When is it safe to power off?

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Level 1

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When is it safe to power off?

Hi,

I have a Mac Mini set up to use the "Safe Sleep" mode.

When I switch the machine to sleep, the screen turns blank and I have no idea when I can actually turn the power off.

For example, I have waited until the the tiny LED starts to slowly blink but that does not leave enough time for the system to commit the memory image to disk.

What do I do? Count to 20 and hope for the best?

Thanks in advance.

(Why do I need to switch the power off, you ask? Does it matter? The system's connected to a UPS and I rather leave that off since it is not used that often.)

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jan 24, 2012 8:59 AM

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Answer 1

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Jan 24, 2012 9:09 AM in response to ngmach

If you want to have your machine turned off, you should use "Shut down" in the File menu; if yours is sleeping, that would mean wake it up, go to File menu and hit the shut down choice. That is the proper way to shut it down - there are certain tasks the OS performs during that sequence. Using the power button should be reserved for emergency situations only (as in: nothing works/system is frozen).

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Answer 2

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Jan 24, 2012 9:18 AM in response to ngmach

In addtion to the good advice given to you by babowa, Safe Sleep is no longer necessary.

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Answer 3

ngmach Author

Level 1

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Jan 24, 2012 9:25 AM in response to babowa

Thank you for your answer.

I understand the difference between "shut down" and "sleep" (deep, safe or simple).

I wish to turn the power off whilst maintaining the system's state and this can be done but switching the system to to safe sleep.

My only issue is knowing when the system has entered safe sleep completly (and the memory image is fully committed to disk).

I would prefer not to shutdown. I am aware of the new "auto save" and "restore" features in Lion but I need to keep the machine state unchanged. Safe sleep works.

When is it safe to power off after entering "safe sleep"? Please?

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Answer 4

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Jan 24, 2012 1:46 PM in response to ngmach

Sorry, I guess I misunderstood - in any case, did you read the article macjack linked to?

Since I have never used safe sleep (for me, it is either sleep or shut down), hopefully someone else who actually uses that will chime in.

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Answer 5

ngmach Author

Level 1

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Jan 25, 2012 4:49 AM in response to babowa

I have read the article linked by macjack. Again: I'm aware of the new "restore" and "auto save" features of Lion. This is not the point.

In this particular use case, I'm not an ordinary user but a developer and I'd like to keep machine state before powering the system off (which I have verified "safe sleep" is a suitable option).

All I need is to know when can I switch the power to the machine off (read "disconnect from wall socket"). I cannot find anything on the system user interface (including the unhelpful blinking LEDs) that tells me the system has finished committing the memory image to disk.

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Answer 6

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Jan 25, 2012 8:16 AM in response to ngmach

All I need is to know when can I switch the power to the machine off (read "disconnect from wall socket"). I cannot find anything on the system user interface (including the unhelpful blinking LEDs) that tells me the system has finished committing the memory image to disk.

As I said, I've never used safe sleep and I use an iMac, so I couldn't even test your setup/problem.

Hopefully someone else will chime in.

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Answer 7

gismoat

Level 1

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Feb 19, 2012 6:22 AM in response to ngmach

i don't have a mac mini - so I cannot tell about the blinking led, but maybe it helps to change the sleep mode to disc only: http://etherealmind.com/osx-hibernate-mode/

As far as I understand, the computer should completely shut down when you switch to:

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 1

and then send the machine to sleep

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