System preferences energy saver isn't working

I've noticed that after installing 10.6.6 that my energy saver preferences are sporadic. I have it set to reduce brightness after 10 minutes and after an hour it still bright. I've dumped com.apple.systempreferences.plist but the problem still exists. I've done the disk utility and even used Cocktail and nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

Move this file to the Desktop then restore your ES settings. In the HD Library.
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist
IIRC, you will need to give your admin password.

Similar Messages

Can't get MAC to shut down and start up via the schedule button in system preferences energy saver. Is there another way?

Can't get MAC to shut down and start up via the schedule button in system preferences energy saver. Is there another way?

Try this to start:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

System Preferences Energy Saver - Icon is screwy (see pic). Any clues?

Hello all,
I have a strange one here. Somehow I've ended up with a screwy Energy Saver icon in my System Preferences. I checked the package contents ( System/Library/PreferencePanes/EnergySaver.prefPane ), and the Resources/EnergySaver.icns file within is intact and looks fine. It seems like the SystemPreferences app has just decided not to resize it when displaying.
Here is a screen capture (click for full view):
Anyone seen anything like this before? And if so, any ideas on how to fix it? Everything seems to be working OK. Hopefully this isn't a sign of a bigger problem... I can't figure out what would have caused it.
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Quit System Preferences if it is open, and choose Go to Folder from the Finder's Go menu. Enter ~/Library/Caches/ as the folder's location, throw away the item named com.apple.preferencepanes.cache inside, and then restart System Preferences.
(20067)

More detailed information on system preferences "energy saver"

Is there anyplace I can find a more detailed explanation in one place of the options available under "energy saver" in preferences in Mavericks? I am trying to avoid the improper dismount of external HDs and am trying to find a useful description of which of the five options can be used in which combinations with a Mavericks iMac and external HDs: a Thunderbolt; a USB 3; and a USB 2 (currently turned off).
Apple's current exxplanations are few, sparse, and scattered. For example, I only happened upon an explanation of "enable power nap" at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5394 by chance, and it does not even mention the improper ejection of external HDs and the effect that this selection has on this problem, even though the problem is pervasive, long-standing (predating Mavericks), and largely unresolved. See, for example, https://discussions.apple.com/message/24478149#24478149, with more than 60,000 views, many of them highly and legitimately frustrated.

Barney-15E:
Re 1/21 message:
I’m still not sure that it is helpful to say the settings “do what they say they do,”
Many Apple statements used to be clear, but things have gotten much more complex since the Apple II.
The first energy saver option, "put hard disks to sleep when possible," fails to describe, or give a link to a description of, when it is "possible.' it is not obvious. For example, if TM is running or, as in my case, Crashplan is running in the background, does the OS wait to put the hard disks (in my case a hybrid drive) to sleep?
The option also fails to describe "sleep." Looking down to "power nap," and what the computer does when set to that, one can deduce, infer, or reasonably guess - since "power nap" should be different for "sleep when possible" - that once the hard disk has been put to sleep under a "when possible" scenario, it cannot back up with TM or check for email, etc. But since in another obscure place, Apple tells us that an iMac is never completely asleep - it is not even fully powered off with the power button completely, only unplugging gets it completely off - it appears that under both options the "sleep" stops a hard disk from spinning but the OS and hard disk firmware are not shut down. That is what I had previously understood as "sleep." So, clearly, there are two different types/levels of "sleep" intended in the options. Wouldn't it be useful for an explanatory sentence to be added to the "when possible" option as one is given for the "nap"?
Furthermore, nothing in the energy saver options (imaged) indicates whether the two sleep options are compatible (what are the consequences of having both selected?) or that only one should be selected.
As to whether any of the numerous discussions about "improperly ejected" external HDs refer to "power nap" is something I will explore by raising the question on one of them. In the meantime, it seems to me that even if the persistent problem only involves those who set to sleep whenever possible, it is still a problem worth resolving. (Apple is said to be working on it.) Until then, I believe more information to allow intelligent use of the "energy saver" options would be welcome.
Re 1/22 message:
Although I think that as of now Apple doesn't own any HD manufacturers, it should have some interest in what HD manufacturers present as being Mavericks-compatible and in making sure that the OS, including parts easily set by users, such as the energy saver settings, works with the HDs at least when they are set up for TM. This is particularly true when the Apple Store sells the HD; and more so when the HD uses Thunderbolt, a connection predominantly, if not exclusively, Apple's. At any rate, I think the readily accessible Apple support pages (not those for developers), should make clear whether Apple is representing that the "power saver" sleep settings are compatible with any external HD, and if Apple can't supply details, it should at least offer a link to sites which can.
Finally, you note that your external drives "sleep fine" and "without incident." What settings do you use? Is this true under 10.9.2? Have you had an "improper ejection" at all using Mavericks?
For the moment, I have not elected either option. (PS - I have found that even with this setting, my old Iomega running USB2, if on, may have improperly ejected when I check in in the morning. I can imagine that its firmware, etc., did not anticipate changes in the last few years in OS, sleep settings, etc.) My cure for this is to shut that drive (an archive) off when I don't need to refer to it.

