Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
As an aside, I'll mention that on both PC's and Macs I am disturbed at how easy it is for software to upset the Energy Saving features. For example, about a year ago I discovered that the new Mac OS was incompatible with Eudora (which I was then using) and the machine was never sleeping. I had mistakenly thought that the constant on LED indicated sleep. I've seen other such problems and am beginning to think that a significant fraction -- and maybe the majority -- of PC's and Macs are losing their energy efficiency due to such problems. Yuch.
Thanks for any help on the mouse question.
In article 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid, hellman@redacted.invalid wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
As an aside, I'll mention that on both PC's and Macs I am disturbed at how easy it is for software to upset the Energy Saving features. For example, about a year ago I discovered that the new Mac OS was incompatible with Eudora (which I was then using) and the machine was never sleeping. I had mistakenly thought that the constant on LED indicated sleep. I've seen other such problems and am beginning to think that a significant fraction -- and maybe the majority -- of PC's and Macs are losing their energy efficiency due to such problems. Yuch.
Thanks for any help on the mouse question.
Hmmmm. My mouse has always been good at waking my Macs (four different models since 1989). New Mac OS incompatible with Eudora? I use Eudora 6.2.4 on 10.4.10, and it's flawless. What OS do you mean?
In article 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid, hellman@redacted.invalid wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse.
When was that? That's how I've always awakened my Mac, from the first time I had a screen saver. (Well, technically, I wakened the screen, not the Mac, because I never put the computer itself to sleep.)
On 2007-09-21, magdalena magdalenabung@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid, hellman@redacted.invalid wrote:
As an aside, I'll mention that on both PC's and Macs I am disturbed at how easy it is for software to upset the Energy Saving features. For example, about a year ago I discovered that the new Mac OS was incompatible with Eudora (which I was then using) and the machine was never sleeping. I had mistakenly thought that the constant on LED indicated sleep. I've seen other such problems and am beginning to think that a significant fraction -- and maybe the majority -- of PC's and Macs are losing their energy efficiency due to such problems. Yuch.
Thanks for any help on the mouse question.
Hmmmm. My mouse has always been good at waking my Macs (four different models since 1989). New Mac OS incompatible with Eudora? I use Eudora 6.2.4 on 10.4.10, and it's flawless. What OS do you mean?
But hellman was not saying that the mouse was failing to wake a Mac running Eudora, rather that a Mac running Eudora was never going to sleep. I don't know about Eudora, but obviously certain apps do intentionally inhibit sleep (you don't want your machine to go to sleep in the middle of watching a DVD for example). I think having certain websites (ones that periodically refresh?) open in Safari also inhibits sleep but I am not sure about that. Perhaps Eudora is doing something periodically that sends out network traffic, causing the sleep timer to reset.
Ian
Ian Gregory foo@redacted.invalid wrote:
Perhaps Eudora is doing something periodically that sends out network traffic, causing the sleep timer to reset.
Quite likely periodically checking for new mail.
On 2007-09-21, Michelle Steiner michelle@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid, hellman@redacted.invalid wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse.
When was that? That's how I've always awakened my Mac, from the first time I had a screen saver. (Well, technically, I wakened the screen, not the Mac, because I never put the computer itself to sleep.)
Mouse movement wakens a sleping display but not a sleeping Mac. You need to click the mouse or hit a key to wake from sleep.
When the display goes to sleep the backlight turns off and the LED turns on. When the Mac goes to sleep the LED changes from solid to pulsing. By running a "screensaver" you are getting some eye candy but preventing your display from sleeping.
Ian
Hmmmm. My mouse has always been good at waking my Macs (four different models since 1989). New Mac OS incompatible with Eudora? I use Eudora 6.2.4 on 10.4.10, and it's flawless. What OS do you mean?
Thanks for all four inputs (thus far). To respond:
Eudora worked fine, including letting the Mac sleep, until I upgraded to one of the newer OS's, I think 10.4. At that point, my Mac stopped sleeping -- not because Eudora was trying to keep it awake to check for mail -- but because Qualcomm had stopped development of Eudora and an incompatibility crept in. It took a lot of sleuthing to discover that Eudora was the culprit and I switched to Apple Mail, which I now love, though at first I found it a bit of a pain -- but that was mostly my getting used to it. I'm pretty sure there are some posts on comp.mac.apps or similar that say this, since finding them was what confirmed my suspicion. Removing Eudora removed the problem.
