Sleepy Mac... in OSX

Hi!!

I'm quite new the world of Mac, but I love(d) my Mac.

Short while back I managed to get the keyboard wet and subsequently replaced that.

Now... the thing (macbook) will happily run Ubuntu, and Vista in safe mode, but whenever I try to boot into OSX it keeps going to sleep, I can wake it up with power button, but it goes back to sleep within seconds.

This only happens in OSX Ubuntu runs fine, which leads me to think that something else is damaged and that a missing driver in ubuntu lets the machine ignore what ever is broken.

does anyone out there know if it will be possible to disable something in OSX to let the system ignore the sleep sensor??

Please help, I miss Mac!!

Regards,
Ettienne

You could maybe try insomniax?
Download here:
Download InsomniaX for Mac - Disable sleep mode on an Apple Laptop. MacUpdate Mac System Software Downloads

EttienneM said:

Hi!!

I'm quite new the world of Mac, but I love(d) my Mac.

Short while back I managed to get the keyboard wet and subsequently replaced that.

Now... the thing (macbook) will happily run Ubuntu, and Vista in safe mode, but whenever I try to boot into OSX it keeps going to sleep, I can wake it up with power button, but it goes back to sleep within seconds.

This only happens in OSX Ubuntu runs fine, which leads me to think that something else is damaged and that a missing driver in ubuntu lets the machine ignore what ever is broken.

does anyone out there know if it will be possible to disable something in OSX to let the system ignore the sleep sensor??

Please help, I miss Mac!! Regards, Ettienne

Click to expand...

If your MacBook has sustained damage from the keyboard getting wet, it'll also effect Ubuntu, Vista, and anything else you try to run. Hardware water damage is hardware damage and has nothing to do with software or the operating system. So let's try another approach:

First, try resetting the System Management Controller. That primarily controls the power functions of your machine including sleep, wake up, etc.

See the following Apple KB article: Link

If that doesn't work, post back.

Regards.

OK...Here's my thinking:
The sleep sensor definitely got damaged in some way, but it is a peripheral and needs a driver to do it's thing. On Ubuntu, the driver is missing, hence the system ignores the interrupts. On OS X the driver is porbably loaded in the kernel, so it is active very early in the startup proses.

On to Insomniax:
I can now start the machine with an external monitor attached, and then load InsomniaX, remove the external monitor and it runs fine. But, the machine will still not start up without falling asleep if the external monitor is not attached. And insomniax doesn't load automatically on startup. \

At least I can use the thing again. Will keep on trying to fix it without resorting to a new main board... would rather buy a new aluminium book later on!

p.s. Did the smc reset thing a few times, no luck. Even trying to boot from the OSX install disc lets it fall asleep!! Will also make sure the OS and the EFI is properly up to date.

I'm not exactly glad to see people having the same problem I've been having, but the insomniax tip just brought a small glimmer of hope to a MacBook owners life. I've had this same sleep problem for almost six months now, giving up after endless searches with only a couple of similar circumstances. Same sleep problem, although mine didn't result from any kind of liquid spill. Two weeks after I got my MacBook, I decided to turn off the sleep option so I could leave it running to finish downloading a few torrents. After about 3 or 4 hours, I awoke to find the screen black with the computer in sleep mode. It's been a desktop w/ external monitor ever since.
I ran the Apple Service Diagnostics and the only negative event that came up was I believe "Heat Sink 0 failure Fan 1" or something of that nature. I figured my problems resulted from overheating of some sort, damaging one of the heat sensors on the logic board(I'm no Mac whiz, just my take on the problem).
I managed to enable insomniax while tediously moving cursor during the not even 2 second "awake" flashes to the icon at the top of the screen. For the first and only time, a couple of weeks ago I unplugged my external monitor from MacBook and noticed that Apple was lit up and stayed lit up without usually going to sleep immediately. I popped open the display, and low and behold, my display was working! I could use the keyboard and navigate with the touchpad, but now I can't get the clicker to respond to anything, which makes the touchpad pretty useless. Any ideas? I tried resetting to no avail as mentioned in the previous suggestion.

I also have a problem with my Macbook staying on without the Magsafe plugged in. My battery had all 5 lights lit up when I first got it. I removed it a few months ago because it didn't seem to be serving any purpose(wouldn't charge or power laptop), and it appears to be losing it's charge with only two of the lights lit. I've read that simply replacing the battery with a new one solves this issue for numerous other people, but I've been hesitant to pay $70 for a new one, when I'm not even 100% sure this will resolve my problem(2 kids, laid off, $ tight as ****). Any suggestion of either of these major pain in my *** problems would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully my additional problem details with shed a little light on somebody's Mac knowledge, and make this discouraged Mac enthusiast enthusiastic again.

Thanks again tremendously on the insomniax input!!!!!

If you are concerned that the issue may be a battery one, I encourage you to visit an Apple Store and ask if you could borrow a battery for testing purposes. Better yet, if you can ask a friend you has the same model to borrow their battery.

No luck with any buddies having the same MacBook, but I wasn't aware, or guess it hadn't dawned on me to see if an apple store could let me borrow a battery. But here lies the dilemma, I just moved to Savannah GA which doesn't have an Apple Store. The only Apple retail merchant, I believe, is a very small Apple display in Best Buy. They do carry the same model MacBook I have, and I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try there. I'd be surprised if they wouldn't let me pop one in, but I'm not sure if there would be any possible damage to their battery that could occur if I happen to possess a battery killing notebook(if any such thing may exist). Has anybody tried or know if they would have any kind of problem with this? And thanks for the useful insight, much appreciated!