Cooling fan running when Mac in sleep mode?

[Steveatesh]

Had the Mac just under a fortnight now and this morning I heard the fan running while it is in sleep mode. Is that normal?

I didn't actually put it to sleep via the apple menu last night, I just stopped using it, I imagine it will have entered sleep mode itself?

Do I have to manually out it to sleep, or does it do that itself?

Base RiMac.

 

[Nismo73]

I don't know, but my I hear my iMac coming on sometimes while its in sleep mode - the screen doesn't come on. I would say I hear the fan kick on for about a minute or two, and then it goes back to sleep on its own. shrugs

Wake for access is not on.

 

[Chippy99]

Had the Mac just under a fortnight now and this morning I heard the fan running while it is in sleep mode. Is that normal?

I didn't actually put it to sleep via the apple menu last night, I just stopped using it, I imagine it will have entered sleep mode itself?

Do I have to manually out it to sleep, or does it do that itself?

Base RiMac.

If the fan's running, your iMac is not sleeping.

It should go to sleep by itself (assuming you don't have sleep set to "never" in EnergySaver). However, various things can conspire to prevent it sleeping. If you open up a Terminal session and type:

pmset -g assertions

you can see what processes might be keeping your iMac awake. The variable "PreventUserIdleSystemSleep" should be 0, and I suspect it is 1.

With a bit of googling, you should be able to figure out how to fix it.

 

[E.Lizardo]

If the fan's running, your iMac is not sleeping.

It should go to sleep by itself (assuming you don't have sleep set to "never" in EnergySaver). However, various things can conspire to prevent it sleeping. If you open up a Terminal session and type:

pmset -g assertions

you can see what processes might be keeping your iMac awake. The variable "PreventUserIdleSystemSleep" should be 0, and I suspect it is 1.

With a bit of googling, you should be able to figure out how to fix it.

My Mac Pro tower does this. I put it to sleep via the menu,screen goes black,power LED starts "breathing", At least once during the night fans spool up for a few seconds,then back to sleep. Kind of annoying as it wakes me up sometimes,but the computer is most definitely in sleep mode.

 

[Chippy99]

My Mac Pro tower does this. I put it to sleep via the menu,screen goes black,power LED starts "breathing", At least once during the night fans spool up for a few seconds,then back to sleep. Kind of annoying as it wakes me up sometimes,but the computer is most definitely in sleep mode.

We're not talking about Mac Pros. But putting that to one side for a moment, your Mac Pro is waking up and doing some stuff and then going back to sleep again. When it's asleep, the fan is off. If the fan is running, it's not asleep.

 

[Steveatesh]

Thanks everybody, I had a setting wrong of course, I had ticked the box that prevents the imac going to sleep when the screen was off