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Old 11-09-2006, 11:28 PM   #1
postglock
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Power surge causes computer to turn itself on

Hi,

I have a Mac Mini (1.25GHz running latest OS X, etc) which goes to sleep every morning when I leave the house. I have noticed for the last few months that the computer is on when I get home in the afternoon.

I have worked out that it turns itself on whenever we have a power surge! We appear to have a pretty dirty power supply, and I guess this has something to do with it. I've noticed my computer turn on when the automatic aquarium light turns on, and when I turn my fluorescent desk lamp off.

This problem appears to be worsening recently (although this may be due to other factors, obviously). The other problem is that Skype (I think) doesn't allow my computer to automatically sleep, so it stays on all day...

Any tips?
Thanks in advance...
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Old 11-10-2006, 05:49 AM   #2
clairejr
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Hi,

Go to System Preferences --> Energy Saver --> Options tab and see if you have a check in the box in front of "Restart automatically after a power failure." If you do, that would explain the computer waking every time there's a power surge.

For the Skype issue, see if you have your computer set to receive faxes. Go to System Preferences --> Print & Fax --> Faxing tab. Make sure the box isn't checked for "Receive faxes on this computer."

Hope that helps.

Claire
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Old 11-10-2006, 07:14 AM   #3
Sherman Homan
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Claire is right about the Energy Saver settings. If your power is that bad, you really ought to get a good quality battery backup to filter your juice. A UPS is a lot cheaper than a new computer!
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Old 11-10-2006, 07:18 AM   #4
postglock
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Thanks for the replies.

I've checked the my Sytem Prefs, and "Restart automatically after a power failure" was not on. I don't know if my computer makes the distinction, but it doesn't exactly "restart" per se. It just wakes up from sleep.

Also, "Receive faxes on this computer" is unchecked.

Yeah, a UPS might be worth thinking about. At the moment, I do have it running through a fused powerboard, so I guess it shouldn't blow the computer totally, but perhaps a UPS would solve this problem too...
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Old 11-10-2006, 09:45 AM   #5
dduggan
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Spooky....

I had a problem that prevented my machine from sleeping for very long when some devices were connected to a USB Hub I had.

You could also check to see if the option to Wake for Ethernet Access makes a difference or not.

I would also advice towards a UPS or Surge Protected Multiway socket thingy.
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Old 11-10-2006, 10:00 AM   #6
postglock
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Hehe, yeah. I swore my girlfriend was screwing with me at first, even though she swore she never turned it on!

I double checked all my Wake settings, and both are off.

I have got some new USB stuff, but I don't think it's related to that, because it does appear to be a replicable problem.

I might check out those options. I guess I just thought that even if this is a decent workaround, the computer shouldn't really behave like this...
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Old 11-10-2006, 10:07 AM   #7
CAlvarez
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That kind of power problem DOES affect the computer long term. A surge suppressor or "fused powerboard" will not help. You need an online UPS.
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Old 11-10-2006, 10:26 AM   #8
hayne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by postglock
my girlfriend was screwing with me

That's not usually considered a problem - if she did it without you it might be a problem.
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Old 11-10-2006, 10:32 AM   #9
dduggan
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^ LMAO - he has a point
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Old 11-10-2006, 12:37 PM   #10
styrafome
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I believe I have seen the same problem on my Mac Pro.

Postglock, here is something to try. Open your Console utility, then do a File/Open System Log. In that log is a record of all sleep/wake times since the last log rotation.

When I did this, I found that my Mac Pro wake times corresponded exactly to when a timer turned on a flourescent lamp in my office.

Power problems? Well, get this: The Mac Pro is not only on a different outlet from the lamp (though on the same circuit), it's plugged into an APC UPS with surge protection, voltage regulation, and power conditioning!

I am not an electrician, but my theory is that it may not be due to a pure surge, but from a power signature given off by the lamp that somehow triggers the Mac power circuitry.

If this is true, it's baffling. What kind of signal not only flummoxes a $2500 Mac, but also gets past a power regulation unit?
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Old 03-16-2007, 09:57 AM   #11
postglock
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hehe, sorry, for some reason I didn't realise this thread had still been active...

I had a look at the system log, filtering by "wake". x is my username. The first wake had been manually initiated, by pressing a button on the keyboard. The second wake had been pseudo-automatically initiated, by turning on my desk lamp... It appears both were USB caused, but that doesn't have any obvious implication to me at least...

