Another DeepSleep Widget
I made a free widget that hibernates your Mac as well. You can get it at http://www.axoniclabs.com/DeepSleep/
I made a free widget that hibernates your Mac as well. You can get it at http://www.axoniclabs.com/DeepSleep/
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Hibernate a mac?
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College and deep sleep
I use my macbook pro while I am at school and go through course websites while in class wether for lecture or lab, and being able to hibernate my macbook pro after using the web pages so it uses NO power whatsoever is the best thing for me as I can hibernate after class and then go home and look at the same web pages i left open when at school. That is the easiest thing for me and I love how easy it is to do with HIBERNATE. The sleep function does not use little or even moderate power as my computer in sleep overnight would be drained severely to less than 30% batter when I got up about 8 - 10 hours later. That to me was so disappointing as even driving home in rush hour traffic from classes my battery would be less than 60% in sleep mode for some odd reason. My computer is still very new and barely even been used since I got it back in summer of 09' but WT* is wrong with the battery life on these computers??? Even my friend who just bought a brand new macbook pro doesn't get 8-9 hrs of battery on his totally new, less than one month old MBP. If he is lucky he gets about the same as I do, which is about 6 to maybe 7 hours if he is doing light office work on his computer as he uses it for medical reports and lots of typing and note taking but only uses the text app and that is it. I consider my year old computer pretty impressive if we both get the same amount of battery, but we can't do more than 1 or 2 things at the same time on battery or it does run down quickly. Hope this helps to clarify for anyone who does not understand why we former windows users want a hibernation function on mac computers. I think it is better than regular sleep, but just my opinion and we all know what they say.
I use my macbook pro while I am at school and go through course websites while in class wether for lecture or lab, and being able to hibernate my macbook pro after using the web pages so it uses NO power whatsoever is the best thing for me as I can hibernate after class and then go home and look at the same web pages i left open when at school. That is the easiest thing for me and I love how easy it is to do with HIBERNATE. The sleep function does not use little or even moderate power as my computer in sleep overnight would be drained severely to less than 30% batter when I got up about 8 - 10 hours later. That to me was so disappointing as even driving home in rush hour traffic from classes my battery would be less than 60% in sleep mode for some odd reason. My computer is still very new and barely even been used since I got it back in summer of 09' but WT* is wrong with the battery life on these computers??? Even my friend who just bought a brand new macbook pro doesn't get 8-9 hrs of battery on his totally new, less than one month old MBP. If he is lucky he gets about the same as I do, which is about 6 to maybe 7 hours if he is doing light office work on his computer as he uses it for medical reports and lots of typing and note taking but only uses the text app and that is it. I consider my year old computer pretty impressive if we both get the same amount of battery, but we can't do more than 1 or 2 things at the same time on battery or it does run down quickly. Hope this helps to clarify for anyone who does not understand why we former windows users want a hibernation function on mac computers. I think it is better than regular sleep, but just my opinion and we all know what they say.
Intel Macs have three possible sleep modes:
Sleep only = state saved to ram. Not safe for transporting.
Safe sleep (default) = state saved to ram and hard disk. Power is consumed unless battery removed or drained then uses hard disk to restore state instead of ram. Not safe for transporting if has power supply.
Hibernate = state saved to hard disk only. No power consumed. Safe for transporting.
Sleep only and hibernate can be set in terminal or as stated previously via SmartSleep . I would recommend turning on "secure virtual memory" in the security tab in system preferences as potential security risks may be created under some circumstances when the state is written to hard disk.
Sleep only = state saved to ram. Not safe for transporting.
Safe sleep (default) = state saved to ram and hard disk. Power is consumed unless battery removed or drained then uses hard disk to restore state instead of ram. Not safe for transporting if has power supply.
Hibernate = state saved to hard disk only. No power consumed. Safe for transporting.
Sleep only and hibernate can be set in terminal or as stated previously via SmartSleep . I would recommend turning on "secure virtual memory" in the security tab in system preferences as potential security risks may be created under some circumstances when the state is written to hard disk.
