Sleep not working correctly

Dr. Smoke,

Thank you for your analysis of this sleep anomaly.

To answer your question:

However, it does beg the question: what type of network connections are you using? AirPort or Ethernet?

I am using a cable modem with an ethernet connection, but I did not obviously test enough before I posted.

When my problem surfaced I deleted:
1. com.apple.PowerManagement.plist
2. com.apple.AutoWake.plist
3. com.apple.systemuiserver.plist (eventually replaced the original)

I also reset PRAM and reinstalled Security Update 2005-004.

None of these steps seemed to eliminate the lack of sleep.

WFENAA appeared to be the "Silver Bullet."

After reading your post, I reverted to the previous WFENAA settings and sleep now functions normally with that feature either selected or deselected.

In light of your explanation, it seems that I came to a hasty conclusion, but I was certain that WFENAA proved to be the corrective factor. The resumption of normal function in my case must have been the result of one of the other steps that I took.

I regret promulgating false information.

Thanks

I'm on a DSL connection via Ethernet.

FYI
I'm pretty sure that the drive was sleeping OK.
It was just the fan that wouldn't sleep.

Hi, Joey.

Did the sleep light pulse? It may have been a case of the internal temperature being high when it entered sleep mode and the fan continued to run. I suspect the fan would have shut off once the temp was down to some level.

There are some cases in other Macs where the fans will continue to run after sleep. I could not find an article about this for the eMac, but if you're interested you can see these KB articles.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Hi, Ferd II.

You wrote:

"I regret promulgating false information."

Not a problem. I might have come to the same conclusion, hence why I also tested WFENAA. For example, there is another KB article that states having the Mac set to receive faxes does not prevent sleep, but I've seen cases where it did and I was able to reproduce the problem in an early version of 10.3.x. I have to check to see if this is the case under 10.3.9 and 10.4. 😉

Since your Mac is connected via Ethernet I find it interesting.

Did you restart after 1 or 3 and before attempting the PRAM reset?

A PRAM reset is less useful as a troubleshooting step with Mac OS X. Compare the list of PRAM contents in "Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM?" to that in "Macintosh: How to Reset PRAM and NVRAM.".

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

No, that's not it.
I already explained that changing the Network Preferences both caused and fixed the problem.
Please re-read my most recent posts.

Hi Everybody:
I had the same problem, and solved it!! I use Mac Mail, and I had my "check for new mail" set for every minute. Apparently that was the problem, I changed it to every 5 minutes, and everything is back to normal. I asked this question in another thread, but didn't get near the response as I see here, wow!!

I, too tried all the power management options, and the wake for ethernet administrator access, to no avail. I do still have all of the options unchecked.

I Quit all running apps, and set sleep for 1 minute, and opened one app at a time until problem reappeared.

Hope this helps!!

Bob

Hi, Joey.

I read your posts, but unless there's some bizarre bug in the OS, I have trouble seeing how the Wake for Ethernet network administrator access" could be preventing idle sleep based on what that function is designed to do.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

You wrote:

I use Mac Mail, and I had my "check for new mail" set for every minute"

Your problem and solution brings up a good point.

If you have the Mac doing something every minute, like checking for new Mail, it won't enter idle sleep since the shortest idle period that can be set is one minute. Hence it is never idle if it is checking Mail, or performing some other scheduled task, at intervals of one minute.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Dr. Smoke,

You asked:

Did you restart after 1 or 3 and before attempting the PRAM reset?

I restarted (resetting PRAM) after simultaneously deleting 1, 2, and 3.

Trying too many things at once certainly complicates troubleshooting verification.

Thanks

Thank you, Dr Smoke,
Glad I could give some solutions instead of just asking questions. Do I get some votes now?

Bob

I used to have Eudora set up to check for email every 5 minutes too. But it would not wake the computer from sleep Mode to do it. Perhaps Eudora has a preference for this somewhere that I also had checked, but I can't seem to find it. I still have it set to check for email every 30 minutes and my Sleep Mode timers (45 mins for monitor, 1hr for computer, put disk to sleep when possible) works fine. I guess Eudora checks for mail in the backgroud and this doesn't register with the system as activity worthy of affecting the timers. I think the Sleep Mode timers are based on keyboard/mouse activity anyways, not CPU activity.

But, yes, if you have your computer set up to do something every few minutes it should and will affect the way Sleep Mode operates. In this situation Sleep Mode should't be entered into at all via the auto timers.

So it seems to me that Robert muct have had a different problem from the rest of us.

I'm convinced that the problem I had is a bug. I can see no reason why having "Wake for Ethernet network administrator access" selected should make it so that my computer goes into Sleep Mode as expected (i.e. monitor and drive sleep) via the timer, but the fan stays on. This makes no sense.

I don't really ever need to use administrator access via Ethernet anyway. I'm not really on a network. It's just my DSL modem connecting to the Internet. So I won't ever need to check this preference again (I'm not sure why I selected it, or even if I selected it, in the 1st place). Still, I hope they fix this in a update.

Me neither. That's why I think it's a bug.

You wrote:

"That's why I think it's a bug."

It could be, I just can't reproduce it. However, my network configuration is different from yours.

If you can consistently reproduce the problem and think it's a bug, I suggest you submit a Mac OS X Feedback.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

So I won't ever need to check this preference again

But Joey, wouldn't it be interesting to see if checking the option again restored the problem? Then you'd KNOW it was a bug and would have the option to report it. Plus, we'd all learn something.

John

Yes I did that and the problem would return.

Unfortunately, I can't duplicate this now because since dl'ing the latest Security Update and QT 7 (I'm assuming these are the culprits) the problem is back in full swing again.

I.e. No matter what I do, when the computer enters sleep mode via the timers the fan stays on. This time it sounds like the drive is not sleeping either.

FYI The eMac's power light does not pulsate when sleep is entered via the timers. When sleep is entered via the Apple Menu everything works as expected.

Oy.