Power Mac G4 MDD won't wake from sleep mode

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Level 1

8 points

Power Mac G4 MDD won't wake from sleep mode

I have a Power Mac G4 MDD 1.25GHz with a 15" Apple display and running 10.4.

I can not wake the computer up from the sleep mode. It will not respond to the mouse moving, a mouse click, a keyboard key, the power button on the display or the power button on the computer.

The only thing I can do is force the computer off by holding in the power button (on display or computer) and restarting the computer.

The computer is set to go to sleep after 1 hour of no use (or the issue happens if I put it to sleep).

Any thoughts would be great.

Power Mac G4 MDD, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Dec 17, 2008 1:49 PM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 10

80,556 points

Dec 17, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Tobhal

Do you perhaps have a USB 2.0 PCI adaptor card installed? Some can cause exactly that symptom. If you do, you don't need to remove the card but should temporarily disconnect any storage devices from it and see if it will awaken normally.

Is the Apple display connected via an ADC connector? There are reports of ADC displays apparently going bad and fouling the works. Might be work trying a different display with either DVI or VGA connectivity for test purposes.

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Answer 2

NickRJ

Level 1

0 points

Jan 10, 2009 9:18 AM in response to Allan Jones

I'm having the same issue with my PowerMac G4 1.25. It has a video card that has an ADC and DVI connector. Whether I use both a VGA monitor with an adaptor or a monitor that uses DVI natively, the display will not wake after the system goes to sleep. I've removed any USB cards from the system but the problem remains. Any other suggestions?

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Answer 3

Jan 14, 2009 9:26 PM in response to Tobhal

This is for a Mac that won't sleep.
Here is KB article HT1776 with their tips.
Mine follow;
USB devices and hubs often cause Macs to not sleep or wake quickly from sleep (notably HP printers and scanners, HP all in ones, and Cannon scanners). Disconnect all USB except for keyboard and mouse and try. If it sleeps, add one back at a time testing after each one to find the culprit.

If you've set your Mac to receive faxes, it may not be able to sleep. It might also have a damaged preferences file.

If you use your Mac for faxing, open System Preferences. click Print & Fax, click the Faxing tab, and uncheck the Receive Faxes On This Computer box.

If that doesn't work or you've never faxed on your Mac, go to Finder/Hard Drive /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration and delete the com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and com..apple.AutoWake.plist files (if your Mac asks, type your admin. password).

If the latter file isn't present in the folder, go to user name(probably your name)/Library/Preferences, delete the com.apple.systemuiserver.plist file, and reboot your Mac.

Hope this helps!
P.S. One member here reported this (Michael Gleason);
"I have had this problem with my IMac G5. It is surprisingly irritating. LaCie's Silverkeeper backup software was the cause. By default it gave itself permission to wake up the computer to check if a backup was needed. Do you have this or a similar program installed which has scheduled activities including wake-up permissions as an option?"

Dave Hamilton provided this link, xlr8yourmac.com, to a member, which addresses failure of deep sleep with some users that updated and added new FireWire and USB cards.

Also, here is Apple doc.#305262 about PCI cards and sleep.

tomhorvat adds this; After few days of messing around I found out that I had desktop background (wallpaper) set to change every 1 minute.
After unchecking "Change picture..." in system preferences (under Desktop/Screen saver), my powerbook went to sleep all by itself.

Tristan Currier noticed this; "I have a Canon printer(shared) and my imac would not sleep. I opened up printer/fax in system prefs and noticed it said the printer was in use when it was off. Opened up the printer queue and noticed about 7 pending documents. Deleted them all and now it sleeps.
Check the printer queue!"
Good Luck!  DALE

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Answer 4

Jan 14, 2009 9:51 PM in response to Tobhal

Test

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Answer 5

Jan 14, 2009 10:01 PM in response to NickRJ

If your Mac happily goes to sleep but won't wake up--Hold down the power switch to force-reboot your machine and get it running again.
Don't worry-your Mac isn't narcoleptic. Its Open Firmware system or NVRAM (nonvolatile RAM) is likely corrupt, and your Mac can't remember how to wake up.
Try resetting the PRAM. This should reset the NVRAM on most machines, which is the suggested fix. If that didn't help, do the following manually;
Restart your Mac and immediately hold down the Command-Option-O-F key combo until you see a somewhat intimidating command-line display that ends with the Open Fimware prompt. Type the following line:

reset-nvram
press the return key on your keyboard
set-defaults
press return
reset-all
press return
Your Mac will reboot. Once it's running, put it back to sleep to test. If the problem recurs your Energy Saver preferences may be the culprit. Delete the com.apple.PowerManagement.plist file (go to Finder/Hard drive/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration)--don't worry, your Mac will regenerate a new one--and then restart to see if that rights the wrong.
Still didn't work? Might be time to call AppleCare or see an Apple Genius or a technician.

 Good Luck! DALE

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Answer 6

Jan 14, 2009 10:06 PM in response to NickRJ

If you have issues with a Mac or display that goes to sleep at inappropriate times, you may have a problem with Energy Saver. Delete the following .plist files and restart:

-/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist

-/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systemuiserver.plist--
(username is your name or System Administrators name)

-/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.AutoWake.plist
A restart is very important after deleting these plists. After a reboot your Mac will then generate new ones.
Dale

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Answer 7

NickRJ

Level 1

0 points

Jan 17, 2009 3:51 PM in response to Dale Weisshaar

Hi Dale,

Thanks for all the advise and helpful suggestions. Unfortunately, I ended up taking the unit to the local Apple dealer from where I purchased the unit. They had a look and are stumped as well. I've reinstalled the OS to no avail. I've also checked all the applications running at login for all users and removed all the third party Preference Panes other than Flip4Mac (which has been trouble free and updated to the latest version). It looks like I will have to wait until the next fix/service pack update. 🙂

Thanks again!

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Answer 8

Jan 17, 2009 10:17 PM in response to NickRJ

Sorry those tips didn't help!

You said you reinstalled. Did you do an erase and install or another method please?

Dale

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Answer 9

Jan 27, 2009 8:05 PM in response to Dale Weisshaar

Hi Dale.
I have a G4 as well running on Leopard. My G4 will randomly restart, turn off the display while running and will turn back on where i left off on my mac. I followed your directions for resetting the PRAM. Which I guessed worked. Although, when i search for the "com.apple.PowerManagement.plist" I do not have that file in the desired folder. Is this good? What do you recommend me doing?

Thanks!
Corey

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Answer 10

Jan 30, 2009 1:01 PM in response to NickRJ

Reset the PMU. and change the PRAM battery.

I used to get this all the time, reset the PMU and it would go away for a few months, until I reset the PMU again.

When you attempt to wake, do the fans power up, but just no response from the monitor ?

The PMU has to instruct everything to wake up, including the monitor - which draws all its power through the MDD - when you try to wake. If the PMU is scrambled, you're going to have issues.

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