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How to prevent laptop from sleep when lid closed

I own a macbook pro 13 inch model no. A1278, my mac goes to sleep as the lid is closed. i have changed the power settings to not never put my mac on sleep, please help as it affects myy work, i want the work to go on as i close my laptop lid.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Aug 29, 2012 9:59 AM

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Posted on Aug 29, 2012 10:02 AM

If you plug in an external monitor/keyboard you can run it with the lid closed.


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131


Otherwise, it is going to go to sleep - no way to disable that.


If you are leaving things running, why close the lid? - set sleep to never in control panels, choose a screen and HD timeout and let it run. It will run cooler if the screen is up anyway.

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Aug 29, 2012 10:02 AM in response to Satyen1

If you plug in an external monitor/keyboard you can run it with the lid closed.


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131


Otherwise, it is going to go to sleep - no way to disable that.


If you are leaving things running, why close the lid? - set sleep to never in control panels, choose a screen and HD timeout and let it run. It will run cooler if the screen is up anyway.

Jan 10, 2013 2:43 AM in response to Satyen1

Hi,

The best way I found to do this without any other app is to check "share internet connection" (or whatever it's called in English) in the sharing pref pane.

That way, if Wifi is connected and if your MBP is on mains, then closing the lid does not make it go to sleep. It'll continue to download, for example. The minute you pull out the mains cord, it'll go to sleep.

Jun 2, 2013 6:38 PM in response to Michael Black

What an absurd limitation and incredible oversite! If you've used any other operating system on a laptop long enough you'll know how convienient it is to be able to shut the lid without it sleeping in certain situations. Two quick examples:


You have a virtual machine running inside you laptop for development and you want to walk half a block away to the other coffee shop. - Seriously? I have to walk down the street with my open laptop in one hand and my coffee in the other to prevent the silly thing from sleeping? What if it's raining? I have to get my laptop wet simly because I can't flip a software switch to tell it not to sleep when I close the lid? MAJORLY dissappointing Apple.


You work in a large building, and you need to show your boss your work, but he/she is in the opposite corner of the building. I either have to walk through the whole building opening and bumping into heavy doors with laptop open, (forget taking my coffee with me!) or I have to make my boss wait while my machine starts back up and re-connects to the wifi, etc. - That's Rediculous!


I'm a little embarassed to be seen with this Macbook now. Such arbitrary limitations seem to be frequent. I can't do the things I could with a regular laptop running any other unix OS.


Apple, I like your ability to make things easy for people who don't know about computers, but that is not mutually exclusive with allowing more technical people to do what they need to do. It's a simple software switch you are choosing not to make available to us.

Jul 10, 2013 7:04 PM in response to tomdextrine

Reply to:


tomdextrine



Re: How to prevent laptop from sleep when lid closed


Jan 10, 2013 2:43 AM (in response to Satyen1)


Hi,

The best way I found to do this without any other app is to check "share internet connection"

(or whatever it's called in English) in the sharing pref pane.

That way, if Wifi is connected and if your MBP is on mains, then closing the lid does not

make it go to sleep. It'll continue to download, for example. The minute you pull out the mains

cord, it'll go to sleep.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------




Very nice.... Worked Perfectly for me, Tanks!


Message was edited by: YoDaddy

Jul 10, 2013 7:11 PM in response to revacuate

As said Courcoul, dropping a running laptop into a backpack and bouncing down the hallway with the HD still spinning (and the read/write head bouning about .00004 inches away from the spinning platters) is not the wisest of choices, at least in my reality.


You are welcome to your own reality, and accept all risks that come with it.

Aug 1, 2013 1:33 PM in response to revacuate

I'll second this response. As someone who is constantly moving around while at work - conference room to conference room to office to meeting to ... - it is far more dangerous for my laptop to be open than it is closed. Sure, keeping it running while in a roller-bag is not good for the hard drive... and I have no problem letting it sleep / hibernate / or even fully shutting down. HOWEVER... there are too many good business reasons to shut the lid without anything happening.


1. Someone walks into my office and I don't want them to see the confidential information on my screen (no... not ****... just good security)


2. I'm walking down the hall to a meeting and have the same issue. Why should I advertise what I'm working on? What if it's the latest layoff list?


3. My current employeer has great wireless access but requires a formal signoff to connect (via a web-page with ID/PW). What happens when my laptop goes to sleep? I have to re-authenicate!


Regardless of how you personally feel about the issue, this type of behavior should be considered a basic security practice as well as a convenience.


In response to some of the options presented above:


a. I have an external mouse connected. Doesn't make a difference.

b. Sharing your internet connection? Seriously? That's a terrible idea as a general practice.

c. Running a 3rd party program may be OK, but every new program brings some risk. If a 3rd party program can do it... why doesn't Apple just expose the setting.


Apple: I can run both Linux and Windows and have the OPTION to let my machine run with the lid closed. Please give us the same courtesy.


Cheers,


Jim

Aug 1, 2013 4:12 PM in response to Jim Robinson Jr

Well spoken Jim, much better than I did. This is a very legitimate need. I have been using NoSleep in the meantime, but seriously Apple, stop disabling us.


Yes a spinning hard drive is not a good thing to jar, but if you listen while you're moving you're laptop you quickly get a feel for how it responds when it's moved. Just be gentle, as always, and if you're going to throw it in something like a backpack, make sure it's sleeping first. (Heat concerns are formost.)

How to prevent laptop from sleep when lid closed

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