0

I am working on a Windows 10 application that plays audio in the background. What I would like to be able to do is allow the computer to still go in to Sleep Mode while the audio is playing (as in, Power & Sleep Settings, Sleep after XX minutes). And by this, I mean stop playing the audio and go to Sleep (not continue playing while in Sleep). Is this even possible? Searching online hasn't been fruitful, as I can pretty much only find information on how to prevent Sleep, not enable it.

Running powercfg.exe /requests shows the audio playback is indeed preventing sleep:

SYSTEM:
[DRIVER] Realtek High Definition Audio (...)
An audio stream is currently in use.

I am currently using the IAudioClient and IAudioRenderClient interfaces for playback, via client->Start(), renderClient->GetBuffer(). I could switch to a different API if necessary. However, whatever I use needs to allow other applications (VLC, YouTube, Windows sounds, etc.) to play audio as normal at the same time.

My application is always running on the system I'm using it on, and I simply want the system to be able to go to Sleep at the set system timeout. I also need to apply this exception to my application only - if other applications are playing audio that would prevent Sleep, the system should not Sleep.

Are there any Windows API calls that can make Windows ignore my application playing audio and still let the system go into Sleep Mode?

bbyam
  • 154
  • 2
  • 7

1 Answers1

-1

What you are asking for is not possible today. When the system goes to sleep, it essentially means that the processors in your system stops executing any instructions and powers down. Although this is not like shutting down the system, it is very close to it. All the devices connected to the processors are also powered down to save the battery/power consumption.

Security Guard
  • 414
  • 2
  • 7
  • Sorry, I wasn't clear in my question about this. I don't mean to continue playing the audio while in Sleep, I simply meant to go to sleep and stop playing music. I can click the Windows icon, choose Power, Sleep while the audio is playing. What I want it to do is do this automatically on the set system timeout, which it currently never does when an audio stream is playing. I've updated the question to be more clear about this. – bbyam Nov 14 '18 at 04:10
  • 1
    There are no APIs in windows that will selectively ignore just your application before making the decision to sleep. You can however force the system to sleep even if your audio application is running. Look into api [SetSuspendState](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/api/powrprof/nf-powrprof-setsuspendstate) You can also listen to [WM_POWERBROADCAST](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/Power/wm-powerbroadcast) message and stop playing sound from your application. – Security Guard Nov 15 '18 at 00:26