Energy Saver on MacBook

I missing in Snow Leopard the pop-up menu with settings for Better Battery Life, Normal, Better Performance, or Custom.
And I can't find this options in Energy Saver System Preferences pane.
Why not? I need it!

I have no option to enable more drop down option for the battery menu bar icon. The bug may have to do with specific notebook models. I have the original MacBook Core Duo white.

Similar Messages

UPS Energy Saver on MacBook Pro for External Drives

A search here has shown this topic come up before -- such as at https://discussions.apple.com/message/1886738#1886738 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/8162836#8162836 -- but I can't find a resolution, so I'm bringing it up again.
I have multiple FW drives connected to my MacBook Pro. The MBP is connected to an APC Back-UPS RS 1200. OSX does not make the UPS Energy Saver autoshutdown preferences available on the MBP, the reasoning being that a laptop shouldn't need UPS autoshutdown because it has its own battery which is likely to run for far longer than the UPS would.
That's all well and good for the MBP itself, but it doesn't account for the multiple FW drives which are attached to it for backups and other purposes. In the event of a power outage, without UPS autoshutdown, the UPS will run down, and the drives will abruptly power off, exposing them to potential data loss and damage.
It's also not a solution to suggest that I manually power things down once there's a power outage, because the power can go out while I'm away for more than the few minutes of UPS battery back up time. The only real solution is to have UPS autoshutdown available on all portable machines. Unless and until Apple offers a (surely very simple) OS update to make that happen, I'm still interested in a solution.
APC's own software for autoshutdown stopped being updated long ago, so there is no version compatible with Snow Leopard.
The only potential solution I've found so far is http://www.apcupsd.org/ -- but its documentation is overwhelming and it appears that it may need other supporting software, a fair amount of Terminal usage, etc., all making it not very user-friendly for the very simple usage I'd want to make of it.
Does anyone know of any other solutions, software that can run on a MBP to add UPS autoshutdown functionality?
Re: Apcups, is anyone using it successfully on a MBP? If so, does anyone know if the version listed here -- http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/Apcupsd.shtml -- is a simple application that I can easily install and configure like regular Mac apps? If yes, then I'll likely be very happy with no need for the following question. If no, can anyone provide simple instructions to set up Apcupsd to do what I want?

"You are not doing anything on the computer so no files should be writing to the drives."
Big assumption there. With today's notebooks so capable of acting as desktop substitutes, they are often left running unattended to complete demanding tasks overnight or while the user does other things.
To be able to suspend such activities and gracefully power down an external drive or drives in the event of a power outage, the Mac would have to have instructions from each third-party application or process that is running about how to interrupt its activity safely and without jeopardizing the integrity of whatever hard disk directories are in use. Then it would need to unmount the drive(s) and, if they were bus-powered drives, turn off the power to each of them at the port to which it was connected. I bet it would be possible for all app developers to write such instructions into their apps' code, but where's the incentive for them to do so? This isn't a feature that most users would gladly pay extra for, I suspect, and the cost of adding it to apps that don't have it now and testing it for reliability and proper function under all conceivable circumstances would not be trivial.
If the drive(s) were AC-powered, the computer wouldn't be able to power them down itself -- the UPS would have to do that, or simply leave them on and power them until its battery was depleted or the AC was restored. It wouldn't matter which happened as far as the drives and their contents were concerned, because once the computer stopped using them, powering them off would be safe at any time.

My macbook pro keeps going to screensaver after about 3 mins while watching a movie, i tried changing the time on the "Energy saver" menu in system preferences but it keeps doing it, how do i stop this?

my macbook pro keeps going to screensaver after about 3 mins while watching a movie, i tried changing the time on the "Energy saver" menu in system preferences but it keeps doing it, how do i stop this?

Deleting the System Preference or other .plist file
Install Caffine.
http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/

My macbook pro's screen constantly goes dim. I have set the energy saver settings for battery to 7 mins but it goes dim if the period of inactivity is less than 7 mins. Please help. MBP 13" OSX 10.6.8 (2011)

My macbook pro's screen constantly goes dim. I have set the energy saver settings for battery to 7 mins but it goes dim even if the period of inactivity is less than 7 mins. Please help. MBP 13" OSX 10.6.8 (2011)

Doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you're being logged-off.
Does your Mac go through the complete Restart cycle -- black screen, gray and/or blue screen momentarily, startup chime, etc?
If you're not sure, do a Restart just to watch the process; the next time the problem occurs, see if it's the same.
You need to know which it is, as these will have very different causes, and different places to look for a solution.

