Dell Driver Power State Failure: Understanding the Issue and Its Solution

The Dell driver power state failure is a common issue that can occur on Windows 8.1 devices, particularly when they resume from sleep mode. This problem can manifest in different ways, including PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error 0x14F_WCM or Stop errors with a DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE message. In this article, we will delve into the causes and solutions to resolve the Dell driver power state failure issue.

Causes of the Issue

The primary cause of the Dell driver power state failure is the incorrect handling of power state transition requests by the NDIS driver when power management is disabled on a Teredo tunnel adapter or an IPHTTPS tunnel adapter. This can lead to a time-out in the monitoring thread, causing the system to fail.

Symptoms of the Issue

When your computer resumes from sleep mode, you may encounter one of the following symptoms:

* PDC_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT error 0x14F_WCM

* Stop errors with a DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE message (error code 0x0000009F)

To resolve the Dell driver power state failure issue, Microsoft has released a hotfix that detects and handles the power state transition failure before it times out in the monitoring thread. This update is available for download from Windows Update.

How to Download the Hotfix

To obtain the hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Go to Windows Update and check for updates.

2. Select 'View optional updates' and then select 'Driver updates.'

3. Look for the 'NDIS driver for Windows 8.1' update and download it.

4. Install the update and restart your computer.

After installing the hotfix, you should no longer encounter the Dell driver power state failure issue when resuming from sleep mode.