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Dillon-K · Jul 20, 2006, 03:08 AM

Hey, I don't have a Mac yet, but I'm thinking of getting a BlackBook here in the very near future.... I was wondering if putting your computer to sleep (or just as effectively closing the lid) will disconnect airport (and in turn, Adium). I don't really mind the fact that the MacBook will sleep when I close the lid, but I often type "BRB" into a few IM/chat windows, close my notebook, and walk away for five minutes... so my question remains for the MacBook: will it turn off Airport/Adium when I close the lid? Thanks!

EDIT: yes, I know I misspelled "Airport" in the topic of this thread... but it won't let me edit it. XD. sorry!

TETENAL · Jul 20, 2006, 04:12 AM

When the computer sleeps it is – for all intents and purposes - turned off. So neither Airport nor Adium are running.

Dillon-K · Jul 20, 2006, 09:09 PM

aww, poo. Why isn't it just possible to close it without it sleeping?! Blargh, I'd have to say this is one very small area where Apple falls behind.

Philip J. Fry · Jul 20, 2006, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by Dillon-K

aww, poo. Why isn't it just possible to close it without it sleeping?! Blargh, I'd have to say this is one very small area where Apple falls behind.

Are you kidding me? If the MacBook is running while closed, the heat would be rediculous. Not to mention would def. cause some system instability.

wataru · Jul 20, 2006, 09:42 PM

If the lid is closed, you're not using the computer. So what is wrong with closed = sleep exactly?

"Apple falls behind." Right

Brass · Jul 20, 2006, 10:34 PM

You CAN run the computer with the lid closed. It's just not the default behaviour (for obvious reasons).

One way of doing so is to connect it to an external monitor and external keyboard. Then use the keyboard to wake the computer. There may be other ways. Of course the computer is likely to overheat a lot more easily than with the lid open.

Dillon-K · Jul 20, 2006, 11:20 PM

You guys are taking that post so wrong! I'm not dissing Apple! I just wish that Sleep didn't disconnect Aiport! Chillax, please!

For example: You don't want to carry around a bulky, open laptop but you want to move the the other room.

Logical solution: close it for a minute and then open it back up, with everything still connected.
Apple's solution: disconnect everything and basically turn your entire computer off, or carry around an open laptop.

In all honesty, this issue does not bug me that much!! I simply wanted to bring it up. Blow this out of proportion as you wish.

Brass · 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by Dillon-K

You guys are taking that post so wrong! I'm not dissing Apple! I just wish that Sleep didn't disconnect Aiport! Chillax, please!

For example: You don't want to carry around a bulky, open laptop but you want to move the the other room.

Logical solution: close it for a minute and then open it back up, with everything still connected.
Apple's solution: disconnect everything and basically turn your entire computer off, or carry around an open laptop.

In all honesty, this issue does not bug me that much!! I simply wanted to bring it up. Blow this out of proportion as you wish.

I disagree..

LOGICAL SOLUTION: closing the lid puts the computer to sleep, which disables networking, etc. opening the lid wakes the computer up, and networking automatically is re-established.

APPLE SOLUTION: ditto

I use airport and iChat a lot (not Adium yet, but I presume it behaves similarly). Both airport and iChat both reconnect automatically when I wake the laptop. No problem at all.

Alternatively, if you really want the laptop to NOT sleep on closing the lid (generally a very bad idea, but there are occasionally good reasons for it), try this:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30315

EasyMac · Jul 21, 2006, 04:29 AM

Well, its not that big of a deal to leave it open for a couple minutes. Im sure if anyone in your house respects you, they won't go snooping around on your computer. But you could turn sleep off so you can come back, flip the BlackBook over, and cook your breakfast. Of course, I think someone has actually cooked an egg on their macbook.

cybergoober · Jul 21, 2006, 09:08 AM

That cooking the egg on the MacBook thing was a joke.

If the machine stayed on when you closed it then it would drain the battery having AirPort and all that other stuff still active.

I think there are some "hacks" that allow to run the laptop with the lid closed.

OreoCookie · Jul 21, 2006, 09:34 AM

Like a windows machine, there is no wake-up-on-lan for WLAN interfaces. If the computer is asleep, all programs stop running and the WLAN connection is severed.

You can configure your MacBook so you can work with your lid closed, but you'll need to connect an external keyboard and a monitor. So in essence, your computer just isn't asleep when the lid is closed. But this isn't what you want. Instead, you should just not close the lid when walking away for a few minutes. If you don't want others to see what you are doing, i. e. privacy concerns, just activate a hot corner for a screen saver with password protection.

Angus_D · Jul 21, 2006, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Dillon-K

You guys are taking that post so wrong! I'm not dissing Apple! I just wish that Sleep didn't disconnect Aiport! Chillax, please!

For example: You don't want to carry around a bulky, open laptop but you want to move the the other room.

Logical solution: close it for a minute and then open it back up, with everything still connected.
Apple's solution: disconnect everything and basically turn your entire computer off, or carry around an open laptop.

In all honesty, this issue does not bug me that much!! I simply wanted to bring it up. Blow this out of proportion as you wish.

Another thing is that when your machine is asleep, the disk heads are parked so it's safer to move it. There are motion sensors in the new Apple laptops, but it's still best to avoid waving them around with the disk spinning.

ghporter · Jul 21, 2006, 03:01 PM

This is actually an AirPort issue, not an issue with the OS or with whatever computer you're using. For some reason, not all AirPort cards will automatically reconnect when the computer wakes up. You can do a few things like manually disconnect before or manually connect after, but that won't address your issue.

Or you could almost close the lid, so the computer is close to being closed but not quite and you can carry it easier...

harrisjamieh · Jul 21, 2006, 03:08 PM

Everyone is saying how running the MB with the lid closed is bad for the machine because it can overheat.....

News flash people: If Apple advertises a feature in the manual of a product, then doing it should in no way damage your product. Apple says the MB can run in lid closed mode, and tells you how to do it (by plugging in the ext mouse, KB, power and display). If you do this, you are in no way damaging your system, and if, for some bizzare reason, your system DOES die whilst running it in lid closed mode, then you can go to Apple and say "the manual said it was fine, and now look whats happened blah blah blah".

If you do a search for a piece of software called 'sleepless' - it will let you close your MB lid without the machine going to sleep. Its shareware - free to use, but it keeps bugging you to buy it with annoying messages.

ghporter · Jul 21, 2006, 07:13 PM

I never got into the "it'll overheat" mindset because of all the vents on the case-and I never read the manual. But it's kind of silly from a functional perspective to do much more than move a laptop from room to room with it closed-unless you have all the external devices connected, what can the laptop do? I've used the "almost closed" method for a long time with a variety of laptops, and it's always worked for me, so I've never bothered going any deeper with it.