It used to be the case that when I closed the lid of the Mac Book Pro the sleep indication LED would cycle bright and dim. Now on closing the lid, the LED is permanently bright. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)
Does it actually sleep? The backlight should go out.
My thoughts, exactly. Put ear to Mac and see if you can hear when the HDD finally spins down and sleep commences. If you've never heard what the process sounds like, can do a manual sleep by pressing the power button and clicking on the option.
Can think of two reasons: you either have some wayward process that impedes the OS from going into sleep (software problem) or the lid sensor is damaged and doesn't send a "lid closed" signal to the OS (hardware problem). Tackle the first one by starting the Mac in Safe Mode to disable any third party stuff and see if it goes to sleep then. If the software turns out not to be the culprit, you'll have to have it checked out by the folks at the Apple Store or a service provider. Under warranty?
The display backlight (and thus the Apple logo in the lid) will turn off when the display is asleep, whether or not the computer itself is asleep. The sleep light being on steadily indicates that the display is asleep but the computer is not. This is most often caused by some software that won't let go, and Courcoul's suggestion to test for that is a good one.
Hi, Thanks for the help:
Starting in safe mode made no difference as I could hear the disc spinning. Hopefully that just leaves the lid sensor as the potential culprit. Any idea where this is located (2007 Mac Book Pro)?
Hi again,
Having said that the backlight goes out on closing so the lid closing sensor must be doing something positive?
Hi again and again,
By manually selecting the Sleep mode through the Apple menu the disc does not spin down - I guess that must be a positive indication of something?
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on some Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
Hi guys;
the good news is the problem is resolved. The mac now sleeps as required. The solution was odd: I tried the safe mode suggestion but to no avail, so I then tried an odd thought and rebooted into a Restore Mode (hold Apple and 'R' key when starting up) using a restore date from Time machine of the previous day. Now the original problem started about 10 days ago (after a routine large software update) so if I had used a restore day prior to that time I would be more convinced. My conclusion is a technical one: The machine somehow got its knickers in a twist and the restore action just untangled the beastie.
Suufice to say this is worth knowing and thanks for the Time Machine. Also thanks to you guys for your time, effort and suggestions.
Good for you. Fixed the thing and it turned out to be a software issue; hardware was fortunately fine.
Now if there's a Sherlockian fiber in you, try to deduce which item from the update might be the culprit or if the order in which the update was applied was the cause.
Closing Lid of Mac Book Pro - no sleep indication
