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My MacBook Pro falls asleep, always!

It does in as soon as I start up, log in and randomly when working. I've defaulted the settings and performed SMC and PRAM restarts. Can anyone suggest what else I might try?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Jan 28, 2013 1:53 PM

26 replies

Jan 29, 2013 3:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

It started up successfully in safe mode.

I restarted normally and the pre-login screensaver popped up immediately upon the login screen's appearance.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 29, 2013 5:16 PM in response to alwaysalwayssmile

So in safe mode you did not have any problems with the screen saver?

Jan 29, 2013 6:05 PM in response to Linc Davis

No problems, but the Screen Saver was still off. I am reinstalling OS X now.

Jan 30, 2013 12:27 PM in response to Linc Davis

It is still going into the screensaver, even with Caffiene on.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 30, 2013 12:51 PM in response to alwaysalwayssmile

I still don't know whether you carried out the test I asked for yesterday: boot in safe mode with the screen saver enabled.

Jan 30, 2013 2:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

Sorry about being unclear, and I want to thank you for your time and patience.

When in Safe Mode I experieced no issues with the screensaver (it was enabled) for the 30 minutes or so that I experimented. The MacBook did run very slowly however.

Upon restart, and just this exact second while typing (this time with a clicking-off sound), the monitor goes black and the screensaver starts to load.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 30, 2013 3:01 PM in response to alwaysalwayssmile

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.

These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.

Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.

Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then either copy or drag it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.

Step 1

Triple-click the line of text below to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

Copy (command-C) the selected text to the Clipboard. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). Post the lines of output (if any) that appear below what you just entered. You can do that by copy-and-paste as well. Omit the final line ending in “$”. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix)|edu\.mit|org\.(amavis|apache|cups|isc|ntp|postfix|x)/{print $3}'

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. It won't be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. You don't need to post the warning. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.

Step 3

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

Step 4

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.

Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.

You can then quit Terminal.

Jan 30, 2013 6:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

Step 1:

unknown70568193bb6d:~ Charles$ kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}'

at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (3878)

com.displaylink.driver.DisplayLinkDriver (1.8)

com.Cycling74.driver.Soundflower (1.5.2)

com.splashtop.driver.SRXDisplayCard (1.5)

com.splashtop.driver.SRXFrameBufferConnector (1.5)

com.parallels.kext.prl_usb_connect (7.0

com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor (7.0

com.parallels.kext.prl_hid_hook (7.0

com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge (7.0

com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic (7.0

Step 2:

com.parallels.vm.prl_naptd

com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd

com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon

com.google.keystone.daemon

com.displaylink.usbnivolistener

com.adobe.SwitchBoard

com.adobe.fpsaud

at.obdev.littlesnitchd

Step 3:

launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|edu\.mit|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'

com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd

com.parallels.vm.prl_pcproxy

com.parallels.DesktopControlAgent

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater

com.micromat.TechToolProAgent

com.maintain.CocktailSystemEvents

com.google.keystone.system.agent

com.divx.update.agent

com.divx.dms.agent

com.displaylink.useragent

com.brother.LOGINserver

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent

ws.agile.1PasswordAgent

com.spotify.webhelper

com.mlbam.nexdef

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool

com.hp.printerAgent

com.facebook.videochat.Charles.updater

com.divx.agent.postinstall

com.adobe.ARM.df0ab5bbe6f698196fcc21e3c1e66dcb758bd911f4d637272d9d8109

com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae

Step 4:

ls -1A /e*/mach* {,/}L*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta} * L*/Fonts 2> /dev/null

/Library/Components:

/Library/Extensions:

/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

DivX Toolkit.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.framework

SRFrameBufferConnection.framework

iLifeFaceRecognition.framework

iLifeKit.framework

iLifePageLayout.framework

iLifeSQLAccess.framework

iLifeSlideshow.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework

/Library/Input Methods:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

DivXBrowserPlugin.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

OVSHelper.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

googletalkbrowserplugin.plugin

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

npgtpo3dautoplugin.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

webplugin.plugin

/Library/Keyboard Layouts:

/Library/LaunchAgents:

