looses all functionality after waking up from sleep. This suggests that this is truly a BIOS issue and has nothing to do with any windows settings.

I wish HP would take this report seriously and try at least to reproduce the issue on a similar machine. I personally was able to try out an AMD based Omen 16 laptop and the issue does not appear, so it is either my specific unit or the problem is specific to Intel i7-12700H processors.