Solved! internal_power_error BSOD on hibernate

Strange title for the posting I know, but if you are having the same problem you'll recognize it. I've had this intermittent problem with hibernation and done a lot of research around it. It all began when HP replaced my motherboard because of a recall issue. It came back in good working order. However, whenever I tried to hibernate (on vista), it caused a BSOD (blue screen of death) and automatically rebooted. Not 100% of the time but the vast majority of the time.

I want hibernate because the laptop is in my bedroom and sleep mode allows a flashing blue light to continue indefinitely. At night, I don't want this flashing, so hibernate is perfect for my needs.

Did a bunch of research on this problem, which lots of other folks have had. Many said there was a process that somehow caused the machine to come out of hibernate immediately. Others said it was a BIOS issue. Still others said completely deactivate hibernation and then reactivate. The more adventurous of you can read more here, here, here, here, here, and here (even though I have 32 bit).

Here are some of the things I've tried:
Tried powercfg.exe /hibernate off and then back on. No effect. On power settings, completely disabled hibernate on all modes (power button, lid close, etc), then reactivated. No fix. I went into device manager and made sure none of the devices were "allowed to wake computer". No fix. Also checked task scheduler and removed any task that I thought could be responsible for waking the machine at the wrong time. Again no fix.

Someone suggested a corrupt hibernation file. Trashed it and had it create another. Not a fix. My BIOS is completely updated, so I didn't suspect that. And I didn't want to regress to an earlier version. (Also someone said this was fixed in SP1, but I already had that installed.)

So my solution came in this form. First, I disabled automatic restart. This allowed me to see the BSOD message before it rebooted. The error was "internal_power_error", which is of course horribly unclear. Here is how to disable auto restart from a help file:
1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.
2. Click on the System and Maintenance link.
3. Click on the System link.
4. In the task pane on the left, click the Advanced system settings link.
5. Locate the Startup and Recovery area and click on the Settings button.
6. In the Startup and Recovery window, locate and uncheck the check box next to Automatically restart.
7. Click OK in the Startup and Recovery window.
8. Click OK in the System Properties window.
9. You can now close the System window.
10. From now on, when a problem causes a BSOD or another major error that halts the system, the PC will not automatically reboot. Rebooting manually will be necessary.

Second, on my NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller (the culprit), I had previously made sure it was not allowed to wake computer. (Unchecked "Allow this device to wake computer" in power management tab.) The problem was that my system was trying to turn the device off to save power. In device manager, I "unchecked" the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" box (see pic below, which has it checked as I found it originally). This seems to have fixed the problem. Not sure exactly why this was a problem, but I am happy nevertheless. I've been able to hibernate for a few days now with no errors. Hope this helps some of you out there with the same problem.

SchemaLightener gets a user interface

The Xml SchemaLightener now has a user interface. So making a thinner view of an Xml Schema is now as simple as point and click.
Screenshot (click to enlarge - image is a bit fuzzy):



The SchemaLightener can be integrated into other tools and so does not *require* the use of the UI. But the UI provides a nice easy way to perform this function. Need a quick view of the schema for a group meeting? No problem. Just point and click, selecting an Xml Schema to lighten, an Xml instance that is representative of what you want, and then executing the transformation.

This UI is built with Java, so it works cross platform. It has been tested on windows vista, xp, and linux (ubuntu). And as I said before, has been tested using many Consortia standard schemas.

Plus, the Flattener, which was recently added, can also be invoked using the UI.

SchemaLightener gets a Flattener

I've added a new feature to the Xml SchemaLightener, namely that of a Flattener. First, here are some definitions:

Lighten: to remove elements and types from a schema, while the remaining elements and types are still consistent with the original schema. To "prune", or create a subset of the schema. To create a "view" of the schema, focusing on certain components.

Flatten: to merge all schema dependencies connected via xsd:include into a single schema file. To create a "stand alone" version of a set of schemas. All components are consolidated into one file without any editing or changes. Does not pertain to dependencies connected via xsd:import (because this will not result in a valid schema).