I simply close my MBP, it goes to sleep, and I transport as needed. Occasioinally I get crazy and actually select the sleep menu item under the 
menu. On a very rare occasion do I tap the power button and select sleep.
I have never had a problem using any of these methods and transporting the computer around the house, office, school or world! I do make sure the light goes out completely and wait another second or two before moving it though to be sure everything has stopped spinning etc.
So for me the regular old sleep method of closing the portable computer makes it in fact portable.
So whats the big deal?
menu. On a very rare occasion do I tap the power button and select sleep. I have never had a problem using any of these methods and transporting the computer around the house, office, school or world! I do make sure the light goes out completely and wait another second or two before moving it though to be sure everything has stopped spinning etc.
So for me the regular old sleep method of closing the portable computer makes it in fact portable.
So whats the big deal?
The default sleep state can be risky for transport as the Mac can wake to perform scheduled maintenance tasks. During maintenance the read arm of the hard disk is no longer locked and if shaken can touch the hard disk causing read errors potentially corrupting the disk. Mac portables do have technologies that protect the hard disks from motion but they are not 100% effective.
Apparently Apple disagrees as they do not state anything about the dangers of moving a portable computer in sleep mode? If this is true please provide apple.com documentation stating so.
Direct from the MacBook Pro users guide:
Putting Your MacBook Pro to Sleep or Shutting It Down
When you finish working with your MacBook Pro, you can put it to sleep
or shut it down.
Putting Your MacBook Pro to Sleep
If youll be away from your MacBook Pro for only a short time, put it to
sleep. When the computer is in sleep, you can quickly wake it and bypass
the startup process.
To put your MacBook Pro to sleep, do one of the following:
Close the display. Choose Apple () > Sleep from the menu bar. Press the power (®) button and click Sleep in the dialog that appears. Choose Apple () > System Preferences, click Energy Saver, and set a sleep timer.
NOTICE: Wait a few seconds until the sleep indicator light starts pulsing (indicating that the computer is in sleep and the hard disk has stopped spinning) before moving your MacBook Pro. Moving your computer while the disk is spinning can damage the hard disk, causing loss of data or the inability to start up from the hard disk.
To wake your MacBook Pro:
 If the display is closed, simply open it to wake up your MacBook Pro.  If the display is already open, press the power (®) button or any key on the keyboard.
When your MacBook Pro wakes from sleep, your applications, documents, and computer settings are exactly as you left them.
Thank you for that info.
I read somewhere that is was possible for third party apps that you have scheduled to perform tasks to wake your machine from sleep to run the task. That info could be wrong and I am in error presenting it on this forum but I prefer to be cautious given the consequences.
I just searched the threads for info concerning this and apparently there is a risk that a sleeping Mac will wake itself to run it's fans if it is put away hot in an environment such as a padded computer case or backpack.
Also, if you do not want to your Mac to consume power while sleeping, you have to manually set it to hibernate.
I read somewhere that is was possible for third party apps that you have scheduled to perform tasks to wake your machine from sleep to run the task. That info could be wrong and I am in error presenting it on this forum but I prefer to be cautious given the consequences.
I just searched the threads for info concerning this and apparently there is a risk that a sleeping Mac will wake itself to run it's fans if it is put away hot in an environment such as a padded computer case or backpack.
Also, if you do not want to your Mac to consume power while sleeping, you have to manually set it to hibernate.
My experience is that the newer unibody's lose a lot more power when sleeping than the older ones. I still have 2x non-unibody mbp's and they will sleep all day and only lose a few % of batter power. My unibody seems to lose up to 10% per hour when sleeping. The deep sleep widget is well worth having.
Provide links to Apple's site that support this statement. You can't, because it's not true.
Again, not true. Mac OS X has Wake On Demand, but that doesn't apply to a sleeping Mac portable being transported.
While I understand your desire to be cautious, posting things like this only serves to mislead and confuse forum readers who want actual facts.
If the fans are running higher than normal at the time you close the lid, your Mac will not sleep until the fans have cooled it to a level safe for storage or transporting. If you wait until it sleeps (and the sleep light is pulsing), the fans will not spin up again after it sleeps.
