Hersco

Q: How to find out why my iMac is waking up by itself since installing Sierra?

I installed macOS Sierra yesterday. Since then, both times that I put my iMac to sleep it woke up by itself sometime later and remained awake until manually put asleep again. I'm not sure how long it took before it woke up each time. I searched for wakeup in Console, but this utility has changed at lot and I didn't find wakeup reasons that used to appear in the previous version. Nothing else has changed from El Capitan other than the update to Sierra.

 

I'm looking for clues to help me find the cause of this new problem.

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12), null

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 10:36 AM

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Q: How to find out why my iMac is waking up by itself since installing Sierra?

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  • by PATRICKMELE,

    PATRICKMELE PATRICKMELE Sep 30, 2016 10:43 AM in response to Hersco
    Level 3 (909 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 10:43 AM in response to Hersco
  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Sep 30, 2016 4:36 PM in response to PATRICKMELE
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 4:36 PM in response to PATRICKMELE

    Thanks for the link. None of these conditions apply. All my settings are exactly the same as in El Capitan.

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Sep 30, 2016 5:47 PM in response to Hersco
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 5:47 PM in response to Hersco

    Next time it wakes up by itself and stays awake, check Activity Monitor's Energy tab. It shows apps which are preventing sleep .

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Sep 30, 2016 7:39 PM in response to trevoz
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 7:39 PM in response to trevoz

    Interesting thought. I wonder, though, if the apps I have open donn't prevent me from putting my iMac to sleep, why would they prevent sleep after waking up?. I will check it anyway.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 30, 2016 7:54 PM in response to Hersco
    Level 9 (50,065 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 7:54 PM in response to Hersco

    Did you follow the instructions under "If the previous steps don't work"?

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Sep 30, 2016 9:28 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 9:28 PM in response to John Galt

    I did reset the SMC. Computer woke up again after about two and a half hours. Activity Monitor reported no apps preventing sleep.

     

    Will now test again after resetting the NVRAM. I did not think to disconnect my USB devices, since they were all connected when running El Capitan and did not cause the same problem.

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Oct 1, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Hersco
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 11:34 AM in response to Hersco

    Resetting the NVRAM did not fix the problem either. Awaiting further help from Apple Tech Support.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Oct 1, 2016 11:43 AM in response to Hersco
    Level 9 (50,065 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 11:43 AM in response to Hersco

    .

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Oct 1, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Hersco
    Level 9 (50,065 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Hersco

    If the same problem is occurring in Safe Mode, and while using a different User Account while logged out of your other account, check for the presence of any input devices in Bluetooth Preferences > Advanced. Un-pair any devices you do not recognize, and de-select "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer".

     

    All those potential causes and others are addressed in the Apple Support document referenced earlier. If nothing helps then you will need to proceed under AppleCare's direction. Be sure to contact Apple and not some scam outfit. If you Google "Apple Tech Support" you will find plenty of them, fraudulently claiming to represent Apple.

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Oct 1, 2016 12:12 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 12:12 PM in response to John Galt

    Thanks for the suggestions. I have no Bluetooth devices other than my Magic Trackpad. I have always left "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" unchecked. I am now testing as a new user. I will report the results.

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Oct 1, 2016 10:15 PM in response to Hersco
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 10:15 PM in response to Hersco

    The new user test proved to be a bit confusing. About two and a half hours after I first put the iMac to sleep as a new user, I found it awake, with a message that the computer restarted due to a "Sleep Wake Failure." I manually woke my iMac and put it back to sleep twice over the next several hours and it did not wake up again by itself.

     

    So the problem, which didn't occur with El Capitan, occurs in Sierra when I login normally. Also, apparently my USB connections aren't the problem, since they exist across both users.

     

    Meanwhile, I don't know where to begin to find what in my primary user folder could be causing Sierra to wake my iMac by itself and stay awake. I really don't want to erase my drive and start all over as a new user. Perhaps I should wait for the next Sierra update to see if this problem goes away.

  • by trevoz,Helpful

    trevoz trevoz Oct 2, 2016 9:56 PM in response to Hersco
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 9:56 PM in response to Hersco

    In a Terminal window run this:

     

    log show --style syslog | fgrep -i sleep | fgrep -v mDNS

     

    It should show all the relevant sleep entries. If you notice anything interesting, post it here (the log will be quite long and repetitive, so no need to post the whole thing :-)

  • by Hersco,

    Hersco Hersco Oct 2, 2016 10:20 PM in response to trevoz
    Level 2 (278 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 10:20 PM in response to trevoz

    Trevoz,

    Thanks for the suggestion. Scrolling through the many lines, I spotted a couple that match up well with one that I found in Console this morning.

     

    From Console:

    10:04:17.218096 kernel [IOBluetoothHCIController][WakeUpDisplay] -- took 17289663 microseconds to call activityTickle()

     

    From Terminal:

    2016-10-02 10:04:18.542750-0700  localhost blued[112]: (IOBluetooth) [com.apple.bluetooth.CBManager] bluetooth_sleepHandler IOPMIsAUserWake

    2016-10-02 10:04:19.584583-0700  localhost thermald[252]: [thermald.log] Received wake from sleep power notification

     

    There have been several occurrences of the same entries in Terminal, some at times after I went to bed at night.

     

    I logged back in as my normal self and put the computer to sleep before I went to bed last night. I found my iMac awake this morning. After seeing that Bluetooth message in Console, I turned off Bluetooth and put my iMac to sleep again. This time, it remained asleep for 11 hours, at which time I woke it manually to post this. That is the longest stretch without waking and remaining awake that I've witnessed since installing Sierra.

     

    As mentioned before, I have no Bluetooth devices other than my Magic Trackpad 2  and "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" has always been unchecked. So, perhaps there is a Bluetooth issue that Sierra can't handle the way El Capitan did.

  • by trevoz,

    trevoz trevoz Oct 2, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Hersco
    Level 4 (1,409 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 11:03 PM in response to Hersco

    I'd say it's pretty conclusive that the issue is caused by leaving bluetooth enabled. I don't think this is new to Sierra as I've seen instances of it with El Capitan too. It also only seems to affect recent MacBooks. Is yours a recent model?

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