How do you make the computer turn on automatically?

[fatties]

This is so dumb because i am sure it is really easy.

but how do i set my mb to turn on automatically in the morning and wake me up with my favourite tunes?

do i use automator? it still looks ominous and scary and i don't know what it really does after owning this thing since the beginning of june. i am so dumb.

thanks babes!

x

 

[cygni]

if it has the same setup as power pcs, you can schedule start ups in energy saver.

 

[baummer]

Ok, here's what you do. For instance, let's say you wake up at 7:15am.

1. System Preferences > Energy Saver > Schedule...

2. Set the schedule to Wake at 7:10am (to allow time for computer to awake from sleep mode)

3. Open iCal and create a new calendar set; File > New Calendar > Name it "Alarm" or "Wake Up" or whatever

4. Create a new event:

- Double-click on day
- Input 7:15am as the time
- Select a repeat of every day
- Assign it to the Alarm calendar you created
- Alarm: Select Open file > Find the music file you want to play as the alarm, and click OK
- Put 0 for the minutes before box

What you've done:

1. Instructed your computer to awake from sleep at 7:10am.
2. Created a new calendar to organize your wake-up calls.
3. Created a new daily event that will launch your selected song at 7:15am (regardless if iTunes is open or not) and play.

Now, in order for this to work properly, you must make sure your speakers are on and that you set your computer to sleep and not shutdown. Alternatively you could just leave it powered on as I do.

Additionally, if you insist on wanting the computer to shut down, make sure you give it enough time to boot, so I'd set the start time in the Energy Preferences panel to 7:00am. Also, this isn't going to work if you have a password set; otherwise it can't continue, so you'll have to disable your password. I'd recommend just putting it to sleep or leaving it on to avoid such hassles.

Hope this helps.

 

[John T]

It's easy enough to set your machine to start up (or shut down/sleep) at a specific time. Just go into System Preferences > Energy Saver > Schedule.

As to playing your favorite tunes . . . . . . I'll leave that for someone else to answer!

 

[fatties]

thanks that helps a bit... now that i worked out how to wake it up/ turn it on. the one song thing is good. but i can't do a playlist with that...


edit: i've finally took my first step with automator and made a plugin for ical that will make itunes play a specific playlist at the alarm time.

hope this works... it seems like a lot of work for may be very little reward...

 

[emptyCup]

Unless you want the challenge of learning to do it for yourself, go here, there are a bunch of iTunes alarm clocks.

 

[baummer]

thanks that helps a bit... now that i worked out how to wake it up/ turn it on. the one song thing is good. but i can't do a playlist with that...

sorry to be so picky.

going to experiment with song + remote tonight may be that will work tomorrow morning...

now the question is which song?

Yes you can, instead of choosing the file, select the playlist file. Although I am not sure where these are stored. Let me try to find them.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

Wow this sounds like a great feature. I'm nearly tempted to try it its not bad for the computer if it sleeps every night instead of shutting off?

 

[baummer]

Wow this sounds like a great feature. I'm nearly tempted to try it its not bad for the computer if it sleeps every night instead of shutting off?

Computers, like cars, are designed to be used. A car is useless if it sits for long periods of time. Things corrode, etc. It will not hurt your computer to put it to sleep.

 

[gadgetgirl85]

I'd like to be able to use this feature but have a playlist instead of just 1 song. There are some programs around that can do this but is there any one in particular which is decent?

 

[fatties]

just a quick update with my little experiment. IT WOULD HAVE WORKED. i heard the mb ding then the music didn't come on because of the wonderful random shutdowns. GRRR.

Apart from having to get out of bed to turn the darn thing back on again, its all great. the music came on immediately.

 

[baummer]

just a quick update with my little experiment. IT WOULD HAVE WORKED. i heard the mb ding then the music didn't come on because of the wonderful random shutdowns. GRRR.

Apart from having to get out of bed to turn the darn thing back on again, its all great. the music came on immediately.

What random shutdowns are you talking about?

 

[Killyp]

just a quick update with my little experiment. IT WOULD HAVE WORKED. i heard the mb ding then the music didn't come on because of the wonderful random shutdowns. GRRR.

Sounds like your MacBook is dodgy, if it's randomly shutting down...

Apart from having to get out of bed to turn the darn thing back on again, its all great. the music came on immediately.

Download and install AlarmClock 2. It wakes up your mac and plays whatever music you want from the iTunes library, if you want starting off quietly at first and getting louder. You can snooze the alarm with the Apple remote. I use it running through my hifi, and it's incredibly simple to use but also very effective!

 

[baummer]

Sounds like your MacBook is dodgy, if it's randomly shutting down...




Download and install AlarmClock 2. It wakes up your mac and plays whatever music you want from the iTunes library, if you want starting off quietly at first and getting louder. You can snooze the alarm with the Apple remote. I use it running through my hifi, and it's incredibly simple to use but also very effective!

Haha, I like my way better .

 

[fatties]

oh you know just the run of the mill random shutdowns that many other macbook owners seems to be experiencing...... i am used to it by now...

i quite like this ical method because i turn my computer off at night. so the 'DING' is like the first alarm to wake me up... then hyperthetically the music comes on 10 minutes afterwards like a snooze function on an alarm clock.

alternatively i guess for those who have money to spend on the very cool looking jbl alarm clock... then the crash resistant but not random shut down resistant macbook won't have to do the hard work...... while i am on this topic, everytime i go on the apple store website it p***es the H*** out of me when they say its crash resistant... yeh my mb hasn't crashed in the 3 months I've owned it... but rsds are just as bad!

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...re.woa/wo/3.RSLID?mco=17D6141C&nplm=TK038VC/A

 

[baummer]

oh you know just the run of the mill random shutdowns that many other macbook owners seems to be experiencing...... i am used to it by now...

i quite like this ical method because i turn my computer off at night. so the 'DING' is like the first alarm to wake me up... then hyperthetically the music comes on 10 minutes afterwards like a snooze function on an alarm clock.

alternatively i guess for those who have money to spend on the very cool looking jbl alarm clock... then the crash resistant but not random shut down resistant macbook won't have to do the hard work...... while i am on this topic, everytime i go on the apple store website it p***es the H*** out of me when they say its crash resistant... yeh my mb hasn't crashed in the 3 months I've owned it... but rsds are just as bad!

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...re.woa/wo/3.RSLID?mco=17D6141C&nplm=TK038VC/A

Have you tried calling Apple?

 

[fatties]

yeh... and the genius bar. they insist is my 3rd party ram after looking at it for all of 2 minutes (so thats 30 seconds to open the computer, 30 to figure out that its 3rd party and 30 to close it, 30 to walk back to me!) but i am not so sure... and as so many people seem to have this problem (if you are really interested in all our woes there is a nice long thread going on at the computer sub forum) i am trying to wait it out till they admit something is wrong... like what happened with the mooing (which i didn't have) and the discolouring palm rests (which i also don't have). 1 out of 3 is pretty good! ha!

edit: and i am not bitter or anything... (roll eyes)

 

[LastLine]

I'd like to be able to use this feature but have a playlist instead of just 1 song. There are some programs around that can do this but is there any one in particular which is decent?

I use Power Controller (not sure where I got it) but it works fantastically - wakes my computer from sleep and increases volume on my playlists slowly or all at once.