Resolved Mac keeps waking from sleep, its driving me nuts!

[elolaugesen]

: I know you did not think Time Machine was a possible cause but there are other apps out there managing their work schedule the same way. look at this article discussing sleep/wakeup issues...

http://www.macworld.com/article/1153720/macpro_sleep.html

Cheers elo...

 

[Sir Ruben]

: I know you did not think Time Machine was a possible cause but there are other apps out there managing their work schedule the same way. look at this article discussing sleep/wakeup issues...

http://www.macworld.com/article/1153720/macpro_sleep.html

Cheers elo...

Thanks Elo, I may, may, have found the cause. The Mac had a good nights sleep last night but I'm not going to jump the gun just yet.

I also had a play with the remote app and music sharing features of the iPhone last night to see how the Mac responds in these situations.

I will have a read through the link you posted and report back with any interesting findings. I know the sleep issue affects a lot of people so It may be of use to others in the future.

 

[elolaugesen]

Sir Ruben:
Sorry to bug you with the previous email I too have a past with lots of tech. In my case it included working on large scale banking systems, software and hardware, applications etc. Those were the dark days. I once assigned a staff technologist to find out why we suddenly overnight used 15 % additional CPU time in all three data centres. It took three months before we found the reason buried deep in the operating system activated by a new function in an application.
Keep plugging away.
It really bugs me when systems do things I cannot manage, or at least know why the system is doing what it does.
My own machine woke up all the time both the mini and the MBP and I found the cause in the energy settings and turned off the "wake for network access". ever since peace and quiet.

cheers elo

 

[Sir Ruben]

UPDATE

Ok so I am slowly narrowing down the cause of the RTC alarm that keeps waking my Mac. As you can see from my original log it was waking up continuously and seemingly at random intervals.

So last night I did the following before putting the mac into sleep mode:

* Turned off the apple wireless keyboard
* Shut down Safari
* Shut down Mail
* Shut down iTunes

Previously I would leave all of the above running. The reason I turned off the keyboard is because the battery level is at 14% and I read somewhere that a low battery can cause the Mac to wake. I closed iTunes due to the possibility of home sharing/wifi sync waking the Mac. I closed Safari and Mail in case there was some kind of background activity going on.

Anyway, since doing the above the Mac no longer wakes randomly. The log now shows an RTC alarm every 2 hours which is when the Mac wakes to check for a network etc (which is normal) and goes back to sleep in about 20 seconds without lighting the screen.

SO, the problem seems to be resolved, now it's just a case of finding out which one of the above is the culprit. I will do this over the next couple of days and report back. At this moment in time I am leaning towards it being the iTunes home sharing/WiFi sync features but I could be wrong.

 

[Acorn]

what about disabling power nap. doesnt power nap check for email and stuff when the computer is asleep. causing a network access triggering the screen to wake up.

 

[Sir Ruben]

what about disabling power nap. doesnt power nap check for email and stuff when the computer is asleep. causing a network access triggering the screen to wake up.

As far as I am aware, power nap is a macbook feature? At least, I havent seen any reference to it when going through the preferences.

 

[adnbek]

UPDATE

Ok so I am slowly narrowing down the cause of the RTC alarm that keeps waking my Mac. As you can see from my original log it was waking up continuously and seemingly at random intervals.

So last night I did the following before putting the mac into sleep mode:

* Turned off the apple wireless keyboard
* Shut down Safari
* Shut down Mail
* Shut down iTunes

Previously I would leave all of the above running. The reason I turned off the keyboard is because the battery level is at 14% and I read somewhere that a low battery can cause the Mac to wake. I closed iTunes due to the possibility of home sharing/wifi sync waking the Mac. I closed Safari and Mail in case there was some kind of background activity going on.

Anyway, since doing the above the Mac no longer wakes randomly. The log now shows an RTC alarm every 2 hours which is when the Mac wakes to check for a network etc (which is normal) and goes back to sleep in about 20 seconds without lighting the screen.

SO, the problem seems to be resolved, now it's just a case of finding out which one of the above is the culprit. I will do this over the next couple of days and report back. At this moment in time I am leaning towards it being the iTunes home sharing/WiFi sync features but I could be wrong.

