KA272U completely unresponsive unless I unplug power cord

This is an extension of my previous post with the KA272U monitor not waking up properly. I know there are issues with the Mac Mini and DP port sleep issue. What I am asking here is a little different.

Once the monitor went to sleep, it became completely unresponsive. None of the buttons works, including the power on/off, input switch, etc. I have unplugged the DP cable, same result. The only way to make the monitor work again is to unplug the power cord, wait for the amber light to disappear and then plug the power cord back. Is this normal behavior? I can understand a "No Signal" handshake issue. But I find it very hard to accept that the monitor completely kills all functionalities until the power cord is pulled.

Can someone chime in? I still have time to return this product if this is either a design flaw for this particular model or bad batch.

Thanks.

Accepted answers

JustACasual

Just wanted to add a bit more information for those that follow afterwards.

First, this issue stems from DisplayPort's deep sleep capability, but more specifically how manufacturer's are handling (not handling) that feature in their firmware. It exists with other brands too (e.g. Dell, LG, and Spectre); however, it is model dependent, just like with Acer. People have bypassed the issue by turning off deep sleep from within the monitor's settings. Obviously, this only applies when your particular model provides that option. Not all models do; sadly, the Acer KA272U is one of those.

You can bypass the problem in other ways with a little ingenuity (i.e. fancy power strip). For example, with the PC in a control socket, monitors in switch sockets, and a threshold switch to set a cutoff. I was able to bypass the DisplayPort deep sleep problem by doing this. How?

In my case the PC uses >45W when powered on. While close, with the threshold on my power strip set to High (42W) it was able to keep the switch plugs powered. When the draw dipped below 42W, as it does when putting the displays to sleep (36W), the plugs for the monitors are powered off. This allows the caps to drain so they turn on again at the next system start/wake.

While this was an effective workaround, I still returned my Acer monitors and went with another brand/model that was comparable, and did not suffer this issue out of the box.

All comments

Taioron

I have this *exact* same issue happen with my KA272U. I have tried looking in the menu for a deep sleep option, but I can't imagine this is "working as expected." When I turn my PC on, if I let it sit a little bit, it goes to "sleep" pretty quickly. On my own I also tried a bunch of solutions, and unplugging it seems to be the *only* thing that can make it responsive again.

CJF60

Same issue here with an XZ322QU as the primary display in a two display set up, connected via the DisplayPort cable. Scenario happens when the computer and monitors go to sleep or computer is turned off. If it's for a lengthy amount of time (not sure how long before the following happens), the monitor status light goes from blinking to off when the computer boots up. The second monitor comes on just fine. As above, the power button on the monitor does nothing. The system is acting like there are two monitors and monitor 1 is working, though monitor has not powered up. If I unplug and plug in the power cord, the monitor comes on. I haven't found a "Deep Sleep" mode in the settings for this monitor through the on screen display. Once the monitor is on, I can use the power button to turn off and turn on the monitor. I thought that might be a solution, so I powered down the monitor then shut the computer off. Came back later and turned the computer on - the power button would not turn on the monitor. Had to unplug the power cord. Next step is to try a new DisplayPort cable...

mmillicurie999

I also swapped and bought the VESA certified DP cable but it did not solved my problem. What appeared to have worked is getting a Dell monitor instead (see my other post). It's been a week and absolutely flawless. I think ACER messed up with the (lack of) power saving adjustment for these monitors.

CJF60

A new VESA-certified 1.4 DP cable appears to have solved my issue. The monitor now turns on when I wake the computer!

mmillicurie999

Glad the new cable solved your problem, but you have a different monitor. I have the VESA certified 1.2 DP cable which did not solve the sleep problem with the KA272U. I wonder if the a DP 1.4 cable would have made a difference. Either way, I am happy to have moved on.

Dethas

mmillicurie999 said:

Glad the new cable solved your problem, but you have a different monitor. I have the VESA certified 1.2 DP cable which did not solve the sleep problem with the KA272U. I wonder if the a DP 1.4 cable would have made a difference. Either way, I am happy to have moved on.

I tried a non VESA certified 1.4 DP and a VESA certified 1.4 DP. Both experience the same issues.

JustACasual

Have same issue with three recently purchased KA272U monitors.

Every morning at least one of the three will not respond (i.e. pressing power button or unplugging DP cable) unless the power is unplugged until the amber light goes out. Sometimes all three will do this. Beyond the obvious frustration of this routine, I'm also worried that repeatedly plugging/unplugging the power cable will prematurely wear out the port and/or damage the caps inside.

I'm using 3x DP cables (no hub), but the cables are cheap Chinese ****. Will order an actual VESA certified one since the non-compliant cables like to pass power back down pin-20 to the PC. This may be causing the wake-up issues. If that doesn't help, then I guess I'll try switching out the brand of monitor.

System:
Manjaro (64-bit)
Linux Kernel 5.13.19-2
KDE Plasma (5.22.5)
Qt (5.15.2)
RTX2060 with NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01

mmillicurie999

JustACasual said:

Have same issue with three recently purchased KA272U monitors.

Every morning at least one of the three will not respond (i.e. pressing power button or unplugging DP cable) unless the power is unplugged until the amber light goes out. Sometimes all three will do this. Beyond the obvious frustration of this routine, I'm also worried that repeatedly plugging/unplugging the power cable will prematurely wear out the port and/or damage the caps inside.

