Hi Ronni Your response is appreciated and I can make sense of most of it.
I'm still uncertain about the following. 1. Leaving iMac powered on (as a server, with just the display turned off) makes sense as one solution to giving Apple TV access at any time. But why won't it wake the Mac from sleep on demand? Is the Apple TV (WiFi or Ethernet) a "Bonjour registered service" as defined in HT3774? Is an ATV just not capable of waking the Mac anyway? > I thought Bonjour etc was supposed to allow network connection when system > was "fully" asleep. Yes, it should, especially as you have the iMac wired 'Ethernet', not wireless. WiFi 'wake for network access' only works with Apple's own WiFi routers as mentioned above. 2. Can you clarify "sleep" for me? I am not a "casual" Mac user, I am a very "serious" user. But the Mac gets very light work and spends most of its time idle and, perhaps, sleeping. My practice has been to just walk away from the Mac and let it go to sleep automatically. I very rarely use Apple > Sleep to invoke immediate sleep. I assume that "display sleep" and "computer sleep" in Energy preferences are just different power levels of the "sleep" setting. I further assume with just the display turned off (ctrl-shift-eject) the Mac is NOT in sleep mode. If I set the Energy preferences display sleep to "30 minutes" and computer sleep to "never", is this essentially the same as "server mode" using ctrl-shift-eject? Cheers Alan On 22/09/2012, at 8:03 PM, Ronni Brown <ro...@mac.com> wrote: Hi Alan, I need to stop work as I'm tired and must give my body some food, but I'll try to reply as best I'm able to. I hope I make sense... On 22/09/2012, at 4:51 PM, Alan Smith <sma...@iinet.net.au> wrote: > Hi Ronni > > First my questions. > > 1. Are you suggesting I set Energy Saver for computer sleep to "never"? I am > reluctant to do this - comments later. When you mentioned the problems you are having in your original post; that is why I suggested setting just the 'Display to Sleep' instead of the 'Computer to sleep'. Then the iMac is essentially an "always on" - 'Server' at that point. Modern iMacs are relatively low power draw devices with the display turned off if you have power draw concerns. For the casual Mac user, it’s probably best to put a Mac to sleep when it’s not in use though, it gives hard drives and fans a rest, and will generally lead to a longer lifespan of the computer. > 2. I understood Mac users are advised to leave their computers permanently > "on" rather than completely powering off every night. Is this no longer the > rule? I only 'Sleep' my MBP, other than restarting after updates/upgrades etc and only 'Shutdown' if leaving for more than a few days. My MacMini that runs my EyeTV and acts as a Media Centre (of sorts) is always ON. This is an article that I have always adhered to: "SHOULD I SLEEP OR SHUT DOWN MY MAC?: This topic is oft debated in many Mac forums, and does not really have a concrete answer; a lot depends on what you do with your Mac, and what Mac you use. Before deciding whether to shut down or sleep your Mac, you should know (A) what happens in each process, and (B) the pros and cons to both practices. Sleeping: Many computer users (myself included) almost NEVER shut down their computers. There are many positive benefits to this (especially if you're a Mac user). When a Mac goes to sleep, almost every component inside the computer is turned off; what is not turned off is set in a 'low-power mode'. The contents of the RAM and Video RAM are saved, the network ports might still get a little power, and a few other subsystems stay on, but pretty much everything else is off. PC laptops are a little different - because MS can't get its act together, PCs 'hibernate' - like a really deep sleep. The hard drive is accessed a lot during the 'hibernate' and 'unhibernate' times, causing a lot of wear and tear and much energy usage. This also takes a lot longer than the Mac way. I don't like PCs much (can you tell?). On a laptop, this mode uses VERY little battery power - if you're going to use your laptop again within a day or so without the power adaptor plugged in, this could actually save battery power, as shutting down/starting up uses a lot more energy (much more disk access, processor power, etc.). On a desktop, this could save a little energy (thus a few $$$), especially if you put it to sleep a few times a day when you know you won't be using it. The best advantage to sleeping is that the computer (a) goes to sleep almost immediately, allowing quick transport of