Macbook Pro - Energy saver preferences

Hi,
I'm trying to adjust the energy saver preferences, it tells me, "it cannot be opened. It may be disabled or not installed". Can anyone help? I would like to adjust the time the screen stays on etc.
Thank you,

It sounds like a corrupted .plist (preference file) but unfortunately, the energy saver preference does not have a separate file - it is part of the main system preferences .plist.
Rather than "trash" the preference file, do this:
Create a new user account and log into that account.
See if the energysaver works. If it does then we have to fix the preference file in your original account.
If the problem still occurs with the new user, then it is a system file or app that needs to be tended to.
Report back what happens with the new user account.

Macbook turns off even when energy saver preferences are set to stay on

Hi all,
I would consider myself fairly experienced with OS X now but this has really got me. I am trying to leave my Mac on during the night, so I made sure that the energy saver preferences are set so that:
Computer sleep: Never
Display Sleep: Never
Put the hard disks to sleep when possible: Not ticked
Wake for network access: Not ticked
Automatically reduce....: Not ticked
Start up automatically: Not ticked
So as you can see it should have no reason not to stay on over night. Also I am using the power adapter.
Please if anyone could help it would be really appreciated. Thanks

So, what if anything is set under the "schedule" option in energy saver (which is the only energy saver option normally likely to actually shut it down, rather than send it to sleep, but not mentioned in your post)?
Does the shut down occur at a set time or erratically? (Check your logs to find out, if you haven't been awake when the shutdown occurs). You should also be able to tell from the logs whether it is a controlled shut down or a "crash"
Cheers
Rod

My battery icon has disappeared from my menu bar at the top of the screen and the energy saver preferences simply says 'Could not load Energy Saver preference pane'

My battery icon randomly disappeared a few months ago from my menu bar and i have been unable to make it come back. After researching solutions online it soon became clear that all of the suggestions needed me to go into the energy saver preferences in the setting however the icon for the energy saver preferences is no longer there and whenever i click in the blank space where it used to be, it simply says 'Could not load Energy Saver preference pane'. As a result of this i never know how much battery i have left and so i just have to wait for the machine to die each time
The mac in question is a 13 inch 2012 macbook air that is running on OS Mavericks at the moment.
Any ideas on how to get the icon back?
- I recently discovered by accident that before i actually log into my account on my mac, when i am still on the page that contains the options of guest user etc. at that point the battery icon is displayed in the top right hand corner? Why is it that the icon exists there but not once i have logged it? Thankyou for any advice.

Nzdmalan the Adobe Creative Cloud application can be found in your Applications folder. Are you able to access the application itself? Is your computer managed by an I.T. department?