I've often needed a flattening tool. Schemas are usually developed modularly to maximize reuse. This has tremendous benefits in building a data model. However, come deployment time, tools sometimes have a problem managing a web of xsd:include files. So it is generally recommended to create a runtime version of a schema which consolidates includes into a "stand alone" one. (Of course it may not literally be stand alone because of xsd:import files, but it isn't possible to merge these according to the spec.)

The difference between xsd:include and xsd:import is in namespaces. Files connected via xsd:include have the same default namespace. This is what allows them to be consolidated into a single schema. Files connected via xsd:import have different default namespaces.

So I've thrown in an XSLT which will create a stand alone or flattened schema into the SchemaLightener tool. Importantly, even though imports cannot be merged, it does automatically go to each import and flatten its includes (if any) and so the result is a fully valid set of schemas that may have imports but no includes.

In short, the absolute minimum number of schema files possible.

Schema Lightener undergoes heavy testing

The Xml Schema Lightener is coming along quite nicely. I've been gathering as many test cases as I can to put a significantly updated version through trials. It is designed to lighten a schema (some call it "prune" or "filter" or "creating a view of") based on an xml instance. Here are the test cases I've run:

• 127 test cases ... HR-XML (Human Resources Xml) v. 2_5
  
• 58 test cases ... HR-XML (Human Resources Xml) v. 3.0 (draft)
  
• 494 test cases ... OAGi (Open Applications Group) v. 9.2
• 141 test cases ... STAR (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail) v. 5.1.4
• 56 test cases ... CIDX (Chemical Industry Data eXchange) v. 4.0
• 96 test cases ... ACORD (Insurance Data Standards) v. 2.9
• 289 test cases ... OTA (Open Travel Alliance) v. 2003-05
• 41 test cases ... TWIST (Transaction Workflow Innovation Standards Team) v 3.1

In total, that is 1,302 test cases. All of them are lightened correctly. All of them result in valid xml schemas. All of the original test xml validates against the resulting schema. 100%!

This process has really helped me increase the quality of this tool. It is a great resource for removing components that are never used from an xml schema.

HR-XML integration summit next week

Next week is the second annual Global Partnering and Integration Summit. It is designed to bring together the HR community and solve data integration issues. Last year's show was very successful. (You can still register for this one.)
I'll be involved in the pre-conference workshop entitled:

Making Data Standards Work:
A Detailed Look at Pre-hire to Post-hire HR Systems Integration

It's been a pleasure working with ADP and HES Corp on this session. Hope you can join us in Chicago.

article: Extend enumerated lists in XML schema

Hi folks,

In my effort to empower Xml Schema designers and implementers, I've added another item of interest. I've written an article for IBM's DeveloperWorks on the topic of extensible enumerated lists.

Extend enumerated lists in XML schema

The topic of extending enumerated lists is a perennial request I get from clients. The fact that the schema spec does not allow for this extensibility has caused many to develop a work around. The article outlines solutions I've seen.

It is a complimentary piece to my article on Xml.com some time ago on developing a usable profile of xml schema.

Profiling Xml Schema

This paper was well received and I even got a couple clients as a direct result of the article. So I feel like my effort to empower Xml Schema designers is proving useful for folks.

My current work helping schema implementers is involved in moving the Xml Schema Lightener into a more mature level. Again, I got some great early interest and am working hard on improvements.

OAG and STEP convergence

Just back from a convergence meeting between OAGi and STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data). Lots of players including OMG PLM services, OASIS PLCS TC, Eurostep, PDES inc, etc. This is one of many convergence efforts building upon OAGIS as a platform. It is great to see so many standards coming together and doing the right thing. Sometimes the standards world can get distracted with egos and agendas and competition (to put it nicely). But it seems like convergence is the name of the game now and the rush to build upon OAGIS as a platform is becoming a stampede. Lots of work to do, but that is a good problem to have.

Some great upcoming news on OAGIS as a platform, so stay tuned!