Macbook pro doesn’t go to sleep after left inactive

batterymacbook prosleep-wake

In Energy Saver settings (System Preferences -> Hardware section) the Mac is set to sleep after 15 minutes, but nothing happens.

Mac drains battery and automatically turns off when battery is low.

If I type pmset -g assertions in terminal, I get this:

3/31/14 5:46:52 AM EDT   
Assertion status system-wide:
PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0
PreventSystemSleep             0
PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     1
InternalPreventDisplaySleep    0
ExternalMedia                  0
UserIsActive                   0
ApplePushServiceTask           0
BackgroundTask                 0

Listed by owning process:
  pid 251(coreaudiod): [0x0000000100000d01] 00:17:27 NoIdleSleepAssertion named: "com.apple.audio.'AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0'.noidlesleep" 
  pid 251(coreaudiod): [0x0000000100000929] 01:11:47 NoIdleSleepAssertion named: "com.apple.audio.'BoomEngine:0'.noidlesleep" 
  pid 269(helpd): [0x0000000c00000159] 02:37:33 BackgroundTask named:     "com.apple.helpd.sdmbuilding" 

Kernel Assertions: None

How should I read this? Why PreventUserIdleSystemSleep is set to one?
How I can set up Mac go to sleep after certain time of inactivity?

Best Answer

In this instance, use Activity Monitor.app to kill process pid 251(coreaudiod).

Tracking Down Idle Sleep Problems

Below is an overview for tracking down why your Mac will not idle sleep.

No Idle Sleep Assertion

A NoIdleSleepAssertion assertion is the most likely reason your Mac is not sleeping.

To see more about which processes are blocking sleep, run this command in Terminal.app:

pmset -g assertions

This will list active assertions and their owning application or process. Expect to see audio visual, network sharing, or printing related responses.

If a hidden process, such as pid 251(coreaudiod), is responsible, you can kill it using Activity Monitor.app. Afterwards rerun the pmset command above to check the assertion has been removed.

Common Causes

This Apple Discussion forum thread, My Mac don't go sleeping since Lion Update, contains numerous people who also encountered this problem. The same causes will affect OS X 10.9.

Check for stuck print jobs; a pending print job will keep your Mac awake
Check for audio visual or presentation programs that may restrict sleep while playing

Related Solutions

MacBook – Why won’t the MacBook Pro automatically sleep

To help debug sleeping issues, try the pmset command in the terminal:

$ pmset -g assertions

Assertion status system-wide:
   ChargeInhibit                           0
   PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep             0
   PreventUserIdleSystemSleep              1
   NoRealPowerSources_debug                0
   CPUBoundAssertion                       0
   EnableIdleSleep                         1
   PreventSystemSleep                      0
   DisableInflow                           0
   DisableLowPowerBatteryWarnings          0
   ExternalMedia                           0

Listed by owning process:
  pid 2520: [0x0000012c000009d8] PreventUserIdleSystemSleep named: "com.apple.audio.'AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0'.noidlesleep"

In this case, it's the process 2520 messing up. Check it out in activity monitor and kill it (/usr/sbin/coreaudiod started by iTunes).

After that, run the command again:

Assertion status system-wide:
   ChargeInhibit                           0
   PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep             0
   PreventUserIdleSystemSleep              0
   NoRealPowerSources_debug                0
   CPUBoundAssertion                       0
   EnableIdleSleep                         1
   PreventSystemSleep                      0
   DisableInflow                           0
   DisableLowPowerBatteryWarnings          0
   ExternalMedia                           0

No flags for PreventUserIdleSystemSleep.

MacOS – My MacBook re-boots when going into sleep – tips for analyzing problems

Here are 2 simple tools to use:

Open Console in the Utility.

Type Wake Reason in the search window.

That one will display who is waking up your computer.

In Terminal (also in Utility folder)

Type pmset -g assertions

That one will tell you your sleep mode settings (and possibly show who is waking it up)

You can copy and paste that information in here if you want us to look at it.

Update:

Please disable the MagicWake and try without it!

You can do that with: Sytem Preferences, Energy Saver then uncheck the Wake For Ethernet network access, and the MAGICWAKE should disappear!