Mac Sleep Timer (through 'Energy Saver' in System Preferences) won't work

Hello,
I have a MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009) running Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.3,
and it has been installed with the latest software updates possible.
(The latest update is the 'Security Update 2010-003')
Previously I was using Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 on my MacBook,
and I can vaguely remember the timed computer sleep through Energy Saver would work.
That is, when the counter's time matches the amount of time I specified (e.g. 10 minutes), the computer enters sleep mode and displays a pulsing power light.
After upgrading to Snow Leopard I can barely remember the scheduled computer sleep will work as I don't really notice how it sleeps / I will shut down my MacBook before I go to bed.
==========
However, last night I was really tired and slept in front of my MacBook unconsciously.
When I woke up, I found that my MacBook didn't display a pulsing power light but a continuously-growing power light.
I tapped the trackpad and the display turned on, so I knew that my MacBook didn't go to sleep a whole night.
*What that means is that the Sleep Timer (through 'Energy Saver' in System Preferences) won't work.*
But the timed display sleep DOES work.
==========
After spending a whole day Googling,
I found that there are plenty of people suffering the same problem as me, although their Macs and OSs vary.
I also found an official support page from Apple concerning the related issue:
Mac OS X: Why your Mac might not sleep or stay in sleep mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1776
I tried the following methods but still can't resolve the problem:
_- boot my MacBook in safe mode_
_- use the 'Disk Utility' to repair Disk Permissions through booting my MacBook from the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Installation DVD_
_- reset NVRAM (Intel-based) (as PRAM is used by PowerPC-based Macs)_
_- reset SMC (System Management Controller)_
NONE of the above-mentioned methods can resolve the problem.
Althought I am sure that the Spotlight isn't indexing the hard drive, and I just start my computer and do nothing and wait for the scheduled computer sleep, the scheduled computer sleep just won't work.
In the other Mac forum, I saw someone suggest installing an application called PleaseSleep:
http://www.dragonone.com/products/macosx/pleasesleep/
It works.
But I really want to find out what caused this problem as this is a function shipped with Mac which is expected to work normally.
What's more, Apple is claiming to be a green Apple, right?
==========
Here's the log taken from 'Console':
- Sleep by closing the lid of my MacBook:
Apr 18 13:21:05 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback WILL sleep
Apr 18 13:21:05 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Sleep notification received from the system
Apr 18 13:21:07 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: network configuration changed.
Apr 18 13:23:21 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback will power on, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:23:21.028 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:23:19.410 PM = Deltatime:1.618421972
Apr 18 13:23:21 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: handleUnlockResult, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:23:21.579 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:23:19.410 PM = Deltatime:2.169138968
Apr 18 13:23:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Sleep: Success - AC 98 - Clamshell Sleep
Apr 18 13:23:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Wake: Success - AC 98 - EC LID0
Apr 18 13:23:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Hibernate Statistics
Apr 18 13:23:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Wake notification received from the system
- Sleep by manually clicking the Apple logo in the upper left corner of the screen -> 'Sleep':
Apr 18 13:31:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback WILL sleep
Apr 18 13:31:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Sleep notification received from the system
Apr 18 13:31:49 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: network configuration changed.
Apr 18 13:32:04 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback will power on, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:32:04.033 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:32:02.720 PM = Deltatime:1.313067079
Apr 18 13:32:04 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: handleUnlockResult, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:32:04.589 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:32:02.720 PM = Deltatime:1.869303048
Apr 18 13:32:06 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Sleep: Success - AC 98 - Software Sleep
Apr 18 13:32:06 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Wake: Success - AC 98 - OHC1
Apr 18 13:32:06 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Hibernate Statistics
Apr 18 13:32:06 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Wake notification received from the system
- Sleep by manually pressing control + eject, and the press 'Sleep':
Apr 18 13:34:17 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback WILL sleep
Apr 18 13:34:17 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Sleep notification received from the system
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback will power on, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:34:46.080 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:34:44.720 PM = Deltatime:1.360466003
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: handleUnlockResult, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:34:46.564 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:34:44.720 PM = Deltatime:1.844347000
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: PMConnection AirPort configd plug-in com.apple.powermanagement.applicationresponse.slowresponse 566 ms
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: bootpsessiontransmit: bpf_write(en0) failed: Network is down (50)
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: DHCP en0: INIT transmit failed
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: PMConnection IPConfiguration com.apple.powermanagement.applicationresponse.slowresponse 567 ms
Apr 18 13:34:46 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: network configuration changed.
Apr 18 13:34:48 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Sleep: Success - AC 98 - Software Sleep
Apr 18 13:34:48 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Wake: Success - AC 98 - OHC1
Apr 18 13:34:48 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Hibernate Statistics
Apr 18 13:34:48 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Wake notification received from the system
- Sleep by _turning on the application called 'PleaseSleep' based on the settings from 'Energy Saver'_:
Apr 18 13:37:22 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Application is enabled
Apr 18 13:37:29 Michael-Leungs-MacBook System Preferences[1136]: * AGCAttach() failed
Apr 18 13:37:31 Michael-Leungs-MacBook [0x0-0x58058].com.apple.systempreferences[1136]: Couldn't find any matches.
Apr 18 13:38:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Checking sleep conditions...
Apr 18 13:38:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Going to sleep...
Apr 18 13:38:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback WILL sleep
Apr 18 13:38:23 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Sleep notification received from the system
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: loginwindow SleepWakeCallback will power on, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:38:56.042 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:38:54.720 PM = Deltatime:1.321902931
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook loginwindow[25]: handleUnlockResult, Currenttime:4/18/2010 1:38:56.571 PM - Waketime:4/18/2010 1:38:54.720 PM = Deltatime:1.850627959
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: PMConnection AirPort configd plug-in com.apple.powermanagement.applicationresponse.slowresponse 707 ms
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: bootpsessiontransmit: bpf_write(en0) failed: Network is down (50)
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: DHCP en0: INIT transmit failed
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: PMConnection IPConfiguration com.apple.powermanagement.applicationresponse.slowresponse 708 ms
Apr 18 13:38:56 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: network configuration changed.
Apr 18 13:38:58 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Sleep: Success - AC 98 - Software Sleep
Apr 18 13:38:58 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Wake: Success - AC 98 - OHC1
Apr 18 13:38:58 Michael-Leungs-MacBook configd[37]: Hibernate Statistics
Apr 18 13:38:58 Michael-Leungs-MacBook PleaseSleep[288]: Wake notification received from the system
- If I disable 'PleaseSleep' and only depend on the non-working 'Energy Saver', nothing happens.
==========
Looking forward to your replies! Thanks in advance!

