[l008com]

There is one particular user on my iBook. And almost every time that user is logged in, once everything is finished, and the finder comes up, and the startup apps (mail and ichat) start to open, the machine will go to sleep. Then you just wake it up normally and all is good. This only happens on this one user, and its very strange, it completely goes to sleep with the sleep light pulsing. Plus is my mom's account so its not like she would even know how to install any problem software like APE, so its a totally 'stock' setup. Any ideas?

[Krusty]

You checked the energy saver control panel for her user ? Very easily could have set the machine to got to sleep nearly immediately by accident.

[l008com]

The soonest you can set your energy saver to go to sleep for is after 1 minute of idleness. It takes only a few seconds to log in, and it goes all the way to sleep. Now I do have the screen set to sleep after a minute, but the machine is set to sleep never for all users.

[Krusty]

Applications/Utilities/Console -- it will register sleep events and wake events. Look at that after you wake the machine up (after it has gone to sleep) and see if there is any info before the sleep event that could give you clues:

Here's what a "normal" sleep-->wake cycle looks like on my machine

Code:
Sep  6 22:37:45 <username> kernel: AFPSleepWakeHandler:  going to sleep
Sep  6 22:37:46 <username> kernel: ApplePMU_AutoWakeSetting - entered
Sep  6 22:37:46 <username> kernel: AppleNMI mask NMI
Sep  6 22:37:45 <username> mDNSResponder[175]: mDNSResponder Sleeping at 44271643
Sep  6 22:37:53 <username> kernel: System Sleep
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> kernel: System Wake
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> kernel: Wake event 0020
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> kernel: AppleNMI unmask NMI
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> kernel: UniNEnet::monitorLinkStatus - Link is up at 100 Mbps - Full Duplex
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> kernel: AFPSleepWakeHandler:  waking up
Sep  6 22:37:58 <username> mDNSResponder[175]: mDNSResponder Waking at 44280963
Sep  6 22:37:59 <username> kernel: ApplePMU_AutoWakeSetting - entered
Sep  6 22:37:59 <username>kernel: ApplePMU_AutoPowerOnSetting - entered
Sep  6 22:37:59 <username> kernel: ApplePMU_AutoWakeSetting - entered
Sep  6 22:37:59 <username> kernel: ApplePMU_AutoPowerOnSetting - entered

note: I substituted "<username>" for my real user name in the code above.
See if the console records any other activity before it goes to sleep.

[proton]

Check that the user doesn't have anything odd in System Preferences -> Accounts -> My Account -> Startup Items that may be causing the computer to go to sleep.

- proton

[l008com]

Nope nothing in there but Mail and iChat. Are there any user specific battery preferences? It almost seems like when she logs in, sometimes, the computer thinks that the battery is dead for a few seconds and its that low power auto sleep, then when you turn it back on everything is normal. The strange part is, it only happens on my moms account and not any of my own.

[Turnpike]

back up everything in the user's preference folder, and then trash it. If it is a single-user issue, it almost HAS to be somewhere in ~/, and that seems like a good place to start...

[l008com]

Originally posted by Turnpike:
back up everything in the user's preference folder, and then trash it. If it is a single-user issue, it almost HAS to be somewhere in ~/, and that seems like a good place to start...

But ummmmmm she needs her prefs. Thats why I'm wondering if there's a power/battery specific perfs that might be the issue?

[asdasd]

i think it is a clamshell issue. If the hardware thinks it is closed, then it will go to sleep if the system is idle. During login, the system is not idle as it launches stuff. You may try cloging the lid and opening it.

[l008com]

Its an icebook not a clamshell. And it only happens to one user.

[Krusty]

Originally posted by l008com:
But ummmmmm she needs her prefs. Thats why I'm wondering if there's a power/battery specific perfs that might be the issue?

His suggestion to "trash the prefs" doesn't necessarily mean you have to throw them away and flush them bye-bye for ever and ever. Just make a backup copy in another folder somewhere and restore them if if it doesn't work.

Originally posted by l008com:
Its an icebook not a clamshell. And it only happens to one user.

Another idea is to think in reverse .... is there something active for the OTHER users that might be keeping the keeping the machine awake ? A daemon or login item that exists in your user but not hers ? Maybe you have something that is actively keeping the system awake that is absent in her user.

[Turnpike]

indeed, I do believe I specified you back them up first.

If you aren't willing, why not create a clean user to see if it happens there? If it doesn't, move over her prefs. If everything's still cool, then you know it's somewhere else in her ~/Library...