Try just iTunes. Do you have home sharing enabled? I'm pretty sure it's that if you have it on. It is designed to wake the computer through Bonjour if your media's being shared and some device is accessing the media.

EDIT: Just read the rest of your post. Must be that. By design, home sharing can wake your device if you try to access the media. And by access, I don't just mean playing the media. For example, just opening the music app on your phone can wake your computer so it can look at the library.

 

[Acorn]

As far as I am aware, power nap is a macbook feature? At least, I havent seen any reference to it when going through the preferences.

it should be listed under energy saver. i dont know why it would be a laptop only feature it has to do with sleep which mac mini uses too.

 

[Fishrrman]

Problems and threads like this always make me grin.

First, a true story (not related to the Mac). When Frank J. Sprague (the father of electric traction) first went to work for Thomas Edison at Edison's laboratory, one day Edison's assistants were all in frazzle trying to figure out what volume of air was in one of their new-fangled "light bulbs". They scratched and scribbled out calculations on their papers, getting nowhere. Young Sprague had a better idea: he took the bulb, filled it with water, and measured how much water the bulb held!

OK, told you that to tell you this:

Sometimes the "simplest, dumbest solution" works best.

Long, long posts on why the Mac won't "sleep" at night (while the owner sleeps, or tries to)...

Just shut it down for the night! Takes only a click or two, and you WILL NOT be bothered by it waking up, for whatever reason.
In the morning, one simple step -- press the power-on button!

Do these two small things, and you WILL NOT be bothered!

An alternative -- before bed, just power-off the monitor. Turn it back on later...

 

[Mojo1]

You have years of experience using a Windows PC so you know the ins and outs of using its OS. But it also has some arcane settings that can cause a user a lot of frustration until he/she becomes accustomed to its idiosyncrasies. I know this because I have installed Windows on Macs.

Posting a problem on a Mac forum and then complaining about how Mountain Lion works (and how incredible Windows is in comparison...) when the main problem is your lack of experience with the new OS doesn't elicit any sympathy from me.

You may have a lot of computer experience with a PC but you need to spend some time learning how a Mac works.

I suggest that you get a copy of David Pogue's excellent "The Missing Manual for Switchers: Mountain Lion Edition." Pogue uses both Windows and OS X and he details the operational differences between the operating systems. The book also includes a lot of information about Mountain Lion features, including network and preference settings. It's easy to understand and a good read.

If I was switching to a new computer OS I would take the initiative to learn as much as possible about how it works. I would be embarrassed to post an anti-Windows diatribe on a Windows forum when I hadn't made an effort to learn about Windows in the first place...

 

[paulrbeers]

UPDATE


* Shut down iTunes
.

Ya know why this is causing your wake from sleep? See my ORIGINAL post. You have Wake on Lan turned on. Thus anything that polls your iTunes (i.e. iPhone, AppleTV, etc.) is going to wake up your Mini....

 

[Sir Ruben]

Problems and threads like this always make me grin.

First, a true story (not related to the Mac). When Frank J. Sprague (the father of electric traction) first went to work for Thomas Edison at Edison's laboratory, one day Edison's assistants were all in frazzle trying to figure out what volume of air was in one of their new-fangled "light bulbs". They scratched and scribbled out calculations on their papers, getting nowhere. Young Sprague had a better idea: he took the bulb, filled it with water, and measured how much water the bulb held!

OK, told you that to tell you this:

Sometimes the "simplest, dumbest solution" works best.

Long, long posts on why the Mac won't "sleep" at night (while the owner sleeps, or tries to)...

Just shut it down for the night! Takes only a click or two, and you WILL NOT be bothered by it waking up, for whatever reason.
In the morning, one simple step -- press the power-on button!

Do these two small things, and you WILL NOT be bothered!

An alternative -- before bed, just power-off the monitor. Turn it back on later...

Sorry but you are missing the point completely

----------

Ya know why this is causing your wake from sleep? See my ORIGINAL post. You have Wake on Lan turned on. Thus anything that polls your iTunes (i.e. iPhone, AppleTV, etc.) is going to wake up your Mini....

I know how it works. However it is waking from sleep when I am not using any home sharing on my Apple TV, iPad, or iPhone.

