MacBook Pro retina won't stay asleep after upgrade to El Capitan

I have a similar problem, except that mine won't wake up:

Macbook Pro 15" retina, Henge dock, CalDigit Thunderbolt station, two external monitors. All worked fine when running Yosemite, but with El Capitan generally neither monitor works. On one occasion I did get one display working, but keyboard, trackpad and mouse (even a wired mouse) would not function. When I take the MBP out of the dock it will not wake from sleep - black screen - and the only way to get it working again is to restart with power button.

Today I have connected both external monitors direct to the MBP, with cover open, and System Preferences set displays to mirrored. Reset to not mirrored and three screens work fine. Then tried in clamshell mode. Two external monitors working fine, but when the MBP sleeps it will not wake on keyboard or trackpad interaction. Again only way to get it going again is restart with power button.

This is a serious problem which Apple need to resolve, or does someone know of something under the cover that can be tweaked to make things work correctly.

I did read something about clamshell mode not working unless the power lead was connected, so I had concerns that because the MBP was closed when it is put into the Henge Dock, that connecting power at that stage wouldn't wake it, perhaps something to do with CalDigit TS1. I did email CalDigit support and they claim that both TS1 and TS2 are compatible with El Capitan, but I have an Elgato dock due to arrive today as a possible solution.

But, today's experiment without using either the Henge Dock or the CalDigit, suggests that the problem is more fundamental - an OS issue not connected devices.

I've just had another unable to wake from sleep moment. My MBP is set to require password to wake from sleep, on return to sleeping MBP I clicked the trackpad and very briefly one of the external monitors leapt into life showing login window. It then went black and even opening the MBP no signs of life. Yet another restart required!

Will post further when I have the Elgato, but currently without the CalDigit connected, the MBP in clamshell mode with two external monitors connected is hopeless. Perhaps if I set it to never sleep, screen or hard disk, maybe it will keep going. Another experiment to undertake.

As a follow up to my last post - all set to never sleep, in power adapter and battery mode. When sitting on my desk connected to two external displays all seems to be fine. Screen saver kicks in and when I tap the keyboard or trackpad the login window appears. Now need to try with it connected to the CalDigit and Elgato and then to the Henge Dock.

A further update:

MBP works fine with two external displays, both connected by Mini Display Port (Thunderbolt connector) to Display Port cables. Screensaver works, login window appears when required etc.

Next experiment was to disconnect the power cable and see what happens; as soon as the power is disconnected the feed to the external displays is shut off - they just go black. I have read somewhere that this is as intended by Apple - external displays will not work when MBP is on battery power. However, when the power is reconnected one would expect the display output to restart and everything be back to normal, but no!

No amount of keyboard, trackpad or mouse manipulation will get any response from the computer, in open or closed clamshell mode. The only way to get the MBP to do anything again is to force restart by holding the power button down.

This explains the problem I have with the Henge Dock - MBP must be turned on, running on battery power in clamshell mode to be inserted into the dock. When inserted power, thunderbolt, USB and audio get connected simultaneously, but this freezes the MBP as outlined above.

If the MBP is supposed to be a professional machine, equally at home on the road or desk, Apple need to sort this problem out.

Hi Chris

My MBP is also mid 2014, 15" Retina, so exactly the same.

I was just chatting with Apple support when you posted. The only thing I hadn't tried was the SMC reset which I have now done so will try again in the morning. Starting up in Safe mode was also suggested, so I'll do that if the SMC hasn't cured it.

I haven't tried with my early 2011 17" MBP, but that model has so many problems with the integrated graphics module. It's already had the logic board changed twice. It was when that first failed that I got the current one.

The last three posts have disappeared from this thread - what's going on?

And mow they have reappeared!

Good morning Chris

I think I have got to the bottom of my problem, after spending 40 odd minutes chatting with Apple support last night and a bit more experimentation this morning. It seems that one of my external monitors, an AOC, is causing the problem when connected mini DP to DP cable. Another monitor connected with the same cable is working fine, and the AOC works fine when connected by HDMI.

In fact the MBP seems to drive four monitors, all different resolutions quite happily - the internal display the AOC 2769M on HDMI at 1080p, a Philips 298P4 21:9 ultrawide at 2560x1080 on DP and an AOC 2778X on DP at 2560x1440.

Now all I have to do is set up the Elgato or CalDigit and Henge Dock again and fingers crossed that will still work as it should.

I've just tried one last experiment - disconnected the power while in closed clamshell mode and all three external displays went off. This is exactly as expected, and on reconnecting the power the monitors, one-by-one, restarted 🙂

MBP now working successfully in the Henge Dock connected to the new Elgato Thunderbolt 2 Dock, running all three displays. However the AOC 2769M, which seems to have been the cause of my problems on DP input, wont work on HDMI from the Elgato Dock, but also it didn't work from the HDMI output on the CalDigit TS1. It is running fine from the HDMI port on the MBP which is still accessible when in the Henge Dock.

I have the same problem. MBP (2008) wakes up a few seconds after being sent to sleep. I've tried all the same troubleshooting things. It even does it when selecting sleep from the user log in screen after a safe boot. Turning off bluetooth didn't help.

Seems to be running hot too, with nothing obvious in Activity Monitor. So if the lid is closed it eventually gets too hot and shuts down or runs down the battery if unplugged. 😟

I assumed it was something to do with me having moved the HDD to the optical bay and installing a SSD boot drive. But it worked fine in Mavericks and Yosemite.