macbook pro screen won't wake up after sleep

It happened again, after deleting/removing a bunch of smaller programs.

After reading the thread, I should update my problem: The screen turns on, but it never gets beyond a pale background to where I can see the desktop.

Yesterday I reset the NVRAM, deleted Air Parrot drivers and it hasn't happened since... keeping my fingers crossed.

Happened again... but this time I had an external monitor hooked up and IT woke up but the screen on my MacBook Pro did not!

I was able to recover by using the 'Detect Displays' button in the 'Displays' preferences dialog.

This is getting to be a little frustrating.

I'm having a similar, if not the same problem, it's been going on for a month or two now at least... I close the screen, charger hooked up or not, it will never come back online. IF anything at all, the most that happens is after about 10 seconds, the screen comes on bright for 3 seconds, and then blanks back out. The only way to turn it back on is to do a hard shut down and restart... I have not installed any apps since my initial Lion upgrade.

The only way I can put my computer to sleep is to physically select "sleep" from the menu... It will take about 15-20 seconds to go to sleep, and then it finally goes into sleep mode. This is the only guaranteed way to open it back up and not run into the situation above...

Jolly,

I have the same problem on occasion with my current MBP and with an older model MBP with all the last 5 versions of OS X. For me the culprit has always been VMware Fusion. If I leave my VM running when I close the lid, put it in my bag and go to work, inevitably I find it is in the mode you describe. I have found that I can plug in my power cord, open close the lid. close it again, pull the power cord, give it time to engage sleep mode again. Then once I open it, it wakes up properly. I usually shut down my VM just to release the display control back to Mac. It seems to me if I would be preventive about this, it wouldn't happen in the first place. If I didn't have Fusion installed, this probably would never happen. I don't blame Fusion as much as the code that handles the display features for the Mac. In any event consider the following:

If you are in clamshell mode:

1. Wake up the display and log in before removing it from clamshell mode. In other words wake it up before disconnecting the monitor, keyboard mouse etc.. This should put the focus back on the internal display before engaging sleep.

2. Shutdown any application that can control the display such as VMware Fusion before the OS puts the displays to sleep.

If you are not in clamshell mode:

1. Connect power, wake it up. Disconnect power, allow it to sleep. Attempt to wake it up again.

2. Disconnect power, wake it up and attempt to login.

Another alternative would be to enable the desktop sharing feature and access it remotely using a VNC application. I have not tried this but have been curious if this would work.

You advised "Download insomniaxi for free. This works.

I did and it has solved all my problems. It sits quietly up on my menu bar and I checked the disable lid sleep box and hey presto all fixed.

Thanks so much. I browsed the internet extensively and this problem is quite prevalent yet no fix recommended seemed to solve the problem. It must be something in the system but who cares? I am now a happy user again.

I work for a medium-sized company. 200+ MacBook Pros 13" 2012. Many people have this problem. The problem seems to be related to the lid being closed and then the battery drains completely without the power cord being connected.

I normally connect the power cord, green light comes on the MagSafe connector. I press the power button. The display shows a grey progess bar. The screen then goes black again. Push the power button again, same result again.

Third attempt. Pushed the power button, grey screen, grey progress bar and spinning timer. Looks like the Macbook is booting up then black screen again.

The white LED indicator goes on then off again and stays off. I really despise these MacBooks. To me they're over priced piles of ****!!!

These are factory out of the box with periodic Mac updates. Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5.

I tried clearing the NVRAM or PRAM with no imporvement. As follows:

Shut down the computer.

Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.

Turn on the computer.

Immediately press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears. Continue holding the keys down until the computer restarts, and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

Release the keys.

Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.