sierra crash when after sleep mode

I'm posting to the thread with the hope that someone may benefit, but I think this sleep/crash issue is one of those things that can have many causes. That said:

I spent about a week or more trying to solve this on my 2015 iMac 27" running Sierra. I had switched out the NVME SSD and added an internal SATA SSD, and all was good for about a week. Then I started waking up to a crashed iMac. I went through all the suggested fixes in every combination possible: reset smc, reset PRAM (oops I mean NVRAM), removed all extensions so no foreign kexts were installed, repaired the NVME SSD drive through Disk Utility, Command Line, and System Restore. Upgraded to High Sierra, downgraded to El Capitan... even booted from an El Cap drive that was running smoothly when I last used it. Nothing I tried solved the problem.

At this point I started thinking it must be the newly installed NVME drive, although it was an Apple part... it seemed as though the machine couldn't find the NVME drive after the crash, so it seemed logical. I decided to sidestep the NVME drive and focus on the internal SSD. I installed Sierra there... fresh SSD, fresh OS, no add-ons or apps. Still crashed. I tried booting from Thunderbolt drives with known good systems that I had cloned as far back as 18 months... no luck.

Not yet ready to give up, I reformatted the NVME drive through Windows and then MacOS, making sure there were no stray partitions. Then reformatted through the command line just to be sure. Installed Sierra. No luck... still crashed. Did an internet recovery and reinstall of the OS on the drive... still crashed.

Then I stumbled on a clue – I discovered that it only crashed when I put the machine to sleep, either through the Apple menu or through Command-Option-Eject (for laptop users, this would also include closing the laptop), the machine would crash when waking... either in the morning or after 20 minutes or so. If I let the machine go to sleep, there was no crash, and there hasn't been for days now. It seems as though letting the machine sleep allows the system to go through some process that putting the machine to sleep bypasses.

That's a theory anyway, and a workaround that isn't painful at all. If you're struggling with this, it's worth a try. It may mean leaving your laptop screen up until the system sleeps, but see if it works.

If it starts happening again, I am going to look into my RAM... that was the next thing on my list, and seems to be the solution for a good number of people. If it doesn't start happening again I can only think that this is a weak spot in the MacOS architecture, and the fact that so many people for so many years with such different machines and OS versions have had this problem makes me think this might be the case.

For me the problem seems to be solved.

I found a webpage with instructions that I executed and since then the Problem did not occur again. Unfortunately I don't find the webpage again.

The steps I executed are these:

Maybe it's helpful to other people too.

It's about the power management, sleep and hibernate.

I try to find the webpage again and will post if found.

You HAVE TO reset the SMC and then the NVRAM / PRAM first:

Reset the SMC (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964):

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.

Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

Resetting NVRAM / PRAM (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379):

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-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.

Now execute these:

AC:

sudo pmset -c sleep 0

sudo pmset -c standby 0

sudo pmset -c standbydelay 5

sudo pmset -c hibernatemode 25

Battery:

sudo pmset -b sleep 120

sudo pmset -b standby 1

sudo pmset -b standbydelay 5

sudo pmset -b hibernatemode 25

All:

sudo pmset -a acwake 0

sudo pmset -a lidwake 0

sudo pmset -a ttyskeepawake 0

sudo pmset -a darkwakes 0

My Powersetting have the following now:

System-wide power settings:

Currently in use:

standbydelay 5

standby 1

halfdim 1

hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage

powernap 0

gpuswitch 2

disksleep 0

sleep 120 (sleep prevented by coreaudiod)

autopoweroffdelay 0

hibernatemode 25

autopoweroff 0

ttyskeepawake 0

displaysleep 5

tcpkeepalive 1

acwake 0

lidwake 1

Well, I fixed it on my 15" Macbook Pro 2016. I'm not really sure exactly what did it, but in the end it now wakes from light sleep (before it goes into deep sleep or "hibernation mode") instantly, and wakes from hibernation in about 2 seconds. I'll list what I did in the order that I did it.

1) I screwed around with the pmset sleep/hibernation settings in Terminal. I got the ideas from https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-hibernate-a-mac--cms-23235

https://www.garron.me/en/mac/macbook-hibernate-sleep-deep-standby.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/1053471/software/sleepmode.htmlhttps://www.garron.me/en/mac/macbook-hibernate-sleep-deep-standby.html.

a) to see what your settings are open Terminal > and enter "pmset -g" without the quotes and if prompted enter your password.

