I’ve almost always had a notebook computer of some kind, but I’ve recently switched back to using one as my primary machine (in this case, a MacBook Pro).
And while I’m loving it, I’ve run into a little issue with the way the newer MacBooks handle sleep mode. By default, newer MacBooks (and the last generation of PowerBooks) will go into “sleep & hibernate” mode, where they save the contents of RAM to disk every time you close the lid or put them to sleep manually. This is a good thing, generally, but it takes a bit of time, sometimes a minute or so, for them to actually go to sleep, indicated by that ghostly, pulsating light (a solid light indicates they’re still writing out the contents of RAM to the disk).
Wouldn’t it be better, I was thinking to myself, if this machine would just go into sleep & hibernate mode only when the battery was really low and I’d be at risk of the machine crashing if it ran out of power?
The answer is yes, and now, with the free SmartSleep preference pane, you can choose exactly how your MacBook (or PowerBook) goes to sleep.
This utility isn’t new, but it was new to me, and it’s quite a bit easier than trying to remember the commands to type into Terminal.app when you’re on a plane and needing to swap batteries.
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Zac Harmany
02 February 2009 at 6:27 pm
Very nice find! Just a side note that would have been a great tip for me when I switched to one of the first MacBooks. What you described is precisely why, after closing the lid to sleep your Mac, you should avoid moving it until the LED begins pulsing. Otherwise you would be risking a potential head crash while it’s dumping 2GB (in my case) to the hard drive.
It almost seems like a design fault that at the time you are most likely to jolt your computer, say when you’re packing up, that the hard drive is guaranteed to be writing data to the disc.
I suspect this is why my hard drive died after only a year and a half of use. Now I’m wiser :).
Chris P
02 February 2009 at 7:00 pm
Speak of needing to swap batteries. I didn’t believe it until I learned about while being employed by Apple as a Creative. You can actually pull your battery out, after it has gone into that sleep/hibernate mode you mentioned, then insert a charged battery. It will look like the machine is shut off, ie the white power light will be out. When you hit the power button it will start back up and “unthaw” from a deep freeze.
This is why I think Apple changed how their notebooks go to sleep. So incase your in this situation and you need swap batteries and do not want to shut down and close every app you had going.
On the bad side I had new Apple notebook customers who would naturally close their MacBook and throw it in the bag only to find their battery dead or the fans kicked on high and the notebook hot as heck! And of course this was because they saw the “solid” white light and didn’t know to wait for it to pulsate, indicating it was truly asleep. Instead their MacBook was ON and stuffed into a hot bag.
Hopefully, with some of this new battery tech in the new 17” MacBook Pro things will be better. We’ll see.
Ted Kaemming
03 February 2009 at 9:53 am
Thanks for posting this—I’ve been looking for something like this ever since I bought my MacBook Pro.
Trevor Turk
03 February 2009 at 7:17 pm
Does anyone know of a way to disable the “eject a cd” thing that happens on waking from sleep? I can understand doing that on a reboot, but it annoys me that it does it every time - especially with this new faster wake!
Damon Clinkscales
05 February 2009 at 10:10 pm
Yes! I’ve been using this for quite some time and recommending it on Twitter to folks having issues with MB/MBP sleep. It has really helped cut down on the time I have to wait to get moving when packing up my laptop.