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iMac overnight - sleep? will maintenace scripts run? turning off display?

Sean Dempsey

Sean Dempsey

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 7, 2006
1,622
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Never had an imac before... I usually turn off the display on my computers and leave them on overnight, but on the imac, i am not sure I can do that.

Is it kosher to leave the imac on 24/7? or should I sleep it at night to cut down on heat production inside the case? And if I do sleep it, will the maintenance scripts still run, like wake the computer and run?
 
Launchd which handles the maintenance scripts will run them when the computer comes out of sleep. As for leaving the machine on 24/7 sure you can & yes you can just let the display sleep and have the computer still on.
 
risc said:
Launchd which handles the maintenance scripts will run them when the computer comes out of sleep. As for leaving the machine on 24/7 sure you can & yes you can just let the display sleep and have the computer still on.
Click to expand...

how do I sleep the display manually so I can just go to bed?
 
Macky-Mac said:
or you could turn the computer off ?
Click to expand...

Mac's hate being turned off, best kept on 24/7 except for a thunder storm! But let it sleep when you are - set it up: system preferences - energy saver - sleep and/or schedule (auto wake and sleep times).

But if it's not running in the early hours - you need a maintenance utility as suggested before.
 
Gosh said:
Mac's hate being turned off, best kept on 24/7 except for a thunder storm! But let it sleep when you are - set it up: system preferences - energy saver - sleep and/or schedule (auto wake and sleep times).

But if it's not running in the early hours - you need a maintenance utility as suggested before.
Click to expand...

nah, Macs don't mind being turned off at all. If somebody is worried about those maintenance routines, they can leave the computer on overnight once in a while. The "necessity" of those routines is greatly overstated....Apple doesn't even bother to mention it in their user manuals
 
togermano said:
what are maintenance routines?
Click to expand...

Unix systems are very anal retentive about tracking activity and errors. If you open up the console application and click the logs icon you will see what I mean. The logs are created and archived on daily (at 3:15 AM), weekly, and monthly schedules, with the oldest log archive deleted. Presumably some ubergeek actually understands what the hell they mean but for the rest of us mere mortals its simply a waste of disk space.

As for turning off the machine, I only ever turn mine off during severe storms or when I'm on vacation.
 
So let's get this straight. It is possible for the screen to sleep while computer is still running? Is that right?
I currently use a G4 PowerMac and often leave it running overnight whilst downloading large files. I just turn the screen off. Is it possible to do this with an iMac?
 
rediffusion said:
So let's get this straight. It is possible for the screen to sleep while computer is still running? Is that right?
I currently use a G4 PowerMac and often leave it running overnight whilst downloading large files. I just turn the screen off. Is it possible to do this with an iMac?
Click to expand...

you can set the display to sleep after as little as 1 minute. I have now set mine to sleep after 10 minutes.

I don't really see a reason to shut it down, ever. I have never really shut off my computers, but it wasn't until I had the iMac that I realized I can't just click the screen off and walk away. There are those programs that will sleep the display instantly though, so that works.
 
Someone posted this link in another topic about sleeping the iMac. I haven't tried it out yet since my iMac doesn't arrive until Monday, but it might be worth having a look at it.


Sleep Widget
 
Sean Dempsey said:
you can set the display to sleep after as little as 1 minute. I have now set mine to sleep after 10 minutes.

I don't really see a reason to shut it down, ever. I have never really shut off my computers, but it wasn't until I had the iMac that I realized I can't just click the screen off and walk away. There are those programs that will sleep the display instantly though, so that works.
Click to expand...

you can...just press the power button as opposed to holding it to put it to sleep on command (without the timer).
 
If you open the Expose/Spaces Preference pane from within System Preferences. Select the Expose tab, it will give you options for 'active screen corners'. Using the drop down menu you can choose 'Sleep Display'. Now when you move your mouse to that corner the display will sleep!!
 
I always turn off my computers overnight and usually when I don't use them for 5 hours. A year ago I didn't turn it off and it was much slower than now when I do. Macs are very fast to start up so turn it off. I can't understand why people leaves computer on sleep mode, I only use it if I come back in few hours.
 
In Leopard, they'll run when it wakes from sleep.

In Tiger, launchd doesn't operate as intended and it's best to use a program such as macjanitor, onyx, etc. to run the scripts manually.
 
MacJanitor runs the three (daily, weekly, monthly) maintenance scripts - and is great, free, simple to use and returns a list as it accomplishes its tasks. Highly recommended. Though, you do need to remember to actually run the program. ;)

Onyx, while I use and find it also good, has its default cleaning settings rather too aggressive for my taste, so I do not recommend Onyx for non-tech types.

Macaroni (Atomic Bird) is what I install and recommend for those non-tech users who just want an app to take care of those tasks without having to worry about it again. Very low cost and reliable.

(I've used all of these for years, and there are other apps as well...)

Re. Sleep vs Off --
I do not agree with the suggestions that you leave computers on all the time and assume they'll be fine.
A, Off saves electricity -- sleep and hibernation mode continue to draw power.
B, in my (decades) of computer experience, most computers (from Macs, Windows, Unix, servers) work better if they have an occasional reboot -- once a week or so in general in my experience.
Reason: there are log files, cache files, work and temporary files that don't really get cleaned/flushed, purged and/or rebuilt till the computer is restarted.
So forcing the computer to slog through those ever larger and stuffed files with never a rest-cleanup break (without a reboot) is just going to result in various areas of the computer getting gunked up till things start to noticeably act weird. (not getting too technical about it ... ;) )

___
P.S. a good reference article on the sleep/vs off can be found at: http://www.interrupt19.com/2008/07/28/is-it-better-to-sleep-or-shut-down-your-mac/
 
bassanoclapper said:
CMD-Shift-Eject will turn off the display or you can set up a Hot Corner to activate it with the mouse
Click to expand...

Sorry bud, but it's Control Shift Eject.

Control Shift Eject will sleep the screen, and it is fine to leave Mac's on 24/7, without heating issues. I do it all the time. Maintenance scripts won't run when the computer is asleep, but there are also third party apps, such as MacJanitor, which can do them when it suits you best.

Don't worry, you wont somehow ruin your new iMac by leaving it on, unless there is a power cut, or surge. :apple:
 
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