Here's mine now:

System-wide power settings:

Currently in use:

standbydelay 10800

standby 1

halfdim 1

hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage

powernap 0

gpuswitch 2

disksleep 10

sleep 60

autopoweroffdelay 28800

hibernatemode 3

autopoweroff 1

ttyskeepawake 1

displaysleep 25

acwake 0

lidwake 1

2) To speed up my testing I changed the time it goes into hibernatemode using "sudo pmset -a standbydelay 60". This changed the time the Mac waits between going to sleep and entering deep sleep to only 60 seconds.

3) Then I used "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0" to turn Hibernation off. I also used "sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0" to turn an energy saver preference off that is apparently required in Europe.

4) At this point, my mac was waking from sleep and from hibernation, but took about 45 seconds. Problem kind of solved.

5) I returned everything to the above settings except standbydelay, which I left at 60. I used

"sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3", and

"sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 1"

6) I tested again and it woke, but still took about 45 seconds.

7) Then, I reset the SMC and NVRAM.

Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

8) Tested again and was still taking 45 seconds.

9) Started the Mac in Safe Mode in order to have an automatic disk check and repair if necessary.

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck - Apple Support

10) Tested and SUCCESS. Instant wake.

11) Then, I used "sudo pmset -a standbydelay 10800" to set hibernation standby to 3 hours (original was 28800).

12) Finally, I left it overnight to make sure and the next morning it instantly woke.

The only thing I have not tested was when my external monitors were plugged in, but before I fixed it, the Mac was behaving the same with and without them plugged in. I'll update if the problem returns.

I'm definitely not an expert (or even close), but I don't think you can really wreck your computer by changing the above settings. If I'm wrong, please somebody chime in. However, make note of your original settings and do a backup before starting.

Hope this works for others too!

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem or a suggestion for change. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem/suggested change solved sooner.

Click here to send Feedback

I am also having this problem since 10.12.5.

I know Apple upgrades firmware together with an Os upgrade (don't know if it was the fact with the 10.12.5 upgrade), I would like to go back to an earlier version....

You can read my experiences over here

I have this problem too, also with a Mac Mini, which seems to be mentioned in a lot of these comments. I just turned Bluetooth off so I'll see if that helps.

Basically, the problem happens only after Mac has been asleep for a while, at least an hour or so. But occasionally it WILL wake up without crashing... I'd say it's a 50/50 thing. It seems to go in batches... for a couple of days everything is ok, and then for a couple of days it crashes every time it wakes from sleep. Those are the "cleanest" run cycles because I haven't had much time to open a lot of apps, leading me to believe the problem isn't some random app or process in the background.

I have the same apps and workflows on my MacBook Air, also running the latest Sierra, and the problem never happens. Seems to be specific to the Mac Mini.

When it crashes, I get the same "panic" error that others report.

I always send the diagnostics to Apple and hopefully everyone else does too so they get the message.

Thanks for the Bluetooth advice trevoz! I have the same problem which started in the last couple of months. I didn't even think I had bluetooth on, and there it was. I vaguely remember turning it on a couple of months ago. I don't need it so off it goes. Thanks in advance if this solves my wake problem! I will report it as a solution to Apple when I'm sure.

Ditto here for my 2016 Macbook Pro w/touchbar. I get a black screen and nothing else. No pressing of keys, etc. will start the screen. I've reset the SMC, NVRAM, prevented it from sleeping and turned off all other functions in Energy Saver. All to no effect. I have to do a hard restart when I try to wake mine up after a certain period of time - maybe at least an hour of sleeping. Even when it's prevented from sleeping it does not "open" properly as it will sometimes crash (restart) just after I've started to use it. The only time it generates an error report is when I have a schedule set to wake it at a certain time (ie. in the morning). In those cases, even before I open it, it has crashed on an attempted wake and shows the "your computer has crashed and had to restart" and generates the error report. For me this only happens when I have four 1080p external monitors connected, as sleep seems to work fine on battery with nothing plugged into the usb-c ports. There is nothing in the error reports that indicates that one or more of the monitors is causing it as mine are exactly the same as what's already been posted here.