I've been a Mac addict since Jan 2003 and, while clicking the mouse always woke it, early on merely moving the mouse did not wake it. Of this I am virtually certain, because I remember being happy with the change from Windows. It was too easy to accidentally wake the machine, just by bumping against the table holding it. I don't know when just moving the mouse started waking the Mac. It could have been long before I noticed it, cause I had gotten into the habit of hitting ESC to wake it.
Yes, I can see that there are some apps like DVD player that should prevent a Mac from sleeping, but it seems like many others do too. Maybe, but giving apps the ability to inhibit sleep (needed for some) it makes it too easy for others to inadvertently do it as well. Sigh.
In article slrnff6kkn.d3.foo@redacted.invalid, Ian Gregory foo@redacted.invalid wrote:
When the display goes to sleep the backlight turns off and the LED turns on. When the Mac goes to sleep the LED changes from solid to pulsing. By running a "screensaver" you are getting some eye candy but preventing your display from sleeping.
But nowadays I put the screen to sleep, with the Energy Saver preferences panel.
In 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid hellman@redacted.invalid stanford.edu wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
On my Mac (iMac Core Duo running 10.4.10) moving the mouse will wake the display if it's asleep, but nothing happens if the computer itself is asleep. To wake the computer from sleep I need to click the mouse or press a key on the keyboard. This is the same with either the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse I normally use or the wired USB version.
Now that's a point: what sort of mouse are you using? When my Mac goes to sleep the LED on the USB mouse turns off, which means the mouse couldn't detect any movement. Are you perhaps using another type of mouse which doesn't enter a low power mode when the computer sleeps?
In article michelle-C6C071.22463420092007@redacted.invalid, Michelle Steiner michelle@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article slrnff6kkn.d3.foo@redacted.invalid, Ian Gregory foo@redacted.invalid wrote:
When the display goes to sleep the backlight turns off and the LED turns on. When the Mac goes to sleep the LED changes from solid to pulsing. By running a "screensaver" you are getting some eye candy but preventing your display from sleeping.
But nowadays I put the screen to sleep, with the Energy Saver preferences panel.
Doesn't matter how you do it, you're still not putting the computer to sleep, which is what the OP asked about.
In article 20070921192302588+1200@redacted.invalid, Roger Johnstone roger@redacted.invalid wrote:
In 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid hellman@redacted.invalid stanford.edu wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
On my Mac (iMac Core Duo running 10.4.10) moving the mouse will wake the display if it's asleep, but nothing happens if the computer itself is asleep. To wake the computer from sleep I need to click the mouse or press a key on the keyboard. This is the same with either the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse I normally use or the wired USB version.
Now that's a point: what sort of mouse are you using? When my Mac goes to sleep the LED on the USB mouse turns off, which means the mouse couldn't detect any movement. Are you perhaps using another type of mouse which doesn't enter a low power mode when the computer sleeps?
My bet is on the mouse too. The standard optical mouse doesn't wake my iMac G5 on motion. But I just tried an old mechanical mouse in its place, and sure enough, the iMac wakes when the mouse is moved. Presumably the reason is that the optical mouse doesn't sense motion when the computer is sleeping, ergo no signal to the computer when it's moved. So the question to the OP is: do you have a new mouse? If not, does the LED on the bottom stay lit when the computer sleeps?
hellman@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
As an aside, I'll mention that on both PC's and Macs I am disturbed at how easy it is for software to upset the Energy Saving features. For example, about a year ago I discovered that the new Mac OS was incompatible with Eudora (which I was then using) and the machine was never sleeping. I had mistakenly thought that the constant on LED indicated sleep. I've seen other such problems and am beginning to think that a significant fraction -- and maybe the majority -- of PC's and Macs are losing their energy efficiency due to such problems. Yuch.
Thanks for any help on the mouse question.
Are you using an apple mouse? Mouse incompatibility has been a big problem with macs for years. Fully fifty percent of all available mice do not work flawlessly on macs.
