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TICKET ARCHIVE -> MacBook going to sleep for no reason!

IA_teacher - Sep 1, 2008 - 12:43 am

Hi

I hope someone can help me. I purchased a MacBook in May of this year. It had been working fine until tonight. I picked it up and carried to the couch and when I sat down to work, it went to sleep. I hadn't told it to sleep, and when I clicked the trackpad button it wouldn't wake up. I also tried hitting the space bar, the return key, and finally the power button. It finally woke up to ask me if I wanted to shut down. I clicked cancel, and then a little later it was sleeping again. Obviously it's very frustrating to try to work with a computer that keeps going to sleep. Is something failing with my hardware, or what suggestions might you have to help?

Thanks

PS - This is Mac Book with OS 10.5.4, 4 GB RAM, and a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

DeltaMac - Sep 1, 2008 - 2:38 pm

Did your MacBook actually go to sleep, or did the screen just go black?
Sleep means that the sleep light at the front edge of your MacBook will start pulsing. If you don't see the sleep light pulse, then your MacBook is not sleeping.
If the screen goes black _without_ sleeping, then shine a light into the screen, and see if there are any icons, etc visible, even if very dim. If you can see any of those items, then your backlight has gone out.

If the backlight is intermittently going out while you are using it, then your MacBook needs service. It will be in warranty for 12 months from purchase date, unless you have purchased the AppleCare extended warranty, which adds 2 years to that original 1 year.
Let me know what you find out...
- Dale

IA_teacher - Sep 1, 2008 - 7:03 pm

Yup, she was a 'sleepin'. The light was pulsing. I'm not sure what brought it on, because so far today it hasn't happened. But then, I haven't used it as much today. I just got home. I guess I'll have to continue monitoring it and see.... I did get the AppleCare, so at least I have time to figure it out. :-)

DeltaMac - Sep 1, 2008 - 8:08 pm

Have you checked the settings in your System Preferences/Energy Saver pane? Just a suggestion, you can set those so your MacBook will not go to sleep, unless you manually select Sleep.

The sleep sensor (which detects when you close/open the lid) will sometimes slip out of position, or just isn't working properly. Take your Macbook in for service if you don't come up with anything else.

Of course, if this has not happened before, and doesn't happen again, it could just be a fluke, and not worth worrying about at this point.
- Dale

IA_teacher - Sep 1, 2008 - 10:52 pm

Thanks. Right now, it seems like it may have been a fluke so I will continue to monitor and see what happens. If it reoccurs I will call AppleCare. Thanks again for your quick response and suggestions!