theerrata

Q: I want to turn off iMac display and let nothing wake it until I hit a key

The new 27" iMac's in my bedroom, and if someone signs into an IM client, or a file copy finishes, or an iTunes track changes while I've put the display to sleep (using a hot corner or the keyboard shortcut), it brightens right up again.

All I want to do is have a permanent way to turn the screen off, and have NOTHING wake it up until I tell it to do so by clicking or pushing a key or something. This isn't an unnatural request, is it?

Can I do this with an iMac?

iMac 27, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Jan 17, 2011 12:59 PM

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Q: I want to turn off iMac display and let nothing wake it until I hit a key

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  • by Juslas,

    Juslas Juslas May 21, 2016 2:31 PM in response to theerrata
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 21, 2016 2:31 PM in response to theerrata

    While sleep corners and keyboard shortcuts do work, most of the time, it would be nice to be able to turn off iMac screen "for good". Once or twice a year my iMac screen just will not sleep - this problem can last weeks. Eventually some miracle trick gets rid off the always on screen. And it is software based problem, it just would be nice that Apple had a hardware based solution to make sure that screen stays a sleep.

    Year is now 2016 and I run OS X 10.6.8 on 24" Intel Core 2 Duo iMac. I do have more Macs with latest OS, too. This iMac is to run old stuff.

    So I had iMac screen stuck on for a week. This time it looks that Safari 5.1.10 (6534.59.10) somehow was the problem - sounds stupid, since I did all those reset boots, too. Yet it was Safari that went to mode that quit was grayed out - only force quit closed Safari. And Safari went to that "not quitting" state after every boot, too. And yes, I used Safari to read about this problem. Safari now runs, correctly. And screen goes to sleep as it should and stays off. It was not Caffeine, DropBox, iTunes or any third party software, it was Apple Safari that kept my iMac waking up.

  • by Duane,

    Duane Duane May 21, 2016 5:43 PM in response to Juslas
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    May 21, 2016 5:43 PM in response to Juslas

    Get a piece of black paper bigger than your screen. Tape it to the top of the screen. When you want to use your iMac, roll it up. When you want to hide the screen, unroll it.

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM May 21, 2016 6:15 PM in response to Juslas
    Level 6 (13,972 points)
    iPad
    May 21, 2016 6:15 PM in response to Juslas

    Has anyone just tried using the Energy Saver Preference in the System Preferences panel?

    Set a sleep time for the monitor only, the set the computer to never sleep.

    This has always worked for me.

    It leaves the monitor sleep/stay dark and still let the computer do its processing.

    If you have set a login password, the monitor will not wake without typing the password.

    This feature works in 10.8 all the way to 10.11.

    Not sure if the monitor will stay asleep with needed password intervention is OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, though, but it monitor should still stay dark intil you hit a key on the keyboard to wake up the monitor.

  • by Duane,

    Duane Duane May 21, 2016 6:35 PM in response to MichelPM
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    May 21, 2016 6:35 PM in response to MichelPM

    I agree MichelPM. I have never had anything wake up the screen on my Mac. The screen only awakens when the keyboard or mouse is used.

  • by otciii,

    otciii otciii Jul 23, 2016 2:40 PM in response to sattamassaganna
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 23, 2016 2:40 PM in response to sattamassaganna

    I love you

  • by Funkdonkey,

    Funkdonkey Funkdonkey Aug 9, 2016 11:02 AM in response to Paul_31
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 11:02 AM in response to Paul_31

    No it does not work.  The issue for me is that I stream from my iMac to other devices on my network and as soon as my screen goes to sleep, the server software stops. It's ridiculous that there is not a separate power button for the screen.  So now I just turn off all screen savers and let nothing sleep.  I'm tired of having to re-setup connections every time my kids want to watch a movie. I pretty much hate this iMac.

  • by Duane,

    Duane Duane Aug 9, 2016 6:53 PM in response to Funkdonkey
    Level 10 (124,018 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 6:53 PM in response to Funkdonkey

    You need to adjust the settings. In your case the screen is going dark because the computer is going to sleep. That is the ONLY reason server software would stop. You need to follow the steps below.

     

    In Energy Saver

    1) Set Computer to "Never" sleep.

    2) Set Display to "Sleep" in whatever minutes you want.

    3) Uncheck "Wake for network access".

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