Does your AppleTV ever sleep?

[mmoran27]

It seems like mine never does. I don't recall if it ever did.

It seems like I can hear the constant whir like the drive spinning or a fan going or something.

I did a hard drive upgrade then the AppleTV 1.1

Also the optical out is always red (I don't have anything plugged in there) because I use HDMI.

Is this normal?

 

[Chundles]

It seems like mine never does. I don't recall if it ever did.

It seems like I can hear the constant whir like the drive spinning or a fan going or something.

I did a hard drive upgrade then the AppleTV 1.1

Also the optical out is always red (I don't have anything plugged in there) because I use HDMI.

Is this normal?

Put it to sleep by holding down the play/pause button on the remote.

 

[mmoran27]

The white light is now off, but it seems as though there is still a hiss coming from the unit and the red light from the optical is still on.

 

[Maui]

Not on mine. Completely silent.

But, I only have children's shows on mine.

 

[Jestered]

Mine is silent, but the red light is still on when it is in sleep mode. I think that is normal though. Are you sure you are not listening too hard for something? I could make myself believe that it is louder than it really is if I wanted to bad enough.

 

[maverick808]

How odd that people think theirs goes quiet when they put it to "sleep". On the tv all "sleep" mode does is turn the screen off. As long as the socket is on at the wall then your tv is on. You can verify this by simply pinging its IP address from any other machine when you think it's in sleep mode. You get a ping back, so obviously the machine is still on.

Indeed, there is no difference in noise from the unit between the tv being on and it being in "sleep" mode.

 

[JellyFish]

Does sleep mode conserve power? I would like to use as little energy as possible when I am not actually using the unit.

 

[Jestered]

How odd that people think theirs goes quiet when they put it to "sleep". On the tv all "sleep" mode does is turn the screen off. As long as the socket is on at the wall then your tv is on. You can verify this by simply pinging its IP address from any other machine when you think it's in sleep mode. You get a ping back, so obviously the machine is still on.

Indeed, there is no difference in noise from the unit between the tv being on and it being in "sleep" mode.

It does more than just turn the screen off. It does go into a low power mode sort of... It shuts the screen off and spins down the drive. The fan is still on though.

 

[aaronptrck]

Does sleep mode conserve power? I would like to use as little energy as possible when I am not actually using the unit.

Yes it does, it is also debatable whether or not it is good for the HD, many people think leaving a HD on 24/7 is better for the HD than turning it off every now and then.... but at the same time AppleTV heats up like an oven, and it is not good for a HD to be exposed to heat.

 

[kurzz]

In case none of you knew, the AppleTV still syncs while in sleep mode. Therefore, the hard drive actually still spins up while in that mode and of course the wireless radio is always on. All that sleep mode seems to do is turn the video signal off.

 

[Jestered]

In case none of you knew, the AppleTV still syncs while in sleep mode. Therefore, the hard drive actually still spins up while in that mode and of course the wireless radio is always on. All that sleep mode seems to do is turn the video signal off.

That is not true. Just because it can sync when it is in sleep mode does not mean that the hard drive does not spin down. The AppleTV can be in sleep mode and still listen for network activity. When the computer attempts to sync, then the drive becomes active again until the sync is over and then spins down again.

 

[kurzz]

That is not true. Just because it can sync when it is in sleep mode does not mean that the hard drive does not spin down. The AppleTV can be in sleep mode and still listen for network activity. When the computer attempts to sync, then the drive becomes active again until the sync is over and then spins down again.

Well, nowhere did I say the hard drive doesn't spin down. I said it still spins up when it wants to sync. Neither did I say it doesn't sleep. Sleep mode turns off the video signal and does whatever it needs to without video while in sleep mode.

 

[imlucid]

To clarify, when the Apple TV is in low power mode, it stops outputting to the screen and allows the monitor and drive to power down. It is still running (i.e. so it can sync in the background in which case the drive will spin up while it is needed, and then spin down again when the sync is done).

Kevin