MacBook Pro won't "wake" up after sleep mode!

This is not just a Leopard problem. I had it happen a few times in the past, but since I hooked up a firewire express card a couple of days ago, the computer never wakes up; I have to reboot every time, with the usual wasted time and unsaved files lost. A lost a few of my finder settings, too. The problem now occurs whether the express card is inserted or not.

I have this problem every single time the computer goes to sleep, with or without the power cord, whether I close the cover or use the Menu command. Also something I did not see mentioned much, is the computer takes several minutes to actually boot. After the initial grey startup screen with the spinning wheel, I get a blue screen (not the Blue Screen of Death, but the Blue Screen of Really Sick apparently) after which it (finally) loads the Finder.

The odd thing is, the Apple store replaced an older Macbook Pro that was 2 generations older than this one, precicely because it was having the EXACT SAME PROBLEM! I seriously doubt then that the issue is hardware related, at least it's not related to the latest models. I think the problem MAY be related to corrupted SafeSleep data on the hard drive, but ONLY IF the SafeSleep data is kept somewhere other than the Startup Partition. I say this because I did a wipe and reinstall of the OS and am getting the exact same results.

This is my first post here, but I have been suffering the same issues since I got my new MBP last week. After reading the various suggestions and a fair bit of trial and error I think I isolated at least my problem, and figured I'd share how I've successfully corrected the issue.

First, I was running iStat Pro with network monitoring enabled. I removed the widget and downloaded the updated version directly from iSlayer's website (was newer than the one I downloaded from Apple), and then installed that without network monitoring. Trying to put the machine to sleep still gave problems (never would get the slow blinking light, just a solid one) -- and wasn't able to wake still.

After that I tried removing all USB devices prior to sleep, and still no go. Finally, I tried turning off my bluetooth mouse before entering sleep mode, and sleep suddenly works perfectly!

Trying various combinations of these seems to recreate the problem at least some of the time, so, at least in my case, it's important to remove any attached devices, disconnect (or turn off) the bluetooth mouse, and remove the network monitor from iStat Pro.

This really is something Apple needs to address, as sleep should "just work," but I'm much less upset now that I've at least found a workaround. It was impossible to use this machine much as I always was having to hard-reboot the machine nearly every time I went to use it.

My MacBook Pro is about one week old. When it goes from sleep mode to normal and starts up the keyboard won't light afterwards?!

When i turn the keyboard-light button up, there's a "stop sign" and it cannot be activated 😟

What can I do to fix this freaking problem?

Message was edited by: silian

The stop sign means it thinks it's too bright for keyboard lighting to be needed where you are, if it is infact dim or dark, then there is probably some problem. cover the light sensor, which is by the isight on the new macbooks, to check this, it should light up when covered even in a bright room.

Hi everyone, I was having the same problem but I did something and now it has gone away.

I downloaded "GrandPerspective" that visually shows you what files are on your hard drive including hidden files. Here is the link:
http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net
I had already turned the sleep mode to normal (see elsewhere on here) via the terminal but when I looked at my HD there was 4gig of space that were hidden that belonged to the system called "sleep image" that I assume was a mirror image of my RAM. Well I deleted it and haven't have a problem since and that was 2 weeks ago! It was happening regularly 3-4 times a week before.

So, don't know if that helps others but it made my life easier! GrandPserpective also cleaned out a lot of junk from my HD that I forgot I had so I would recommend it either way.

Has there been a resolution to this problem yet? I mean the first reports on this went up in Jan '08, its now Dec 08', it really shouldn't take Apple 12 months to figure this out.

If I'm just missing the boat on the true solution to all this, instead of backwards workarounds somebody please direct me to it, I would be eternally grateful.

I just had the same problem, and the instructions from http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474&tstart=0 worked to solve it: reboot in target mode, use another computer to access the hard drive, remove the sleepfile, remove the /system/library/extensions.mkext file, and reboot; then, do sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0 (otherwise, the problem will re-occurr).

However, as the previous posting points out, there's no reason this should happen! All of my software, firmware, etc. is up-to-date!

Though I had solved the problem (after losing a day of work), worked for a day, and shutdown the computer (though it was safer than putting it to sleep).