Again, Mac portables do not have a hibernate setting. They consume approximately 1% of battery power per hour of sleep.
I do believe that I stated I could be wrong about the waking from sleep stuff?
Sorry? What does it really matter.
Umm...If you can use Terminal to set those alternative sleep states then they do exist. If you read through the thread you would have seen the post that defined those Terminal commands.
The documentation that comes in SmartSleep defines these modes, allows you to set them easily, and enables you to hybridize them. Again, if a preference pane AND terminal allow you to set them then they do exist.
BTW, here is Apple's documentation about the importance of secure virtual memory
Sorry? What does it really matter.
Umm...If you can use Terminal to set those alternative sleep states then they do exist. If you read through the thread you would have seen the post that defined those Terminal commands.
The documentation that comes in SmartSleep defines these modes, allows you to set them easily, and enables you to hybridize them. Again, if a preference pane AND terminal allow you to set them then they do exist.
BTW, here is Apple's documentation about the importance of secure virtual memory
First of all:
0 - Old style sleep mode, with RAM powered on while sleeping, safe sleep disabled, and super-fast wake.
1 - Hibernation mode, with RAM contents written to disk, system totally shut down while sleeping, and slower wake up, due to reading the contents of RAM off the hard drive.
3 - The default mode on machines introduced since about fall 2005. RAM is powered on while sleeping, but RAM contents are also written to disk before sleeping. In the event of total power loss, the system enters hibernation mode automatically.
Those are the three sleep modes, they work with pmset, although this doesn't count 5 or 7 because they're the same as 1 and 3 but are only valid if you're using secure virtual memory. You don't need documentation. Like i said, it works with pmset, the built-in command line utility, therefore the 3 modes are valid. So he was right.
On the second point you're right. Macs will immediately do any scheduled maintenance if the time for it to do them passed while it was asleep, when it wakes up. Had to do some digging, but this is where I read it here. Scroll down to "Timed jobs using launchd":
So no, the mac wont wake for tasks scheduled using launchd. Can't guarantee that's how every app is programmed though, some may be poorly programmed, and wake the computer up, although I've never seen it.
On your third point, i agree too, people shouldn't be posting things without any evidence of their info, could say the same about you.
Your fourth point makes no sense. Computers cool down far faster in sleep mode than with a fan. In my experience at least, my mac has gotten pretty hot, but it always goes to sleep fine. (When I say hot, I mean extremely hot, like 100% CPU AND GPU usage for hours non-stop. I run BOINC. It really takes a toll on my computer, but it's for a good cause
and I happen to have a laptop that I use far less than my desktop.) What you may be referring to is how it takes a few seconds to go to sleep. What that is, is actually the mac using its sleep/hibernate functionality. It's saving the RAM to disk, in other words. Your fifth point is wrong. Like i said, pmset lets you set it to hibernate instead of sleep or the sleep/hibernate combo, so yes, it does have a hibernate mode, and it works just like you'd expect. Although the default sleep/hibernate combo, as shown above, is in my view superior to the others. If my mac loses power for whatever reason, it will always have a safe copy of what i was doing stored on the hard drive, and if it doesn't lose power, it provides a nice low-power way to store your computer for transport.
People use these threads to discuss issues and gain knowledge about their multi-thousand dollar machines. If you think something you type could be wrong or not accurate, then either please state so up front, research it to find proof, or else don't type it.
You also stated you "searched threads" to find some of the answers....well, just cause you read it on the internet doesn't mean it's true does it? Just refer to this thread to prove that.
Scenario A vs. Scenario B
Scenario A = I am right and users can damage their hard disks while transporting a sleeping Mac.
Scenario B = I am wrong and user unnecessarily turn off or hibernate their Mac during transport. So, no harm done.
Sorry, but why does what I said really matter?
No harm could come from Scenario B. The only downside is they lose a few more seconds of their life waiting for their computer to start up. OMG that's terrible.
BTW,
The harm comes from misinforming people, encouraging them to go through unnecessary steps, just because your opinion is that it's safer. There is nothing unsafe about transporting a sleeping Mac portable. In fact, you can't damage your hard drive by moving your Mac even when it's awake, because of the sudden motion sensors.
