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James Brust Author

Level 1

70 points

System keeps waking from sleep every 2 hours

Since Yosemite update, system keeps waking from sleep approx. every 2 hours. It goes back to sleep on its own but keeps waking up again. I have "wake for network access" in System Preferences turned off. Here are samples of the console messages:

10/19/14 1:02:43.000 AM kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)

10/19/14 1:02:43.000 AM kernel[0]: RTC: Maintenance 2014/10/19 08:02:43, sleep 2014/10/19 06:14:45

10/19/14 3:00:41.000 AM kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)

10/19/14 3:00:41.000 AM kernel[0]: RTC: Maintenance 2014/10/19 10:00:41, sleep 2014/10/19 08:12:51

I have no idea what "Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)" means. Any help would be appreciated.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 2011 iMac Intel Core i5 12GB RAM

Posted on Oct 19, 2014 5:20 PM

109 replies

Wai Lam

Level 1

0 points

Nov 18, 2014 6:03 PM in response to mediahound

Seem the problem still exist in 10.10.1. But found that the monitor will not light up when weak.

Randy TM

Level 1

0 points

Nov 18, 2014 9:55 PM in response to James Brust

Yup. I sleep with my MacPro early 2008 and it still pops on at night even after 10.10.1 update. Happens less now I think (or I am just getting accustom to it) . Screens do not come on now either so that's progress I guess. Goes back to sleep 15 seconds later but it isn't helping my sleep any... lol.

Nov 19, 2014 7:22 AM in response to Randy TM

How do we report bugs to Apple? It's insane that Apple has not fixed this.

Nov 19, 2014 11:17 AM in response to James Brust

It's in the Enterprise content section here:

About the OS X Yosemite v10.10.1 Update - Apple Support

They obviously looked at discoveryd to fix a DNS issue so it's frustrating they didn't look at the RTC Alarm issue as well.

SkyLilly

Level 1

16 points

Nov 19, 2014 12:47 PM in response to Matthew Wilson5

Yes, I still have this issue Wake Reason: RTC (Alarm) after the update. The screen stays dark, but the hard drive wakes after 2 hours. I really don't like completely shutting down. I have submitted a bug report. I hope its fixed in a future update soon.

rabegv

Level 1

0 points

Nov 19, 2014 1:26 PM in response to mediahound

I reported it via Apple's developper support (Bug ID 18846875). If someone wants to refer to that bug ID in order to give it more weight please do so.

Apple requested that I submit a sysdiagnose dump, which I did. Let's see whether it helps...

Nov 21, 2014 2:45 AM in response to James Brust

Yes, I have this same problem as well.

Bob4King

Level 1

0 points

Nov 22, 2014 3:32 AM in response to James Brust

I have exactly the same problem. I contacted Apple (chat) and they sent me the following email. I have tried their solutions (including re-loading OS X), but it hasn't made any difference.

Thanks for contacting us.

Hi robert,

Your support Advisor has a follow-up message for you.

For resetting the SMC, what we want to do is have the %filltext:name=Computer% powered off first. Then we want to:

%fillpart:name=Portable:default=yes%1. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.

2. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option(Alt) keys and the power button at the same time.

3. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.

4. Press the power button to turn on the computer. %fillpartend%

%fillpart:name=Desktop:default=no%1. Unplug the Power Adapter from the back of the Mac

2. Keep the power cord unplugged for 10-15 seconds, then attach it back into the Mac

3. Press the power button to turn on the computer. %fillpartend%

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

For resetting the NVRAM, we would just want to go through these few steps.

1. Shut down your Mac.

2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.

3. Turn on the computer.

4. Press and hold the Command-Option(Alt)-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.

5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

6. Release the keys.

Resetting the NVRAM usually resets settings such as Speaker Volume, Screen Resolution, Startup Disk selections, Time Zone information, and a few other settings.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

To be able to reinstall your Mac OS X, it's fairly simple to do while following these steps. If you are wanting a visual representation on reinstalling your Operating System with recovery mode, I would recommend this article http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4718.

You can use the built-in recovery disk to install a new copy of OS X while keeping your files and user settings intact.

Important: You need to be connected to the Internet to reinstall OS X.Step 1: Choose Apple menu > Restart. Once your Mac restarts (and the gray screen appears), hold down the Command (⌘) and R keys.

Step 2: If you’re not connected to the Internet, choose a network from the Wi-Fi menu (in the top-right corner of the screen).

Step 3: Select Reinstall OS X, and then click Continue.

Step 4: Follow the onscreen instructions. In the pane where you select a disk, select your current OS X disk (in most cases, it is the only one available).

Step 5: To start the installation, click Install.

Typically it can take up to two to three hours to install, which will bring along with it the applications included in the Operating System.

Arya22

Level 1

0 points

Nov 24, 2014 4:36 AM in response to Bob4King

Hi!

I have the same problem and have sent the bug report to Apple.

Following this thread...

fremley

Level 1

6 points

Nov 24, 2014 12:46 PM in response to James Brust

I'll add my concern...it is the same as the last several replies.

That is, my MacPro 4,1 wakes up every 2 hours since Yosemite was installed.😕

Nov 30, 2014 7:49 PM in response to James Brust

I will also add my concern. Two iMacs with no previous sleep issues. Upgraded to Yosemite from 10.9, now they both keep waking many times a day, making it impractical to let them (try to) sleep. Console shows various reasons including RTC reference.

alexish

Level 1

1 points

Dec 9, 2014 11:13 AM in response to James Brust

I have disabled Wake On Lan in Energy Saver preferences, and also disabled Find My Mac/Back To My Mac in iCloud preferences.

Seems to have been ok for the past 24 hours.

SkyLilly

Level 1

16 points

Dec 9, 2014 12:58 PM in response to alexish

I never have Wake On Lan in Energy Saver preferences enabled. And I never have Back to My Mac/Find My Mac enabled. So this won’t help.

patH72

Level 1

34 points

Dec 15, 2014 10:58 PM in response to SkyLilly

I have exactly the same issue on 2 very different machines--a year and a half old MacBook Pro and a new Mac Pro. The computers wake for no reason every 2 hours. The message in the console log is the same as others have mentioned:

12/15/14 2:25:26.000 PM kernel[0]: Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)

This began with the upgrade to Yosemite. There is no question whatsoever that this is a Yosemite issue. It's discouraging that Apple has not acted to fix this yet.

I have submitted a but to Apple but I don't have a lot of confidence the issue will be resolved. The last time I did this I was reporting an issue where, after applying a firmware update which Apple quickly withdrew, my MacBook Pro would wake up when the lid was closed, spinning up the disks, turning on the external monitor, etc. I had never experienced this before on any machine I'd have or currently have. After sitting on the issue for quite a while, they closed the bug with the ridiculous explanation that this was "normal behavior." Right. We all know that closing the lid of a laptop should awaken the machine. So I'll be interested to see if Apple maintains that all of our machines should now be waking up again and again while they are asleep.

Dec 19, 2014 2:37 PM in response to James Brust

Same problem here on my iMac late 2011 (21,5 inch, i5 2.5 Ghz, 8 GB Ram, 500 GB HDD). I am currently using Yosemite 10.10.1 wich is a really fast and responsive OS, but the "sleep issue" is extremely annoying, since most Mac users put their computers into sleep mode.

Here is a little screenshot, captured from the console:

And why is the RTC (real time clock???) waking up my Mac? Is there any logical reason for it???

System keeps waking from sleep every 2 hours