I'm using 3x DP cables (no hub), but the cables are cheap Chinese *****. Will order an actual VESA certified one since the non-compliant cables like to pass power back down pin-20 to the PC. This may be causing the wake-up issues. If that doesn't help, then I guess I'll try switching out the brand of monitor.

System:
Manjaro (64-bit)
Linux Kernel 5.13.19-2
KDE Plasma (5.22.5)
Qt (5.15.2)
RTX2060 with NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01

The cable probably won't make a difference but good luck. Let us know.

JustACasual

mmillicurie999 said:

JustACasual said:

Have same issue with three recently purchased KA272U monitors.

Every morning at least one of the three will not respond (i.e. pressing power button or unplugging DP cable) unless the power is unplugged until the amber light goes out. Sometimes all three will do this. Beyond the obvious frustration of this routine, I'm also worried that repeatedly plugging/unplugging the power cable will prematurely wear out the port and/or damage the caps inside.

I'm using 3x DP cables (no hub), but the cables are cheap Chinese *****. Will order an actual VESA certified one since the non-compliant cables like to pass power back down pin-20 to the PC. This may be causing the wake-up issues. If that doesn't help, then I guess I'll try switching out the brand of monitor.

System:
Manjaro (64-bit)
Linux Kernel 5.13.19-2
KDE Plasma (5.22.5)
Qt (5.15.2)
RTX2060 with NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01

The cable probably won't make a difference but good luck. Let us know.

Thanks for the luck. Since the monitors use DP 1.2, I bought three DP 1.2 VESA certified cables, which should be here tomorrow. I'll definitely update with results.

As a side note, shopping for the right cable has shown me just how fraught with fraud the cable market is, and the complacency of Amazon in this. The majority of the "VESA certified" ads on their platform are lying. If you look in the comments there are usually disappointed victims saying pin-20 is powered on their, supposedly, VESA certified product. Looks like a lot of these Chinese companies will get a VESA certification to post an initial ad with that claim, let the certification lapse, actually manufacture a non-compliant product, and then leave the ad up with the claim about their "VESA CErTIfIEd pRoDuCT.

Verifying against the VESA.org certified products database will help to avoid this scam.

JustACasual

mmillicurie999 said:

JustACasual said:

Have same issue with three recently purchased KA272U monitors.

Every morning at least one of the three will not respond (i.e. pressing power button or unplugging DP cable) unless the power is unplugged until the amber light goes out. Sometimes all three will do this. Beyond the obvious frustration of this routine, I'm also worried that repeatedly plugging/unplugging the power cable will prematurely wear out the port and/or damage the caps inside.

I'm using 3x DP cables (no hub), but the cables are cheap Chinese *****. Will order an actual VESA certified one since the non-compliant cables like to pass power back down pin-20 to the PC. This may be causing the wake-up issues. If that doesn't help, then I guess I'll try switching out the brand of monitor.

System:
Manjaro (64-bit)
Linux Kernel 5.13.19-2
KDE Plasma (5.22.5)
Qt (5.15.2)
RTX2060 with NVIDIA Driver 470.63.01

The cable probably won't make a difference but good luck. Let us know.

Thanks for the luck. Since the monitors use DP 1.2, I bought three DP 1.2 VESA certified cables, which should be here tomorrow. I'll definitely update with results.

As a side note, shopping for the right cable has shown me just how fraught with fraud the cable market is, and the complacency of Amazon in this. The majority of the "VESA certified" ads on their platform are lying. If you look in the comments there are usually disappointed victims saying pin-20 is powered on their, supposedly, VESA certified product. Looks like a lot of these Chinese companies will get a VESA certification to post an initial ad with that claim, let the certification lapse, actually manufacture a non-compliant product, and then leave the ad up with the claim about their "VESA CErTIfIEd pRoDuCT.

Verifying against the VESA.org certified products database will help to avoid this scam.

JustACasual

New cables did not work.

Too bad about these monitors. They are perfect in every way, other than turning on (I tend to prioritize that). Seems to be a problem with other Acer models, too. Amazon reviews of the Acer Nitro XV272U has the same issue for people using DisplayPort.

JustACasual

Just wanted to add a bit more information for those that follow afterwards.

First, this issue stems from DisplayPort's deep sleep capability, but more specifically how manufacturer's are handling (not handling) that feature in their firmware. It exists with other brands too (e.g. Dell, LG, and Spectre); however, it is model dependent, just like with Acer. People have bypassed the issue by turning off deep sleep from within the monitor's settings. Obviously, this only applies when your particular model provides that option. Not all models do; sadly, the Acer KA272U is one of those.

You can bypass the problem in other ways with a little ingenuity (i.e. fancy power strip). For example, with the PC in a control socket, monitors in switch sockets, and a threshold switch to set a cutoff. I was able to bypass the DisplayPort deep sleep problem by doing this. How?

In my case the PC uses >45W when powered on. While close, with the threshold on my power strip set to High (42W) it was able to keep the switch plugs powered. When the draw dipped below 42W, as it does when putting the displays to sleep (36W), the plugs for the monitors are powered off. This allows the caps to drain so they turn on again at the next system start/wake.

While this was an effective workaround, I still returned my Acer monitors and went with another brand/model that was comparable, and did not suffer this issue out of the box.

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