Not waking from sleep (NOT a third party, NVRAM, or SMC issue)

[exi]

Running MacOS Sierra on a 2015 MacBook Pro. Clean installed on a freshly formatted SSD from a terminal-made flash drive.

With some regularity, I am unable to wake my MBP from sleep. Even when it's been connected to power throughout, opening the lid brings me to a black (but backlighting on) screen. The cursor shows after ~10-20 seconds, but the machine is otherwise unresponsive. Key shortcuts to force account logout do not work. A manual reboot is required.

Am aware that in the beta, there were widespread issues with Sierra not waking from sleep. This was often attributed to (a) beta; (b) third-party display drivers and other software (AirParrot, Duet, others).

No beta use here, and I have no such software.

NVRAM and SMC resets have changed nothing.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what I may be missing?

 

[exi]

To add:

- Closing the MBP does not change things (unresponsive from sleep regardless of lid state);

- Machine feels very warm to touch, clearly doing or was trying to do something;

- Time Machine seems to be running last backups okay in the background;

- Console has no timestamp entries between last times my laptop was finishing a Time Machine routine before going to sleep, and the time of fresh boot when I had to manually restart;

- Onyx, freshly updated for Sierra, when run with usual automation steps (cache clearing of various kinds, permissions fixes, etc), changes nothing.

Very irritating. Not sure what else to try.

 

[997440]

Did you try to start in Safe Mode? Although you cleared caches with Onyx (not familiar with its use), perhaps Safe Mode and a regular reboot will clear that which Onyx didn't. I'd also test by putting the Mac to sleep while in Safe Mode. (According to Apple, the energy saver settings are in affect at their default settings during Safe Mode.)

In the past, I've read a cause can be 'deep sleep' (Standby on yours) as enforced by energy saver settings. If I remember correctly, this can be adjusted through the CLI. Might be worth a search. Although on the downside used as a work-around, an adjustment will affect your battery depletion rate.

Also read people at least temporarily solving it by adusting the "Wake for network access" in energy settings to off; turning airport off before sleeping; exiting full screen mode prior to sleep; reinstallation. Failure to wake from sleep is a recurring theme for Mac. Sorry I can't give you the magic answer.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Didn't realize Onyx was updated for Sierra. I've been waiting for it. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[exi]

Did you try to start in Safe Mode? Although you cleared caches with Onyx (not familiar with its use), perhaps Safe Mode and a regular reboot will clear that which Onyx didn't. I'd also test by putting the Mac to sleep while in Safe Mode. (According to Apple, the energy saver settings are in affect at their default settings during Safe Mode.)

In the past, I've read a cause can be 'deep sleep' (Standby on yours) as enforced by energy saver settings. If I remember correctly, this can be adjusted through the CLI. Might be worth a search. Although on the downside used as a work-around, an adjustment will affect your battery depletion rate.

Also read people at least temporarily solving it by adusting the "Wake for network access" in energy settings to off; turning airport off before sleeping; exiting full screen mode prior to sleep; reinstallation. Failure to wake from sleep is a recurring theme for Mac. Sorry I can't give you the magic answer.

Have not tried safe mode, actually, but it did bring to mind more troubleshooting:
- Manually kicking into Sleep via Apple Menu and then waking does not duplicate the problem (in normal boot, not safe);
- As regards Standby, the laptop has been plugged in (per Apple, exclusion for Standby -- "Notebooks need to be running on battery power") and still has this happen.
- No login items except iTunesHelper.

Have minimal third-party software on this clean reinstallation. Use a Citrix client, version 12.3 (latest), for remote access to things which has its own extension, so there is that.

Hm.

Didn't realize Onyx was updated for Sierra. I've been waiting for it. Thanks for the heads up.

Welcome! Was waiting.

 

[avflinsch]

I have seen this happen also, it does not seem to make a difference on how long the computer has been asleep - 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 hours - all the same.

What seems to work (most of the time) is hitting the start button, closing and reopening the lid.

 

[zeypher]

I am having this issue as well. None of the regular prescribed solutions mentioned by @exi have worked for me either (never used Duet or AirParrot, etc.). I noticed this specifically when I've left my 15" MBP Late 2013 over night, then either coming home or arriving at work, plugging it into a different set of monitors and waking it up from sleep where I get the blank screen.

 

[exi]

Came home yet again to a closed MacBook Pro with the internal fan on afterburner, laptop toasty warm from something keeping it chugging away.

Seems as if, in my case, the longer the machine is in sleep (I've woken it after an hour without issue), the more likely this issue is to show itself.

Neither hitting the start/power button nor opening/closing the lid helps in my case.

I have enabled "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off" in Energy Saver preferences, have disabled integrated graphics (though I doubt switching between this and the mid-2015 AMD chipset is causing issues) and will attempt a Safe Boot -> Normal Boot.

Pissing me off.

Will post back with any results.

 

[isabelle.cat]

I have the same issue as OP.