a laptop, and no vigilance after clicking 'Shut Down...' on a desktop, and (b) wakes up almost immediately, allowing you to get to work right away. Shutting Down: Shutting down a computer has a few benefits as well. One is that NO power is being used at all - for laptops, it's best to shut it down if you're not going to use it for a day or two, as it will save a little bit of energy and heat from being wasted in your laptop. On a desktop, you might wish to shut down so that you can transport it, or if you won't use it for a long while. Also, shutting down completely wipes away the computer's RAM (random access memory), which might have some corrupt/junk data left in it from various things the computer does. It also lets the computer's components cool down. I definitely recommend shutting down at least once a month or so. However, when you shut down and start up your computer, the hard drive and other components get more wear and tear, and use more energy. The Verdict: I recommend all Mac users to sleep their computers unless they won't be used for more than a day or two, and all Mac users should shut down their computers at least once a month to clean out all the gibbledygook that collects inside the components." > Second, my settings. > > System Preferences > Energy Saver has "wake for network access" checked. In addition, the Network that the host computer and the Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation) is connected to must support 'Wake on Demand' feature. <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774> This works by partnering with a service running on your AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule called Bonjour Sleep Proxy. > Energy Saver times are set to 25 mins for both Computer and Display sleep. > Also checked to put hard drive to sleep when possible. > Password login in Security & Privacy is set to 1 hour after sleep. Why Require password 1 hour after sleep or screen saver begins? > iTunes has "Home Sharing ON" (permanently). Correct. > ATV can see iTunes libraries just by touching the space bar on keyboard and > entering password in iMac. It is not necessary to close down iTunes and > relaunch it (which I used to do). May not even need password entered, but I > haven't tried that variable. > I normally leave the iMac powered up, with say a weekly restart and monthly > power shutdown when strange things are manifest. > > And third, more comments. > > I thought Bonjour etc was supposed to allow network connection when system > was "fully" asleep. Yes, it should, especially as you have the iMac wired 'Ethernet', not wireless. WiFi 'wake for network access' only works with Apple's own WiFi routers as mentioned above. > In Console I get System Log messages right through the night at seemingly > regular intervals. Probably making wrong assumptions here. > > I feel problems started with upgrade to Mountain Lion (from Snow Leopard). > Lot of other strange things occur but should not be relevant to this Mac > sleep - iTunes - ATV issue. If this is the case, you might need to re-install Mountain Lion. Cheers, Ronni > > Regards, Alan > > On 22/09/2012, at 3:57 PM, Ronni Brown <ro...@mac.com> wrote: > > Hi Alan, > > When the iMac sleeps there is no network connectivity. You can put just the > display to sleep (ctrl-shift-eject does this). > This will turn off the display and conserve power whilst still keeping the > iMac turned on and thus the network connection(s). > > Or, Perhaps try turning on 'Home Sharing' and see if that helps? > > Also what happens if you Quit iTunes and Re-launch iTunes? > > Cheers, > Ronni > > On 22/09/2012, at 3:19 PM, Alan Smith <sma...@iinet.net.au> wrote: > >> Help please with aN irritating, irregular, but non-fatal problem with Apple >> TV (or iMac). >> >> With iMac in sleep mode and with password needed to start (say one hour >> minimum unused), Apple TV 2 cannot activate iTunes. ATV can access YouTube >> at this time. ATV message is to turn home sharing on. All that is needed >> is to just physically wake the Mac and sign in. >> >> Not consistent! Sometime will work with ATV fired up first thing in morning. >> >> IMac wifi is off. ATV connected to Belkin router via Ethernet. Wake for >> network access is checked in system preferences. >> >> Running Mountain Lion and all software is up to date. >> >> Irritating because I have a deep TV chair and the Mac is rooms away! >> >> Alan Smith >> >> Sent from my iPad > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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