I also had this problem on an older (2007) MBP. Although, it started happening after I had it for a few years. Perhaps after I upgraded to Lion or Mountain Lion. There was never a fix issued so for years I had to shutdown and restart everyday.

I suspect that this problem will go the same route as the initial keypress problem that mac had. After a short period of time the keyboard would ignore the first press of a key so you would start typing something and the first letter would be eliminated. Happened frequently. It had the apple engineers stumped and they never did issue an acknowledgement or a fix. I bet this one goes the same way.

Same issue on my mid-2015 15-inch, Retina MBP. I've tried resetting the NVRAM and turning off bluetooth. No dice. Going to try turning off startup items next, but my startup items were just fine before Sierra, so I'm not sure why they'd be a problem now.

What 'crash' looks like in my case is that it's super slow to load up the login screen (black screen until it finally loads). When it finally does load, it allows me to enter my password, but then there's a spinning beachball of doom forever until I hard-reboot.

Okay, I've had this problem only for Sierra. I am very cautious about adding things to my computer and basically only have what came with my 2009 iMac. So if I turn off Bluetooth how will it affect my computer? Will it interfere with my tv and cell?

Experienced the problem with my iMac running Sierra. Only seemed to occur after a lengthy sleep period. Also, had a power outage yesterday and that gave me a black screen. However, in all cases, events are still occurring. I found the best solution for me. Was previously using a USB DiskMaker installer. However, there is better news, but not the best.

Resetting PRAM follows the same, four-finger, procedure as it has in the past. You will not in Disk Utility that permission are not repaired and that is particularly true if it's the boot drive.

So, with a desktop reset the SMC. Disconnect everything feasible and when you pull the power cable, HOLD down the power button for 10 seconds to drain away residual power. You can try a restart after this. No such luck for me and the next procedure was necessary.

Hold down Command R during boot until Apple Logo and progress bar appears. This will launch into what appears to be the net version of the recovery partition. That's right, there IS a net version. You can use Disk Utility and you can restore from a Time Capsule. Or you can reinstall Apple OS and that was my decision. A reinstall has worked two time out of two attempts.

An Apple tech said to use Command Option R to access the online recovery. I know this is some variety of software problem. How? Because I booted to a Thunderbolt backup and use SuperDuper to copy the primary HD to an attached 2 TB USB drive. Then, I attempted to boot from the USB drive. The results were identical to booting from the primary HD. What results? Black screen with events occurring in the background.

I am testing further by turning the Energy Saver OFF! This thing will be shut down at night and booted in the morning. Hope this helps some people!

Ran the terminal with these results:

Currently in use:

standby 1

Sleep On Power Button 1

womp 1

halfdim 1

hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage

powernap 1

gpuswitch 2

autorestart 1

networkoversleep 0

disksleep 0

sleep 0 (sleep prevented by coreaudiod, coreaudiod)

autopoweroffdelay 28800

hibernatemode 0

autopoweroff 0

ttyskeepawake 1

displaysleep 0

standbydelay 10800

Just not activating the energy saver, but permitting the screen saver. Then, in the evening, prior to bed, shutting it down.

UPDATE:

I created an external usb sierra installer and booted from there to use terminal and delete the DIY Fusion drive. Then I reinstalled sierra on the HDD to get a recovery partition, then i recreated a fresh FusionDrive with the SSD and the newly built Mac Partition on the HDD. Then I reinstalled Sierra (10.12.3) on that Fusiondrive again and restored from timemachine Backup.

No more crashes on sleep so far!

So in conclusion, i guess reinstalling macOS seems to be the key, I am not sure if rebuilding the Fusion Drive is even neccessary, but I can't tell if that's what caused the problem and I like the idea of a fresh drive to install on anyway. 🙂

Most important thing: the issue does not get restored by timemachine! 😉

It does re-occur i'm afraid. As it is intermittent, you are just getting lucky. Wait some days or weeks, and the problem will rear it's ugly head again. I have had this issue since El Capitan, sometimes i wont see it for a month, then all of a sudden it happens everyday. Reverting to Yosemite completely solves the issue. Come on apple, fix this.

13 inch Macbook pro retina 2014.

Considering the severity of the issue and the amount of effort to rectify, this should be addressed by Apple immediately.

Personally, as a user, this issue should not necessitate reinstallation of OS software!