IMac keeps shutting down

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I have one more IMac problem.  Please tell me the exact settings for  Energy Saver, etc. to achieve my goal of keeping the computer showing the desktop for as long as I want — which is what I had in Windows7.

I have checked “Turn the display off after NEVER “and I have checked “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when display is off.”  However, now that I don’t allow the computer to sleep it goes to the log in page and is more like it’s turning off — for example, I then have to log in and then Google Gmail then makes me sign in with my 2 step authentification.  I also have to re-log in to Woody’s etc. Hope I’m explaining this properly.

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What is your Power Nap setting set at?

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Hi Kirsty – thanks so much for the speedy reply!  Here are my settings:

1. Turn display off after NEVER

2. I checked: Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.

3. I unchecked: Put hard disks to sleep when possible

4. I checked: wake for network access

5. I checked: Start up automatically after a power failure

6. I unchecked Enable Power Nap

I have a feeling I did better with the computer when I schedulled the minutes for which the computer would go to sleep – like 15 minutes after no use.  But I really would like the computer to be like Win7 and just keep displaying the desktop.

Also, the computer did better when after I was finished I chose to just click on the  “log on window” which was under my name after I was finished – then it just went to sleep but didn’t do the shutdown.

 
I’m getting the impression that Apple does not want us to keep the computer on for very long when it is dormant.

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Energy Saver – Turn off display = never, Prevent computer from sleeping automatically = unchecked.

Look under Desktop & Screen Saver – do you have a screen saver set?

Then look under Security & Privacy – Require password after sleep or screen saver.

Anonymous wrote:

5. I checked: Start up automatically after a power failure

If you have a power failure (sometimes the power flickers on and off several times) it might be a good idea to uncheck this one. In the case of the “on and off” you don’t want the computer to keep trying to start up then be shut down multiple times.

 

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Kirsty

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Hi PKCano – good to hear from you! When I reset the display to “Never” I could not uncheck the “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when display is off”. So I set the display time to 1 hour.

I think the key setting that had caused my problems was to have checked Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when display is off –– I think I understood this setting backwards when I checked it! Does this make sense?

I did not have a screen saver selected.

Took your advice and unchecked “Start Up Automatically after Power Failure”.

I have checked “Require password immediately after sleep” – do you think since this is my home computer that this setting is being too cautious? I also had checked “Disable automatic login”. Please let me know what you think of these two settings.

Thanks very much everyone for helping me to get my ducks in a row. I am so grateful for you helping me to make the decision to purchase my IMac. It does take a little effort to get the settings right but it is well worth it for the peace of mind overall. Hopefully, my questions can help others if they decide to go the Mac route.

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Since this is your home computer, it should be safe to extend the “turn off display” to an even longer period if you like.

Also, once the display turns off, you probably don’t need to enter a password immediately. You can set it up to 8 hours (whatever you like) so that you just shake the mouse/touchpad to get to the desktop without a password.

Those safety settings are useful safety settings if you are using a laptop outside the home, have small children in the house that can’t keep their fingers off, or people around you don’t want to use the computer. But if your home is secure, you can relax the security a bit.

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Thanks PKCano. I just set the Energy Saver for “Turn display off 3 hours” which was the maximum allowed.

I just set the Security & Privacy to uncheck “Disable automatic login” and to check “Require password after sleep or screensaver begins – 8 hours Please let me know if this is correct.

In addition, Should I check or uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”? It’s a new IMac on High Sierra —

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Peacelady,

I don’t know if this will help you, because I have a MacPro Book laptop, but these are my Energy Saver settings for it, as shown in these two attached PNG files. I hope they are easy to see. Click on them to expand to full page size.

By the way I keep my Mac always connected to the electricity mains’ wall socket.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Thanks OscarCP for jumping in!  My computer is plugged in with an ethernet cable.  Your settings are different from mine.  Of course, I don’t have a battery.  However, if you would take a look at my settings I would really appreciate if anything sticks out as a problem.  Sorry I was not able to take a screen shot as you did — but I listed the settings.

It appears from your settings that you let the computer go into the sleep mode.  Maybe it’s just not possible without using an app (I saw mentionof something called Coffee but I don’t want to use a third party app)  to replicate Win7 just staying on the desktop forever.  Any help is deeply appreciated by you and Kirsty!

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@OscarCP
After restudying your screenshot I unchecked Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off and I also moved the setting to Turn display off after 5 minutes. I will now let the computer be dormant and see if it just goes to sleep and doesn’t completely shut down.

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Indeed – unchecking Prevent Computer from Sleeping Automatically when the display is off and setting a time for the display to turn off is far better than what I had. The computer screen goes black and to sleep and when I log back in my settings for GMail and Woody’s etc. remain intact. I will now set the time to turn the display off to 1 hour after I leave the computer. How does this sound?

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Peacelady, maybe you could have a look also at the following that I have found just now doing a Google search:

” Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General. Select “Require password or screen saver begins.” Click the pop-up menu and choose the time that passes before a password is required. ”

Alternatively, you could leave that unchecked, so you would not have to login again  every time the machine goes to sleep. (I have it set to 8 hours.)

Also, if it was asking for you to login every time you woke it after it had gone to sleep, when you were using a “Guest” account and not yours, some control, somewhere might be set to log out the guest after a certain time the Mac has been idling (let’s say). So, if I’m right, you as “guest” might time out and get logged out, but not you as “you”.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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” Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General. Select “Require password or screen saver begins.” Click the pop-up menu and choose the time that passes before a password is required. ”

Alternatively, you could leave that unchecked, so you would not have to login again every time the machine goes to sleep. (I have it set to 8 hours.) “

OscarCP – you read my mind! I think since this is my home computer I should set a time that I don’t have to log in when the computer sleeps. 8 hours sounds good – then I can have the day free from logging in. Great idea! Am going to set it up now.

I actually use the computer as a Standard User – upon setup I was the Admin but I then set up another account with another username as the Admin. — I’m nothing if not super careful! Thanks again OscarCP – your help is invaluable.

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I had this issue recently myself. No matter what I did, my iMac Pro would keep going to sleep automatically when I needed it to run in the background since I was backing up some large files to the Internet.

The solution that resolved this issue is an app called Amphetamine. It is free on the App Store, although I loved it so much, I donated $10 to the developer. Here’s the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12

Amphetamine allows you to click a button in the Menu Bar to prevent your Mac from going to sleep, and click it again if you want it to automatically go to sleep. You can even set “triggers” to allow certain apps or functions automatically allow your Mac to prevent going to sleep or not.

The icing on the cake is you can still allow your display to go to sleep, but allow the Mac itself not to sleep, so you can save power on the display while still allowing your Mac to run in the background (this is what I’m doing).

Apple used to have separate sliders for computer and display sleep. The new models don’t, so the Amphetamine app has been a life saver.

I have my Mac set to turn display off after 15 minutes, and I have the following checked: Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when display is off (although it doesn’t always work, hence why I need the Amphetamine app), Wake for network access, and Enable Power Nap.

Nathan Parker

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