My iMac keeps going to sleep on it's own...WHY?!

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I've tried researching this in the past to no avail. I can't seem to figure out the specifics of what triggers this, but it continues to happen. My computer goes to sleep while I'm working and will continue to do so after I wake it up. It seems to happen when I'm in Photoshop, making a detailed selection with my Lasso tool. The other thing that I thought was contributing to the scenario is that I seem to always have something streaming in the background when it happens.

I don't think it's a key combo, though I'm usually holding Option and Command. I wondered if it might be the computer overheating and deciding to take a nap, so I put an external fan on the back, not sure if that helps (sometimes). I'll usually stop the streaming and it will continue if I go back to PS, however it will sometimes help. If I stay out of PS it seems to stop, so I feel like PS is part of it but why I don't know.

Does anyone else have this or a similar problem? My computer and set up details are:
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), 32 GB Ram, 27" Thunderbolt Display, 4TB G-RAID TB Storage
 

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Unhook everthing.... The TB display and the RAID storage. Then if possible, open Photoshop and do whatever you can to see if the machine goes to sleep by itself. I suspect (and I might be wrong) that either the new to you TB display is causing it or maybe the RAID storage. (unlikely)

Your machine is too new to have overheating problems, besides that won't cause sleep. Overheating usually causes a complete shutdown or reboot. Let me know.

If all of that doesn't have an effect, try doing a SMC reset to see if that stops the sudden sleepiness.
 
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Yes, I think seeing if it still happens with nothing connected would be a good start, to see if it's one of these things. That said, it's not specifically this TB display since it was happening with my other Cinema Display as well. This has been happening to my computer for a long time now.

I'll look into the SMC reset as well, thanks.
 
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Look in System Preferences > Mission Control. Select the Hot Corners button, in the drop down that opens, do you have "Put display to sleep", or something that may affect the Screen Saver?
 
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Thanks for the suggestion ferrarr. No, I don't have anything selected for any of the Hot Corners.
 
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I have tried resetting the SMC and NVRAM and the sudden sleep mode continues to happen. Again the same thing, iTunes streaming, in Photoshop using the lasso tool, puts the computer to sleep. I tried disconnecting the second monitor, no luck. As for disconnecting the external HD, I can't do that easily since the iTunes I use will want to connect to the library on that HD. But would it really be the external?

The excessive fan spinning happens during this as well. I use a Logitech M510 mouse, I wonder if it's that. I can't find my mac mouse at the moment to try that. I was remembering this morning, this problem was happening on my MBP as well, same exact thing, so it's not this specific iMac. There's something else with Adobe, Apple, and something else I use. I believe I had the same mouse in the MBP at the time, but in the preferences, there is no sleep command, IDK. It's seriously frustrating.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

It seems to be happening without the streaming as well now.
 
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I'm going to ask a basic question because you have not addressed it. System Preferences/Energy Saver, is Enable Power Nap while plugged unchecked? And is the Turn Display off after slider all the way to the right (on the "Never" setting)? I am looking at the settings on my MBP, so I have battery settings, but you won't have that on an iMac. When I want to stream movies, I have to remember to change the settings so that it doesn't go off in the middle of the movie.
 
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I continue to have this problem. Tried resetting SMC and NVRAM. Happens every time, if i have something streaming and i go into PS and use hte lasso tool, my computer goes to sleep. Also hear that fan rev up just before, same pattern. Surprised no one else has experienced this.

MacInWin - Enable Power Nap isn't checked. And as for the Turn Display off slider, it's not on never but that shouldn't matter, I'm not watching a movie and leaving the computer alone, I'm working on it. It isn't inactive. And it doesn't happen ANY other time, only when I'm in PS and using the lasso tool.

And advice on how I might diagnose this? Is there another forum you can suggest? IN the meantime I'm going to try to see if Adobe has insight, even though sleeping is a system function, it does happen while in PS.
 
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I continue to have this problem….And advice on how I might diagnose this?


