[Feefer]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone else noticed the Mac Mintel won't stay asleep, but cycles in a waking/sleep mode where it tries to wake up every 3-4 minutes? After it wakes for about 10 seconds, it goes back to sleep. I have access to (2) identical MMs, and both show the same behavior....

FWIW, the problem continues despite Airport/Bluetooth/Ethernet being disabled/powered off, the mouse/keyboard being unplugged, Screen Saver is set to 'never', and no hard drives are connected. I've had both units plugged into a 23" Cinema displays, but can't imagine that's the cause.

s this an attempt to run system maintanence routines or something? Sure seems like a bug to me, so wondering if anyone else has noticed the problem....

Chris

[Feefer]

Well, file this one under O for 'odd'....

I finally tracked the problem down to interference between a 27 MHz Fellowes cordless Microtrac mouse (and these are fully-compatible with OS X, including the wired USB versions. I think they're the greatest, especially when combined with a program like USB Overdrive which lets you assign functions to the buttons).

thought I HAD ruled this device out as a potential source of the problem by unhooking it from the Mac Mini (although it was plugged into my PowerBook, not a few feet away), turning off the power on the hand-held mouse (so theoretically it shouldn't be transmitting anything), covering the IR port of the MM with something to block the reciever, etc. After literally hours of trying to determine if the cause was software-related, I even went to the hassle of doing a clean reinstall of the OS; and it STILL suffered this problem of spontaneous wakeage.

Finally, I figured it out: I looked at the wireless manual (and you should always keep manuals) and realized I could re-set the channel on the hand-held mouse and receiver. Changed it, and now the MM sleeps peacefully.

I dunno how there could be problems from the channel-setting, especially when the mouse and receiver are supposed to be asleep, but I know I changed the channel and it fixed it immediately. I suppose I could try logging thru the 7 other channels to get back to the point where the problem started, just to confirm....

@@@@

As an aside, be VERY CAREFUL using "open firmware" password protection (which is available on the install disk under 'utilities'). With the Intel-based machines, a similar functionality has been provided by EFI, although the install disk still calls it the "open firmware password" application. I enabled this feature early on for security purposes, and as expected it allows you to block attempts to boot from CD/DVD, FireWire target mode, etc.

Under the old PPC "open firmware", the legit owner could hold Command-Option-O-F while booting, and the open firmware program would run; you then could enter the password to continue. Not so with Intel MM: the key combination does nothing. I called Apple tech support, and they're unaware of a new key combination that works.

So with my various attempts to figure out the insomnia issue, I apparently screwed up files that blocked my ability to boot from the internal drive: about 90% through the boot sequence, I was left with a "blue screen of death".

My only option was to boot with the install disc, but no manner of manipulation allowed me to access the firmware protection app while running the installer. You CAN run stuff like Disk Utility, the terminal, etc, but Open Fimware is not available on the install disc when in installation mode. Maybe someone who knows UNIX would be able to offer the command needed to run Open Firmware from the install diss....

So for me, I had to disassemble the MM and remove a stick of RAM and re-boot. That clears out the OF password. Major hassle, hence the word of caution....

Chris

[Gordio]

could u be running thunderbird? I skimmed the other forums and i think someone said thunderbird keeps hs computer awake.

[Feefer]

Originally Posted by Gordio

could u be running thunderbird? I skimmed the other forums and i think someone said thunderbird keeps hs computer awake.

Nope, the problem occurred even after I did a clean install of OS X, with no extras installed. That's not to say that installed software or drivers can't cause problems, just that it wasn't the cause of MY problem. I didn't need to install drivers for the wireless mouse, since it works OK with System Prefs settings (but better with USB Overdrive).

And speaking of sleep/wake issues, I ran into a sleep/wake issue on my PB G4 1.5GHz Al which was caused by attempting to put my laptop to sleep while running too many dongles (and it didn't matter if the USB hub was powered or not). It wasn't an issue of software conflicts with dongles, just the sheer magnitude of USB devices seems to have overwhelmed my PB such that it couldn't wake up: it was caught in limbo, requiring a hard re-start....

Chris