Computer lying about why its going to sleep

Question

I am on my Dell Inspiron 15, Windows 10 Home edition, latest version. Just browsing and chilling on battery. Balanced power profile, set to sleep after 30 mins of inactivity on battery. And suddenly system goes into sleep WHILE I am using it. My fingers are far away from the power button.

And 1 minute later it wakes up automatically. No buttons pressed, no keys hit.

I look at Event Viewer -> Windows Logs -> System, and look at latest events close to when this happened. A Kernel-Power event says The system is entering sleep. Sleep Reason: Button or Lid That's a lie! The lid was wide open, button was not touched (this is not the first time this has happened!)

And then a few seconds later, another Kernel-Power event, saying The system has resumed from sleep.

And finally one from Power-Troubleshooter, saying:

The system has returned from a low power state.

Sleep Time: ‎2020‎-‎06‎-‎14T14:04:54.947090900Z
Wake Time: ‎2020‎-‎06‎-‎14T14:05:17.004071300Z

Wake Source: Power Button

Again a lie! I never hit the power button to wake it back up. It just woke up by itself.

What on earth is happening, and how do I fix this!?

Answer 1

Your computer doesn't lie, which implies intentional deception... The power button was pressed, at least from it's point of view it was. The computer received a contact closure from the power button/switch connection. So if you didn't press it, then the power button or power button board is malfunctioning or has other issues like moisture in the contacts causing a short, thus it "thinks" the power button is being pressed. This is actually not an uncommon issue in some laptops and in most models is a relatively simple repair that most people can do themselves, and the part is usually quite reasonably priced and accessible.

You can try disassembling and cleaning the area around the power button, but I find this is rarely the case and if it fixes the issue it is only a short-term solution as the problem frequently recurs.

I would normally link some videos on the replacement of the power button board and specific parts needed, but you did not provide the specific model (Dell Inspiron 15 is too vague and generic to state the specific part), but a quick Google search of your specific model number will find the part and replacement instructions and/or videos.

Answer 2

Do you wear a magnet-type bracelet on your right wrist? This can sometimes trigger the closing of the lid passing over a section of the laptop.

Also check to see if Dell Optimizer is installed in your apps. There is an option in that app that can cause sleep issues too.

You can also try to modify the option for what closing the lid does from Power Options>Choose what closing the lid does>When I close the lid, change to "do nothing"