Really? Make a YouTube video of you shaking your Mac as hard as you can while it is awake. Even better, mount it in a paint shaker and leave it there for two minutes.
Post the link to the video, then I will believe you.
The point is, transporting a Mac portable, asleep or awake, is NOT going to damage the hard drive. That's transporting.... not throwing across a parking lot, strapping to a jackhammer, mounting on a paint shaker, etc.
Nothing is 100% guaranteed.
The point is, transporting a Mac portable, asleep or awake, is NOT going to damage the hard drive. That's transporting.... not throwing across a parking lot, strapping to a jackhammer, mounting on a paint shaker, etc.
You've obviously have never been on a plane during bad turbulence or on a ferry during rough water.
These situation are why people are switching to solid state drives.
That is exactly the point I am trying to make.
You don't know what flights or ferries I've been on, or in what conditions. Look, if you want to shut down your Mac before transporting it, that's your call. Just don't try to deceive people in this forum into thinking that it's unsafe to transport a sleeping Mac. I've also transported sleeping Macs on my Harley for thousands of miles with zero issues.
I take it you don't ride a Softail with an Evo motor (TwinCamB with counter balancer don't count) nor an old shovelhead FX or FLH. I love those old shovelheads but you really need an FLT/FLHT prior to 1984 to avoid the vibes unless you love the classic Harley feel.
Interludium.
Once my merry little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awoken due to unknown circumstances while it was hitchhiking in my backpack. That was on a very long walk home, it was a bumpy one, as I have legs that would make the Ministry of Silly Walks proud, as they allow me to walk a bit to the left side unless I steer against this quite comfy spin.
Anyway, my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awake during the entire walk and I was flabbergasted upon my arrival at home, which was quite a stairway to heaven, to find it spinning its tiny black fan. I understood why it spun its tiny black fan, as there was not much circulating air available to properly cool my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, down to comfortable temperatures, as you might know, those little white MacBooks don't really like that much heat. Anyway, my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awake and against all the odds I presented my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, the Hard Disk Drive was whirring and purring like that little cat with three legs from Hobart. Until now, or better today, as I currently have that little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, under my fingers to write this little tale, which should be accompanied Brandenburg Concertos Nr. 4 (Johann Sebastian Bach) to fully grasp its absurdity and non-conformity in telling, and even whatever you don't call it, the Hard Disk Drive, or better known as HDD, is still purring that three legged cat without any smart failures or any other kind.
I'm off to off it now.
Or listening to Isabelle Moretti blowing some mouth organ.
Once my merry little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awoken due to unknown circumstances while it was hitchhiking in my backpack. That was on a very long walk home, it was a bumpy one, as I have legs that would make the Ministry of Silly Walks proud, as they allow me to walk a bit to the left side unless I steer against this quite comfy spin.
Anyway, my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awake during the entire walk and I was flabbergasted upon my arrival at home, which was quite a stairway to heaven, to find it spinning its tiny black fan. I understood why it spun its tiny black fan, as there was not much circulating air available to properly cool my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, down to comfortable temperatures, as you might know, those little white MacBooks don't really like that much heat. Anyway, my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, was awake and against all the odds I presented my little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, the Hard Disk Drive was whirring and purring like that little cat with three legs from Hobart. Until now, or better today, as I currently have that little white MacBook, the MMIIX edition, under my fingers to write this little tale, which should be accompanied Brandenburg Concertos Nr. 4 (Johann Sebastian Bach) to fully grasp its absurdity and non-conformity in telling, and even whatever you don't call it, the Hard Disk Drive, or better known as HDD, is still purring that three legged cat without any smart failures or any other kind.
I'm off to off it now.
Or listening to Isabelle Moretti blowing some mouth organ.
You're being deliberately obtuse and now going off-topic, but yes, I ride a Softail and have ridden many Harley models over several decades. Which model is irrelevant, since the vibration of bumps on the road is much harsher than the engine vibration. The point is, it's quite safe to transport a Mac notebook in sleep mode. Period.