Mac OS X 10.3.8 (#10): Wake-from-Sleep Issues; more

Wake-from-Sleep Issues We continue coverage of a variety of issues that occur when attempting to wake some systems from sleep under Mac OS X 10.3.8.

Garbled display For coverage of this issue -- which is not specific to Mac OS X 10.3.8 but does have higher prevalence after the update -- see this article.

Completely blank screen, system unresponsive The most reported, and most serious wake-from-sleep issue occurring in increasing frequency under Mac OS X 10.3.8 is a blank screen with no system responsiveness. When this problem occurs, a forced restart is usually the only option.

As described by MacFixIt reader Jonathan:

"I have a PowerBook and it too is experiencing issues waking from sleep. 100% of the time when waking from sleep, the status light goes off (indicating the PowerBook is awake) but the screen stays black, and the keyboard and mouse have no effect. Shutting and re-opening the PowerBook also does not help. The only solution is a hard reboot."

For some users, the problem only occurs when a PowerBook or iBook is not connected to an external power source. In other words, if the portable is running only on battery power, it will not properly wake from sleep, instead exhibiting a blank screen.

MacFixIt reader Kate writes:

"I installed Mac OS X 10.3.8 from the Software Update panel, following all the disc repair and repair permissions advice. Since then, my 800 Mhz PowerBook G4 wakes up just fine from sleep, but only when it's plugged in to an external power source. Using battery only, the wake from sleep gets me a full screen display with a keyboard and trackpad that works but only lasts 3-5 seconds, then the screen goes completely blank with no response from keyboard or trackpad or external keyboard or mouse. When I close the lid, the sleep light comes on, and the wake-up > bright screen > blank screen repeats. BUT if I can get to a power source, it again has no problems at all."

For other users, the problem only occurs if power is disconnected or re-connected while the system is asleep.

One reader writes:

"Since installing Mac OS X 10.3.8 I have suffered a couple black screens when waking from sleep. On both occasions I picked up and moved my PowerBook after closing the lid and unplugging the power cord."

Resetting the PMU MacFixIt reader Greg Welch reports that he was able to resolve this issue by resetting his PowerBook's PMU, as described in Apple Knowledge Base article #14449.

Welch writes:

"I found it ironic that the update that was supposed to fix wake-from-sleep issues, of which I had none, actually *caused* wake-from-sleep issues for me. Every time I would try and wake from sleep, I would get the dreaded black screen and apparent unresponsiveness. I called Apple. The first response was to re-install the OS. I said I was not going to do that, and asked them to work a little to come up with some other suggestions. They did. We reset the PMU on my powerbook, and voilá, my (new to 10.3.8) wake-from-sleep issues have gone away. It's back to normal."

In our previous coverage of this issue, we've noted a number of potential solutions including:

• Closing the lid again and waiting
• Avoid connecting, disconnecting external devices during sleep
• Setting processor performance to "Highest"
• Turning off all Wake/Other options in Energy Saver
• Never allowing the PowerBook/iBook to automatically sleep
• "Slowly" putting the PowerBook/iBook to sleep
• Re-installing Mac OS X
• Disabling Network activity before sleep

For complete instructions for each of these workarounds, see this report.

We also noted that specific applications may be implicated in the problem.

If any of these solutions are working for your Mac OS X 10.3.8 wake-from-sleep problem, please let us know.

Unresponsive keyboard Several readers are reporting an issue where keyboards, trackpads and mice are unresponsive after waking from sleep.

MacFixIt reader Ted writes:

"The interesting thing about this freeze is that it occurs most often when I close the lid and then pull out the Microsoft IntelliMouse from the computer's USB port causing the computer to attempt to wake when the lid is closed. [...] This freeze occurs at other times, but is almost 100% reproducible if I pull out the USB connection when the lid is closed."

Brian adds:

"Sporadic problem where the computer won't wake from sleep from the keyboard or mouse if the amount of time the computer has been asleep is quite long, say two or more hours. I need to wake the computer by pushing the power switch on the computer. This usually wakes the computer from sleep. Once I had to turn off the computer and restart as nothing would wake it from sleep."

Some readers are able to workaround this issue by not disconnecting the power adapters for their portable Macs while the units are asleep.

Mike Smutko writes:

"Every time that I disconnect the AC adapter from the my 17 inch PB (1 GHz Rev A) while it is asleep the trackpad and keyboard will be non-functional when I wake up the PB. Everything else seems OK (i.e. the screen isn't black or garbled--it looks normal). An external mouse will still work, however, and I can connect to the PB remotely with ssh, so I know that the entire machine isn't hanging. Only a shutdown and then a startup will fix the problem (a "warm" restart doesn't fix it). This started after installing 10.3.8 last weekend and is 100% repeatable. Furthermore, I can sleep and wake the computer successfully as many times as I want as long as I don't connect or disconnect the AC adapter while it's asleep. If I disconnect the AC adapter when the machine is awake, I don't have the problem. And I've never had this issue before 10.3.8."

Display color profile altered L Ayoub reports that his Display Color Profile changes settings with each sleep and wake process:

"When my PowerBook 15" 1.25 GHz wakes up lately, I have to reset the display color profile... everytime! The screen looks white-ish and discolored. I go back to Display preferences and re select the profile."

Bad RAM to blame? As noted in our previous coverage of various wake-from-sleep issues, problematic RAM can be a culprit in many cases.

MacFixIt reader Joel Shane exemplifies:

"I just wrote, then called AppleCare, after going through a bunch of things, resetting the power module etc they put me through to a hi-level tech. And the answer: RAM!

"One of the Kingston 512 MB units I had put in at Microboutique in Montreal at purchase of my system doesn't make the cut for 10.3.8's new memory specifications. Originally the computer shipped with two 256 MB modules but RAM was on cheap that month and I went for the 1 gig option. One of the chips is the culprit. When removed, the system goes to sleep and wakes fine, when swapped, same problem."

Based on the above reports, a few basic tips for avoiding some of these problems emerge:

• Do not disconnect power from your laptop while it is sleeping.
• Use Apple's Hardware Test CD to perform a diagnostic check on your system. If any memory is found to be faulty, remove or replace it and check for persistence of the wake-from-sleep issues.
• Try putting your system back to sleep (closing the lid if it is a portable, using the power button on some desktops) and re-awakening it

For more potential workarounds, see our previous coverage.

Disappearing hard drive space Though we've previously covered an incompatibility between MacAlly's iShock driver and Mac OS X 10.3.8 that can result in a rapid degradation of hard disk space and other system resources, a handful of readers without the iShock driver have reported this problem in conjunction with Mac OS X 10.3.8.

Though another issue unrelated to Mac OS X 10.3.8 is likely at play, we are seeking confirmation from upgraders.

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