How can I help a loved one (who is not human) overcome insomnia?

September 28, 2006 4:54 PM

My Mac mini can no longer dream of electric sheep.

My Mac mini no longer goes to sleep automatically. (I think.) I can make the system sleep by pressing Option + Apple + Eject, and I will get this notification in the system log:

Sep 28 16:28:23 Samuel-O-Prueffrock kernel[0]: System Sleep
Sep 28 16:28:23 Samuel-O-Prueffrock kernel[0]: IOBluetoothHCIController::restartShutdownWL this is a wake from sleep

When I make the system sleep by pressing the key combination the LED on the front of the Mac mini beginnings flashing and I no longer hear the fans running.

I called Apple Technical Support about this problem and was told to reset the PMU/SMU by holding down the power button while inserting the power cord. Then when the system slept automatically (the monitor does go to sleep) I could still hear the fans running and the front LED was still solid. I was told this is normal by Apple Technical Support and all Mac minis sleep with a solid front LED. After I checked the system.log, I found no message indicating the system had gone to sleep; as opposed to the system message I get after pressing the key combination.

So, why, when I push the key combination to sleep does my Mac mini turn off its fans and start flashing the front LED? Does the Mac mini have two kinds of sleep?

Also, about every 30 seconds in the system log there's this weird message:

Sep 28 16:46:20 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:46:51 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:47:22 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:47:53 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:48:24 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:48:55 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:49:26 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:49:57 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping
Sep 28 16:50:28 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/fax, sleeping

I mean, that's all my system.log is anymore. Could that have something to do with the computer not sleeping properly?

Thanks for your help MetaFilter and fellow MeFites, you're the best.

posted by Colloquial Collision to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Standard Mac troubleshooting.

Try creating a new user and seeing if your Mini will sleep.
posted by mphuie at 6:10 PM on September 28, 2006

You might also want to try reinstalling the Mac OS from the CD that came with your machine. Looks like something is rather wrong with one part of your OS or another.
posted by zachlipton at 6:21 PM on September 28, 2006

There's a preference file you might consider deleting or renaming, which handles sleep preferences for your Apple.

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist

You'd use the Terminal to get to this; since you know about the log files I assume you know about mv and rm.

Another thing you can try is the Fix Permissions option in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. If there are any preference or log files which the OS cannot manipulate, your computer may not be able to sleep properly.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:22 PM on September 28, 2006

This may help you get rid of the warning about getty:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234735

"I have found the cause: in system preferences the option "receive fax on this machine" was accidentally checked."
posted by zaphod at 7:26 PM on September 28, 2006

The Bluetooth error message makes me think of when I had an application which attempted to poll my cell phone for incoming calls, so it could display a notification on the computer. You don't have anything along those lines installed, do you? It's possible that some Bluetooth peripheral is in some fashion causing your machine to wake up.

Otherwise, I second the call for making a new user and seeing if it sleeps correctly when that user is the only one logged in.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:49 PM on September 28, 2006

IOBluetoothHCIController

IO -- Input Output
Bluetooth -- obvious, via Bluetooth
HCI -- Host Controller Interface -- ties Bluetooth to the computer.
Controller -- obvious.

Something's prodding this, which forces a wakeup. Do you have a bluetooth keyboard or mouse -- or for that matter, bluetooth anything?

Option two -- disable bluetooth, see if it sleeps.
posted by eriko at 5:29 AM on September 29, 2006

Actually, looking at it more, ignore that. That's the normal "Wake up, bluetooth" message that happens when the system wakes up.

Can you post what's in the logs after the "System Wake" message?
posted by eriko at 5:32 AM on September 29, 2006

Update:

{1}—

mphuie : "Standard Mac troubleshooting.

"Try creating a new user and seeing if your Mini will sleep."

I created a new user account called “test,” restarted the computer, logged in only as the “test” user, and then proceeded to observe whether the Mac mini would sleep.

The Mac mini would not sleep automatically, but would experience the same behavior described previously.

Though I will keep this standard troubleshooting tip close in my breast pocket from now on. Should any other problems arise. A very good suggestion, thank you.

{2}—

Blazecock Pileon : "Another thing you can try is the Fix Permissions option in Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. If there are any preference or log files which the OS cannot manipulate, your computer may not be able to sleep properly."

I restarted the Mac mini with the install CD and proceeded to run Disk Utility. I repaired both the permissions and the disk.

This did nothing...Except repair the permissions, which did need repairing.

Blazecock Pileon : "There's a preference file you might consider deleting or renaming, which handles sleep preferences for your Apple.

"/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist"

This fixed the problem.

But only for a little while. After I began launching my standard start-up programs, Quicksilver, AudioScrobbler, Growl, and Adobe Version Cue CS2, the problem resurfaced. So, my worst fear was confirmed. An application was interfering with the proper operation of the OS X operating system.

{3}—

Turned out the problem was with Adobe Version Cue CS2. I uninstalled the application. I never used the Version Cue software anyway.

{4}—

zaphod : "This may help you get rid of the warning about getty:

"http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234735"

The did help me get rid of the warning about the getty, thank you zaphod. But, this was ultimately unrelated to the sleep issue.

{5}—

eriko : "Can you post what's in the logs after the 'System Wake' message?"

I sure can:

Sep 29 05:34:28 Samuel-O-Prueffrock kernel[0]: Wake event 0020
Sep 29 05:34:30 Samuel-O-Prueffrock kernel[0]: UniNEnet::monitorLinkStatus - Link is up at 100 Mbps - Full Duplex
Sep 29 05:34:33 Samuel-O-Prueffrock launchd: Server 501f in bootstrap 1103 uid 0: "/usr/sbin/lookupd"[275]: exited abnormally: Hangup
Sep 29 05:34:33 Samuel-O-Prueffrock configd[38]: posting notification com.apple.system.config.network_change
Sep 29 05:34:33 Samuel-O-Prueffrock lookupd[276]: lookupd (version 369.5) starting - Fri Sep 29 05:34:33 2006
Sep 29 05:34:35 Samuel-O-Prueffrock mDNSResponder: Repeated transitions for interface en0 (192.168.0.3); delaying packets by 5 seconds

Thank you, everyone, for all your help. This problem has been bugging me for months.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 6:14 AM on September 29, 2006

Glad you figured it out! What's Version Cue again? If memory serves it's just an auto-updater for Adobe apps, which would make some sense--it keeps trying to check for new versions periodically, perhaps. If that's it, and it is interfering with the ability to sleep...well...blech. Typical Adobe :(
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:22 AM on September 29, 2006

At first, I thought you were asking whether or not Electric Sheep would run on your Mac. Looks like you got your answer, so I'll just include my comment for posterity. (Yes, it runs on a Mac).
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 9:57 AM on September 29, 2006

cyrusdogstar : "What's Version Cue again? If memory serves it's just an auto-updater for Adobe apps..."

Version Cue also seems to be something like Subversion, or CVS. There was a server on the localhost, and the ability to add users to track files, et cetera.

Monkey0nCrack : "At first, I thought you were asking whether or not Electric Sheep would run on your Mac."

Well, now my Mac mini will really dream of electric sheep. Thanks for the link Monkey0nCrack.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 6:59 PM on September 29, 2006