Energy Saver has stopped working

I've been using the Energy Saver preference pane without trouble for a long time. Several versions of OS X ago I stopped allowing the computer or hard disks to sleep because of annoying (and occasionally serious) problems on waking (I'd be glad to know if this was a bug that has been squashed), but I do put my LCD monitor to sleep as per the manufacturer's recommendation.
It has been sleeping the monitor after 10 minutes of inactivity for ages, but just a couple of days ago it stopped working. The only thing I changed just before this was to install X-Plane 8 on my secondary hard disk -- so far as I know this hasn't installed any files in my system or user libraries.
Any suggestions? I've looked through several recent threads in this forum and haven't found a similar issue. I don't have the problems other users have raised.
TIA, Jeff
PowerMac G4 (AGP Graphics) Mac OS X (10.4.3) 450 MHz upgraded to 1.2 GHz; 1.5 GB RAM; 1 Mb/s

Hello, I have had an experience similar accept that no problem with the Imac G5 going to sleep based on the setting in System Preferences/Energy Saver. The problem I have been having is the machine will not wake from sleep, the scheduled time passes and it never wakes. I initially was having problems with my Intel-Imac, but for whatever reason, a clean install fixed things. In the case of my wife's Imac G5 and our Mini, a clean install did not resolve the problem. I'm beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with the firmware.
I'm sorry I can't offer any further advice, but you are not the only one having sleep/wake issues with the Mac. I hope Apple will offer a fix for us all.

OS X 10.9 System Preferences - Engery Saver UPS Configuration

There used to be an option for a UPS configuration under System Preferences - Engery Saver for previous versions of OS X. Can this feature still be accessed for OS X 10.9, and if so, how and where?

Yes. A UPS tab was not showing up on the System Preferences---> Energy Saver pane when the USB monitor cable from my APC UPS was plugged into a USB hub. However, I have just discovered that the UPS tab does show up when the cable is plugged directly into the back of my iMac, so the USB hub must have been the problem. Thanks anyway!

How can i navigate system preferences if trackpad is not working somehow the option were unchecked

How can i navigate system preferences if trackpad is not working?
Somehow the first couple of trackpad functions were unchecked and since they are not operational I can't click or tap to turn them back on.
I've tried shutting down and restarting and holding my hand on the trackpad for 3-4 sec. then sliding it off (another post had this suggestions).
I don't use the function keys at all to navigate the computer so I am at a total loss if the trackpad does not work.

Thanks for the response.
Unfortunately this did not work - the tap to click is still not checked - and the tap function does not work.
I did try it twice - and even used a stopwatch to be sure I got the time right.
I noticed there is also an instruction to reset PRAM (was with the SMC reset instructions). Is that something that may help?

Lion: energy saver doesn't work!!!

Hi,
I installed Lion on both my iMac and my MacBook Pro..., don't I feel stupid! I notice the energy saver doesn't work, depite changing the settings. I reinstalled on the iMac, but it made no difference. Has anyone got a solution, yet, or are we waiting for the first update already?
Wes

I don't know if this is the same problem, but the problem I was having with my Energy Saver was that the "Wake for network access" checkbox would always check its self, even after locking the options.
Looks like the "Find My Mac" option in iCloud kept re-activating it.
Unchecked "FInd my mac" and now everything seems to be working okay in the Engery Saver
/please don't steal my mac!

System Prefs Energy Saver Options has disappeared??

I seem to have lost my Options in system prefs, energy saver?
I have also lost my battery indicator in the top right hand corner?
can anyone help??

This may require a few steps...
If you haven't lately, do these two steps...
Using Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later to verify or repair disks...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
Then Reboot.

System Preferences - screen saver... bug or feature?

10.6.8 MBP
I have a folder which contain several sub folders - the contents of one sub-folder I use as screen saver.
In the System Preference pane for desktop /screen saver I can see the standard options of:
iPhoto
Flagged
Last 12 Months
I don't use iPhoto & the library is empty & I've trashed the associated iPhoto.plist's - therefore when I click the "Flagged" & " Last 12 Months" of course as expected I see the message ' Your selected submissions have no pictures. You can change…. etc"
However if I select the iPhoto box - then the screensaver displays the contents of all the sub-level folders. When it should display the same 'Your subscriptions…' message.
Why?

