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MacBook Pro Sleep/Wake from sleep problem

As of today I have been experiencing a strange problem with my MBP. I can't wake my MBP when I open the screen although the machine is running. I also realized that I can't put it to sleep mode when I select it from the menu. Also, strangely, when I close the display to put it in sleep mode, the light stays on, instead of blinking. I already reset the power manager and the parameter RAM. I also have all my software updated. Any help would be appreciated.

MacBook Pro, Choose

Posted on Aug 8, 2007 7:18 PM

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147 replies

Aug 9, 2007 8:02 AM in response to Zozo17

I'd like to update my situation. After resetting power management and the parameter RAM, I have also deleted the files:com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and com.apple.systemuiserver.plist. The same problem keeps happening. No matter what I do the computer just won't enter sleep mode. I even repaired all of the disk permissions. Right now, I have backed up all of my data, and will be re-installing Max OS X. Keep you posted.

Aug 9, 2007 9:30 AM in response to Zozo17

I'm done re-installing Mac OS X, and changing everything back to factory default settings. The same problem happens, it's impossible to put the computer to sleep. When I close the lid, the bright light stays on, and when I open the lid, I have a black LCD screen. Only thing to do is to re-start.

Aug 20, 2007 8:35 PM in response to TrishGB

Having the exact same problem on a Macbook Pro purchased 9 months ago running 10.4.10

Tried the things listed above (PRAM/Power Management/Fresh install). None of them are a solution.

Hitting "Sleep" from the apple menu does nothing.

When forcing a sleep (closing the lid/timing out on "put my computer to sleep after XX") it looks like it goes to sleep, but when opening the LCD, the LCD doesn't come back on. The computer is fully responsive and alive, this can be easily shown by hitting the volume up/down buttons, or inserting/ejecting a CD. The brightness controls do not work, and the only way to get the LCD to come back on is a hard boot.

Aug 24, 2007 3:00 PM in response to impactdni

I searched for Macbook Pro sleep issues since I am having one with my brand new 2.4 MBP.

I adjusted the sleep mode so it doesn't "safe sleep" because that took far too long for my needs. Before and after doing so, however, after the computer goes to sleep (pulsing light), I have taken it out of its bag and noticed the Apple lit up and it making noise. It wakes when I open the lid again but I am concerned it never slept soundly.

I have Bluetooth wake from sleep OFF so that's not the issue.

Has anyone else had concerns that their MBP is not sleeping soundly? I don't want to damage this computer, but I cart it back and forth to work every day i my backpack, and I need to be comfortable that it's parked and asleep during transit.

Aug 29, 2007 5:07 PM in response to Zozo17

I can't fix the waking up from sleep issue. Tried "resetting your mac's PRAM and NVRAM" support article, fixing disk permission, AND buying all new RAM! If my computer goes to sleep from any number of ways, low battery, closing the lid, or from power mgmt setting a HARD RESET is required use the LCD. This *****!!!

Aug 30, 2007 4:33 PM in response to Zozo17

Here is something to try.....get rid of "SafeSleep" mode. I did this on my MBP 2.16 and sleep actually works now.

Reposted from these two articles....
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/2006/10/sleepmode/index.php
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/2006/10/sleepmode/index.php

Applies to MacBook, MacBook Pro or the very last model PowerBook (late 2005).
The reason for this is SafeSleep, a technology Apple introduced to all portable computers since October 2005.
CHANGING MODES TO OLD STYLE SLEEP (see below for more details)
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

Check the current setup
After you launch Terminal, the first step is to determine which sleep mode your Mac is currently using (in case you wish to go back to it). You can both view and change the sleep mode using the Unix program pmset. To see your current settings, type pmset -g | grep hibernatemode. You should see something like this:
$ pmset -g | grep hibernatemode
hibernatemode 3
Great, so your machine is using mode 3, whatever that might be. Well, thanks to the documentation for the handy Deep Sleep Dashboard widget, which puts your machine immediately into hibernation mode (so you don’t have to yank all the power sources to invoke it), we can tell exactly which mode is which:
• 0 - Old style sleep mode, with RAM powered on while sleeping, safe sleep disabled, and super-fast wake.
• 1 - Hibernation mode, with RAM contents written to disk, system totally shut down while “sleeping,” and slower wake up, due to reading the contents of RAM off the hard drive.

• 3 - The default mode on machines introduced since about fall 2005. RAM is powered on while sleeping, but RAM contents are also written to disk before sleeping. In the event of total power loss, the system enters hibernation mode automatically.

• 5 - This is the same as mode 1, but it’s for those using secure virtual memory (in System Preferences -> Security).

• 7 - This is the same as mode 3, but it’s for those using secure virtual memory.

Once you see which mode you’re presently using, make a note of it. You could do this in one step, actually, with a command like this:
pmset

That will take the output of the pmset command, strip out everything other than the hibernatemode value, and then dump the result into a file on your desktop named current_mode.txt. Save this file for future use.
Note: I’m being overly cautious here on purpose. The reality is that, unless you’ve messed with this setting before, your Mac will either be in mode 0 (in which case, this tip doesn’t matter, as your Mac is using old-style sleep), or mode 3 or 7 (the default for machines shipped since last fall). Saving a text file to remember a 3 or a 7 is really overdoing things, but at least you won’t be able to say you don’t remember which mode your machine was in.

Change the sleep mode setting
To change your sleep mode, you use pmset again, providing the variable and value you wish to assign. So to return to the old style sleep mode (which is mode 0 from the above list), enter this command:
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

Press Return, and you’ll be asked for your password. Provide it, and your sleep mode has been changed. If you ever wish to go back to your previous setting, just repeat the above command, but replace 0 with the value from your current_mode.txt file.

And yes, this means you can also set your machine to always go directly into hibernation mode by running the above command with 1 at the end. I find it much simpler, though, to use the Deep Sleep widget linked above—and the widget also returns the hibernatemode setting to its prior value, which means that you can use the widget for hibernation, and still enter normal sleep mode when you simply close the lid.

Note that restarting is not required for these changes to take effect.

Recover some drive space

If your machine was previously set to mode 3 (or 7) and you’ve reverted to the old style sleep mode, you’ve got one more step to take: recover the drive space used up by the copy of your system’s RAM, which was created the last time you slept the machine prior to making the switch. In Terminal, enter these two commands, pressing Return after each and providing your password when asked:


cd /var/vm
sudo rm sleepimage


If you ever return to the new style sleep mode, the sleepimage file will be automatically recreated when you execute the sudo pmset command—yes, it creates the file as soon as you execute the command, not the first time you put the machine to sleep.

Wrap up

Personally, I find the new sleep mode a blessing, and I’ve left my machine in that mode. If you prefer the old behavior, however, now you know exactly how to get it back. Yes, it requires a trip into Terminal land, but it’s really not that hard to do once you’re there.

MacBook Pro Sleep/Wake from sleep problem

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