Macbook very, very hot after sleep and won't start up at first

Question

Macbook very, very hot after sleep and won't start up at first

Macbook 15", Mac OS X 10.7.1.

This morning, I packed my Macbook, like I do every time I go to a client, put it in my suitcase and drove for about 90 minutes. After arrival I got it out of the suitcase and it was terribly hot. It wouldn't start up untill I connected the power chord.

It then booted as if it had been turned off. I suppose the battery was drained.

I don't get this. What proces could be continuing while the lid is closed, and shouldn't OS X prevent this?

Gerard

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 15", VMWare Windows 7

Posted on Aug 23, 2011 12:43 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 23, 2011 3:51 AM in response to GerardFromUlrum

Your MBP did not go to sleep.

Based on your signature line I would suspect VMWare as the culprit.

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Answer 2

Aug 23, 2011 5:59 AM in response to Retired Engineer

Far be it from me to exclude this as a possible solution, but having worked with windoww machines for decades now, I know better then to close the lid on a laptop running it.

VMWare was not active at the time I closed the laptop and had not been for quite a while.

Does is run any processes when not active that I could watch out for?

Gerard

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Answer 3

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Aug 23, 2011 6:06 AM in response to GerardFromUlrum

If VMWare didn't prevent your MBP from going to sleep, then something else did. That's not terribly uncommon: some apps and processes just won't let go when you try to put your Mac to sleep. So it's a very good rule of thumb never to put your machine into a bag or backpack until you've verified that the sleep light is pulsing, even though closing the display should put it to sleep.

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Answer 4

Aug 23, 2011 8:30 AM in response to eww

Iwill try to remember that. What I did to minimize the "damage" is that I set some parameters in the enrgy saving screen in sysprefs differently. When connected to power, I speciefied that the machine did not have to go to sleep. Changed that back to one hour, and the screen to 15 minutes.

These combined, I hope, will prevent this from happening again.

Cheers,

Gerard

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Answer 5

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Aug 23, 2011 9:28 AM in response to GerardFromUlrum

Don't count on Energy Saver settings to prevent this from happening again. Apps and processes that prevent sleep will prevent it regardless of whether you invoke it by closing the display, choosing Sleep from the Apple menu, or letting Energy Saver invoke it. It would be best to figure out what's preventing sleep, if you can.

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Answer 6

Aug 23, 2011 10:13 AM in response to eww

Will try, but it only happened once now, odds are it won't happen again. But your suggestion to wait for the blinking light will help to isolate situations.

Gerard

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