Mar 16 23:33:18 x kernel[0]: System Wake
Mar 16 23:33:18 x kernel[0]: Wake event 0020
Mar 16 23:33:21 x kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (OHCI)
Mar 16 23:33:24 x kernel[0]: AFPSleepWakeHandler: waking up
Mar 16 23:36:33 x kernel[0]: AFPSleepWakeHandler: going to sleep
Mar 17 00:08:29 x kernel[0]: System Wake
Mar 17 00:08:29 x kernel[0]: Wake event 0020
Mar 17 00:08:32 x kernel[0]: USB caused wake event (OHCI)
Mar 17 00:08:35 x kernel[0]: AFPSleepWakeHandler: waking up
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Old 03-16-2007, 12:11 PM   #12
ElectricSheep
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Well, what kind of USB devices do you have plugged in?
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Old 03-16-2007, 11:38 PM   #13
postglock
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How odd...

I have an external HD, an Apple Pro Keyboard (version 1.22), and into this hub, an i-rocks SP-7000 mouse and USB headset. It appears that the computer turns itself on only when this mouse is plugged in. I substituted my old Apple Pro Mouse, but no problems were encountered.

I tried plugging the i-rocks SP-7000 mouse into different ports. No problems occur when plugged into the main Mac Mini USB ports, only the keyboard's internal hub!

I guess that the power surge/dropout causes an interruption to the power in the hub in the keyboard, which then causes a fluctuation in the mouse, which then sends a signal back to the computer, waking it up...

Unfortunately, I can't spare one of the two main ports of the Mac Mini, as the external HD needs one to work at any reasonable speed.

I then attempted using my girlfriend's keyboard (version 4.00), but the same problem occurred, with the computer turning itself on again.

So, to summarise, it appears that replacing the keyboard (with another Apple one) may not solve this problem. I guess that the only option would be to purchase another mouse. This kind of annoys me, as the (initial) problems appear to be in the USB port in the Apple Mac Mini, and the USB hub in the Apple Pro Keyboard...
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Old 03-17-2007, 09:54 AM   #14
gsahli
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I'm sure one of you would have mentioned this sooner or later.
This is a symptom of a low-voltage backup battery - including the "USB bus" message, I think (keyboard). Fits with the USB hub info, too, though.
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Old 03-17-2007, 07:32 PM   #15
postglock
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Hmm.. that's an interesting suggestion. My PRAM appears to be stable when the computer is off, but I guess perhaps the battery is not low-voltage enough to cause problems with this, but low-voltage enough to cause other issues.

I googled a bit, trying to find a way to test the backup battery, but didn't find much, apart from this article, referring to an old powerbook. Is this functionally the same kind of battery in both computers? If I turned off my mac mini and unplugged it for ten minutes, and the PRAM had gone, would this confirm a low-voltage backup battery?

Thanks.
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Old 03-18-2007, 12:36 AM   #16
gsahli
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I think the only way to test it is to open the computer. Here's some info - looks like Many batteries are the same:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86181
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Old 03-18-2007, 10:45 AM   #17
matmo
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acctualy any mac wake's up when you plug in a usb device of any kind.
and this has nothing to do with the backup battery.

my powerbook does it, my quad-intel does it, and any of my customers book's, desktops, what so ever act the same way.
it's normal.
the same happens with firewire.
it' accutaly happening with all hot-plugable connections.

to wake up from a power surges on the other hand seems a bit strange...
i think there are other options then buying a UPS.
you can buy a surge-protection.
a small device and quite cheap

matmo
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Old 03-18-2007, 10:51 AM   #18
matmo
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you have lightning where you live, don't you ?
surge-protection would protect you from lightning too

just plug your power rail into the surge-protection-device
and you should be fine.


ps:
my friends computer was fried by lightning, so don't laugh
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Old 03-20-2007, 01:10 AM   #19
postglock
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gsahli: I ran across this article when Googling, but I was yet to find something detailing where exactly to locate the battery inside the Mac Mini. I suppose I'd just have to open it up and search for it. Doesn't seem to be too much information on the net about this. I wonder what kind of voltage this should have? (I suppose it might be written on the battery itself...)

matmo: I am already running the computer through a fused powerboard = surge protection device.
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Old 03-20-2007, 09:10 AM   #20
gsahli
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Hi,
That link I gave above will tell you the battery voltage and type (so you can go to Radio Shack or Micro Center or whatever and match numbers).

This video guide shows you how to open a mini and shows you exactly where the battery is. The guide is for other components, but about half way through, he points to and says "this is the PRAM battery."

http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_cente.../mini/med.html
Good luck.
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