Has anyone had any success with finding a controller that can reliably wake up a Windows laptop from sleep mode? I have a Legion laptop that's always connected to a monitor, and I'm planning to run Playnite in full-screen mode with a shortcut to Retrobat. I'm currently using the 8bitdo Pro 3 controller, which appears as an Xbox device in the device manager, but it doesn't have a power management option. I've turned off hibernate, confirmed that I'm on the S3 power state, activated power to USBs during low power, and tried various registry adjustments, yet it's not listed under the command 'powercfg devicequery wake_from_any'. I even tried enabling it manually through the command prompt. If I can't find a suitable controller, I might need to use a small mouse to wake the laptop or a smart switch to toggle the power, which will boot it up using the BIOS's instant boot feature. It would be ideal if I could find a controller that does the job instead.
5 Answers
I thought the official Microsoft controllers could do that! But I've heard mixed feedback recently that they may have removed the wake-up feature. If it works, I'd totally get one with the USB dongle for the convenience, even if it shortens lifespan a bit.
I seem to have stumbled upon a solution! I paired an Xbox Series controller and fiddled with the device manager under HID devices. I toggled the sleep option and allowed it to wake the PC. Now, when the laptop is asleep, I can turn on the Series controller and any button press wakes it up. It seems to work so far—though I'll test it after a longer sleep to see if it holds up.
I found a video that goes through the setup for this kind of problem. He explains the steps you might have to take, plus links to previous build videos. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/biJUt8EgaC0?si=Au4scdfQvivX4rdf
Just a heads up, the Wolverine can be pricey and hard to find. Another idea might be to wire the monitor's hub (USB A - USB B) and plug the controller directly into the monitor.
You might want to check out PowerToys. It’s an open-source app that lets you tweak a lot of settings in Windows that aren't available by default. I don't have the time to see if it solves your issue but it could be worth a look!
Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check it out.
Interesting! I saw that the original Xbox One and Series controllers might work. However, I think it needs to register as a HID device in device manager. I may also look into the Razer Wolverine, although I’ve heard it’s a bit expensive. But thanks for the lead!