FIXED IT!!!
Ok - so in case anybody else suffers this problem it turned out the iPhoto Library was referencing a folder of files on a (non existant) other computer. This explains why:
1. It always happened when I went into Wallpaper prefs (was looking for these non existent photos)
2. It didn't appear in Disk Utility (because it was within the iPhoto Library package itself (i.e. the database)
3. It happened on a new computer as the iPhoto library was restored from a previous computer.
In order to find this, I troubleshooted by moving the iPhoto Library to desktop (without opening it) and wall/screensaver prefs worked fine. Then, I used terminal and the grep command (screenshot attached) to find where it was referencing "kitch_n_stage" (I.e. the windows share). Then I moved those files to the trash, but the iPhoto library back and opened iPhoto. It had to rebuild the database as I removed the photos folder and the library.adpb file.
The command was grep -lr "name of shared computer" *
(Would suggest backing up your iphoto library before doing this)

System Preferences Screen Saver Bug

I recently purchased a new iMac running Mountain Lion (previous computer was first gen intel Macbook Pro running Lion) and have noticed that a bug that persisted on my previous computer now exists on my new one!
Essentially, when I browse to the Screen Saver Tab in System Preferences, it says "There was a problem connecting to the server X" which was an old networked computer (which has never been mapped ever to my new iMac) and the prompt refuses to go away until I close system preferences.
I have restored my Pictures, Movies, Music using my previous time machine backup (no migration assistant used) and selecting the previous volume... but I don't know how that would cause the following? (See image):
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

FIXED IT!!!
Ok - so in case anybody else suffers this problem it turned out the iPhoto Library was referencing a folder of files on a (non existant) other computer. This explains why:
1. It always happened when I went into Wallpaper prefs (was looking for these non existent photos)
2. It didn't appear in Disk Utility (because it was within the iPhoto Library package itself (i.e. the database)
3. It happened on a new computer as the iPhoto library was restored from a previous computer.
In order to find this, I troubleshooted by moving the iPhoto Library to desktop (without opening it) and wall/screensaver prefs worked fine. Then, I used terminal and the grep command (screenshot attached) to find where it was referencing "kitch_n_stage" (I.e. the windows share). Then I moved those files to the trash, but the iPhoto library back and opened iPhoto. It had to rebuild the database as I removed the photos folder and the library.adpb file.
The command was grep -lr "name of shared computer" *
(Would suggest backing up your iphoto library before doing this)

Energy saver won't work in OSX 10.4.11

I have a Dual 2 Ghz PowerPC G5.
Energy Saver crashes every time I try to access it in System Preferences even after reinstalling OSX.

Hello, try this...
Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, then move these files to the Desktop.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.AutoWake.plist
(Then Trash the original of these last two, as "moving" them only copies them.)
Then reboot once more.

System Preferences, itunes and safari not working. Please Help?

Whenever i click on system preferences whether it be in the applications folder or in the dock, the window doesn't show. my system preferences is partly working because the very top menu bar with the little apple sign changes its menus to suit what system preferences has like system preferences written next to the little apple.
its the same with my itunes and my safari.
my menu bar changes when i click on itunes and if i press the play button on my keyboard i can hear music but no windows are coming up
the menu bars change as if the applications are open but no windows are coming up.
if anybody has any idea as to why its doing this and how i can fix it, please tell me.

Are you showing an signal when the SIM is inserted into the iPhone? Making calls and sending/receiving messages are two different things. Calls use the cellular side of things, messages uses data. I'm surprised that is all T-Mobile would do to check out your account is to test your SIM. What if they look at your account, is it provisioned correctly?
You can try to reset the phone. Hold the sleep/wake and home buttons together until you see the Apple logo. The phone will reboot. See if it works. If not, try to reset network settings. Go to Settings>General>Reset>Reset Network Settings. The phone will reboot. Check they if it is working. If not, then you can make an appointment with the Genius Bar at the Apple store, but I still lean heavily that the problem is with the carrier.

Need Help... "system preferences" under Apple icon wont work.

please help. i am a new mac user. i have an iMac. when i try and select the system preferences under the apple icon, it wont work. like the its missing or been deleted. i have searched for it, and cant find it anywhere.
what do i have to do to get it back. reinstall something?

Open the Macintosh HD folder from your desktop, and in that, open "Applications".
Is there an entry there "System Preferences" or "System Preferences.app"?
P.S. Welcome to  Discussions!
Message was edited by: joshz
EDIT 2: Since you're new to mac, you may want to check out Mac 101 (and Switch 101 if you've switched from Windows).
Message was edited by: joshz

Energy Saver panel not working-Mac drive keeps powering up

I have a 17 inch "Lampshade" iMac running 10.2.8. I have set the preferences in the Energy Saver panel to put the computer to sleep after about 15 minutes and to put the hard drive to sleep when possible. But it never happens. I'm sitting in the room with the computer now and about every 5 minutes I can hear the hard drive spin up for about 30 seconds, then it stops. When the drive is not spinning, I can still hear the computer is on. What exactly is sleep mode, for both the computer and the drive, and should the hard drive periodically start up when it should be sleeping? If not, how do I get my machine to really sleep? Thanks for the help.

Hi! HERE is some info on sleep. Putting the hard drive to sleep is really something I avoid. It will last just as long by never letting it spin down and the computer will come back to life faster. i would let the display sleep but only after 30 minutes or so or even 15 if I consistently left for long periods. The life of a hard drive now days is usually given in start/stop cycles which is more hard on one than running it 24/7/365. I run all my stuff 24/7/365 except for the monitors which I let sleep after 30 minutes idle. Tom

System preferences energy saver isn't working

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for