Now I've turned it on, and it's the same problem again! (Totally blank screen, functional keyboard.)

Although there seem to be a lot of software fix’s here, I had the same problem and found out that it was a hardware fault. The best way to test this is to turn off you Mac and then hold down the power button until the light on the front flashes repeatedly. If it does do this it will complete a power test, if it doesn’t, (which was the problem I had) it could be one of 2 problems. The first and most common is a fault on the sensor that spins down your hard drive if it records a sudden and large movement, i.e. the computer being dropped. If its not this, then it can be a Logic Board fault, (Part of this controls the safe sleep mode) which is why if you disable safe sleep it can sometimes stop the problem, realistically the best thing to do is send the computed to a apple registered support company who will replace the sensor or the board. Hope this helps someone.

Argh! Another lost day of work (and I am far away from the nearest Apple Store).

I can log in, and remotely ssh into my machine in its nothing-on-the-screen mode, but have found no reliable way of getting the screen back. One thing I noticed: in this state, the computer is not mounting USB drives that it used to mount without a hitch (another big inconvenience, since it makes offloading data from it more difficult)...

And one more update: After trying out many other alternatives, it looks like it is the well-known NVIDIA graphics card problem after all. My system preferences, accessed remotely through a Vine server now reports that the machine has an Intel GMA 3100 graphics processor.

The syslog, at boot, reports "display: family specific matching fails" and "display: not usable". So, looks like I'll have to work through Vine, on a Windows machine ⚠, until I can get to a Mac Store and get the extended-warranty repair done...

Mac Steamy - sorry to hear about the hardware troubles, but thanksfor posting the hardware test info. So do you (or anyone else) know what to do if your less than a week old MacBook Pro "passed" the hardware test - lights blinked furiously - but are still having these sleep disorders? Almost every time after I close the lid and later try to open it back up and login, my keyboard and mouse are completely disabled. The power button is the only thing that works. Any ideas? Seems like this is an old, common problem. My new system has every possible update. Thanks!
P.S. I also have an 8 month old 13" Macbook that exhibits this behavior once in a great while, but not with any frequency.

And to further confuse things: on the dark-screen machine, I installed a new printer using the remote Vine connection; upon rebooting, the screen came back!
This situation lasted until the computer went to sleep (accidentally); now it is dark again.

This makes me wonder, once again, whether it's really a software or a hardware problem... Now I'm installing the latest OS update (10.5.6) to see what the effect of that might be.

Finally, I tried the power test just mentioned here: it passes.

My Macbook Pro went to sleep 11 days ago. (purchased 6/16/07) Would not wake up but I could tell it was among the living because the sleep light would come on. It was loaded to the gills with private stuff that to get in the wrong hands could destroy my life. I researched the forums for horror stories about confidential data being compromised, yes...even by our beloved Apple. I called tech support twice even tho I am out of warranty (which won't happen again) and all the things they dictated did nothing.

So in lieu of ordering a new Mac, I borrowed my brother's Powerbook to limp by until the first of the year. Only because it happened so recently, I could remember all my passwords, etc. I could not pay a bill, nothing without it. I don't even get paper statements. Can you imagine the problems?

I kept powering it down then back up. The sleep or power light would come on, but no chimes or anything. So I ordered a new one. It will be here shortly.

First, I bought for $25 an 8 G thumb drive at Wal-Mart (Lexar). I have several smaller ones. I figured if I could ever get my Mac back to life, I could store all my secret stuff (bank accounts, passwords, retirement accounts, etc-my life in other words), my entire Home folder in fact, with miscellaneous videos, sound attachments, etc accumulated over the years and religiously saved) in my "Saved Oddities" folder.

Then today I had an idea. These problems with waking seem to me to be related in some way to the battery, which was already replaced under warranty.

I then had an inspiration, which is easy when you find yourself up against the wall. I had the idea of leaving my Mac powered up until I completely drained the battery. That took about 4 hours in my case.

I then plugged in the power cord again and punched my little power button. All was right with the world!!!! I heard chimes and saw the login screen. I took all my stuff off, and after watching it for a while (never sleep, etc), I will wipe the HD after deleting everything else. I have Time Machine to back up from, only 24 hours before this happened. Whew.