Installed Sierra.. worked fine... left my MBP 13 Early 2015 on and went out for lunch, came back. Blank screen. Rebooting but nothing shows up on screen... a backlit blank screen.. Brightness and backlit keys work. I cannot seem to boot into Sierra. Reset SMC / PRAM but yet i still boot with a blank screen. Tried safe mode but nothing comes up on screen.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[DeltaMac]

Came home yet again to a closed MacBook Pro with the internal fan on afterburner, laptop toasty warm from something keeping it chugging away.

Seems as if, in my case, the longer the machine is in sleep (I've woken it after an hour without issue), the more likely this issue is to show itself.

Neither hitting the start/power button nor opening/closing the lid helps in my case.

I have enabled "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off" in Energy Saver preferences, have disabled integrated graphics (though I doubt switching between this and the mid-2015 AMD chipset is causing issues) and will attempt a Safe Boot -> Normal Boot.

Pissing me off.

Will post back with any results.

I think your problem is the "closed MacBook Pro with the internal fan on afterburner, laptop toasty warm ... chugging away."
If your lid is closed, then the system should be sleeping.
It's not a software issue.
Does your MBPro normally have an external display attached, and is this happening while the external is attached?

Try turning OFF the settings: EnergySaver/Wake for Network Access, and Enable Power Nap
Also, disconnect any USB devices that you may normally leave in place.
Turn off bluetooth devices (or turn off bluetooth from the menu) before closing your laptop lid.

 

[exi]

Maybe I'm making it sound like something it's not. This same issue has happened with the lid open and the system having been unused for hours.

No external display, no USB devices. Bluetooth is on, but no devices are connected aside from use for Handoff/Continuity.

When using the machine today after having the lid closed overnight, no issues -- this after my last troubleshooting steps as above. I'll try what you've mentioned next if/when it recurs.

 

[Mo42]

I have the same problem, MBA mid 2012 13 inch. Installed Sierra this past weekend. Ever since it wont wake from sleep, connected to power. The laptop is hot as heck too, top/bottom. I open lid and get black screen, no keys do anything. After several minutes, it powers on doing a startup, not wake from sleep. (could be because I was hitting keys that maybe turned it off?).

This is only when sleep overnight. If just in sleep for an hour, or so, seems to wake fine. But it is hot as heck in sleep mode then too. In use, it is cool.

 

[exi]

Posting to update that I have not had a recurrence of the problem since:

...
I have enabled "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off" in Energy Saver preferences, have disabled integrated graphics (though I doubt switching between this and the mid-2015 AMD chipset is causing issues) and will attempt a Safe Boot -> Normal Boot.
...

Could be coincidental. Still watching for it and will post back with changes.

 

[halfbad]

2012 rMBP

Perhaps I can be of some help.

I've looked high and low for some help on this issue, my Mac basically wakes to a black screen and power cycling it is the only way to get back in.

I have had a similar issue, did the SMC, PRAM reset etc...no change, did a clean install even, no help.

Does it wake after a minute? but not after a few hours? This was my issue.

The only thing I've found worked is by disabling the hibernation file through terminal. This doesn't solve the problem but is a very viable work around.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-disable-os-x-from-creating-sleep-image.1685252/

There is a post which gives the step by step of what to do in the end in terminal if you type
"pmset -g" your settings should look like this

YOURNAME-MacBook-Pro:~ YOURNAME$ pmset -g

Currently in use:

standbydelay 4200

standby 0

womp 1

halfdim 1

hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage

powernap 1

gpuswitch 2

networkoversleep 0

disksleep 0

sleep 10

autopoweroffdelay 14400

hibernatemode 0

autopoweroff 0

ttyskeepawake 1

displaysleep 10

acwake 0

lidwake 1

This is a real issue which Apple has not addressed which has spanned several generations of Mac. All I know is that when the hibernation is truly disabled you won't have the black screen problem. I had it in mavericks, it went away in Yosemite/El cap but now back in Sierra.

The drawback here is that you won't have safe sleep anymore, so if you lose power when sleeping you will lose whatever was open. The good.. no more black screen and faster wake up because it won't go to 'deep sleep'

There is clearly some issue with the wake from Hibernation, or safe sleep, really hope Apple gets to this. The really crappy part is that when you hard reset, there is a chance of getting the flashing folder, (not recognize start up disk) esp if you have a Windows partition. If you get that keep hard resetting your start up disk will be recognized after awhile, sometimes...

Best,
Halfbad.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Posting to update that I have not had a recurrence of the problem since:



Could be coincidental. Still watching for it and will post back with changes.

Same here.

On an iMac 27" late 213.
Not waking from sleep -> Enabled "Prevent Computer..." and it seems fine now.
All hardware is Apple built in and OS X 10.10 and 10.11 never had sleep-issues ( my Mac that is..)

 

[v1597psh]

It's been 4 updates to Sierra and I'm having the same issue with my MacBook Pro 15 2015. Anybody else still having this issue? Any working solutions so far?

 

[randomgeeza]

I've experienced this issue too... MBP 2015. Not all the time but enough to have noticed.