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist

com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

com.brother.LOGINserver.plist

com.displaylink.useragent.plist

com.divx.dms.agent.plist

com.divx.update.agent.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

com.maintain.CocktailPurgeInactiveMemory.plist

com.maintain.CocktailSystemEvents.plist

com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

com.parallels.DesktopControlAgent.plist

com.parallels.vm.prl_pcproxy.plist

com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons:

at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist

com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.displaylink.usbnivolistener.plist

com.google.keystone.daemon.plist

com.maintain.CocktailScheduler.plist

com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon.plist

com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist

/Library/PreferencePanes:

DivX.prefPane

Flash Player.prefPane

JavaControlPanel.prefPane

RapportPreferences.prefPane

TechTool Protection.prefPane

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

Google Drive Icon Helper

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

/Library/QuickLook:

ParallelsQL.qlgenerator

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator

/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

DivX Decoder.component

DivX Encoder.component

/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

Adobe Unit Types.osax

TotalFinder.osax

/Library/Spotlight:

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

ParallelsMD.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter

/Library/StartupItems:

/etc/mach_init.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:

Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle

Library/Fonts:

Library/Input Methods:

.localized

Library/Internet Accounts:

Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin.plugin

FacebookVideoCalling.bundle

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

WebEx64.plugin

Library/Keyboard Layouts:

Library/LaunchAgents:

com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist

com.adobe.ARM.df0ab5bbe6f698196fcc21e3c1e66dcb758bd911f4d637272d9d8109.plist

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.080342B5-98E5-4526-B1B0-2D9 79A4907C8.plist

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.4772010E-8AF7-4EA1-824C-220 8804A0351.plist

com.divx.agent.postinstall.plist

com.facebook.videochat.Charles.plist

com.hp.printerAgent.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.helperTool.plist

com.macpaw.CleanMyMac.volumeWatcher.plist

com.mlbam.nexdef.plist

com.spotify.webhelper.plist

ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist

Library/PreferencePanes:

Library/Services:

AppDelete.workflow

Step 5:

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of every login item' 2> /dev/null

iTunesHelper, Google Notifier, uTorrent, Messages, Reminders, AdobeResourceSynchronizer, Google Drive, Caffeine, TotalFinder, Dropbox, WeatherHDMenu

Jan 30, 2013 6:07 PM in response to alwaysalwayssmile

I'm seeing some interesting things in there. Lots of names of Apps that I deleted (Using AppDelete or CCleaner) long ago. It looks like I need to do a deeper clean somehow.

😕

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 30, 2013 6:19 PM in response to alwaysalwayssmile

Your system is so heavily modified that, instead of trying to remove the modifications piecemeal, you should erase your boot volume, reinstall OS X, and then go through the initial setup process, importing only your user data and settings from backup — not applications or other files.

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with a mirroring tool such as Carbon Copy Cloner. Preferably both. You must be certain that you can restore everything to the state it's in now.

Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup), launch Disk Utility, and erase the startup volume with the default options.This operation will destroy all data on the volume, so you had be better be sure of your backups. Quit Disk Utility and install OS X. When you reboot, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process. That’s when you import the data from one of your backups. For details, see here:

Setting up a new Mac from an old one

Import only "Users" and "Settings" – not "Applications" or "Other files." Don't import the Guest account, if it was enabled on the old system. After that, run Software Update. If you still have the problem, take the machine to an Apple Store or other authorized service provider for hardware testing.

If the problem is resolved after the clean installation, reinstall your third-party software selectively. I can only give general guidelines. Self-contained applications that install into the Applications folder by drag-and-drop or download from the App Store are usually safe. Anything that comes packaged as an installer or that prompts for an administrator password is suspect, and you must test thoroughly after reinstalling each such item to make sure you haven't restored the problem.

Before installing any software, ask yourself the question, "Am I sure I know how to uninstall it without having to start this process all over again?" If the answer is "no," stop.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.

Jan 30, 2013 7:57 PM in response to Linc Davis

Makes people wish that OSX had a native Uninstaller in it for apps and/or OS updates. It's really the worse part about OSX.

My MacBook Pro falls asleep, always!