SteveSJS
Level 1 (8 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Sierra on iMac Sleep restarts OS

Select Sleep on leaving iMac, or when Sleep occurs when set in Energy Saving; OS Sierra - macOS 10.12 (16A323), Darwin 16.0.0, System reboots on hitting escape to wake up.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6), 3.6 Ghz Intel Core i5

Posted on Sep 24, 2016 6:18 AM

by becky_s22,Solvedanswer
becky_s22 becky_s22
Community Specialists
A:
Good Morning SteveS, 

Thanks for the update. If you are looking for a setting that logs you out after inactivity, then take a look at the following link: macOS Sierra: Set your Mac to log out when not in use

If that setting is not enabled and you are still experiencing the issue, then it would be best to have you create a time machine backup. Once you have the backup completed, then going to have you boot into Recovery Mode and reinstall the macOS Sierra and test the issue again.

Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac, this article goes over how to use the built in Time Machine software in combination with an external hard drive to back up your iMac.

How to reinstall OS X, under the 'If you're reinstalling for other reasons' section is where you'll want to look on this article for reinstall instructions. 


Have a fantastic day! 


Posted on Sep 26, 2016 6:46 AM

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SteveSJS

Q: Sierra on iMac Sleep restarts OS

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  • Helpful answers

  • by irina_w,

    irina_w irina_w Sep 25, 2016 1:09 PM in response to SteveSJS
    Community Specialists
    Sep 25, 2016 1:09 PM in response to SteveSJS
    Hi SteveSJS, 

    I see that you are having issues with your Mac restarting once you hit the escape key to wake up your Mac from sleep. I understand wanting your Mac to wake from sleep without issue. I'll be happy to help you. 

    The first thing I'd like to have you do is an SMC reset, then test the issue out by putting the Mac to sleep and waking it again.

    Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac

    If the issue is still there, please boot the Mac up into safe mode and then put your Mac to sleep and then wake as you normally do. Check to see if the issue persists. Then go ahead and restart your Mac to get it back into your normal user account. 

    Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up

    You can also test to see if this issue occurs in another user account on your Mac. For more information on setting up another user account, please see: 

    How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

  • by SteveSJS,

    SteveSJS SteveSJS Sep 25, 2016 1:22 PM in response to SteveSJS
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 1:22 PM in response to SteveSJS

    Evening Irina & thank you for the response - I've carried out the SMC Reset and putting the machine into sleep mode and waking it up works in the short term timescale - in the past this has sometimes been OK, and it's only after the machine has been 'asleep' for a longer period, say overnight, that  the problem appears to occur .

    Over the last couple of days it has been prevented from happening if I left  an MS Word doc open, but hidden, as the Word refused to log me out without me dealing with the document first.

    I'll come back to you in the morning when I've carried out an overnight test.

    SteveS

  • by irina_w,

    irina_w irina_w Sep 25, 2016 1:55 PM in response to SteveSJS
    Community Specialists
    Sep 25, 2016 1:55 PM in response to SteveSJS
    Looking forward to your follow-up, SteveS. 

  • by SteveSJS,

    SteveSJS SteveSJS Sep 26, 2016 3:02 AM in response to SteveSJS
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 26, 2016 3:02 AM in response to SteveSJS

    Morning Irina, well 'tis here anyway!

    This morning I once again had the splash screen against the Word document - I use word and leave a blank page hidden - that said the OS could not close down Word on the way to logging me out.

    So the same thing is occurring. After a longer period of sleep - overnight - so after an interval the iMac is trying to log me out as a *security* (?) feature.

    Puzzling as I can not see anywhere in the energy savings / security features that I've managed to set or the OS has set that would cause that.

    Any ideas would be welcome - in the meantime my older version of Word - 2008 (I've had no need to buy a very expensive upgrade ) continues to prevent an actual log-out from happening.

    Cheers

    SteveS

  • by becky_s22,Solvedanswer

    becky_s22 becky_s22 Sep 26, 2016 6:46 AM in response to SteveSJS
    Community Specialists
    Sep 26, 2016 6:46 AM in response to SteveSJS
    Good Morning SteveS, 

    Thanks for the update. If you are looking for a setting that logs you out after inactivity, then take a look at the following link: macOS Sierra: Set your Mac to log out when not in use

    If that setting is not enabled and you are still experiencing the issue, then it would be best to have you create a time machine backup. Once you have the backup completed, then going to have you boot into Recovery Mode and reinstall the macOS Sierra and test the issue again.

    Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac, this article goes over how to use the built in Time Machine software in combination with an external hard drive to back up your iMac.

    How to reinstall OS X, under the 'If you're reinstalling for other reasons' section is where you'll want to look on this article for reinstall instructions. 


    Have a fantastic day! 


  • by SteveSJS,Helpful

    SteveSJS SteveSJS Sep 26, 2016 6:45 AM in response to becky_s22
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 26, 2016 6:45 AM in response to becky_s22

    Thanks Becky

    It's easy when you know where to look ✔︎

  • by chris_g1,

    chris_g1 chris_g1 Sep 26, 2016 7:41 AM in response to SteveSJS
    Community Specialists
    Sep 26, 2016 7:41 AM in response to SteveSJS
    Great! Glad we got you squared away!