Mac OS X 10.4.2 (#6): Sleep Issues -- Check for software-related causes; FireWire Drives spontaneously unmounting

Sleep Issues -- Check for software-related causes For the past few days we've been covering issues with sleep that appear on systems upgraded to Mac OS X 10.4.2 -- particularly a syndrome where the system re-awakens shortly after being put to sleep, either returning to normal, awake state, or entering a blank screen mode where the fans continue to run but the system is unresponsive.

Yesterday we noted that in many cases, these issues are either related to USB signals inadvertently triggering a system event (which will wake a Mac OS X system) or response to network activity. There can also be software-related causes for these issues.

Check for any third-party utilities that may be interfering with sleep, including errant screensavers, interface add-ons or menu items. You may want to use Activity Monitor (located in Applications/Utilities) to check for processes from applications or add-ons you may have previously installed and forgotten. You can then use the "Inspect" button, and select the "Open files and ports" tab to check for the location of the potentially offending component, kill its process in Activity Monitor and delete it from your startup volume.

MacFixIt reader Dave Bastedo describes his case, in which a problematic menu bar add-on was causing persistent sleep issues.

Dave writes:

"I began to have issues where part way through logging out the computer would hang with a blue screen. If I held down the power button to shut off, the screen would go dark, but the button would stay lit. Then the fans would come on like jet engines. The G5 would not sleep. We tried everything. I worked with several apple reps several stages up the rep ladder. We finally tracked it down to a menu bar program called Check Off. It was in the log in items and was an older version. Somehow it was interrupting sleep on the G5. Those having problems should check any custom menu bar items to see if they are interrupting or triggering sleep issues."

As a side note, some of the workarounds suggested in our Wake-From-Sleep special report -- particularly disabling network activity before sleep, turning off all Wake/Other options in Energy Saver, and setting processor performance to "Highest" among others -- have been reported as successful for some readers experiencing sleep issues under Mac OS x 10.4.2.

FireWire Drives spontaneously unmounting A handful of readers have reported an issue where FireWire drives unmount spontaneously with reliable frequency under Mac OS X 10.4.2.

Jan Faul describes a case in which his FireWire-based RAID array exhibited spontaneous unmounts since the upgrade:

"I use a couple of LaCie 250GB firewire drives arranged as a RAID and now that i have unwisely upgraded to Mac OS X 10.4.2, within 30 seconds of booting up, the icon disappears off the monitor with the reminder that the firewire drives have been incorrectly disconnected although they continue to run normally and in a few minutes power down to go to sleep. Maybe this is another sleep issue, but I can't tell as the RAID vanishes. Other FireWire drives stay up, but not the RAID."

The first remedy to try in cases of unexpected FireWire unmounting is to upgrade to the latest firmware available from your drive manufacturer's Web site or via VersionTracker's search function (LaCie, for instance, released a firmware update on June 27th for its FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and Big Disk drives)

If you're using an iSight camera in conjunction with any FireWire drives, you may want to check the tutorial "Minimizing FireWire (iPod, iSight) interference."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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