iTunes Sharing: Screensaver?

sport73sport73
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
My iMac plays host to my iTunes Music Library with another Mac in the house (connected to my home stereo). It's a superb solution (an old 400Mhz PB as a music server) and provides the best music jukebox experience available.



However, I've need to make a few sacrifices in order to achieve perfection.



1. My iMac can never sleep (otherwise I have to physically go to it and wake it)

2. My iMac's 17" LCD will stay on (displaying desktop) whenever the cleint is playing music. This is a waste of power (and potentially the life of the display)...It doesn't seem to matter what my screensaver settings are...



Anyone know how to put the display to sleep (or at least into screensaver) while it is actively sharing a library of tunes?



Anyone know how I can allow it to sleep and still have it wake when the client (PB) requests shared music?





THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    sh0ewaxsh0ewax Posts: 114member
    I'm not sure if the iMac has a power management section under system settings; maybe it's named something else. Either way, I know that the powerbook has an option to just "put display to sleep" but the actually system won't sleep. If there isn't such an option visible, perhaps someone can help you find one thru terminal or something..



    Sorry if this ends up being of no help...
  • Reply 2 of 7
    sport73sport73 Posts: 438member
    Actually,



    I've done that. I set the screen to sleep in 10 minutes, but it will remain on and displaying the desktop (or the foremost app/window) while the client is connected. It appears to be a bug/part of iTunes music sharing from an iMac (I just tested it, and my 12" Powerbook will sleep the screen even while sharing the music library)



    I was hoping that maybe there was a work-around, or that i had something set incorrectly???
  • Reply 3 of 7
    sport73sport73 Posts: 438member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Sport73

    Actually,



    I've done that. I set the screen to sleep in 10 minutes, but it will remain on and displaying the desktop (or the foremost app/window) while the client is connected. It appears to be a bug/part of iTunes music sharing from an iMac (I just tested it, and my 12" Powerbook will sleep the screen even while sharing the music library)



    I was hoping that maybe there was a work-around, or that i had something set incorrectly???



    One more note...The POWERBOOK wakes the monitor when I change the song etc.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    gargoylegargoyle Posts: 660member
    Under the energy saver prefs, there is an option to "Wake for network administrator access".



    You will have to send the powerbook a "Magic Packet" to wake it up. However, I do not know what the packet is, or how you send it!



    I am sure google can prolly help.



    Also, on the lowest brightness setting, my PB actually turns off the backlight which should help prolong its life.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    sport73sport73 Posts: 438member
    OK. I've done some additional research and here is the issue. The host computer (iMac or PB) will follow it's Power Management settings while sharing iTunes music and sleep the display, but each new song means it needs to re-awaken (presumably as it pulls the file off the HD) whether that song is requested by clicking next, or just through the ordinary progression of a playlist.



    Since the minimum time to enact display sleep is 1 minute, this will result in a 1 minute on -> Sleep - Finish song -> 1 minute on -> Sleep -> Finish song -> 1 minute on ...



    scenario.



    That's less than perfect, and almost seems worse for wear on the system than just leaving the monitor active. Setting the screensaver and disabling monitor sleep WILL allow the monitor to show the screensaver uninterupted while sharing its library, so it appears that's the best I can do...
  • Reply 6 of 7
    baumanbauman Posts: 1,248member
    You can just use an all black image as your screensaver... the backlight's still on, but it's better than nothing.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bauman

    You can just use an all black image as your screensaver... the backlight's still on, but it's better than nothing.



    Nah, it won't help. The pixels would just be displaying black instead of other colors. I don't think it will prolong the life - in order to save an LCD's operating life, it has to have the backlight turned off. The backlight is the part that fails first.
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