Problem: I just unboxed a new computer monitor for one of our older MacPro machines (MacPro1,1). I cloned the harddrive using my existing classroom software set. When the computer would go to sleep, it would not wake up.

Solution: I first thought that maybe these new off-brand monitors were the problem. You get what you pay for, right. Then I thought that it might have something to do with the DVI connection. I tried VGA-> no change. The monitor would not wake up after the computer goes to sleep. Then I thought that the graphics card was freaking out. Fortunately for me, I have two identical systems to swap parts. No change. The computer with the sleep problem, still has a problem. At some point I hard reboot the computer and immediately click on the Sleep button on the log in box. Aha, I finally see the kernel panic screen. Now I ‘m thinking that it might be a software problem or a bad harddrive. I reboot with a system disc and run Disk Utility > First Aid. It finds a bunch of problems and fixes them (so it says). I reboot the machine and its still panicking when you hit the sleep button. So, I reboot again from the system disc and do a new install of the OS (10.6). Shazam that works. No more panics.

This article from Apple was helpful. ”You need to restart your computer” (kernel panic) message appears (Mac OS X v10.5, 10.6)” http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3742

Problem: Start recording for a concert and leave the computer alone during the concert. After 60 minutes the computer attempts to logout, thus stopping the recording as well.

Solution: Turn off “Log out after 60 minutes of inactivity” in the Security system preferences.

This solution eluded me because I forgot it was there. I’m wondering if this was a default setting for 10.4. On other network machines, I control the logout via the server. This machine, while on the network, was not setup to follow the server. It was messing up all on its own.

In an effort to be more green, I’m having the computers turn off at 9pm.  This only happens if the computer is idle, meaning no active programs are running.  So, if you are working on a computer at 9pm, it won’t suddenly turn off without warning.