[Le Flaneur]

I have a MBP unibody (late 2008). What I've noticed is that after about a day or so of operation after a restart (or a SMU / PRAM reset), my MBP will no longer go to sleep automatically: the display (actually, a 23" Cinema Display used with the MBP in clamshell mode) will go black, but that's it.

Now lest you think that this is purely a software issue, I actually have a second MBP unibody (late 2008), after I swapped their hard disks, I was amazed to find the second MBP going to sleep automatically without any problem while booted from the hard disk from the first MBP. The only difference between the two MBPs is that the original has 4 GB of RAM, whereas the second only has 2GB of RAM.

Can anyone make sense of this phenomenon?

[imitchellg5]

Have you repaired disk permissions? A bad permission could be keeping the MBP from allowing itself to sleep.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Have you repaired disk permissions? A bad permission could be keeping the MBP from allowing itself to sleep.

Note what I wrote above: sleep works with the same hard disk in another MacBook Pro unibody late 2008. Also, auto sleep works initially, but then stops working over time.

[imitchellg5]

Yes I saw, but it's always worth a try.

[Le Flaneur]

It just reports the same permission errors over and over again.

[imitchellg5]

Hmm, what are they?

[Le Flaneur]

Code:
2010-01-02 14:35:31 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/AirPort Base Station Agent.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:31 -0600: Permissions differ on "Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/DVD.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSettings.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/FRSources.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Movies.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Music.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Photos.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/Podcasts.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns/TV.frappliance/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/BackRow.framework/Versions/A/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:32 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/RemoteDesktop.menu/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:41 -0600: Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:41 -0600: Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Frameworks/InternetUtilities.bundle/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:41 -0600: Permissions differ on "Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:46 -0600: Permissions differ on "Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaPluginCocoa.bundle/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-rw-r-- , they are lrw-rw-r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:54 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Components/AudioCodecs.component/Contents/CodeResources", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r-- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Versions/C/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DotMacSyncManager.framework/Versions/A/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DotMacSyncManager.framework/Versions/A/Resources/DotMacSyncHelper.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DotMacSyncManager.framework/Versions/A/Resources/dotmacsyncui.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DotMacLegacy.framework/Versions/A/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeDirectory", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeSignature", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/CCacheServer.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/Kerberos.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/CoreServices/KerberosAgent.app/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/Kerberos.framework/Versions/A/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosDatabasePlugins/db2.bundle/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:57 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/KerberosPlugins/KerberosDatabasePlugins/kldap.bundle/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .
2010-01-02 14:35:58 -0600: Permissions differ on "System/Library/SystemProfiler/SPDisplaysReporter.spreporter/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources", should be ?--------- , they are ---------- .

[imitchellg5]

Oi, well none of those have anything to do with displays... it's always worth a look-see though.

When you say go to sleep automatically do you mean as set in the Energy Saver pane or it won't go to sleep at all?

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Oi, well none of those have anything to do with displays... it's always worth a look-see though.

When you say go to sleep automatically do you mean as set in the Energy Saver pane or it won't go to sleep at all?

It won't go to sleep as set in the ESP. I'm using the default settings.

[Simon]

Have you reset SMC and PRAM?

[imitchellg5]

Way to read the original post!

[Le Flaneur]

Do you know what I've found? If I quit Safari (which has about 10 open tags), then my MBP will sleep. One of those tabs is the NYTimes web site, which refreshes every x minutes. Could that prevent sleep from occurring? Could something else on a web page (flash?) interfere with sleep?

[imitchellg5]

Hmm. That's probably what it is then. I know that during Apple events, I always keep Engadget's live coverage open, which is an auto-refresh page. It always keeps my MBP from going to sleep (I have it set to sleep after 15 minutes).