[by Silvarios] [from Power Mac G4 Sleep Issue]
I notice that my new Power Mac G4 has a peculiar sleep issue. If I put the Power Mac to sleep or if it goes to sleep after a period of inactivity, it wakes itself every four minutes. Like clockwork. No joke.
If I remember correctly, this issue predates the DVD burner install, not that I imagined it would have been the culprit anyway. It seems to only happen when I have the Power Mac connected to my MacBook via ethernet. The MacBook is set to share it’s Bluetooth internet connection via ethernet to the Power Mac. The connection is direct via a regular Cat5e patch cable. I turned off the “Wake for Ethernet network administrator access” option in the Energy Saver preferences on the Power Mac, yet the problem persists–every four minutes. No really, every four minutes. Who needs clocks when I can figure out how much time has passed by the sleep wake sleep cycle of the Power Mac? Again, this issue seems to only occur while the Power Mac is connected via ethernet to the MacBook. Any thoughts?
Specs and notes:
*Power Mac G4 Gigabit Ethernet
*Mac OS 10.4.11. (Finished running all the necessary updates last night from Mac OS 10.4.2, but issue persists from the original install.)
*400MHz, 1.5GB RAM, DVD burner
*Stock video card
*3 PCI cards–OWC 2+2 SATA controller, SCSI controller (I’m, guessing it was a part of the original BTO config), and a USB 2.0/FireWire controller.
*Two USB devices attached. Apple Pro keyboard from summer 2000 slot loading iMac and a Macally trackball. Have used these devices in the past and never experienced any issues. Still not right now since I pulled the ethernet cable. Been asleep for 27 minutes and counting.
Nathan
Edit: Fixed typos and added more flavor to the storytelling. It’s early and I try my hardest, but sleep deprivation robs me of mental acuity.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:50 am
For those not wanting to read the whole thread this blog entry is linked to:
Through all my testing I’ve conclusively narrowed down the fact that the sleep issue with my Power Mac G4 only occurs when the ethernet port speed is set for Automatically or if I manually set the speed to 1000baseT while connected to a gigabit ethernet port . To solve this problem, I leave my Power Mac set to Automatically when awake and I need to transfer gigabytes worth of files and then before putting it to sleep, I toggle the ethernet port to 100baseT. The Power Mac sleeps like a baby after this switch.
To make this change:
1. Launch System Preferences
2. Click on Network
3. Double Click (or select from the Show: drop down menu) Built-in Ethernet
4. Click the Ethernet tab
5. From Configure: switch from Automatically to Manually
6. Under Speed: choose 100baseTX
7. Click the button labeled Apply Now
Viola, sleep problems solved. To make it even easier I made a new location for this network setup.
1. Follow steps one and two above.
2. From Location: click on the drop down menu and select Edit locations…
3. Click the button labeled Duplicate.
4. Rename location to something like 100baseTX.
5. Follow step 3-7 from above.
Now I can toggle between my ethernet connection speeds of my Power Mac G4 by selecting the Automatic location for full speed or 100baseTX when I need to sleep.
Nathan
December 20th, 2007 at 4:12 am
Also, I should add that to quickly change locations:
1. Click on the Apple menu (top left corner of the persistent menu bar us Mac users have grown so fond of these last twenty three years).
2. Select Location and then whichever location is desired.
Easy as pie. Please note, these directions are for Mac OS 10.4.11 (aka Tiger) and other versions of OS X will require slight to possibly drastic alterations of these steps to reach the same solution. Good luck.
Nathan