User level: Level 1 (125 points)Looking for help on diagnosing why my iMac will not wake at times and I have to hold the power button in 10 seconds to recycle power in order to get it to restart?
I am pretty sure it has to do with external drives that are attached, but there is no consistency. Sometimes my computer will be on for days and sometimes it happens twice in a day.
Thoughts on how to diagnose appreciated
2024 iMac
Golden Gate 27.2
Posted on Nov 3, 2026 1:22 PM
User level: Level 10 (99,154 points)Nov 3, 2026 4:28 PM in response to Henry Cline1
What external drives, how many drives and how are the drives connected to the iMac...?
We have no idea if the problem is caused by to many external drives, a bad bad drive or a bad cable.
What I would do, is disconnect one drive at a time and test it for a day or two.
User level: Level 10 (99,154 points)Nov 4, 2026 11:52 AM in response to Henry Cline1
Good work so far., thanks for the update.
Unfortunately, trial and error is the only way to find out if there is a bad drive, a bad cable or just to many drives drawing to much power.
User level: Level 1 (125 points)Nov 4, 2026 4:50 AM in response to den.thed
I unplugged everything and there was no issue over night. I will add ext hdd slowly. I thought I had found the culprit when one of my ext hdd's died, but the issue continued after that.
I often have 5-6 drives mounted, most are through an Anker powered USB hub, the USB-C ones are either directly into the iMac or through a non-powered Anker USB-C hub.
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256388345