Everynight my wife's iMac (27" late 2013) comes out from sleep at 21:15. I have checked the back-up software and switched off automatic back-up. I have also checked other software and unplugged it from the internet. Does anyone have any explanation as to why this is happening? Many thanks for any help.
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iMac wakes from sleep at 21:15 everyday.
- Thread starter Ian-Stewart
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It could be almost anything. You might want to do a free trial of Sleep Aid and see if it can help you diagnose the problem.
That Sleep Aid seems pretty cool; I hadn't heard of it.
You might also find a hint in the logs. In the terminal
log show --start '2023-07-24 21:14:00' --end '2023-07-24 21:16:00' > log.txt
Then open log.txt in TextEdit or some other editor. Search for the string "WakeReason". Some log entries are lost on reboot, so do that before rebooting after the sleep event.
If you'd rather not use the terminal, there are some wonderful tools for looking at the logs at https://eclecticlight.co/consolation-t2m2-and-log-utilities/. Ulbow might be a good choice.
You might also find a hint in the logs. In the terminal
log show --start '2023-07-24 21:14:00' --end '2023-07-24 21:16:00' > log.txt
Then open log.txt in TextEdit or some other editor. Search for the string "WakeReason". Some log entries are lost on reboot, so do that before rebooting after the sleep event.
If you'd rather not use the terminal, there are some wonderful tools for looking at the logs at https://eclecticlight.co/consolation-t2m2-and-log-utilities/. Ulbow might be a good choice.
Thank you for your replies. Fortunately I prefer using the terminal so now have a log.txt file of 9744 lines, however when I do a search in BBEdit no "WakeReason" is found.
I will also look into the software recommended.
I will also look into the software recommended.
EDIT: I was wrong about this being a possible cause of waking the system at a specific time. Rather, 'man launchd.plist' says that if the specified time occurs while the system is asleep, launchd will start the job the next time the computer wakes up. Sorry!
It could be a launchd job, as they can be configured to start at specific times. Some applications install a launchdaemon or launchagent during installation. You could look through the .plist files in the below locations for any that have a "StartCalendarInterval" key:
See 'man launchd' and 'man launchd.plist'.
You don't say what version of macOS is running. Typically these .plist files are in one of those three locations, but I think with Ventura (?) they are also allowed within .app packages -- which makes them a bit harder to find.
It could be a launchd job, as they can be configured to start at specific times. Some applications install a launchdaemon or launchagent during installation. You could look through the .plist files in the below locations for any that have a "StartCalendarInterval" key:
grep StartCalendarInterval /Library/LaunchDaemons/*.plist
grep StartCalandarInterval /Library/LaunchAgents/*.plist
grep StartCalandarInterval ~/Library/LaunchAgents/*.plistSee 'man launchd' and 'man launchd.plist'.
You don't say what version of macOS is running. Typically these .plist files are in one of those three locations, but I think with Ventura (?) they are also allowed within .app packages -- which makes them a bit harder to find.
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The macOS is Mojave. I have now checked the battery schedule and that is not the cause. Also there are no "StartCalendarInterval" commands in any of the .plist files.
The log.txt has 390 searches for "wake", these are the first few:
2023-07-25 21:15:00.005376+0100 0x74 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: PMRD: System Wake
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007331+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | enter. messageType=0xe0000320, gPerformSleepWakeActions=1, userSwitchedOut=0, screenIsLocked=1
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007332+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | kIOMessageSystemWillPowerOn, isMainThread:0
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007334+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | exiting
Unfortunately I do not know what this information means, even though I have searched the internet.
The iMac wakes on my side but tonight I will leave it on my wife's side and see if the same thing happens. Again, thank you for all your suggestions.
The log.txt has 390 searches for "wake", these are the first few:
2023-07-25 21:15:00.005376+0100 0x74 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: PMRD: System Wake
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007331+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | enter. messageType=0xe0000320, gPerformSleepWakeActions=1, userSwitchedOut=0, screenIsLocked=1
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007332+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | kIOMessageSystemWillPowerOn, isMainThread:0
2023-07-25 21:15:00.007334+0100 0x47c4f Default 0x0 128 5 loginwindow: [com.apple.loginwindow.logging:Standard] SleepWakeCallback_block_invoke | exiting
Unfortunately I do not know what this information means, even though I have searched the internet.
The iMac wakes on my side but tonight I will leave it on my wife's side and see if the same thing happens. Again, thank you for all your suggestions.
Oops -- I was wrong about it possibly being a launchd job. The man page says that if the system is asleep when the specified time occurs, then the job is run the next time the computer wakes up. I've edited my post above to that effect. Sorry to have thrown in a red herring.
This command:
"displays scheduled startup/wake and shutdown/sleep events" according to the man page. I've got two -- set by my backup programs.
pmset -g sched "displays scheduled startup/wake and shutdown/sleep events" according to the man page. I've got two -- set by my backup programs.
That's found the problem. I ran it in the terminal and got:
Scheduled power events:
[0] wake at 07/26/23 21:15:00 by 'sdbackupbytime'
However nothing is straightforward. Automatic back-up was set for 21:30 - not 21:15. I erased all back-up settings and quit Superduper. As soon as I reopened it, the automatic back-up was set again. I have now tried this several times so thought the only option is to schedule back-up for 03:45, when the computer is nearly always off. As soon as I opened Superduer the back-up schedule was changed back to 21:30.
There is information how to schedule back-up but not change or cancel it.
Scheduled power events:
[0] wake at 07/26/23 21:15:00 by 'sdbackupbytime'
However nothing is straightforward. Automatic back-up was set for 21:30 - not 21:15. I erased all back-up settings and quit Superduper. As soon as I reopened it, the automatic back-up was set again. I have now tried this several times so thought the only option is to schedule back-up for 03:45, when the computer is nearly always off. As soon as I opened Superduer the back-up schedule was changed back to 21:30.
There is information how to schedule back-up but not change or cancel it.
I'm not sure I understand the man page completely, but it seems that if it's a "pmset" type repeating event, then the command
But it sounds like maybe SuperDuper will set it up again. If SuperDuper has a support forum that would also be a good place to ask.
pmset repeat cancel should cancel it. Or, maybe it should be pmset schedule cancelall wake "07/26/23 21:15:00" (quotes needed).But it sounds like maybe SuperDuper will set it up again. If SuperDuper has a support forum that would also be a good place to ask.
Many thanks for that. The commands had to be run as root but the terminal printed that the back-up had been cancelled. I will wait to 21:15 and see if it is successful. If not I will try the SuperDuper forum as suggested.
A partial success. After erasing the SuperDuper scheduling folder in application support twice, the third time I managed to change the automatic back-up time. Not what I wanted but should work. Here is the result when I ran pmset -g sched in the terminal:
Scheduled power events:
[0] wake at 07/27/23 03:45:00 by 'sdbackupbytime'
Scheduled power events:
[0] wake at 07/27/23 03:45:00 by 'sdbackupbytime'