Found this discussion by googling "com.apple.systempreferencescouldn't find any matches"...
One month ago I bought a brand new Macbook Pro 13", and after a couple of weeks I realized it wasn't sleeping on its own when it should, per the system preferences. (I did sleep when I chose "Sleep" in the menus or closed it... It just wouldn't sleep on its own, while open.) What was extra frustrating was that it was intermittent... It would sleep on its own maybe 1/3 of the time, but other times it would NEVER go to sleep. I deleted PowerManagement.plist, reset the SMC, etc... No luck.
I took it to the "geniuses" at the Apple Store, and the guy took all of five minutes trying to diagnose the problem. When my MBP wouldn't sleep on its own, he promptly replaced it with a new one. That was nice, but I actually would have preferred that he diagnosed and fixed it. (I think the store was so swamped with people coming in for service that day that they were doing anything they could to close cases and get customers out of there ASAP.)
Now, sitting here with my 48-hour-old MBP, I still have the problem. The other one was so new that I had barely put anything on it yet. The only applications I had put on it were MS Office for Mac 2011, Firefox, Chrome, and Adobe Flash Player. I've put Office and Flash Player on this one, but not yet Firefox or Chrome. That's it. No other customization or fancy business.
I looked into the Console just now, and I see the "Couldn'tfind any matches" entry popping up again and again. The last three seemed to pop upright around the time when my MBP should have gone to sleep on its own, but not down to the second, so it's hard to definitively point at that and say it's it for sure.
They need to fix this!!

FileVault 2 vs. Energy Saver – System Hang

I have an SSD primary drive and a secondary drive mounted in the CD bay of my MacBook Pro. Both drives are encrypted with FileVault 2. If I use the Energy Saver setting to "Put hard disks to sleep when possible", very often when I wake my computer from sleep, it hangs trying to access the secondary drive (where I have my iTunes and iPhoto libraries), and I am forced to reboot.
This seems like a pretty egregious bug in FileVault. It seems it must discard the key for the secondary drive when it sleeps? And does not prompt me to re-unlock the drive before it tries to acccess it. This seems to lock up my entire system.
It seems the only solution is to keep the drive spinning? Not so good for preserving battery life!

It's not a bug. Your hardware configuration is unsupported.

Screen/energy saver activation times

I have a MacBook Pro and recently purchased a cool screensaver for it. However, after about 30 minutes, my dual screens just turn black instead of displaying the screen saver.
I am assuming this is for energy preservation etc but wonder if there is a way to adjust the time before the screens turn black as you can adjust the time before the screen saver is active ?
Thanks !

Hi KMoorehouse,
You need to go into System Preferences-Energy Saver, and set you display time for when it goes to sleep after being inactive. You will need to do this under Power Adapter, and Battery settings.