Just a wondering question, but are you sure the Mac is going to sleep??? Or is it possibly shutting down due to overheating chip problems like its GPU considering that PS and some graphics are concerned.

Just a wild thought…




- Patrick
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Also hear that fan rev up just before, same pattern.

That's a clue that your iMac is either overheating from excessive CPU activity or something else.

You need to take seriously what Patrick mentioned above:

Just a wondering question, but are you sure the Mac is going to sleep??? Or is it possibly shutting down due to overheating chip problems like its GPU considering that PS and some graphics are concerned.
 
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A previous reply suggested that it wasn't overheating because the computer was too new. And that it usually causes a shut down (?). So whether it's going to sleep or shutting down, to explain what happens - the screen goes black, the computer continues to run for a few seconds more, and then stops. I can then wake it with the keyboard or mouse. Seems like sleep mode of course. But can it still be from overheating? How do I determine if it's overheating?

I do get the loud fan sound when I stream something, or other things. And I can feel heat blowing out from the vent in the back. As for when it goes to sleep, I'm not doing what I would consider very taxing work to think the CPU is being overworked, however maybe there's a glitch? My computer's specs are enough to allow for PS work and streaming at the same time, you would think.

So what steps do I take to check on this?

Thanks guys.
 
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Open up Activity Monitor and look at the CPU tab and sort by % so that the heavy hitters are at the top. Now open up your streaming site and keep an eye on the CPU. Finally, open PS and a file and again look at the CPU. I think you'll find that Flash triggers a lot of CPU activity as does PS. Add in that both of them put big demand on the GPU as well and you have a nice oven going on. The loud fan is a dead giveaway that heat is building up. And it's not whether or not the machine is overtaxed, it's whether or not it's overheated.
 

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Good advice from Jake above. I also noticed now from your first post that you have a 27" Thunderbolt Display attached which can easily add to the amount of work your GPU is undergoing when you get the shutdown. Try removing the TB display as an experiment to see if that helps and keeps the iMac from shutting down.
 
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Just for info, I have a MBP and a Thunderbolt display and in normal use I don't get heavy fans or heat. But if I do try a Flash video, the fans start up. I've not tried a streaming with PS before, as I don't have PS for the Mac, but I suspect that doing two heavy graphic things at once will push the GPU and CPU pretty hard.
 
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I'm continuing to have this issue. I've taken screen shots of the activity monitor at various times usually right after this happens. Not sure if there is anything in there that can give a clue. Here's a link to see the details:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xcwxnwu91qqevoc/Activity Monitor.zip?dl=0

Thanks if anyone can provide some insight and advice.
 
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Thanks if anyone can provide some insight and advice.


If you have already tried some of the suggestions and nothing worked, I would suggest your next step would be to set up a new admin user and then log into that "tester" account and see if things behave properly.

I can't recall if it was already suggested to try booting into Safe Boot Mode and see if it might change things to work better.

Also, have you looked at your Consule logs to see if it possibly gives a hint as to the cause for the sleep.






- Patrick
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Thanks pm-r. Yes I did try all the things suggested and none have helped.

Can you explain what these other steps would do? Using a new user? As well as Safe Boot, what are they accomplishing?

I opened up Console, not sure what to look for. Would i be looking for the sleep events to see if there is info on something going wrong? I've never used Console not sure what or where to look.

Thanks.
 
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Can you explain what these other steps would do? Using a new user? As well as Safe Boot, what are they accomplishing?


Using these steps would just be methods to try and test to see if the problem would disappear when using them.

Setting up and using a "test user" would help diagnose the problem that might be some sort of software conflict when you are logged in normally using your username.

Booting in safe boot mode could suggest the problem is more general and widespread and possibly caused by some third party software that would normally be disabled during the SafeBoot.

If the problem disappears when using either of the methods, that will indicate better what the problem and cause may be.

As for the console log, just glanced through and it should show something about "sleep" or "shutdown" and what ever happened just before that is what you should have a look. If it's even listed!!!





- Patrick
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