MacBook Pro random wake from display sleep

I've seen many discussions about random wakes from sleep, but none of the situations seem to exactly match my own, so I thought I'd start a new thread.

I'm running a late 2009 15" 2.8GHz MBP C2D with 10.6.7 and 4GB of RAM. I have the computer plugged in most of the time, and I've set the computer to never sleep while on AC power. The reason is because I use Internet Sharing to create a wireless network in my apartment. I use a hot corner to put the display to sleep whenever I'm not physically at the machine. I generally only keep the Finder and Mail running while the display is asleep. Little Snitch is also running in the background. In my Energy Saver preferences, I have unchecked the box that says "Wake for network access". There are no bluetooth devices connected to the computer.

To my dismay, the computer's display occasionally turns on without any physical interaction with the computer. The wakes are not the result of any incoming email, and no Little Snitch alerts are on the screen. Little Snitch also does not seem to have automatically approved or denied any connections. I have not tested to see if the display later goes back to sleep according to the Energy Saver preferences. I also do not know if the computer would wake up from system sleep, as some other users have reported.

How can I determine what is waking the display? I'm not really sure how to make use of the Console application, but I have a feeling someone's going to suggest looking at it.

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Have you got any other peripherals plugged into the MBP like an external HDD?

- Simon

Buzzard2010 said:

Have you got any other peripherals plugged into the MBP like an external HDD?

Click to expand...

Things that are plugged into the computer:

MagSafe Power Adapter
Ethernet cable from a cable modem
USB extension cord (nothing connected to the other end)
Speakers into the headphone jack

There are no peripherals connected, such as an external HDD, etc.

UPDATE: The computer's display goes back to sleep according to the Energy Saver settings. Anybody know why it wakes up in the first place?

ANOTHER UPDATE: The computer exhibits the same issue without Mail running, and with Internet Sharing turned off.

??? There could be a lot of things causing it. We have one member had it happening and the story goes something like this:

After some time and consternation at troubleshooting the issue, I forget which now, by mere accident while looking for something else, he found a mouse/keyboard buried in a closet - still had the battery in it - with something depressing a key/mouse button - that was turning his machine back on.

Had another, discovered their cat was doing it. Took awhile to figure that one out as the cat would always jump down as soon as it came back on.