I have a new mid-2012 MB Air that works perfectly, but for no reason will just go black. In the middle of working on that machine, it goes to sleep with a black screen. It can be awakened normally, and things work for a while. I thought that it would be something with the power management, on battery or not, or hot corners. I changed all of those things, but the problem persists. Any ideas out there?
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.4), Mid-2012
Try resetting the System Management Console. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Why dind't I think of that? I just went through SMC and PRAM resets on my MBP that had an OCZ SSD issue.
Just did it to the Air. Will need to wait to see if the problem persists. It usually showed up about once every other day or so. Will post an update next week. Thanks for the obvious suggestion (cobbler's son has no shoes). Duh.
OK. Did the SMC reset and the problem is still there. In the middle of typing something, the screen goes dark with the machine in sleep mode. The frequency seems to have slowed a bit. It took a full week for it to recur this time. Used to be every other day or so.
Do you have an App that puts the display to sleep when you press certain keys or make a cartain gesture on the trackpad?
Sorry if this is a daft question however I used to have this and I was always accidentally putting the display to sleep 🙂
No, I already thought of that one. Ensured that all of the hot corners are turned off, also. Thanks for the suggestion. This one is so strange, I might have to go to the Genius Bar for help.
Well, interestingly, Apple just pushed a SMC formware update for Macbook Air. Loaded it and now wait to see if this problem is resolved. Will report back later.
After only four days, the narcolepsy returned. It turns out that the firmware update was to permit proper operation of the OS 10.8 (I'm still running 10.7.4) "power nap" feature. I can now attest to it not having an affect, at least a positive one, on my issue. I did another SMC reset, and I expect that it will be good for another week. Seems like something is causing mayhem in that fuction. My next step is to make an appt at the Genius Bar, but with intermittant problems, I don't expect a solution. Maybe I'll be surprised.
****! I experienced the same problem tonight while I was at my new MacBook Air and feared for the worst. Then I realised the computer was just going to sleep. So I've just done the Firmware update. I hope this will solve it, but from what you're writing, I suspect this will not make the issue go away. Anyway, strange thing, since this issue appeared all of a sudden tonight after owning this MacBook Air for well over a month. The only thing I've noticed in the past days has been the brightness of the screen randomly going up and down and quite noticeably. And I have to add that tonight I have not installed anything new (and haven't for a long time). Was just downloading emails and browsing the internet. Bah!
We are having the same brightness issue. My wife is the primary user, so I did not realize that she was frequently adjusting the brightness, as you described. I was hoping that someone ... possibly from Apple ... would have seen this posting and offered some usable assistance, but that never happened. I suppose that taking it in to Apple will be the next step. I hesitate to do so because this problem is intermittant, and intermittant problems never seem to present themselves to those who can diagnose and fix them. It's kind of like water never boils while you watch it. Maybe not. You should do the SMC reset. That will fix your symptoms for a few days.
They have to take your word for it. If the problem is intermittent and it doesn't present itself in front of the technician, or it's impossible to reproduce, they will need to even replace the machine for you. It's in your rights to get it sorted. At least when it's not your fault. Just go for it and please post the results. I'm away from the UK until mid September and can't do much about it. By the way, the problem with the sudden sleep (and the brightness one) have not come back so far from the Firmware update. But it's been just one day. Let's see how it goes.
Same issues here on my MBA, it's random. In the console logs I see this
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local WindowServer[76]: CGXSetWindowBackgroundBlurRadius: Invalid window 0xffffffff
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local loginwindow[52]: find_shared_window: WID -1
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local loginwindow[52]: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0xffffffff
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local loginwindow[52]: find_shared_window: WID -1
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local loginwindow[52]: CGSSetWindowTags: Invalid window 0xffffffff
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local WindowServer[76]: Created shield window 0x70a for display 0x04273c80
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local WindowServer[76]: device_generate_desktop_screenshot: authw 0x7f90fb2812e0(2000), shield 0x7f90fb223280(2001)
Aug 22 08:05:40 Johns-MacBook-Air.local WindowServer[76]: device_generate_lock_screen_screenshot: authw 0x7f90fb2812e0(2000), shield 0x7f90fb223280(2001)
Aug 22 08:05:42 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Sleep
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: en0: BSSID changed to 00:15:ff:11:d0:87
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: wlEvent: en0 en0 Link DOWN virtIf = 0
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: AirPort: Link Down on en0. Reason 8 (Disassociated because station leaving).
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: en0::IO80211Interface::postMessage bssid changed
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch(0x0)::listenerCallbackStatic - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x0 port = 11 unplug = 0
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: IOThunderboltSwitch(0x0)::listenerCallbackStatic - Thunderbolt HPD packet for route = 0x0 port = 12 unplug = 0
Aug 22 08:05:44 Johns-MacBook-Air kernel[0]: Wake reason: EC.LidOpen (User)
I've noticed a similar issue with my new MBA . It's only 8 days old and it has happened 4 times alerady...I don't know exactly if the issue is that my laptop goes to sleep or whether it is the display that just goes black...What I've noticed so far is that the display goes black and it stays like that for about 30 sec until it reacts again and the display is shown back to normal. Did you figure out how to fix this? any progress? or tips on what my next step should be? Thanks so much in advance!
I found the culprit.
I have a magnet in my laptop bag and it was causing my Air to sleep when it lined up with the sensor in the base.
I feel kinda dumb about it, but very happy to have it solved!!
That's an attractive solution :-)
I have a 2011 edition MBA 13" i7 and have the same issue, but have noticed it only happens when the machine is connected to the power adapter - at least, I think that is the case. Further, when at my desk (as opposed to travelling and using the adapter), I have the MBA connected to a monitor. I will need to conduct further tests to see if having an external monitor connected makes any difference.
Sudden sleep for mid-2012 Macbook Air
