Wakey Wakey

[asif]

Hi guys, I posted on the desktop sub forum a problem with wake issues whereby on putting the iMac to sleep it would only wake if I unplug the power cord and then plugged back in and pushed the power button. After trying the usual smc and pram resets as well as doing the hardware test without success I rung apple who went through other processes like clearing caches and launch daemons etc and using another account, again only with temporary success. They then advised me to reinstall the software after erasing first but again this only works temporarily and the more I do it the limited the success rate becomes. They then passed my case to a senior engineer who is adamant it is software related but can't explain what, so then questioned my router or network. I told him I had no issues with my MBP on the same wifi network. They seem to have lost interest in my problem and i'm just unplugging the computer most times which isn't convenient. Any ideas out there, my you tube home page would also not load all the videos unless I refreshed the page, so I logged out of it and now all videos display correctly without any blanks. But random site and pages take ages to load occasionally. Really am pulling my hair out now, have I got a virus? I don't understand how software can get corrupted on a clean install, I downloaded os Sierra on my map with an ethernet connection.
My spec is
Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac13,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 6 MB

Memory: 8 GB

Boot ROM Version: IM131.010A.B11

SMC Version (system): 2.11f14

 

[honestone]

Man, I understand how frustrating this can be, and especially be given the "cold shoulder" by the ?senior engineer?.

I'll make a couple of suggestions, along with asking some questions:

1. Are you making backups to an external device? And if you are, what software are you using for that?

2. Have you ever done any non-OS installation disk cleanup, maintenance, and repairs, from a software perspective? Besides doing some disk cleanup on your own, there are some excellent tools that can help you with that, both free and commercial ones. The ones I use are Onyx (free), and TechTool Pro (costs about $100.00).

3. What third party software do you have installed? And if you do, are they correct, compatible with Sierra versions?

4. When you did a clean installation, what exact steps did you go through? The ideal way would be:

A. Launch Disk Utility in an "isolated" manner and have it check out the health of your internal drive.
B. Assuming Disk Utility finds everything OK, have Disk Utility Erase and Format (and if necessary, partition) your internal drive. For the erase function, have it do a "middle" Secure Erase. You can get to that by clicking on the "top" level of your drive, then click on Erase, then click on Security Options. You'll see a slider which you can adjust the Erase "amount".
C. I assume you have the "full", OS 10.12.4 file downloaded from the App Store (and hopefully you make a copy of it somewhere else). That file will be cleanest, freshest way to do the installation.

5. Now, at the end of the OS 10.12.4 installation, you'll be offered the opportunity to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from your backup. If you do that, one possible issue is that on the backup, there could be "problematic" files/folders on the backup. That could be a tough issue to isolate. One possibility is to not migrate anything form the backup, but instead do clean, fresh installations of the additional software you use. Of course, you would then need to go through all the setup information as if you purchased a brand new Mac.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Still having the issue I see...I remember discussing this previously.

One strange thing to try: If Google Chrome is installed and running when it goes to sleep, try quitting Chrome before you let it go to or put it to sleep.

See that corrects the issue.

C

 

[asif]

Thanks for the reply honestone
1. I use WD mybook to back up but since the clean installs have not connected it up. I also remove any USB stick before putting to sleep
2. I have used onyx in the past not long before the issues started and disk utility. I did wonder whether I disturbed something with onyx can't put my finger why but maybe something to do with repairing permissions. I have not installed it upon clean install
3. I have kept the machine as standard as possible since the clean install I have only installed apowersoft audio recorder but only after issues still occurred.
4. I clean installed as you recommended apart from the middle pass erase, but I did do it that way the other day after some googling. I downloaded the os from a different computer with a hard wired connection.
5. I haven't migrated anything across, kept the machine as new as possible. I did allow documents to be linked with iCloud, so there is some docs on this new install from the old machine.

Sometimes when I press the keyboard to wake it takes about 4 secs before it wakes but only sometimes. Is there any crash report that I could find and try to figure out why it doesn't wake. Could it be a faulty power lead or keyboard or trackpad? Those are the only things I have attached to my machine. But that wouldn't explain the buggy safari. I'm at a loss but that's not hard when it comes to these machines.

 

[asif]

Thanks Cory but chrome isn't installed

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK...that had caused that issue on some 2012 iMacs a while back.

I will research it a little further and get back to you.

C

 

[asif]

Thanks Cory, still struggling here.

