Mini Not REALLY going to sleep?

[anotherjoey]

I got my new Mac Mini today, and it looks like it doesn't really go to sleep fully when I put it in sleep mode.

I'm using it as a media-computer basically, plugged to my TV all the time. And there are 2 external USB HDD's plugged in the back of it constantly as well.

When I put the Mini to sleep, the light indicator starts pulsating for 1-2 seconds, then stays steady white for a minute. Then it starts pulsating again..so i'm under the impression that it's not really sleeping, and that the external HDD's might be the issue? And that they try to power it up? Because one of the HDD's keeps making the "boot" searching sound like it's starting up, which is weird since they should eject whenever the Mini goes to sleep. I tried doing it (ejecting) manually but it's still doing the same.

I really don't feel like plugging in and out the external HDD's everytime I want to use them. Surely there must be something I can do? Because it should be blinking constantly if it's in sleep mode right?

 

[GGJstudios]

Because it should be blinking constantly if it's in sleep mode right?

Yes, it should. For sleep issues, you may find some useful ideas here:

• Determine why your Mac wakes up from sleep
• OS X Mountain Lion: If your Mac won’t go to or stay in sleep
• Mac OS X: Why your Mac might not sleep or stay in sleep mode
• One sleep problem caused by printers - solved ... and another
• If your Mac isn't sleeping properly and you have gfxCardStatus installed, try uninstalling it.

 

[anotherjoey]

Thanks for the links. I looked through those now, and nothing really solved the issue. I wrote the prompt in Terminal and got this message about 50 times.:

kernel [0] <debug> Wake reason: XHC1

What a good start on a brand new machine. I'm not getting any results after searching for "xch1" either.

 

[Darby67]

Could be the Power Nap feature. Take a look at your Energy Saver pane in System Preferences.

 

[anotherjoey]

There's nothing about Power Sleep in my energy saver settings in system preferences, unlike on my MBA.

I just found out that XHC1 has something to do with the USB, so as I assumed it seems to be the plugged in external HDD's keeping the mini awake or preventing it to sleep, which is crazy IMO. I shouldn't have to plug them out every single time I want the computer to sleep, especially as it's connected to my TV and the drives are not that easy to get to.

Surely there must be some solution?