Hey everyone,
I’m trying to set up something that seems simple in theory but is turning out to be quite tricky: I want to create a system to remotely wake a sleeping Mac.
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
- I’ve enabled “Wake for Network Access” in the settings.
- I’m sending Wake-on-LAN (WOL) magic packets to wake the machine.
However, I’m running into the following issues:
- The WOL packets successfully wake the Mac, but only for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Sending repeated packets doesn’t seem to reset the “awake time.”
- The Mac goes back to sleep even if background processes are running, or if I use tools like Amphetamine to keep it awake.
- From what I’ve read, waking a Mac via WOL or similar network events doesn’t fully wake the system. Instead, it enters a state called "darkwake."
- Interestingly, accessing shared drives via SMB fully wakes the Mac and keeps it awake as long as I’m actively browsing folders. I’ve also heard that a Plex server can keep the Mac awake as long as playback is detected from a client so they clearly have figured out something.
I’ve posted in several forums but haven’t found a solution. Most people suggest “disabling sleep” entirely, which, to be honest, isn’t a solution at all.
If anyone has insights into the mechanics of darkwake or knows how to fully wake a Mac remotely, I’d greatly appreciate your help!
Thanks in advance!
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#8
Alright, I've figured this out. It was pretty simple.
Connecting with ssh remotely will keep your mac awake. Once you're in set a caffeine command or keep the ssh connection active.
Interestingly if I start a caffeine process for like 120 seconds the mac stays up indefinitely. So if that happens to you too and you want the mac to sleep simply run 'sudo pmset sleepnow' and then close the ssh connection.