In fact I have tested this by sitting at the Mac, iPhone in hand, and from the iPhone accessed the shared library. I watched the Mac wake *but not light up the screen* and then go back to sleep as soon as I stop using the home sharing on the iPhone. So that is clearly not the same issue as the Mac waking itself, lighting the screen, and staying on is it?

 

[Sir Ruben]

You have years of experience using a Windows PC so you know the ins and outs of using its OS. But it also has some arcane settings that can cause a user a lot of frustration until he/she becomes accustomed to its idiosyncrasies. I know this because I have installed Windows on Macs.

Posting a problem on a Mac forum and then complaining about how Mountain Lion works (and how incredible Windows is in comparison...) when the main problem is your lack of experience with the new OS doesn't elicit any sympathy from me.

You may have a lot of computer experience with a PC but you need to spend some time learning how a Mac works.

I suggest that you get a copy of David Pogue's excellent "The Missing Manual for Switchers: Mountain Lion Edition." Pogue uses both Windows and OS X and he details the operational differences between the operating systems. The book also includes a lot of information about Mountain Lion features, including network and preference settings. It's easy to understand and a good read.

If I was switching to a new computer OS I would take the initiative to learn as much as possible about how it works. I would be embarrassed to post an anti-Windows diatribe on a Windows forum when I hadn't made an effort to learn about Windows in the first place...

Thanks for the suggestion that I need to learn the in's and out's of a Mac. I know that. I have been doing so since the day I took delivery of the Mac. I am already happily using the OS to the full with hardly any issues. However this one issue had me a little confused. Sadly aside from the book suggestion you didnt actually offer any advice on the actual issue we are discussing.

Anyway it seems that the issue is resolved. Having iTunes open when putting the Mac to sleep seemed to be the cause. As we know, its SUPPOSED to wake when another device (Apple TV, iPad, iPhone etc) requests use of the home sharing. During this time it is supposed to leave the monitor off and go back to sleep when the access is no longer required. During brief testing this works as it should , however, other times its waking when NOT accessing any of the home sharing features, and NOT going back to sleep afterwards. Not sure what that is all about but it is not supposed the behave like that. As an example, lets say one of my devices were accessing the home sharing of iTunes without my knowledge. That's fine, but if that were the case it should do it without lighting the screen and the Mac should return to sleep afterwards.

At least now I can leave the Mac in sleep mode with iTunes closed, knowing that it wont wake when it's not supposed to. No powering down the Mac and no turning off wake for network access. Success.

 

[CJM]

While I admire your determination to reach the root cause of the problem, it seems that Macs are more inclined to wake from sleep generally -to check for updates and the like.

Really, if you wanted to stop the problem, you would disable wake from sleep on network access. In this case, it is a fix and not a workaround.

 

[Sir Ruben]

While I admire your determination to reach the root cause of the problem, it seems that Macs are more inclined to wake from sleep generally -to check for updates and the like.

Really, if you wanted to stop the problem, you would disable wake from sleep on network access. In this case, it is a fix and not a workaround.

Thanks for the advice however as per my previous post the issue has now been identified. Luckily I didnt have to resort to turning off a feature of the OS and lose other features such as Find my Mac in doing so.

 

[dontpannic]

Turning the mac off? Well the whole point of using sleep mode is to avoid boot up times and reloading everything you use frequently. Turning it off means one of the features of my mac becomes redundant. Just like turning off wake for network access makes another feature redundant. Hardly the best solutions are they?

Also when I turned off wake for network access I now get this:

Image

So that's another feature made redundant!

Coming from Windows 7, I have to say that there are a lot of things that feel quite amateurish in Mountain Lion

Turn your monitor off, bit of blu tak over the indicator light and ignore it.

How's that?

Or, just turn off wake for network access... Find My Mac isn't an essential feature on a desktop machine while it's asleep... if it's unplugged from the mains to be stolen you wouldn't be able to locate it anyway until it was booted back up - in which case you just set it to email you when its located...

 

[Sir Ruben]

Turn your monitor off, bit of blu tak over the indicator light and ignore it.

How's that?