If it does happen in a fresh user without transferring anything, then you have something in your Library keeping things on. I highly doubt that, but it isn't hard to check and it'd be nice to know for sure. And hey, way stranger things have happened.

[TimeOnMyHands]

The same thing happens to my eMac. Everything is fine on my account (the admin account), but my wife and daughter have log in and have it fall asleep immediately. Strange.

[l008com]

Originally posted by Turnpike:
indeed, I do believe I specified you back them up first.

If you aren't willing, why not create a clean user to see if it happens there? If it doesn't, move over her prefs. If everything's still cool, then you know it's somewhere else in her ~/Library...

If it does happen in a fresh user without transferring anything, then you have something in your Library keeping things on. I highly doubt that, but it isn't hard to check and it'd be nice to know for sure. And hey, way stranger things have happened.

It also tends to only happen when she logs in, and not when I do, so its very hard to troubleshoot.

[Turnpike]

Okay, well get to it, and start at the beginning!

Create a new user account. One of two things will happen:
This account will behave as yours does.
This account will behave as your mother's does.

If it behaves as yours does, then the problem is in your mother's ~/Library folder somewhere. If it behaves as hers does, then the solution is in your ~/Library folder.

Most likely, the problem is in her ~/Library folder. Back up her entire preference folder. Trash the contents of the original.

If the problem persists, replace her preferences; her preferences are fine.
If the problem stops, replace her preferences a few at a time. When the problem starts again, you know which preferences are at fault.

If you haven't found the problem yet, look in other places in the ~/Library. Use the same process of backing up and removing. Application Support is a good place to try. Also check InputManagers. PreferencePanes and Frameworks would be places to look, as well. Also double-check to make sure APE isn't installed. You said she wouldn't have because she wouldn't know how... last time I checked, these things were pretty much double-click and then say next to the installer, agree to the license, and type your password. Not exactly brain surgery. She may have seen one of the haxies she liked (especially if it brought back features from an older system she was used to) and installed it.


Of course, I'm assuming you checked startup/login items already. It is all well and good hoping for an easy solution from somebody who has already solved the problem, but since nobody else seems to have solved it, you'll have to solve it yourself. If it only happens when she logs in and not when you do, that is HELPFUL in troubleshooting. It doesn't make it harder at all.

Unless of course your mother doesn't trust you mucking about in her User account. If that's the case and she isn't willing to move to a clean user account, then you have no option but to take it to a professional to repair.

[l008com]

Originally posted by Turnpike:
Okay, well get to it, and start at the beginning!

Create a new user account. One of two things will happen:
This account will behave as yours does.
This account will behave as your mother's does.

If it behaves as yours does, then the problem is in your mother's ~/Library folder somewhere. If it behaves as hers does, then the solution is in your ~/Library folder.

Most likely, the problem is in her ~/Library folder. Back up her entire preference folder. Trash the contents of the original.

If the problem persists, replace her preferences; her preferences are fine.
If the problem stops, replace her preferences a few at a time. When the problem starts again, you know which preferences are at fault.

If you haven't found the problem yet, look in other places in the ~/Library. Use the same process of backing up and removing. Application Support is a good place to try. Also check InputManagers. PreferencePanes and Frameworks would be places to look, as well. Also double-check to make sure APE isn't installed. You said she wouldn't have because she wouldn't know how... last time I checked, these things were pretty much double-click and then say next to the installer, agree to the license, and type your password. Not exactly brain surgery. She may have seen one of the haxies she liked (especially if it brought back features from an older system she was used to) and installed it.


Of course, I'm assuming you checked startup/login items already. It is all well and good hoping for an easy solution from somebody who has already solved the problem, but since nobody else seems to have solved it, you'll have to solve it yourself. If it only happens when she logs in and not when you do, that is HELPFUL in troubleshooting. It doesn't make it harder at all.

Unless of course your mother doesn't trust you mucking about in her User account. If that's the case and she isn't willing to move to a clean user account, then you have no option but to take it to a professional to repair.

Let me elaborate, it only happens on her account, AND it only happens when SHE logs into her account, not when I log into her account. So its a finicky type of problem, which is why I haven't jumped on it.

[Turnpike]

Hmmm... are you sure it isn't user error? Perhaps she hits the power button as she logs in, or her mouse accidentally moves to the apple and clicks and then down to sleep and releases. Trackpads can be tricky...

[l008com]

Originally posted by Turnpike:
Hmmm... are you sure it isn't user error? Perhaps she hits the power button as she logs in, or her mouse accidentally moves to the apple and clicks and then down to sleep and releases. Trackpads can be tricky...

Ha ha no I'm sure its not user error.