In article jccw-B8E9D9.08240821092007@redacted.invalid, John White jccw@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article 20070921192302588+1200@redacted.invalid, Roger Johnstone roger@redacted.invalid wrote:
In 1190346413.342042.274550@redacted.invalid hellman@redacted.invalid stanford.edu wrote:
Contrary to the way Windows machines worked, it used to be that Macs would not be awoken by just moving the mouse. You had to hit the ESC key or click the mouse or take some other action that was more extreme. I liked that because it was too easy to accidentally move the mouse and wake the sleeping Mac. (Let sleeping Macs lie.)
But lately I've noticed that just moving my mouse wakes my Mac. Or at least I assume it does since the LED has been "blinking" rather than on constantly -- with the latter not indicating sleep. Has the OS changed the wake behavior? Is there a preference that will put it back? Or does the blinking LED no longer indicate sleep?
On my Mac (iMac Core Duo running 10.4.10) moving the mouse will wake the display if it's asleep, but nothing happens if the computer itself is asleep. To wake the computer from sleep I need to click the mouse or press a key on the keyboard. This is the same with either the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse I normally use or the wired USB version.
Now that's a point: what sort of mouse are you using? When my Mac goes to sleep the LED on the USB mouse turns off, which means the mouse couldn't detect any movement. Are you perhaps using another type of mouse which doesn't enter a low power mode when the computer sleeps?
My bet is on the mouse too. The standard optical mouse doesn't wake my iMac G5 on motion. But I just tried an old mechanical mouse in its place, and sure enough, the iMac wakes when the mouse is moved. Presumably the reason is that the optical mouse doesn't sense motion when the computer is sleeping, ergo no signal to the computer when it's moved. So the question to the OP is: do you have a new mouse? If not, does the LED on the bottom stay lit when the computer sleeps?
I use an optical mouse and the LED activates when it is moved, even when the computer is sleeping, but mouse motion will not wake the computer.
On 2007-09-21, Tom Stiller tomstiller@redacted.invalid wrote:
I use an optical mouse and the LED activates when it is moved, even when the computer is sleeping, but mouse motion will not wake the computer.
Interesting data point. I use the Mighty Mouse (not wireless) which came with my Core 2 iMac and have confirmed that the red tracking LED is off when the machine is asleep and that no amount of movement causes it to turn on (which makes sense, how can it detect movement unless the LED is on).
When the iMac is awake the tracking LED is on a dim standby setting until you move the mouse, at which point it shines brightly until about a second after you stop moving it. Presumably the dim light is enough to detect movement and the bright setting is required for accurate tracking. Given sufficient ambient light it is possible that movement might be detected even when the LED is off but I don't remember my machine ever waking from sleep on mouse movement - a click has always been required.
Ian
In article slrnff892i.17k.foo@redacted.invalid, Ian Gregory foo@redacted.invalid wrote:
On 2007-09-21, Tom Stiller tomstiller@redacted.invalid wrote:
I use an optical mouse and the LED activates when it is moved, even when the computer is sleeping, but mouse motion will not wake the computer.
Interesting data point. I use the Mighty Mouse (not wireless) which came with my Core 2 iMac and have confirmed that the red tracking LED is off when the machine is asleep and that no amount of movement causes it to turn on (which makes sense, how can it detect movement unless the LED is on).
When the iMac is awake the tracking LED is on a dim standby setting until you move the mouse, at which point it shines brightly until about a second after you stop moving it. Presumably the dim light is enough to detect movement and the bright setting is required for accurate tracking. Given sufficient ambient light it is possible that movement might be detected even when the LED is off but I don't remember my machine ever waking from sleep on mouse movement - a click has always been required.
Mine is an old "ESENS" 5-button mouse plugged into one of the keyboard USB ports. The mouse's LED is in standby when the computer is sleeping and will go to full intensity when moved, but no mouse activity of any kind will wake the sleeping beast; that requires a keystroke.
On 2007-09-21, Tom Stiller tomstiller@redacted.invalid wrote:
Mine is an old "ESENS" 5-button mouse plugged into one of the keyboard USB ports. The mouse's LED is in standby when the computer is sleeping and will go to full intensity when moved, but no mouse activity of any kind will wake the sleeping beast; that requires a keystroke.
I wouldn't want my machine to wake on mouse movement because it is too easy to trigger accidentally. The Apple designers seem to agree.
The only difference between your mouse and mine is that your mouse LED is on at a low level when the machine is sleeping and mine is off completely.
Ian