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Never let Mac mini go to sleep?

J

jbsmithmac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2011
244
0
Is it ok to not let a mac mini go to sleep? I am setting up a 2009 Mac Mini more like a server (not OS X Server)...and wondered if it's ok to never allow it to go to sleep?

I noticed when it goes to sleep it no longer shows up in the finder under shared items. Odd because my Synology goes to sleep but still shows in the finder - I guess its a different type of sleep.
 
jbsmithmac said:
Is it ok to not let a mac mini go to sleep? I am setting up a 2009 Mac Mini more like a server (not OS X Server)...and wondered if it's ok to never allow it to go to sleep?

I noticed when it goes to sleep it no longer shows up in the finder under shared items. Odd because my Synology goes to sleep but still shows in the finder - I guess its a different type of sleep.
Click to expand...

I have three minis. The two 2011s have never slept now for over two years. I occasionally reboot them once a week or month or so. Same with the 2012.

They use only around 8 watts at idle, similar to a clock radio or LED light bulb.
 
opinio said:
I have three minis. The two 2011s have never slept now for over two years. I occasionally reboot them once a week or month or so. Same with the 2012.

They use only around 8 watts at idle, similar to a clock radio or LED light bulb.
Click to expand...


Good to know, thank you!

I just found some applescript to send a WOL packet, so I may do that instead of leaving it on 24x7x365. I assuming having it sleep increases its life - less wear and tear on the hardware.
 
jbsmithmac said:
Good to know, thank you!

I just found some applescript to send a WOL packet, so I may do that instead of leaving it on 24x7x365. I assuming having it sleep increases its life - less wear and tear on the hardware.
Click to expand...

I never had any luck trying to WOL a Mini. Have you verified it ? When I last tried it was with ML on a 2011 unit.
 
Yeah it works... It's Mark Muir's script that has been floating around the Internet for years now. Below is a link to just one of many forum posts with it.

Although it now seems that I don't really need it since my other macs still see the mini in the finder even if it's asleep (for some reason originally they didn't).

https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/7463-wake-sleeping-mac-with-applescript-and-automator/

----------

FYI all my machines are running 10.8.5
 
ElectronGuru said:
The 'wake for network access' option should leave it only half asleep, able to be seen and wake for specific kinds of access.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I thought....I either accidentally turned that off and then thought "oh crap, guess I need a WOL script" or some other weird thing happened (probably the former).

As mentioned before...it is staying in the "shared" section of other Mac's finder apps even when it is asleep - so it seems to be working correctly.


Regardless, the WOL script from Mark Muir does work (I confirmed by running the script while watching the mini....it went from the "breathing" light to full on).
 
When I have small troubles connecting, restarting the target mac usually fixes things. A bigger cause would be something like an ip issue. So as best practices, I would also MAC ID assign fixed IP addresses in the base station dhcp.
 
ElectronGuru said:
So as best practices, I would also MAC ID assign fixed IP addresses in the base station dhcp.
Click to expand...

I didn't do it in the router, but in the mini itself. I suppose it is better to do it in the router so there's guaranteed no conflicts....right?
 
Depends on your network. The risk of local assignment is now you have 2+ places to check when making a change, encouraging mistakes. If the ip you assigned is outside the range dhcp is handing out, you should be fine.
 
Do you go to sleep yourself? If yes, then switch it off when you do so. I turn of some power strips before going to sleep. All 5-10 watts here and there add to a nice total.
 
blanka said:
Do you go to sleep yourself? If yes, then switch it off when you do so. I turn of some power strips before going to sleep. All 5-10 watts here and there add to a nice total.
Click to expand...

Yes I do, however I'd like the mini to do a few things for me while I sleep.
 
i keep my mac mini on 24/7 , i use it as an itunes server
i would sleep the mini but my external drives sometimes disconnects when waking from sleep
 
My 2011 mini has been running for 11 months - I only turned it off because I moved house. Prior to that it was running since 2011!

I use it as an iTunes server, and a BOINC client, and when I can be bothered to set it up, Handbrake. BOINC and Handbrake use absolutely all of the processor capacity (last time I checked activity monitor, Handbrake was using 326%, BOINC 72%), so it's not just idling. I couldn't justify leaving it on all day doing nothing, especially since it only needs to serve iTunes for a couple of hours a day.
 
My mini has lots of movies, and my wife watches them using Apple TV. Unfortunately she does not have tech literacy to figure out if my mini is at sleep or not. I keep it run just not to let her call me that movies ain't there.
 
El Hikaru said:
My mini has lots of movies, and my wife watches them using Apple TV. Unfortunately she does not have tech literacy to figure out if my mini is at sleep or not. I keep it run just not to let her call me that movies ain't there.
Click to expand...
Apple TV will wake your mini if asleep if WOL is enabled (default I think). No need to keep it on just for that reason.
 
Does anyone know if it will sleep while PLEX Media Server is running then WOL when a client tries to connect?
 
My Mini only gets shut down when the power goes out long enough to drain the UPS.

I only turn the monitor off when I'm not using it, but it's running iTunes all the time for home sharing. I also have a NAS but it uses more idle power than my mini.
 
jbsmithmac said:
Does anyone know if it will sleep while PLEX Media Server is running then WOL when a client tries to connect?
Click to expand...

It used to for me but recently the Mac has not been sleeping and the reason was Plex Media Server. It would also wake up when a client connects to it most of the time but that wasn't always successful. I have Rowmote installed on my IOS devices though and this app wakes the mini up 100% of the time so if a Plex client doesn't wake it, I connect first with Rowmote and then use the client again which will now successfully connect.

I have recently taken to using an Applescript to quit Plex Media Server after 4 hours so if my Mini can't sleep say overnight, I know after 4 hours, Plex Media Server will quit and the Mac can then quit. I have set Plex Media Server to start each time the Mac wakes so it is always available when the Mini wakes. A little frustrating to have to do this since Plex and the mini worked fine previously but I suspect this a Plex issue as otherwise the mac sleeps fine.
 
I bought an original G4 Mac Mini when they were first released in 2005 and it ran 24/7 for about 7 years until I retired it last year. I never had a single problem with it. I replaced it with a second hand Mac Mini circa 2008 and have had that one running for 24/7 for the last year and have had no problems with that one either.
 
warvanov said:
I bought an original G4 Mac Mini when they were first released in 2005 and it ran 24/7 for about 7 years until I retired it last year. I never had a single problem with it. I replaced it with a second hand Mac Mini circa 2008 and have had that one running for 24/7 for the last year and have had no problems with that one either.
Click to expand...

Why retire it? Just keep it in the background crunching numbers, albeit somewhat slowly, for SETI or Folding at Home or something...
 
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