iMac mysteriously started up?!

[SteveC]

Last night my iMac started up at 7:00 PM and I have no idea why it happened (according to my current uptime of 21 hours and 42 minutes). I came home from an out-of-town trip a few minutes ago, and my computer was running.

My computer was set to go to sleep yesterday at 12:15 AM. However, no other options were selected (see attached image).

Why on earth would this happen? Did it just turn on at 7 for no reason...? Is there a way to figure out what happened that told the computer to startup? Is there a log or something that would tell me why it started up?

I'm posting this under Mac OS X because I assume it's the OS telling the hardware to do this.

 

[kunze50]

A small power failure may have something to do with it. If your computer is set to restart after a power outage this may be why.?¿.

 

[lostngone]

The newer iMacs are becoming self-aware...

Mine wanted more memory so it went out and ordered some. Then it wouldn't let me surf the web or read e-mail until I installed it!

 

[micsaund]

My MBP will wake-up mysteriously during the night if I have stuff plugged-in like the USB keyboard/mouse. I have very high static electricity in my house during the winter with the heater running and I think it's related to that. I have a plastic table that probably holds a bit of charge that seems to affect the MBP and accessories sitting on it. If I unplug the USB stuff or wait until summer when the static is not a problem, it never happens.

Perhaps this is something for you to consider if you notice the problem happens more often.

Mike

 

[SteveC]

Thanks for the replies. These are definitely a combination of helpful and humorous.

The same thing happened at 7 PM tonight, but I have nothing setup in energy saver telling the computer to turn on at 7 PM! This is insane.

What else could be causing this, other than energy saver? Is there a log to tell me why it started up? Something had to tell it to. How do I find out what that something is?

Edit: Found someone with the same problem:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/525875/

Looks like a bizarre mystery! Very strange. I wish I could just figure out what's causing the startup.

 

[applefan69]

soon it will be the imacs questioning why we are waking up without them telling us to

 

[macrem]

Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!

 

[illegalprelude]

soon it will be the imacs questioning why we are waking up without them telling us to

hahaha.