Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro Waking From Sleep Randomly?

Zobrien

Zobrien

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 4, 2017
70
39
Tennessee
Hey guys, I am curious if anyone else has this problem. I will just be sitting down on my phone and hear my fans spin up and sure enough the light on it goes from blinking to a steady on and my mouse lights up, as if it has come out of hibernation. I then go to turn on the TV it is hooked up to and it shows as no signal. Here is a few things I know: bluetooth is off, so it is not because it is connecting to anything. The mouse has not been moved, nor a key on the keyboard pressed.
I just would like to know if this is normal, and if not, what could be causing it.
Thanks in advance!
 
Zobrien said:
Hey guys, I am curious if anyone else has this problem. I will just be sitting down on my phone and hear my fans spin up and sure enough the light on it goes from blinking to a steady on and my mouse lights up, as if it has come out of hibernation. I then go to turn on the TV it is hooked up to and it shows as no signal. Here is a few things I know: bluetooth is off, so it is not because it is connecting to anything. The mouse has not been moved, nor a key on the keyboard pressed.
I just would like to know if this is normal, and if not, what could be causing it.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Maybe network activity, optical mouse triggers it due to the surface it is resting on, another usb device doing something, some event on a schedule, handoff/continuity?
 
Last edited:
12CoreMP said:
Yes my cMP does this for about a minute every couple of hours.
Click to expand...
I wonder if it has to do if it is updating the status of something? Maybe like connecting with internet to check notifications for apps or something possibly?
[doublepost=1490561209][/doublepost]
casperes1996 said:
Could also be that it's backing up to Time Machine if you have that enabled.
Click to expand...
Hm, you may be right on that one. Thanks for the reply man.
 
It's the wake for Ethernet option. It turns on just to announce it's still on the network.
 
If I turn off a light that is plugged into the same wall socket as my surge strip (that has the computer plugged into it) my mac will wake from sleep every time.
 
Filin said:
Do you use a bluetooth keyboard or mouse?
Click to expand...
Nope, I am a PC gamer so naturally I prefer my wired stuff lol.
now i see it said:
If I turn off a light that is plugged into the same wall socket as my surge strip (that has the computer plugged into it) my mac will wake from sleep every time.
Click to expand...
And huh, that is weird. It must be toying with the voltage of the power strip when you take it out and your Mac senses it.
 
Zobrien said:
Hey guys, I am curious if anyone else has this problem. I will just be sitting down on my phone and hear my fans spin up and sure enough the light on it goes from blinking to a steady on and my mouse lights up, as if it has come out of hibernation.
Click to expand...

In some cases that is intentional, in other cases unintentional. If you want to find out more...

Open console, dig in system.log, find an occurrence of a nightly wakeup, and zero in on the line (usually the first), which contains "Wake Reason:"

The three/four letter code gives you some info (see list below for the possible 'Wake Reason' codes (lifted from OSXDaily))
  • OHC: stands for Open Host Controller, is usually USB or Firewire. If you see OHC1 or OHC2 it is almost certainly an external USB keyboard or mouse that has woken up the machine.
  • EHC: standing for Enhanced Host Controller, is another USB interface, but can also be wireless devices and bluetooth since they are also on the USB bus of a Mac.
  • USB: a USB device woke the machine up
  • LID0: this is literally the lid of your MacBook or MacBook Pro, when you open the lid the machine wakes up from sleep.
  • PWRB: PWRB stands for Power Button, which is the physical power button on your Mac
  • RTC: Real Time Clock Alarm, is generally from wake-on-demand services like when you schedule sleep and wake on a Mac via the Energy Saver control panel. It can also be from launchd setting, user applications, backups, and other scheduled events.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ActionableMango
I had this problem with my wife's cMP, it would wake up every 2 hours with a reason of "Wake reason: RTC (Alarm)" and RTC maintenance, followed by everyone's favorite service... mDNSresponder. I had/have wake-on-lan and everything else turned off/disabled that would cause this. Sometimes when it would wake up (display wouldn't wake up, only the cMP), I'd go over to see what was going on and it refused to fully come out of sleep. I could ssh in, but in order to be able to actually get the display on again I'd have to reboot.

My fix was to just never let it sleep, it's now on 24/7.

This thread has been going for 2.5 years, still no reliable fix...

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6611068?tstart=0
 
My Mac Pro 3,1 does this too (waking up for a minute, not even turning on the monitor, then going in sleep mode again).

now i see it said:
If I turn off a light that is plugged into the same wall socket as my surge strip (that has the computer plugged into it) my mac will wake from sleep every time.
Click to expand...

And this as well.. very strange. It's only connected to an Airport via WiFi and there is a (sleeping) MBP on that Airport as well. Bluetooth is off.

Although the "it's waking to let the rest of the netwerk know it's still there" sounds the most plausible explanation, I have my doubts. This doesn't explain why it shortly wakes when the lights go on.

I also noticed it often wakes for a minute when I enter the room where the Mac Pro is, without touching the lights. I assume it can sense I have my iPhone with me.. even when Bluetooth is off(!). No, I'm not superstitious, just saying. It only annoys me because my wife is often already sleeping in the adjacent room, sleeping, and I don't want it to wake her.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back