MacOSG: sleep vs. ‘deep sleep’ mode
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Dec 1, 2006 at 4:01pm
By Dave Merten
If you own a late model PowerBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro or an Intel Apple Desktop, and are running Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.3 or newer, you can now put your computer in a “deep sleep” mode. What is that? Well, the OS X default sleep mode is a “hardware suspend” mode, during which your RAM is still powered on.
When you put your computer in a “deep sleep” mode, you are actually putting it in a “software suspend” mode, where the computer consumes no power while sleeping. Can you see the advantages using this mode if you’re a laptop user? You could put your laptop to sleep for an extended period of time without worrying about the battery being dead when you come back to use it. There is a slight price to pay for using this mode though, as the wake up process takes more time to complete.
Below is a progress bar you will see as the computer is waking up from “deep sleep.”
So how can you get your Mac to enter this “deep sleep” mode? Well, one way is using your Terminal, but who wants to get that out every time you want to put your computer to sleep? I found a great Dashboard widget by Matthieu Beaumel, cleverly called “Deep Sleep.” It’s easy to install and works slick. Once it’s installed, just open Dashboard and click on the ‘Deep Sleep’ icon that’s pictured below.
A few seconds later, your computer’s comatose. To wake it back up, you simply press the Power button.
So what do you do with your Mac? Use the sleep function frequently, shutdown when not in use, or leave it running 24/7?
The Mac Owners Support Group, aka MacOSG, was conceived in February, 2004 as the G5 Owners Support Group by Dave Merten, a former “Focus on Mac Support” guide at About.com. After purchasing a DOA Power Mac G5, and noticing on Apple Discussion Boards that people seemed to be having a lot of common hardware problems with them, Merten decided to open a support site for Power Mac G5 owners. He called it G5 Owners Support Group, registered the G5support.com domain and also applied to Apple to become an online Apple User Group.
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The MacGecko Says:
Remember that OS X is UNIX and if you have the computer powered off or always in a sleep mode the OS X can’t run the required service scripts. So don’t forget to download a utility and run manually run them.
Posted on December 02, 2006
Ian Says:
Hi there ‘Rainy Day’
Please can you explain why “powering down without a good reason is rather foolish”?
Many thanks
Posted on December 03, 2006
Jason Says:
For what it is worth, I am not a fan of shutting the machine down either, but then I use my machines pretty heavily. I don’t like leaving the machines on to have them available, but rather to keep things running on the machines (components).
Remember that the hardest thing on most mechanical objects is starting and stopping them. THe best example of this is the automobile. Generally, most vehicles that drive long miles versus those that have short commutes last far longer. Most are also more efficient than their short mile counterparts.
Most components on computers today are digital and solid state, but the mechanical components like drives and fans still perform longer when kept at a constant speed (or near constant). Fans are easily replaceable and far less expensive than drives, so that is not exactly a push to keep the machine running, but for those that do high-data work (lots and lots of storage and/or transfer, I firmly believe that leaving the drives running is a better option. It is not as eco-friendly, but as of yet, there really are not any good replacements for large drives. Hard cards are maturing, but have been around for decades and have proven to be too costly and vulnerable to be produced large scale. I wish that were not the case, but sadly at this point, it is.
Posted on December 03, 2006
Nick Says:
Of course the big issue with leaving computers on all the time is the power they consume, and the emissions that result. Leaving a computer running all the time is just like having a 300W (or maybe more) lightbulb on in a room 24 hours a day regardless of whether it’s being used or not.
The problem I have with my twin 2GHz G5 is that it just won’t go to sleep reliably. Normally it hangs solid when going to sleep, either with the screen blank or with the image still on it. The hard drive sounds like it switches off, but the system is not properly asleep. Then it won’t ever wake up, whatever you do. Sometimes after a few hours the fans come on full speed, which suggests to me that the OS is not running (to manage the fans, processor speed etc) but the CPUs are still getting power and so get hotter and hotter. Eventually the “panic mode” kicks in and the fans go on full speed to try and save the CPUs from meltdown.
So much as I would like to use Sleep mode, I can’t - it’s extremely frustrating.
Posted on December 03, 2006
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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Rainy Day Says:
I do the sensible thing and use sleep frequently. No need in leaving it powered up (not very environmentally friendly), and powering down without a good reason is rather foolish.
Posted on December 02, 2006