Or, just turn off wake for network access... Find My Mac isn't an essential feature on a desktop machine while it's asleep... if it's unplugged from the mains to be stolen you wouldn't be able to locate it anyway until it was booted back up - in which case you just set it to email you when its located...

As per post #38 its resolved

 

[dontpannic]

Didn't read that far ahead, I apologise. I'm glad you found the cause.

 

[fricotin]

Is there 2 different kinds of sleep ? When my mini goes to sleep the light on the front start pulsating and after an hour it goes off altogether but sometimes it doesn't, what is the difference in those sleep modes ?

 

[Sir Ruben]

Is there 2 different kinds of sleep ? When my mini goes to sleep the light on the front start pulsating and after an hour it goes off altogether but sometimes it doesn't, what is the difference in those sleep modes ?

Not as far as I am aware. The problem behaviour you are experiencing is another thing I came across while researching my issue. If the Mac is put into sleep mode it should stay there not wake or power down the Mac completely. Personally I think the whole feature is temperamental.

 

[gun1gugu]

As per post #38 its resolved

Sir Ruben, I really appreciate all you wrote in this post, and a FEW others with helpful suggestions!

I have had the same issue for quite some time and I'm losing it!

After A LOT of trial and error, I narrowed down my issue to the USB keyboard, It's not an Apple one... It's a brand new keyboard so no keys are broken or anything and nobody is pressing any keys while the mac is sleeping, and it's not an issue with non-Apple keyboards either...

After MONTHS of surfing the threads, i came to a conclusion... Mac users don't give a crap... I tried every single "solution", every single one I found, reset SMC, reset this reset that, and NONE of them worked... I must highlight the "BEST solutions" I found are: Just plug out your keyboard what's the big deal? Turn off your monitor, shut your mac down...

NO! I don't want to plug my keyboard in and out 20 times a day... And I don't want to buy a new keyboard... And I don't want to turn off my monitor/mac 10 times a day... Sorry but those are not solutions... I just want it to work as it is supposed to work... It's like you bought a brand new car and it turns on randomly by itself and the only solution is to take out the battery every time you leave the car... That is just retarded... Imagine you just bought this brand new iPhone and if one, any of its' features is not working properly, I bet you would be pretty pissed off... it is just RETARDED that the ONLY "solution" that stops my mac from waking up randomly is unplugging the keyboard every single time...

And i'm sick of all of you suggesting RETARDED WORKAROUNDS and saying arrogant, ironic and sarcastic **** and acting like smartasses!!!! If you don't know the solution to the problem, don't suggest stupid ****!

And at this point, I couldn't care less if any of you are insulted, if i get banned or if I never find a solution to this stupid issue...

 

[RoniSue]

Thanks for the suggestion that I need to learn the in's and out's of a Mac. I know that. I have been doing so since the day I took delivery of the Mac. I am already happily using the OS to the full with hardly any issues. However this one issue had me a little confused. Sadly aside from the book suggestion you didnt actually offer any advice on the actual issue we are discussing.

Anyway it seems that the issue is resolved. Having iTunes open when putting the Mac to sleep seemed to be the cause. As we know, its SUPPOSED to wake when another device (Apple TV, iPad, iPhone etc) requests use of the home sharing. During this time it is supposed to leave the monitor off and go back to sleep when the access is no longer required. During brief testing this works as it should , however, other times its waking when NOT accessing any of the home sharing features, and NOT going back to sleep afterwards. Not sure what that is all about but it is not supposed the behave like that. As an example, lets say one of my devices were accessing the home sharing of iTunes without my knowledge. That's fine, but if that were the case it should do it without lighting the screen and the Mac should return to sleep afterwards.

At least now I can leave the Mac in sleep mode with iTunes closed, knowing that it wont wake when it's not supposed to. No powering down the Mac and no turning off wake for network access. Success.

Sir Ruben, I am with you!! I hate workarounds...I want to know the CAUSE!! I'm running my Mac Mini late 2012 on Catalina now, and iTunes no longer exists. Now it's all in the Music app. May Mac has only recently started to wake up randomly. I have the Magic keyboard and trackpad (bluetooth). I don't want to disable the Wake for Network Access feature. I can't shut down iTunes since it doesn't exist. Any ideas now??