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computer won't sleep
- Thread starter Cindy
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Did you change anything? New USB devices? Settings? Will it sleep manually if you press the power button or click 'sleep' in the apple menu?
Check your settings in System Preferences -> Energy Saver and make sure they're what they're supposed to be. Just for fun you might want to repair permissions. That tends to fix a lot of little strange behaviors.
Check your settings in System Preferences -> Energy Saver and make sure they're what they're supposed to be. Just for fun you might want to repair permissions. That tends to fix a lot of little strange behaviors.
Actually I have exactly the same problem. It is set to put the computer to sleep after 10 minutes, but after this time just the display goes to sleep (its setting is 10 minutes too), not the whole computer.
I assumed it was something to do with what applications I had open and didn't do much investigating, since I could just manually put it to sleep. I'll tell you if I figure something out.
I assumed it was something to do with what applications I had open and didn't do much investigating, since I could just manually put it to sleep. I'll tell you if I figure something out.
I did a bunch of things to try and fix the problem and then checked after each one. Unfortunately, as I found out in the end after I got it working again, it took a minute from the display going to sleep to the computer going to sleep (not sure why), so I'm not sure when it started working. Anyway here's a list of things I tried:
*Quit all open applications
*Turned the option off that changes the desktop every x seconds/minutes
*Repaired permissions
*The radical step of restarting 😱
*Went to Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and moved it so a new copy would have to be created (you might have to hold down the command key to move it without copying)
Try these (especially the later ones) and see if they work. Also look at the values set in the above file, this is where the Energy Saver settings are kept.
Good luck. 🙂
*Quit all open applications
*Turned the option off that changes the desktop every x seconds/minutes
*Repaired permissions
*The radical step of restarting 😱
*Went to Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and moved it so a new copy would have to be created (you might have to hold down the command key to move it without copying)
Try these (especially the later ones) and see if they work. Also look at the values set in the above file, this is where the Energy Saver settings are kept.
Good luck. 🙂
To repair permissions:
1. Boot from the CD: insert CD and reboot while holding the C key down. You can let go of the C key when the apple logo comes up!
2. Go to Installer Menu and choose Disk Utility.
3. Find the Repair permissions button (it's in the verify disk tab I think; just go through all the tabs).
4. When done, just reboot and Bob's your uncle!
1. Boot from the CD: insert CD and reboot while holding the C key down. You can let go of the C key when the apple logo comes up!
2. Go to Installer Menu and choose Disk Utility.
3. Find the Repair permissions button (it's in the verify disk tab I think; just go through all the tabs).
4. When done, just reboot and Bob's your uncle!
Can't you only repair permissions on the boot volume? So if you boot from CD you'd be repairing permissions on the CD, which is read-only anyway. I could be wrong.
What I know I'm not wrong about is that you can just go to applications -> utilities -> disk utility, highlight your hard drive and select 'repair permissions'. Bob will still be your uncle.
What I know I'm not wrong about is that you can just go to applications -> utilities -> disk utility, highlight your hard drive and select 'repair permissions'. Bob will still be your uncle.
The repair permissions utility on the CD isnt likely to be as uptodate as the latest available version of OSX. So going via applications/utilities/disk utility is more likely to do the most thorough job of repairing permissions.
You can boot up with the CD to repair the disk.
You can boot up with the CD to repair the disk.
OS X Energy Saver is broken
My PowerMac has lots of problems with the Energy Saver. OS X ignores the computer sleep timer unless it is set to Never, instead using the display sleep timer. The hard disk still spins down even though I have unchecked the option to put the hard disk to sleep when possible. Folding@home and iChat can be running when the hard disk will spin down, and the computer will shut down about a minute later. Writing a CD or DVD blocks the display sleep timer, but the display will shut down when playing a QuickTime movie. The Apple optical mouse, which has a light that becomes brighter when moving, doesn't return the light to its normal brightness when stopped. This problem prevents both the display and the system from going to Sleep. If I leave the system logged out and the system Sleep timer as the only timer, the hard disk will sometimes spin down early and immediately spin up again so that the system can write a small amount of data before going to Sleep. 🙄 The Linux power management is less buggy than this. 😱
My PowerMac has lots of problems with the Energy Saver. OS X ignores the computer sleep timer unless it is set to Never, instead using the display sleep timer. The hard disk still spins down even though I have unchecked the option to put the hard disk to sleep when possible. Folding@home and iChat can be running when the hard disk will spin down, and the computer will shut down about a minute later. Writing a CD or DVD blocks the display sleep timer, but the display will shut down when playing a QuickTime movie. The Apple optical mouse, which has a light that becomes brighter when moving, doesn't return the light to its normal brightness when stopped. This problem prevents both the display and the system from going to Sleep. If I leave the system logged out and the system Sleep timer as the only timer, the hard disk will sometimes spin down early and immediately spin up again so that the system can write a small amount of data before going to Sleep. 🙄 The Linux power management is less buggy than this. 😱
my computer won't go to sleep automatically since i changed the screensaver. i have it set as an iPhoto album (Cars 😉 ) and it won't sleep.
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In Mac OS X every file and folder has a set of permissions, to tell if the owner, a group or everyone can read, write, or execute it. Repair permissions does exactly that; If permissions on some files are not what they should be, then it fixes these. This fixes problems because, for instance, if an application tries to open an important resource file, but the current user does not have permission to read that file (because the permissions are set incorrectly), then the application might not load or function correctly.
The biggest cause of incorrect permissions are installers. So if you are installing a lot of things, you should repair permissions quite frequently. It is also a good idea to repair permissions before installing a major upgrade to make sure that it can be installed properly. Eg if you are upgrading from OS 10.2 to 10.3, you could repair permissions, upgrade it, then repair them again.
thanks for the info hexmonkey.
Well, even after doing the repair... computer still won't sleep on it's own 🙁
I really don't do anything "fancy" on the machine.
Just emails, message boards, ordering stuff on internet etc.. Really strange that it just quit working. Maybe it will start working one day again.
C
Well, even after doing the repair... computer still won't sleep on it's own 🙁
I really don't do anything "fancy" on the machine.
Just emails, message boards, ordering stuff on internet etc.. Really strange that it just quit working. Maybe it will start working one day again.
C
Cindy said:
I'm having the *exact* same issue with my new iMac. It will sleep fine if I manually put it to sleep (apple>sleep or the sleep button on the login window), but it won't sleep on its own even though I have the Energy Saver setting at 10 minutes.
I rebooted and didn't log in and it went to sleep just fine on its own. But then I logged in, logged out, and no sleep.
Ideas? I called Apple tech support and the guy told me to remove the plist file and regenerate it by setting the Energy Saver setting again, and it worked for a day. Now it's back to not sleeping on its own.