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Sleep Wake Failure with High Sierra 10.13.2

Since installing 10.13.2 I have a sleep wake failure on iMac. Was working perfectly before installed latest update on Dec 8.

This is not an uncommon problem but the "fixes/solutions" one reads on the internet are all over the place.

Is there a fix or is this simply something only Apple can solve for all those now plagued by the problem? It is irritating in the extreme.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Dec 10, 2017 7:41 PM

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Posted on Dec 10, 2017 7:58 PM

It isn't a problem with the update. I do not have such a problem. Didn't have a problem with 10.13 or 10.13.1 either. My suggestion is a problem in the underlying system you upgraded. So, the first thing I will recommend you try is this:


  1. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
  2. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support.
  3. Boot into Safe Mode - this takes longer than normal.


The second thing you want to do is:


Repair the Drive for El Capitan or Later


  1. Restart the computer and after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears.
  2. Select Disk Utility and press the Continue button.
  3. Then select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.
  4. Click on the First Aid tab in the toolbar and wait for the Done button to activate. Click on it, then quit Disk Utility.
  5. Select Restart from the Apple menu.


The third thing to do is: Download and install the macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Combo Update.


That's it for now. After the Combo Updater is completed your computer should restart. However, if it does not then restart the computer normally.

302 replies

Jun 21, 2018 6:47 AM in response to LoganDC1

Logan, only a small addition to jtonn's comment, the SWF problem discussed in this thread involves arbitrary, unintended and complete system reboots. Assuming this not being the situation in your case, it could be related to my previous comment, suggesting that the 10.13.5 also modifies the pmset parameters default values (possibly in an attempt to address the darn SWF). It is unlikely that people have kept records of what the settings were before their updates, but if someone has this could help corroborate my guesses.


If it turns out that an automatic and unannounced change of a setting is used to avoid rather than eliminate the SWF issue, in some cases it may not work and in others, like Logan's for example, it could even make things worse.


Requiring specific parameter value limitations, in order to avoid underperformance or malfunction, at the least should be officially documented, if not completely removed, as parameter ranges should work for all allowed vaulues for all users without product performance deterioration.

Jun 25, 2018 1:23 PM in response to jabesse

I've had my Late 2012 iMac in sleep mode now for 4 days and have just woke it up and apart from it waking up from Safe Sleep Mode, everything has worked as normal, no error message and no random re-start in the middle of the night. From looking through the comments on the last few pages, there is one thing that I have done that has not come up in the last few comments of what people have tried to do. I have switched off the feature that allows my iMac to be woke up from sleep mode by any bluetooth device. I have not re-anabled this feature as I am happy to wait the 30 seconds while it connects to the bluetooth device than risk switching it on and the issues coming back.


I'm not sure what I can put here in-tearms of my settings set-up to help others, so if you have any questions please ask and I'll do my best to reply as quick as I can.

Jul 14, 2018 4:19 PM in response to Bizkaitarra

I updated to 10.13.6 once it came out last week. I still have Power Nap turned on but I notice that my iMac (late 2013) actually seems to be asleep in the morning before I wake it. Under 10.13.5, I could hear it running although the screen was off while on PN. So, something has changed with this latest update.


Next step will be trying to turn PN off to see if that restores the old behavior that existed under 10.12.x

Jul 24, 2018 1:14 AM in response to TJBHK

Very sad to report that, after a month SWF-free operation on 10.13.5, all my hopes of having seen the end of this dreaded malfunction have collapsed.
Date/Time: 2018-07-24 07:44:36 +0100

OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13.5 (Build 17F77)

Architecture: x86_64

Report Version: 26

Data Source: Stackshots

Event: Sleep Wake Failure

Duration: 0.09s

Steps: 9

Hardware model: iMac13,1

Active cpus: 4

Time Awake Since Boot: 130000s


Only a few days back I thought of writing an update, just to mention that the current OS ‘sleep’ mode is somewhat strange, with the computer every now and then apparently not going to the state of system sleep (where the current work space image is saved to persistent memory). Every time this happened, a note would appear next to the power management setting, looking like this:


sleep 10 (sleep prevented by sharingd, apsd, coreaudiod)


I would have speculated that rather than resolving the SWF problem, the issue has been somehow suppressed by various restrictions on the ‘system sleep’ mode, effectively preventing sleep, when a situation arises that could potentially lead to SWF. This, suspiciously, is NOT a solution to the problem, just a workaround, which was bound to fail sooner or later and, in my case, apparently it just did.


If Apple have decided that compromising the power management settings would somehow sweep the SWF problem under the carpet, then many unsuspecting users are probably unaware that while believing they no longer have the SWF events, their work is less protected, because their computer would not be ‘sleeping’ as specifications would require.