Energy saver settings won't stick

I've set my iBook to NOT dim the screen prior to going to sleep. I've also disabled the screen saver and have set the display to sleep after 1 hour. Still, the screen dims (not much, but noticeably) after just a couple of minuts of inactivity. It seems that the energy saver settings have no effect. Does anyone else see this behavior?
Joe

Keep in mind that the "Energy Saver" lock is the same lock as all the other system Preferences locks. If one is unlocked they all are.
My Macbook never has gone to Sleep on it's own, ore rarely if at all. I have attributed it to a 56 dialup accelerator that I use as that program also causes it to take about 31 seconds to go to sleep any time you manually select Sleep from the menu. I just point this out because maybe you have some application that is causing a problem with Sleep.

MBP 2011, Screen Brightness in Energy Saver mode issue?

hi,
got a new 2011 MBP 17', setup dim in energy saver mode & plugged in an external DVI monitor via Thunderbolt port. energy mode dims & blanks LCD but the external screen does not. It does however then turn off and lock when display sleep is reached.
anyone any ideas if this is just a "feature of the new port" that we need to ask apple about or have i missed something?
FYI, energy saver pref screen pops up only on 1 screen. displays pref pops up on both but currently only the MBP LCD screen has a brightness and auto adj settings. external screen just has resolutions & refresh rate options.
thanks,
Simon.

Nope - on my wife's MB (i.e. 13" MacBook, unibody/late 2008), there's no 'custom setting' or 'Details' when clicking on the menu bar battery icon. There is a shortcut to the Energy Saver preference pane, but no option to control brightness in that preference pane other than the checkbox I mentioned above. You can set timers for display sleep, etc., of course.
So, what I see on my MBP, what I see on my wife's MB, and what you're seeing on your MBP seem to be the same. If you have access to a MacBook, check again - if you find the setting your thinking of, post a screenshot...

Adjust Screen Brightness in Energy Saver modes?

Can I set a custom screen brightness level in both Battery and Power Adapter modes? The Mac seems to always default to a certain level, but can this be changed?

Nope - on my wife's MB (i.e. 13" MacBook, unibody/late 2008), there's no 'custom setting' or 'Details' when clicking on the menu bar battery icon. There is a shortcut to the Energy Saver preference pane, but no option to control brightness in that preference pane other than the checkbox I mentioned above. You can set timers for display sleep, etc., of course.
So, what I see on my MBP, what I see on my wife's MB, and what you're seeing on your MBP seem to be the same. If you have access to a MacBook, check again - if you find the setting your thinking of, post a screenshot...

[help] can't find "processor performance" option in the energy saver

hello....i've just bought my new macbook white 2.0 Ghz. the Mac OS version is 10.5.6
*i can't find any option to change my processor performance* on the "energy saver preferences"....here is the screenshot
it's odd when compared to the screenshot from apple support page
http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECAREALLGEOS/HT3092/HT30923b.jpg
please help me on this, i can't perform image editing well when the battery get low....thanks a lot

On PowerPC machines, there is an option specifically for Processor Performance, while on Intel machines, the only option is for the entire computer - Better Energy Savings, Normal, Better Performance, or Custom. These can be selected for both on power adapter and battery and affect not only the processor, but also the display, sleep, and hard drive.
On 10.5.6, part of the update removed the option to change power settings from the menu bar drop-down menu - perhaps that is what you are looking at.

How to get external monitor to obey Energy Saver settings

I have a 23 inch Apple Cinema Display connected to a 2010 15 inch 2.8 GHz i7 MacBook Pro running Mac OS X (10.6.5). I'm running the laptop in clamshell mode. Everything is working fine, but for one thing. For some reason the external display does not obey the Energy Saver Control Panel settings. I have the Energy Saver Control Panel set up so the laptop never sleeps but the display is set to sleep after 5 min. of inactivity. Unfortunately the external monitor never sleeps.
Anybody know how to get only the external monitor to sleep in clamshell mode?
Thanks…
Dragon Dictate in use. Occasionally mistakes are made. I correct the ones I notice…

Basically, reinstall the Boot Camp video drivers manually and if that doesn't work then go to the AMD/Radeon website and install the Windows drivers directly for your video card model.
If you want to do a search you will find others that have pretty good luck doing it either way.

Energy Saver on MacBook

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for