So I have a 2011 Mac Mini with macOS 10.13.6 that is headless and running primarily as a Plex Media Server, and is connected directly to my mesh network through ethernet, and I am having wake/sleep issues that I can't figure out.
Issues:
1. It wakes itself up every 1-10 minutes through the day, despite no directed activity (from a Mac). This leaves quite a strain on my HDDs, as they spin up and down again and again all day.
2. Plex Media Server crashes multiple times a day, due to network activity (According to experts on the Plex forums). Plex Server shouldn't crash because of this, but my Mac shouldn't also not behave like this, so I'd rather fix the root problem, as it is likely why problem 1 is happening. Plexs log files has hundreds of these entries:
The machine is set to wake on network activity, and sleep by itself after 15 minutes in System Preferences. I have a tri-mesh WIFI setup with active firewall, a few Macs and iPads and iPhones, along with the random WIFI units (TV, Apple TV, Nintendo Switch, ebook, etc.), and one Philips Hue Bridge along with 6 LED strips. I've completely formatted the machine recently, and reinstalled everything from the ground, and it did not fix my issues. It has a single external HDD attached by USB. The machine is very bare boned otherwise, since it is pretty much a Plex server. No other network problems - Siri and Hue works 95% of the time which I believe is a pretty good standard.
I'd appreciate any suggestions for trouble shooting, as I can't figure out what's happening here. *Especially* why the Mac doesn't respect the sleep settings, and just falls asleep immediately, and why it alone appears to be bombarded by network activity? My 2011 iMac with macOS 13.10.6 on the same network does not experience these problems, neither more modern MacBooks.
Issues:
1. It wakes itself up every 1-10 minutes through the day, despite no directed activity (from a Mac). This leaves quite a strain on my HDDs, as they spin up and down again and again all day.
2. Plex Media Server crashes multiple times a day, due to network activity (According to experts on the Plex forums). Plex Server shouldn't crash because of this, but my Mac shouldn't also not behave like this, so I'd rather fix the root problem, as it is likely why problem 1 is happening. Plexs log files has hundreds of these entries:
3. When it wakes up, it goes back to sleep within ~15 seconds, no matter the sleep setting in System Preferences, or wether or not Plex Media Server is running. This also happens upon direct network activity from a Mac, and the only thing that keeps it continuously awake are A) Screen share, and B) Plex streaming activity. This means when I fire up Plex on the Apple TV, then I have about 10 seconds to select something, or wait until the machine sleeps complete and THEN select something, so it wakes it up again and starts streaming. If I catch it in the 'falling asleep' time (~8 seconds) then the machine stays asleep, and then the Apple TV can sometimes get confused. If you temporarily pause the Plex streaming playback, then you have ~3-15 seconds to start again depending on when it last buffered, or you might catch it in the sleep periode again.
The machine is set to wake on network activity, and sleep by itself after 15 minutes in System Preferences. I have a tri-mesh WIFI setup with active firewall, a few Macs and iPads and iPhones, along with the random WIFI units (TV, Apple TV, Nintendo Switch, ebook, etc.), and one Philips Hue Bridge along with 6 LED strips. I've completely formatted the machine recently, and reinstalled everything from the ground, and it did not fix my issues. It has a single external HDD attached by USB. The machine is very bare boned otherwise, since it is pretty much a Plex server. No other network problems - Siri and Hue works 95% of the time which I believe is a pretty good standard.
I'd appreciate any suggestions for trouble shooting, as I can't figure out what's happening here. *Especially* why the Mac doesn't respect the sleep settings, and just falls asleep immediately, and why it alone appears to be bombarded by network activity? My 2011 iMac with macOS 13.10.6 on the same network does not experience these problems, neither more modern MacBooks.
