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My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
#43836 03/05/17 08:33 AM
Joined: Jan 2010
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I'm running a heavy duty number crunching app on my MBP, and it can take days to run. I've noticed that if there's no user activity on the computer, the processor appears to goes into slow mode, which I don't want. Each iteration of the calculation takes roughly the same amount of time, and after each iteration, it updates the display with the elapsed time. When I check the last completed iteration first thing in the morning, it's obvious that the processor has been idling overnight, or has possibly even gone to sleep. (I have preferences set so that it's not supposed to go to sleep, as long as it's not running on batteries.)

Is there any way to make sure the CPU is always running at maximum speed?


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
Sierra 10.12.6
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
Bob_00001 #43838 03/05/17 10:53 AM
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I've run across apps that jiggle your cursor periodically to keep your Mac thinking that there's someone at the controls; I wonder if something like that would help? (Sorry, but I can't think of either an app or even a good search term at the moment.)


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
Bob_00001 #43840 03/05/17 03:13 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bob_00001
... Is there any way to make sure the CPU is always running at maximum speed?


How about these Utilities from the Mac App Store (they appear to be free and well regarded)...

Anti Sleep or Amphetamine


MacStudio M1max - 14.4.1, 64 GB Ram, 4TB SSD; Studio Display; iPhone 13mini; Watch 9; iPadPro (M2) 11" WiFi
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
pbGuy #43841 03/05/17 06:05 PM
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Originally Posted By: pbGuy
How about these Utilities from the Mac App Store (they appear to be free and well regarded)...

Anti Sleep or Amphetamine

Jiggler is the one I had in mind, and Caffeine, which I just remembered, works along the same lines.

What the hey, they're all free!


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
artie505 #43842 03/05/17 08:28 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
... Caffeine, which I just remembered, works along the same lines. ...


I was also using Caffeine, but I believe the developer is no longer supporting; so, it's long in the tooth without an update. ...As result and for grins, since it was one of my suggestions, I've deleted Caffeine, which worked Ok, and I'm now test driving Amphetamine as it's previous update was last September (the other suggestion was last updated in 2015).


MacStudio M1max - 14.4.1, 64 GB Ram, 4TB SSD; Studio Display; iPhone 13mini; Watch 9; iPadPro (M2) 11" WiFi
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
pbGuy #43843 03/05/17 09:10 PM
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I'm not running any of the above-named apps (utilities?); I just follow MacUpdate on a daily basis, and I've got a stockpile of items that I've either bookmarked or remembered against future need.

Despite the lack of developer interest, Caffeine is reported to still be working in Sierra, and in Bob_00001's circumstances, anything that may work is worth trying.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
Bob_00001 #43844 03/05/17 09:44 PM
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Thanks for the suggestions.

I just downloaded Amphetamine from the app store. It appeared to have the highest rating. I'll see how it works tonight.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
Sierra 10.12.6
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
Bob_00001 #43845 03/05/17 09:54 PM
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I'm curious about whether Amphetamine works for you; it's not at all in the same vein as either Jiggler or Caffeine, which are "mechanical", as opposed to Amphetamine's command line functionality.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: My MBpro slacks off when I'm not there to watch
Bob_00001 #43854 03/07/17 12:35 AM
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I let it run overnight last night, and as far as I can tell, it worked fine. I'll know for sure after a few days, because there's occasionally a situation in my app that causes a significantly different elapsed time for some iterations.

Amphetamine has a lot of bells and whistles that you can configure in order to turn it on or off automatically with various triggers or a time schedule. I didn't bother trying to set up any of that. I just manually turned it on.


MacBook Pro 15" (2015)
Sierra 10.12.6

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