Roger Zimmermann

Q: Power Nap enabled but no Time Machine backups or email checks

I have installed Mountain Lion on my MacBook Air, downloaded the firmware update, and checked the appropriate box in the Energy Saver preference pane. While the Air is sleeping, no Time Machine backups are being completed and Mail does not go out and check for new messages.

 

I have the Air in clamshell mode connected to a 27" Thunderbolt display if this makes any difference.

 

I would appriciate any suggestions.

 

Thanks!

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion, 1.8 GHz Intel Core I7

Posted on Jul 30, 2012 7:02 PM

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Q: Power Nap enabled but no Time Machine backups or email checks

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  • by Jim Bailey,

    Jim Bailey Jim Bailey Jul 31, 2012 12:50 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann
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    Jul 31, 2012 12:50 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    That's my experience too. I've had my 2012 MacBook Air with Mountain Lion and Power Nap enabled connected to power and a Thunderbolt display for the last couple of nights and no activity that I can see occured. It definitely didn't do a Time Capsule/Time Machine backup.

     

    I thought it might be related to FileVault being enabled but when I shut off FileVault, Power Nap still seems to not work. I have no idea why but I'll keep investigating. Tonight I'll sleep it plugged in to power but disconnected from Thunderbolt with the display open and see what happens.

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jul 31, 2012 12:56 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 8 (40,444 points)
    Jul 31, 2012 12:56 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    Here's clarification from Apple of exactly what Power Nap is supposed to do (and is not supposed to do):

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5394

  • by Jim Bailey,

    Jim Bailey Jim Bailey Jul 31, 2012 1:00 PM in response to sberman
    Level 3 (764 points)
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    Jul 31, 2012 1:00 PM in response to sberman

    Yeah. It's not doing any of those things in my experience.

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Jul 31, 2012 1:06 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 8 (40,444 points)
    Jul 31, 2012 1:06 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    My initial expecation was for hourly Time Machine backups to continue during Power Nap.  The article clarified that only the first hourly backup should be expected, which is indeed what I am seeing.

     

    The writeup says mail is checked every hour.  That's a whole lot less than I have it checked when the machine is awake.  I believe it's occurring as advertised.  I have a mid-2012 MacBook Air.

  • by Jim Bailey,

    Jim Bailey Jim Bailey Jul 31, 2012 1:15 PM in response to sberman
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    Jul 31, 2012 1:15 PM in response to sberman

    I'm going through my system logs right now to see if I can understand what is happening. As of this morning, I hadn't had a successful Time Machine backup since 7/27 so it isn't doing anything when sleeping. There are a couple of possibilities that occur to me but none are discussed in the document you posted (which I read thoroughly before posting here.)

     

    1. FileVault may be preventing Power Nap from working. This seems like a good possibility since for security reasons ML shouldn't be overriding my preference for requiring a password after 5 seconds after sleep. So I turned off FileVault.

     

    2. It may be that the Thunderbolt connection requires too much power and hence causes too much heat so Power Nap doesn't run. This doesn't seem to be the case though since I see brief activity every hour in the system log. Tonight I'll try again without being connected to a Thunderbolt display.

  • by Jim Bailey,

    Jim Bailey Jim Bailey Aug 3, 2012 10:32 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 3 (764 points)
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    Aug 3, 2012 10:32 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    So it looks like I don't get backups if the MacBook Air lid is closed. I can be connected to power all night but if the lid is closed, no Time Capsule / Time Machine backup happens. From the logs, it doesn't even look like it tries to start a backup.

     

    I can't have my MBAir docked to my Thunderbolt display with the lid closed and get any backups? This makes Power Nap pretty useless.

  • by Roger Zimmermann,

    Roger Zimmermann Roger Zimmermann Aug 6, 2012 7:58 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 6, 2012 7:58 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    I have spoken with Apple Customer Support and have made some progress with this issue.  I was instructed to do a System Management Controller (SMC) reset.  After doing this, my mid 2011 MacBook Air will now do a Time Machine backup approximately one hour after I sleep the computer.  However, it still will not receive email while in the Power Nap mode.

     

    The phone rep I spoke with was generally unfamilar with Power Nap.  He initially stated it was a third party app that Apple doesn't support.  After my insisting that he was incorrect and suggesting he check his documentation he came back with the SMC suggestion.

     

    His belief based on the limited information he had about Power Nap is that it will attempt to do one sucessful Time Machine backup and then stop trying to do any more for that session.  And that is exactly what I am seeing.  It will do one backup no matter how long the computer sleeps.

     

    I have found that it will complete the backup no matter what mode ithe computer is in.  Freestanding with the lid open, lid closed, and plugged in to the Thunderbird display all work.

     

    I will follow up with Apple on the email issue as time permits.  I would suggest trying the SMC reset to those having trouble with Power Nap.

  • by brianwilson71,

    brianwilson71 brianwilson71 Aug 15, 2012 1:34 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 15, 2012 1:34 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    Same. Time Machine working, Mail not working.

     

    I tried to do a Mountain Lion reinstall as posted on another forum but this didn't help with Mail.  Anyone any ideas?

  • by odysseus,

    odysseus odysseus Sep 14, 2012 12:50 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 3 (930 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2012 12:50 PM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    There's a very long thread on this here. I do wonder whether the Cinema Display might be a factor. I have the Display Port version of the 27" ACD connected to my MBP-r.

  • by Jim Bailey,

    Jim Bailey Jim Bailey Sep 14, 2012 12:54 PM in response to odysseus
    Level 3 (764 points)
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    Sep 14, 2012 12:54 PM in response to odysseus

    I've done a lot more testing since I last posted. What appears to happen is if the laptop is put to sleep out of range of the Time Capsule, it wakes and does some Power Nap functionality but not Time Machine backups. But If I wake it up and make sure that the Time Capsule is reachable, now when it sleeps, the backups do happen.

     

    So, I can't just plug in the notebook when I get home from work and expect a backup to occur. But If I plug it in and wake it up, from then on, I get backups during Power Nap. This meets my needs though I don't really understand why the extra step is needed.

  • by odysseus,

    odysseus odysseus Sep 14, 2012 1:00 PM in response to Jim Bailey
    Level 3 (930 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 14, 2012 1:00 PM in response to Jim Bailey

    My MBP-r is connected via the Apple Thunderbolt to ethernet adapter to my Time Capsule.

  • by Roger Zimmermann,Solvedanswer

    Roger Zimmermann Roger Zimmermann Sep 20, 2012 9:03 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 20, 2012 9:03 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    After upgrading to 10.8.2 last night, I found 41 emails waiting for me when I woke my MBAir this morning.  The update appears to have fixed the issues I was experiencing.

  • by odysseus,

    odysseus odysseus Sep 20, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann
    Level 3 (930 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 20, 2012 9:23 AM in response to Roger Zimmermann

    Did you also install the firmware update? That may have helped things as well.

  • by Roger Zimmermann,

    Roger Zimmermann Roger Zimmermann Sep 20, 2012 9:31 AM in response to odysseus
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 20, 2012 9:31 AM in response to odysseus

    I installed the firmware update for my machine back in July.  If you are asking if I installed a firmware update last night the answer is no.  New firmware updates were released for some laptops but not mine.  The udate to 10.8.2 was solely responsible for the fix.