powman_configure_wakeup_state() always fails on Pico 2W with SDK 2.2.0

[flaviorenga]

powman_configure_wakeup_state() always fails on Pico 2W with SDK 2.2.0

Environment

• Board: Raspberry Pi Pico 2W (RP2350)
• SDK Version: 2.2.0
• Build System: CMake 3.13+
• Toolchain: ARM GCC 14_2_Rel1
• Platform: PICO_BOARD=pico2_w

Problem Description

I'm trying to use the POWMAN API to put the RP2350 into a low-power dormant state, but powman_configure_wakeup_state() always returns false (failure) for every possible power state combination.

Current Consumption

• Active (with CYW43 WiFi on): ~60mA ✅ (expected)
• Active (with CYW43 WiFi off): ~30mA ✅ (GPIO23 control works)
• Attempting dormant: Fails immediately, never enters low-power mode ❌

Goal

Achieve <2mA consumption in dormant mode by:

1. Disabling CYW43 WiFi chip (GPIO23 = LOW)
2. Entering POWMAN low-power state
3. Waking up via GPIO interrupt

What I've Tried

Test 1: Basic Configuration (SWCORE + SRAM0)

gpio_put(23, 0);  // Disable CYW43
powman_set_debug_power_request_ignored(true);

powman_power_state sleep_state = 0;
sleep_state = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(sleep_state, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SWITCHED_CORE);
sleep_state = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(sleep_state, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SRAM_BANK0);

powman_power_state wakeup_state = sleep_state;  // Same state

bool result = powman_configure_wakeup_state(sleep_state, wakeup_state);
// result is FALSE ❌

Result: powman_configure_wakeup_state() returns false

Test 2: Tried ALL Possible Power State Combinations

I systematically tested every possible combination of power domains:

Configuration	Binary	Hex	Result
SWCORE only	1000	0x08	❌ FAILED
SWCORE + SRAM0	1010	0x0a	❌ FAILED
SWCORE + SRAM1	1001	0x09	❌ FAILED
SWCORE + SRAM0 + SRAM1	1011	0x0b	❌ FAILED
SWCORE + XIP	1100	0x0c	❌ FAILED
SWCORE + XIP + SRAM0	1110	0x0e	❌ FAILED
ALL domains	1111	0x0f	❌ FAILED

Every single combination fails!

Test 3: Verified POWMAN Register State

printf("CURRENT_PWRUP_REQ:  0x%08lx\n", powman_hw->current_pwrup_req);
printf("LAST_SWCORE_PWRUP:  0x%08lx\n", powman_hw->last_swcore_pwrup);
printf("DBG_PWRCFG:         0x%08lx\n", powman_hw->dbg_pwrcfg);
printf("SEQ_CFG:            0x%08lx\n", powman_hw->seq_cfg);

Output:

CURRENT_PWRUP_REQ:  0x00000000
LAST_SWCORE_PWRUP:  0x00000001
DBG_PWRCFG:         0x00000001
BOOTDIS:            0x00000000
DBGCONFIG:          0x00000000
SEQ_CFG:            0x001011f0

No pending power requests blocking the configuration.

Test 4: Tried with POWMAN BOOT Registers

Attempted to use BOOT registers for resume-in-place (as per mamba2410's example):

powman_hw->boot[0] = (uint32_t)wakeup_vector;
uint32_t sp;
__asm volatile ("mov %0, sp" : "=r" (sp));
powman_hw->boot[1] = sp;

bool result = powman_configure_wakeup_state(sleep_state, wakeup_state);
// Still returns FALSE ❌

Result: Still fails

Test 5: Verified CYW43 Control Works

GPIO23 successfully controls the CYW43 WiFi module:

• gpio_put(23, 1) → consumption rises from 30mA to 60mA ✅
• gpio_put(23, 0) → consumption drops from 60mA to 30mA ✅

So hardware control is working correctly.

Code Example (Minimal Reproduction)

#include "pico/stdlib.h"
#include "hardware/powman.h"

int main() {
    // Disable CYW43
    gpio_init(23);
    gpio_set_dir(23, GPIO_OUT);
    gpio_put(23, 0);
    sleep_ms(100);
    
    powman_set_debug_power_request_ignored(true);
    
    powman_power_state state = 0;
    state = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(state, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SWITCHED_CORE);
    state = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(state, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SRAM_BANK0);
    
    bool ok = powman_configure_wakeup_state(state, state);
    
    if (!ok) {
        // This ALWAYS executes - function always fails!
        while(1) {
            gpio_put(LED_PIN, 1);
            sleep_ms(100);
            gpio_put(LED_PIN, 0);
            sleep_ms(100);
        }
    }
}

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
set(PICO_BOARD pico2_w CACHE STRING "Board type")
include(pico_sdk_import.cmake)
project(test C CXX ASM)
pico_sdk_init()

add_executable(test test.c)
target_link_libraries(test pico_stdlib hardware_powman hardware_clocks)
pico_add_extra_outputs(test)

Questions

1. Is powman_configure_wakeup_state() expected to work on Pico 2W?

   • Does the CYW43 WiFi chip impose additional constraints?
   • Are there undocumented requirements for the Pico 2W variant?