 

[asif]

guys, just come across this article which describes exactly my issue down to the machine model.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/212457/imac-randomly-shuts-down

The finger points to the power supply. My mac is connected to a another power lead with a surge protector before going to the wall socket. Is this what is meant by a ups. Also what logs should I look at to give me clues as to why it shuts down whether on console or terminal.
Thanks

 

[honestone]

guys, just come across this article which describes exactly my issue down to the machine model.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/212457/imac-randomly-shuts-down

The finger points to the power supply. My mac is connected to a another power lead with a surge protector before going to the wall socket. Is this what is meant by a ups. Also what logs should I look at to give me clues as to why it shuts down whether on console or terminal.
Thanks

No, a UPS is an Uninterruptible Power Supply:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply

Basically, it supplies power even when the power to your residence goes out. The setup you have, ie, connecting to surge protector, is what I have in our place, and OI have 4 of them: 3 for 3 of our TVs, and one for my Mac Mini.

 

[asif]

Still no joy so another clean install. When pressing option on restart and clicking disk utility to erase macintosh hd should I also erase apple disk image-OS X install and apple disk image-is x base system?

 

[honestone]

First, given that you do not have a bootable backup (like one created with either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner), in order for do a complete Erase and Format of your internal drive, you need to boot your machine to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link describes how to boot to that partition, and what its' capabilities are:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

Once you get to that menu, select Disk Utility, and have it first verify that your drive is OK, at both the Volume (ie, top) and Partition (ie, secondary) levels. Assuming all of that checks out, have Disk Utility then Erase and Format the drive at the Volume (ie, top) level.

Next, select "Reinstall macOS". From what I understand, that will get you the latest version of Sierra, OS 10.12.5, from the App Store. That will be a slow process, depending on your internet connection.

After that installation completes, as I mentioned above, you'll be offered the opportunity to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from your backup. You then need to "point" the process to your Time Machine backup.

Please excuse my "inexact" description, especially with the step for re-installing Mac OS. My recovery process is completely different, but 1) I have more control over it, 2) I just restart my "affected" Mac from my latest SuperDuper! backup, and do the Erase/Format/Clean OS installation from that backup, and 3) I "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from that backup. That process is definitely much faster.

 

[asif]

Thanks for the reply.
I do have a time machine backup and a bootable usb of os Sierra. First Aid always comes up ok on volume and partition. In recovery mode I cannot erase the volume - fusion drive, but can only erase Macintosh HD which is the partition. This is where I don't know if I should also erase the volume - apple disk image and partition - OS X install, and volume - apple disk image partition - OS X base system.
I then clean install from my bootable usb and don't transfer any files across from my time machine backup - just to rule out any corruption from that side. The problems still persist. Maybe I should go to a time machine backup but a very old one.

 

[honestone]

Hmm, I had read somewhere (and sometime ago) about some "issues" with Fusion Drives.

Now, this link is one of the results of a google search I just did for "How to Erase the Fusion Drive with Disk Utility":

http://www.pervasivecode.com/blog/2016/05/23/fixing-a-mac-fusion-drive-that-disk-utility-cant-erase/

I of course have never needed to do any of that, as I only have SSD drives inside each of my Macs. So, you might want to "tread softly" and read (and read again, and again!) what the steps are.

Here's another one from that search:

https://www.chrissearle.org/2015/01/01/wipe-a-fusion-drive/

 

[asif]

thanks I may try that as a last resort

 

[247macpcsupport]

If you have any external devices connected to your iMac, disconnect them and see results. Exclude keyboard and mouse.
Does your iMac have a thunderbolt port option? Is anything connected to it?

 

[asif]

If you have any external devices connected to your iMac, disconnect them and see results.
Does your iMac have a thunderbolt port option? Is anything connected to it?

Got that angle covered, only Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad connected

 

[247macpcsupport]

Got that angle covered, only Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad connected

Turn off bluetooth and wire up a keyboard and mouse. Check for results.

 

[asif]

Thanks I'll give that a bash tomorrow.

 

[asif]

Update, I plugged the power lead directly into the wall socket last week and then did another clean install. It's been about 5-6 days now and I haven't had any issues with waking from sleep or random shutdowns. I'm still a bit tentative though as I'm not using a surge protector now. I'm just debating whether to plug it back into the surge protector now I've clean installed. What do you guys think.
The issue with not all you tube vids appearing still exists unless I refresh. On my guest account the vids all appear at super fast rate. Why is this happening. Both accounts are the same apart from one being set up with my name. No data has been transferred across from my old setup.

 

[asif]

heres an etrecheck report after it failed to wake after sleep. Can anyone explain the last few lines - cause of shutdown is 0 and particularly the very last line.