Exact same symptoms. Unresponsive yet backlit black screen. Will only resolve on reboot. Warm to the touch and elevated fan noise, but not loud.

Hard restart is what brings the machine back to life...

Update: Has just happened again... And I guessed it was going to. Seems to be whenever I shut the lid and leave it momentarily. It never happened on El Cap, and given it is happening to others, I guess it is a Sierra issue. I wonder if it might be FileVault related.

Do we all have FV active?

 

[v1597psh]

I've experienced this issue too... MBP 2015. Not all the time but enough to have noticed.

Exact same symptoms. Unresponsive yet backlit black screen. Will only resolve on reboot. Warm to the touch and elevated fan noise, but not loud.

Hard restart is what brings the machine back to life...

Update: Has just happened again... And I guessed it was going to. Seems to be whenever I shut the lid and leave it momentarily. It never happened on El Cap, and given it is happening to others, I guess it is a Sierra issue. I wonder if it might be FileVault related.

Do we all have FV active?

I have tried everything that I could: Resetting PRAM, SMC, reconnecting the battery, reinstalling the OS. I have tried all major versions: 10.10.5, 10.11.6, 10.12.4. All having the same issues. I have even tried installing the OS on an external SSD. Even from there it doesn't wake from sleep. The only thing I've noticed while working from external SSD for about three days is that my internal SSD 2-3 time disconnected by itself and OS was no longer recognising it until I've restarted my Mac. So I unchecked "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" setting and this problem has gone. But I was still unable to wake the Mac from sleep when I opened the lid. Apple Diagnostics does not report any problems.



Based on the behaviour from working on an external SSD, I think at some point, my internal SSD fails, if it's completely idle. My Mac is out of warranty. I want to troubleshoot the problem myself as I doubt that Genius Bar will suggest me anything better then reinstalling the OS.

 

[skfist]

Just started happening to me a few weeks ago with High Sierra. Laptop occasionally doesn't wake from sleep but only after a few hours spent in sleep mode (prolly related to deep sleep). Called Apple, they suggested to reset PRAM and SMC. Did it multiple times. Laptop woke from sleep one day and then the next day it didn't. When it happens, the body is warm like @exi pointed out above like if it was doing something in the background all night. In my case, the screen stays off when I try wake it up, no reaction to pressing keys, clicking mouse neither to pressing the power button. Holding the power button shuts it down forcefully. It's the only option.

Seems that we have same symptoms. My laptop is also MBP 2015. I doubt this is a coincidence. I'm desperate. I did a fresh installation when High Sierra was released. I'll try it once again and then will claim my warranty before it expires in March '18. The battery also seems to be loose because I can hear a clicky noise when I lift it in the air and shake very lightly.

@randomgeeza I don't have FileVault active.

EDIT1: Have you guys figured it out yet?
EDIT2: Attached is a screenshot of my power preferences

 

[smirking]

Just started happening to me a few weeks ago with High Sierra. Laptop occasionally doesn't wake from sleep but only after a few hours spent in sleep mode (prolly related to deep sleep).

My Macs have always had some version of this problem on and off. Like as Zepher reported, it tends to happen to me when I mix my usage between clamshell mode and with an external monitor. Switching back and forth seems to confuse it. Plugging back into an external monitor after a period of being used in clamshell mode is usually when it happens to me.

I wasn't at all surprised that the upgrade to High Sierra resulted in the can't wake from sleep issue from affecting me again. This isn't the first time that an OS upgrade brought back this familiar annoyance. I've run into it so many times and seen it eventually resolve with an OS update that I don't even worry about it unless it goes on for more than two months. I adjust in the meantime by saving more often and quitting out of more crash sensitive programs before I close the lid.

 

[skfist]

Like as Zepher reported, it tends to happen to me when I mix my usage between clamshell mode and with an external monitor. Switching back and forth seems to confuse it. Plugging back into an external monitor after a period of being used in clamshell mode is usually when it happens to me.

It is true that I only very recently started using an external monitor at home and leaving laptop in sleep mode overnight. I almost always shut it down at the end of the day. However I've been using MBP for last 3-4 years on a daily basis and it just never occurred to me before. I'm sure I would've noticed it. Something specific must be triggering this. I'm refusing to accept it since I'm worried that the motherboard will fry one day from the heat since like I said, it is pretty warm in the morning when it happens. Like if it was stuck doing something crazy in the BG all night. I'll try to clean install the macOS and see if it solves the problem.

 

[smirking]

I'm refusing to accept it since I'm worried that the motherboard will fry one day from the heat since like I said, it is pretty warm in the morning when it happens.

Your MBP is supposed to go into shutdown if it reaches heat that it can't handle, but that said excessive heat is never a good thing for electronic components. I've had what you described happen to me a number of times too. I left it plugged in and when I came back the next morning, it was pretty warm like it had been doing something all night long. When that happens, I usually just unplug it at night. When there's no power source, the MBP don't seem to have any confusion as to what it's supposed to do when it's closed. They sleep.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Didn't realize Onyx was updated for Sierra. I've been waiting for it. Thanks for the heads up.

High Sierra too.