2. Why does every power state combination fail?

   • The function rejects even the simplest configurations
   • No combination of domains is accepted

3. Should I use the legacy xosc_dormant() method instead?

   • Is POWMAN on RP2350 stable/production-ready?
   • Are there known issues with Pico 2W specifically?

4. Are there working examples for Pico 2W + POWMAN?

   • I've tested peterharperuk's powman examples but they target Pico 2 (non-W)
   • Can someone confirm POWMAN works on Pico 2W hardware?

Related Issues/Discussions

• Issue POWMAN Sleep Is Not Setting; Returns PICO_OK #2179: "POWMAN Sleep Is Not Setting"
• Issue Pico 2 halted after multiple wake-ups when running powman example #2376: "Pico 2 halted after multiple wake-ups when running powman example"
• Similar failures reported on forums with powman_configure_wakeup_state()

Expected Behavior

powman_configure_wakeup_state() should:

1. Return true for at least one valid power state configuration
2. Allow the system to enter dormant mode consuming <2mA
3. Wake up via GPIO interrupt

Actual Behavior

powman_configure_wakeup_state() always returns false for every configuration tested, making it impossible to use POWMAN on Pico 2W.

---

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

Is this a known limitation? Is there a workaround? Should I stick with the legacy RP2040-style dormant methods for now?

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

[peterharperuk]

The powman API should work on Pico 2 W. The difference between Pico 2 and Pico 2 W is just that the cyw43 module is connected to some its pins. powman_configure_wakeup_state takes two parameters, the sleep state and the wakeup state. Your example is passing the same value into both which fails the validation. If you change the call as follows, your code should work.

powman_configure_wakeup_state(POWMAN_POWER_STATE_NONE, state);

I'd suggest you start by copying the powman example in my repo.

// Power states
powman_power_state P1_7 = POWMAN_POWER_STATE_NONE;
powman_power_state P0_0 = POWMAN_POWER_STATE_NONE;
P0_0 = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(P0_0, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SWITCHED_CORE);
P0_0 = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(P0_0, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_XIP_CACHE);
P0_0 = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(P0_0, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SRAM_BANK0);
P0_0 = powman_power_state_with_domain_on(P0_0, POWMAN_POWER_DOMAIN_SRAM_BANK1);

off_state = P1_7;
on_state = P0_0;

bool valid_state = powman_configure_wakeup_state(off_state, on_state);
assert(valid_state);

We haven't pushed the use of powman too much because it's a low level API and quite hard to use. We hope to add a simpler sleep API in future.

[flaviorenga]

Sorry!
In simplifying the code in "Code Example (Minimal Reproduction)" section, I made some typos...

The original code was with state1 and state2 variables.

Anyway, I'll try the powman example in your repo!
Thank you so much for your suggestions!

[flaviorenga]

It works!
Thank you so much, @peterharperuk!
If it helps anyone, I’d be happy to share the code for the Raspberry Pi Pico 2W.

powman.c
CMakeLists.txt

[peterharperuk]

Yes - it might be a good idea to do something for Pico 2 W. Maybe push your changes as a PR and I'll have a look?

[flaviorenga]

Of course!
Here you have the code!
I didn't change it too much.
I only discovered an important thing during the test of the functions that enable the internal pull-up and pull-down: the pull-down option doesn't work due to an HW bug of all the internal pull-downs (E9 issue). The pull-down operating current is comparable to the leakage current of the GPIO itself.
So, if you wanna use an external button, an external pull-down is needed.

Just a final question
According to your experience, is the dormant mode compatible with the BLE?
I've tried to init-deinit-and-init-again the BLE module (with and without entering the dormant mode), but it seems that disabling and enabling again the BLE causes it to enter an unknown state (it doesn't work anymore).
Do you have experience or a pointer to any working example?
Thanks!

CMakeLists.txt
powman.c

[peterharperuk]

is the dormant mode compatible with the BLE?

Dormant mode is something else different to powman?
Powman turns power off, dormant mode turns clocks off. Did you mean ble doesn't work after using powman?

We've not done any testing of this, which is bad of us. But I would expect it to work, somehow.

[flaviorenga]

Powman, yes!
The problem seems to be related to switching off and then on again the BLE or putting the micro in standby mode and then exiting from it.

[will-v-pi]

The problem seems to be related to switching off and then on again the BLE or putting the micro in standby mode and then exiting from it.

I'm unable to reproduce this error - if I take the picow_ble_temp_sensor example and perform a powman reboot when pressing S instead of just stopping and starting, it works correctly. Note that dormant wasn't working, but that is fixed by raspberrypi/pico-examples#745. If you're still experiencing this issue could you provide a reproduction in a separate issue?

Note that the powman stuff is being made easier by the new pico_low_power library in #2852

I will close this issue now, as the original issue has been resolved.