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Posted By: Douglas Sleep Issue - 04/27/14 12:57 AM
When I wake up my MacMini with OSX10.6.8 the first app I open, usually Safari or Mail, I get the spinning beach ball for about 5 to 8 seconds. This just started recently.

I used TechTool and ran all tests and nothing showed up. Also ran DU and that says everything is ok. I've looked at the Console logs and nothing seems unusual.

Any ideas what might be causing this?

Thanks.
Posted By: jchuzi Re: Sleep Issue - 04/27/14 09:37 AM
Sometimes, in my experience, cleaning caches does the trick. You can use OnyX to do this chore. After doing it, restart or log out/in.

It also might help if you reset SMC.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 04/27/14 09:43 PM
I regularly run Cocktail to delete caches to I don't think that is the problem. I did reset SMC per the instructions and so far that seems to have solved the problem.

Thanks.
Posted By: tacit Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 06:30 AM
Do you use Dropbox, by any chance? I have observed that the Dropbox client tends to cause this issue, both on wake from sleep and on boot.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 02:01 PM
No, I am not a DropBox user.
Posted By: Ira L Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 04:56 PM
Your Internet connection may have gone to sleep. I have the same experience and it seems like my network also needs to wake up, which takes 5-8 seconds.

Now the fact that you did not have this problem and now you do is little perplexing, but look to your Internet settings or other related applications.
Posted By: jchuzi Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 07:43 PM
Originally Posted By: Ira L
Your Internet connection may have gone to sleep. I have the same experience and it seems like my network also needs to wake up, which takes 5-8 seconds.

Now the fact that you did not have this problem and now you do is little perplexing, but look to your Internet settings or other related applications.
I have the same thing, but unlike Douglas, I don't get a spinning beachball. Instead, Safari tells me that I'm not connected to the internet. I have learned to look at the modem and wait until I see the amber Link light blinking. At that point, accessing the internet works fine.
Posted By: joemikeb Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 07:53 PM
I was running into similar start up delays until I removed Sophos anti-virus from the system. Apparently when the system awoke the AV was running a quick memory scan before allowing things to run. Or at least that is what I was able to surmise. After that I tried two or three other AV packages before giving up and going barefoot. Since then — no start up delays.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 04/28/14 11:39 PM
It is not my internet connection because I have tried using apps like Address Book or Graphic Converter upon waking from sleep and they had the same spinning beach ball for 5 to 8 seconds.

Not running Sophos either. : )
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 06/02/14 07:34 PM
Thought I had this fixed but apparently not. It keeps coming back. I reset the user permissions, as per suggested, and it works for about 24 hours and then the spinning beach comes back every time I wake the machine from sleep.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance
Posted By: jchuzi Re: Sleep Issue - 06/02/14 11:19 PM
Have you reset PRAM? It's an old trick that sometimes work. The worst that happens is that it's ineffective.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 06/03/14 04:57 AM
Have done that before but am trying it again now. So far everything ok, will report back after a little use and see how it goes. It actually chimed 3 times instead of 2 so will see what happens.
Posted By: jchuzi Re: Sleep Issue - 06/03/14 12:31 PM
Here's another possibility: The internal backup battery may need to be replaced. It isn't user-replaceable in the Mini. I mention this because I had a sleep issue with my Mac Pro wherein it would not wake from sleep. I had to do a forced shutdown and restart. Replacing the battery cured it.

Go here for links.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 06/03/14 02:04 PM
That's interesting because I had thought of the battery but dismissed it because in my old mac mini it was the clock that keep needing to be reset that indicated the battery was bad.

Don't suppose there is any software that can check the battery condition?
Posted By: ganbustein Re: Sleep Issue - 06/03/14 05:28 PM
Originally Posted By: Douglas
That's interesting because I had thought of the battery but dismissed it because in my old mac mini it was the clock that keep needing to be reset that indicated the battery was bad.

You won't notice the clock being wrong unless you're being very attentive. As soon as the Mac has an internet connection, it uses NTP (Network Time Protocol) to set the clock correctly.

Originally Posted By: Douglas
Don't suppose there is any software that can check the battery condition?

Try disconnecting from the internet, shutting down, maybe waiting a little bit, then powering on. See if the clock is bad.

Or, in lieu of disconnecting, go to System Preferences→Date & Time→Date & Time, and temporarily uncheck "Set date and time automatically".
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 06/04/14 02:10 PM
Ok, it is apparently not the battery as I disconnected the auto set clock over night and this morning clock is working just fine. I do not shut down my Mini at night just put it to sleep.

Just to recap, in the past couple of days I have reset SMC and PRAM, also used Cocktail to delete all cache etc.

Right now it seems to be working ok, no spinning beach ball upon waking form sleep. Will report again tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

Appreciate everyones input on this strange issue.
Posted By: joemikeb Re: Sleep Issue - 06/06/14 12:11 AM
The delay you are seeing may be the time it takes the HD to spin up and load the sleep image file. A badly fragmented HD can slow that process down or as drives age, they sometimes simply take longer to get up to speed. Check System Preferences > Energy Saver and see if "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" is checked, that will contribute to the spin up lag. If it is checked, uncheck it and see if you still have the same 5 to 8 second delay.

Many of us used to defragment our drives regularly but because of improvements in disk managment Apple no longer recommends the practice, but I am not completely convinced that it is never advisable.
Posted By: ganbustein Re: Sleep Issue - 06/06/14 12:40 AM
Originally Posted By: Douglas
Ok, it is apparently not the battery as I disconnected the auto set clock over night and this morning clock is working just fine. I do not shut down my Mini at night just put it to sleep.

You need to power it off to test the battery. The computer can keep time during sleep.

Originally Posted By: Douglas
Right now it seems to be working ok, no spinning beach ball upon waking form sleep. Will report again tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

That's the important thing. All's well that ends well.
Posted By: Douglas Re: Sleep Issue - 06/06/14 04:37 PM
Sorry to say but after a good day or so the spinning beach ball upon waking from sleep, has returned.

In addition to other suggestions, I note that I do use TechTool fairly regularly to check and defrag my HD and have done that in the past 6 weeks or so.

This is just maddening to say the least, but will keep working at it until I figure it out or get a new mini, whichever comes first.
Posted By: Ira L Re: Sleep Issue - 07/14/14 03:15 PM
Don't know if your problem still persists, but as my post above indicates I too was experiencing a similar issue. But it now has disappeared and I can state definitively why.

Just recently I had to switch from AT&T "legacy DSL" to AT&T U-verse. While it is also a faster service, it is also always "on". When I wake my iMac the Internet connection is up and running, unlike the situation with my old DSL.

I can't say why one version of an Internet service versus another would be different in this respect, but it is.

For what it's worth. smirk
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