curious about MacBook Sleep mode and blinking light

spinnerlysspinnerlys
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hello.



I have the new 2.4 GHz MacBook model since last Thursday, and something throws me off a little bit.



When I close the lid, putting the MacBook to sleep, I can still hear the inner workings (fan, maybe hdd) of the laptop for a while. And the light doesn't blink softly and slow like it did on the iBook.



As I come from the iBook, I was used to wait one to ten seconds to get it to sleep after the lid was closed, and the blinking light showed me it was asleep. But the MacBook's doesn't.

Is that normal?



Thanks in advance...



PS: I made two tests. It took 28 seconds until the light started pulsing, shortly after the fan stopped spinning and the hard drive reading/writing head (?) stopped in its safe position.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    toxotestoxotes Posts: 102member
    I think that's a fairly normal amount of time. My black Macbook usually took about that long to go to sleep after I closed the lid and the Macbook Pro that I have now is the same. I think they do some stuff before they go to sleep, like maybe save the RAM state to a temp file on the hard disk in case the battery runs out while it's asleep? That's just my own personal guess as to what's going on; I'm sure someone else can confirm or deny that!
  • Reply 2 of 8
    spinnerlysspinnerlys Posts: 218member
    I thought so to (saving the RAM), but there was no disk activity like writing or reading to hear, only the head parking sound.



    And I find it strange that the iBook takes normally 2 seconds to sleep, and this more advanced MacBook wants to take half a minute. Where is the "close the lid and go" feature there?



    I will take it to Genius Bar tomorrow and see if other MacBooks behave the same, because as I remember, they were quite fast to go to sleep (including pulsating light) and only the wake up took a little sometimes.



    Thanks for the reply, btw...
  • Reply 3 of 8
    k squaredk squared Posts: 608member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post


    And I find it strange that the iBook takes normally 2 seconds to sleep, and this more advanced MacBook wants to take half a minute. Where is the "close the lid and go" feature there?



    I don't believe the iBook is advanced enough to have the "save contents to RAM" feature of the newer MacBooks. The delay you're noticing is the time the MacBook takes to for the above feature to do its thing. I far as I know, it's a standard behavior, but if the Genius Bar states something different, please share.



    I also wonder if the SSD MacBook Air saves the state or not?
  • Reply 4 of 8
    spinnerlysspinnerlys Posts: 218member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by k squared View Post


    I don't believe the iBook is advanced enough to have the "save contents to RAM" feature of the newer MacBooks. The delay you're noticing is the time the MacBook takes to for the above feature to do its thing. I far as I know, it's a standard behavior, but if the Genius Bar states something different, please share.



    I also wonder if the SSD MacBook Air saves the state or not?





    What do you mean by saving contents to RAM? The iBook did that as well, because every running application and document are stored in the RAM, and when the iBook goes to sleep, just the RAM stays powered on. I expected the same from the MacBook, and no "saving to disk" feature like on those windows laptops. They take enough time to go to sleep.



    In one and a half hour I know more, and I definitely try out the other MacBook's behavoiur.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post


    Hello.



    I have the new 2.4 GHz MacBook model since last Thursday, and something throws me off a little bit.



    When I close the lid, putting the MacBook to sleep, I can still hear the inner workings (fan, maybe hdd) of the laptop for a while. And the light doesn't blink softly and slow like it did on the iBook.



    As I come from the iBook, I was used to wait one to ten seconds to get it to sleep after the lid was closed, and the blinking light showed me it was asleep. But the MacBook's doesn't.

    Is that normal?



    Thanks in advance...



    PS: I made two tests. It took 28 seconds until the light started pulsing, shortly after the fan stopped spinning and the hard drive reading/writing head (?) stopped in its safe position.



    The reason for the delay is that the newest Mac portables save the computer state, while going to sleep mode, not only in RAM but in the hard disk also. This takes time, but it makes sure that in case the battery is depleted and you have no an electricity source around, there is a copy of the computer state in the hard disk.



    You can see your "sleepimage" file under /var/vm (I think, I am not on a Mac right now to check). Its size depends on the amount of RAM you have in the system.



    If now you wish your Macbook to go immediately to sleep, you can use some commands from the Terminal, if you are comfortable with this. But the simplest way is Super Sleeper. No reboot, no logout for the change to take effect. All you have to do is to choose "RAM only (Fast)".



    Since most of the time saving the computer state in the HD is not necessary, I have activated the "RAM only" option in my Macbook.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by k squared View Post


    I don't believe the iBook is advanced enough to have the "save contents to RAM" feature of the newer MacBooks.



    You apparently are confusing the "save contents to RAM" feature, which is around for at least ten years (my Powerbook from '98 can do that), with the "save contents to disk" which is quite new. See my reply above for the details.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    spinnerlysspinnerlys Posts: 218member
    Thanks PB.



    I will give it a try. My visit to the Genius Bar told me the same.

    As I have 4GB of RAM it takes a while to go to sleep for the MacBook.



    Why aren't those "Geniuses" at the bar as wise as some people around here???







    PS: Thanks again PB, it works like a charm, MB goes to sleep after only one second, and those extra 4 GB might come in handy in those space wasting times.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post


    Thanks PB.



    I will give it a try. My visit to the Genius Bar told me the same.

    As I have 4GB of RAM it takes a while to go to sleep for the MacBook.



    Why aren't those "Geniuses" at the bar as wise as some people around here???







    PS: Thanks again PB, it works like a charm, MB goes to sleep after only one second, and those extra 4 GB might come in handy in those space wasting times.



    You're welcome, glad it worked for you.
Sign In or Register to comment.