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Mac Mini not going to sleep

chenks

chenks

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 23, 2007
1,232
562
UK
Have set the Mac Mini (MacMini5,1) to go sleep after 15 minutes, however it is not doing it.

It's being used as a media server, (in headless mode essentially with no keyboard or mouse connected). Only device connected to it is an external USB HDD (that goes to sleep on its own). Only other cable is HDMI running from mini to an amp, and the HDMI from amp to the TV (if i ever need to use a monitor).

Apps that run all the time are iTunes, SABnzbd (which is currently idle), LogMein client, AirVideo server, growl, and EyeConnect.

Shared service from the mini are screen sharing (for remote access), and File sharing.

Running Lion 10.7.3 and mac is connected to network via ethernet (wifi is enabled (but not connected to any wifi network) for AirDrop.

Screen%20Shot%202012-04-12%20at%2019.26.14.png


Any ideas why it's not going to sleep?
 
Usually when a system is not going to sleep it is because something is accessing it. Here are a few ideas.

1) You might have an app accessing your system. Quit as many apps as possible. This includes the ones you have mentioned. If that works enable one by one and find the culprit. (I would set sleep to a lower time while testing this if this is the issue)

2) Network connection - If you have any network shares created disconnect them and see if that affects anything.

3) Are you sharing a printer from your Mac? If you are then stop sharing just to see if this is causing any issues.

4) Is Spotlight indexing your HD?

5) Unhook any USB devices. Again just to check and see if it is causing any issues. This includes any usb cables that might connect up to your monitor if it has USB inputs.

Just a few ideas that come to mind. Good luck.
 
I'm seeing similar with my late 2009 mac mini and a USB2.0 / firewire (I've tried both connections) DRobo. Literally the only thing I have running on my mac is iTunes and it fails to sleep when I've got the DRobo connected.

Hope Apple (or DRobo maybe) fix whatever it is soon, it's been like this for a few months now - unfortunately for me, the cause is not easy to pin down as the inability for the mini to sleep coincided with an OS update and a DRobo firmware update :(
 
update on this, the mac mini is now going to sleep correctly.
didn't do anything on the mac mini at all, so not sure what is going on.

not sure if it was maybe a couple of network shares that i had mounted on my MBP that was keep it awake (even though i wasn't using those shares - they were just mounted at the time).
 
of course as i typed that, i woke it up, and it hasn't went back to sleep again !
 
Finding the problem

open up terminal

write: pmset -g

there you should be able to see what is preventing it from sleeping.
If your not sure where it is, post the results here.

This should give you the pid number of the app stopping it from sleeping,
 
Atius said:
open up terminal

write: pmset -g

there you should be able to see what is preventing it from sleeping.
If your not sure where it is, post the results here.

This should give you the pid number of the app stopping it from sleeping,
Click to expand...

Active Profiles:
AC Power -1*
Currently in use:
hibernatemode 0
disksleep 10
womp 1
networkoversleep 0
sleep 15
powerbutton 1
ttyskeepawake 1
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
autorestart 1
panicrestart 157680000
displaysleep 0 (imposed by 1420, 1421)
 
chenks said:
Active Profiles:
AC Power -1*
Currently in use:
hibernatemode 0
disksleep 10
womp 1
networkoversleep 0
sleep 15
powerbutton 1
ttyskeepawake 1
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
autorestart 1
panicrestart 157680000
displaysleep 0 (imposed by 1420, 1421)
Click to expand...


in displaysleep there is: imposed by 1420, 1421
open activity monitor in applications/utilities and arrange by PID, check what is number 1420 and 1421, that might be what is preventing the computer from sleeping.
 
Atius said:
in displaysleep there is: imposed by 1420, 1421
open activity monitor in applications/utilities and arrange by PID, check what is number 1420 and 1421, that might be what is preventing the computer from sleeping.
Click to expand...

nothing in activity monitor with the id of either 1420 or 1421

i ran pmset -g again, and this time against displaysleep is 1550 and 1551.
nothing with 1550 in the list, but 1551 is Screensharingagent, but that is probably showing now as i connected to the mac mini via screensharing to get the info asked for here.

so this is basically showing what the last keep awake event was, which is me checking to see what is keeping it awake! not sure how this is helping me see what is keeping it awake when i'm not touching it?
 
chenks said:
nothing in activity monitor with the id of either 1420 or 1421

i ran pmset -g again, and this time against displaysleep is 1550 and 1551.
nothing with 1550 in the list, but 1551 is Screensharingagent, but that is probably showing now as i connected to the mac mini via screensharing to get the info asked for here.

so this is basically showing what the last keep awake event was, which is me checking to see what is keeping it awake! not sure how this is helping me see what is keeping it awake when i'm not touching it?
Click to expand...

Now I am clueless. everything looks ok in the pmset, so I'm guessing it has something to do with the network.
if there are any active sessions over the network, it will not go to sleep.

you could check if internet sharing is on, that is a known problem
Little snitch sometimes causes sleep problems

Some report that resetting SMC (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964) or PRAM (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379) works.

Otherwise, good look with finding a solution :)
 
Atius said:
Now I am clueless. everything looks ok in the pmset, so I'm guessing it has something to do with the network.
if there are any active sessions over the network, it will not go to sleep.

you could check if internet sharing is on, that is a known problem
Little snitch sometimes causes sleep problems

Some report that resetting SMC (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964) or PRAM (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379) works.

Otherwise, good look with finding a solution :)
Click to expand...

internet sharing is not enabled, only file and screen sharing.
there are currently no active network shares mounted.
 
I am not sure if it helps.
My MacMini and Macbook pro 13" with the newest lion can't go automatically into sleep mode,
if the tweeter app on the Chrome browser is on

or
if the Sparrows (email client) is on.

I have no idea how to fix.
 
ijha said:
I am not sure if it helps.
My MacMini and Macbook pro 13" with the newest lion can't go automatically into sleep mode,
if the tweeter app on the Chrome browser is on

or
if the Sparrows (email client) is on.

I have no idea how to fix.
Click to expand...

definitely not the case in this instance, as the mac mini is running essentially as a file/itunes server, and it not used as a desktop system.

incidentally, i've been out since my last post and came back in and the mac mini is asleep.
when i went out, i put the MBP to sleep (closed the lid), and the amp/TV were turned off (standby).

this might suggest that either the MBP was keeping the mini awake (not sure why though as it wasn't connected to anything on the mini at the time), or the amp/TV (connected to the mac via HDMI) is keeping it awake.
 
Last edited:
waking the MBP up didn't result in the mini waking up
turning the amp/tv back on didn't result in the mini waking up

so it's getting hard to pin down what is stopping it from going to sleep when the mini is awake.
 
chenks said:
waking the MBP up didn't result in the mini waking up
turning the amp/tv back on didn't result in the mini waking up

so it's getting hard to pin down what is stopping it from going to sleep when the mini is awake.
Click to expand...

try unplugging your USB hard drive and see if it goes to sleep (and stays asleep)..
 
Hello,

this is the output of my pmset -g:

server:~ marc$ pmset -g
Active Profiles:
AC Power -1*
Currently in use:
standby 1
powerbutton 1
womp 1
autorestart 1
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
networkoversleep 0
disksleep 10
sleep 10 (sleep prevented by 108)
autopoweroffdelay 14400
hibernatemode 0
autopoweroff 1
ttyskeepawake 1
displaysleep 10
standbydelay 4200

process with pid 100 seems to be preventing my Mac from entering into standby mode. That process id is "socketfilterfw". Can anybody help me tune the OS's firewall so that I won't interfere?

Thanks in advance, I would appreciate your help! :)
 
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