Jul 29, 2018 3:05 AM in response to TJBHK

And another one in less than a week.


Date/Time: 2018-07-29 10:34:48 +0100
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13.5 (Build 17F77)
Architecture:x86_64

Report Version: 26


Data Source: Stackshots


Event: Sleep Wake Failure
Duration: 0.06s
Steps: 6


Hardware model: iMac13,1

Active cpus: 4


Time Awake Since Boot: 80000s


It takes me enormous will power not to express my feelings in a way that would spring moderators into action.

On the otherhand, I sincerely apologise to all that might have been bothered by my postings if I am the sole benefitiary of this wonderful feature.

Jul 29, 2018 3:26 AM in response to ghogoh

Ghogoh,


I see that you're still running 10.13.5. I suggest that you update to 10.13.6. I noticed changes in the way sleep behaves after updating. Under 10.13.5, my iMac would often be semi-awake (screen dark, hard drive spinning) when I accessed it in the morning. Under 10.13.6, that is rarely the case. I am still running with Power Nap enabled. Under 10.13.6, it will take about 5 seconds for it to come fully awake to where I can enter my password. Much better than the minute or two that it takes if it goes into Safe Sleep when Power Nap is disabled.

Jul 29, 2018 4:49 AM in response to jtonn

Thank you, Jtonn,


Really appreciate your considerate and quick reply. I have been aware of the 10.13.6 being out of recent, however, I thought it was still in beta only. Strangely, even at this moment, when I 'check for updates', it tells me 'no updates available'. It was a similar situation when I first downloaded the High Sierra - even though there was no notification for an available update, I went enthusiastically to the new OS download page and that was when the swf started. The awful experience for the last six months has made me almost supersticiously hesitant.


Anyway, I shall follow up shortly. Thanks again.

Aug 1, 2018 2:09 AM in response to TJBHK

I had this same issue for awhile now. I finally fixed if tonight (I hope). Always double reset, wouldn’t come out of sleep when I opened it up. For some reason one of my USB ports stopped working too. I tried every reset, reinstall, SMC, PRAM, network configuration, energy saver settings, etc. None of it worked.


I did a complete wipe of the hard drive, installed the original OS by booting with internet recovery for facotry OS (Shift+Option+Command+R) and installing Mountain Lion 10.8 (mid-2012 MBP). Next I upgraded to Yosemite 10.10.5. I have NOT and don’t plan to upgrade up to High Sierra again. As of tonight... my computer is faster, it wakes almost immediately every time (so far) and my USB ports work again. We’ll see if it holds up. I will jusy have to use older versions of a few pieces of software for this machine, but it saved me buying a new one.

Aug 8, 2018 3:01 AM in response to TJBHK

Just to keep the ball rolling: same problem on my 27" late 2012 iMac - OS 10.13.6. This is a work computer, so I'm not running anything out of the ordinary: most are core apps, plus Logic Pro and the messaging app "Telegram". Other than that, nothing weird.


It seems to me - and it's an observation, so I could be wrong - that the longer the Mac has been in sleep mode, the more unlikely it is to wake.


In all other respects the machine works fine... but it is irritating and Apple should be looking to fix this.

Aug 8, 2018 8:57 AM in response to TJBHK

Here is my tuppence of an update. Following a sudden and disappointing disruption of about a month of SWF-free interval on 10.13.5 and the subsequent resurrection of hope, a week ago, with moving to 10.13.6, kindly prompted by jtonn, I have been without SWF events since. I shall deem this a miracle, since no reasonable explanation has been put forward and my iMac has been running the same applications all the time since the beginning of this sorry saga. Just hope this is not yet another disposable miracle.

Aug 8, 2018 10:22 AM in response to ghogoh

Fingers crossed! For any who still have the SWF problem after updating to 10.13.6, I highly recommend turning on "Power Nap" in your "Energy Saver" preferences. There were changes made in that release that have modified the behavior of my iMac when I wake it. It now seems to be "asleep" more often than not when I wake it in the morning. It does take about 5 or 10 seconds to come awake enough with a screen allowing me to enter my password, but that is preferable to the couple minutes when in "Safe Sleep" with Power Nap disabled. Those of you with an SSD may have the advantage as far as your machine becoming responsive.

Aug 11, 2018 2:26 AM in response to odysseus

Sadly, while lying in bed reading last night, I heard the dreaded double chime of restart from my iMac. SWF once again. This was with 10.13.6 installed with Power Nap enabled. 2,100,000 seconds (~24 days) since last restart. That's about when I installed 10.13.6. So disappointing and frustrating. Perhaps, when Mojave is released in a couple months, we'll finally be able to relegate this sorry saga to the dustbin of history.

Sleep Wake Failure with High Sierra 10.13.2

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