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I just got a macbook pro. My question is...Do I leave this thing on all the time so that it can run it's nightly scripts.....or do I shut it down when I'm not using it? I read somewhere that osx 10.4.10 doesn't have to stay on all the time, but I can't remember where I read that and I can't find the info to varify it again.

One question to ask is whether you really need to run scripts every night.

You don't *have to* shut down, but there are some considerations:

I've not heard of any benefits of leaving the compute running even if some claim that they rarely or never shut down. I have, however, heard plenty of good reasons not to leave the computer on all the time.

Sleep mode is still not good if you are running a DAW. Should the computer go to sleep with a session open, the session *might not* recover without a reboot. Disabling automated functions in general is a well-known system optimizing tip for DAWs.

If hard drives are set not to spin down during a DAW session where virtual memory has to rewrite pages of data and deliver them to RAM on time, shutting down the computer gives the HD a rest.

A cool computer is a happy computer.

Shutting down is a good way to flush virtual memory and old file references. This can be done intermittently, but there's no reason to leave the computer running unattended for hours at a time if it's not necessary.

If you choose to leave your computer on, make sure you have good reasons for doing so beyond those of personal convenience.

Just my 2•

I shut mine down. I think it just needs a break sometimes. Third party utilities like Onyx(free) and Cocktail will let you run cron scripts, repair permissions, and do some other system maintenance chores.

Thanks guys. I didn't want to leave it on all the time anyway. I'll stick with shutting it down and running onxy to clean up and maintain.

I've been been using PowerBooks (now a MacBook Pro) since the 180c. I only shut down when I need to restart or store for long periods of time. Rest of the time they sleep.

Little known fact - Apple considered removing the shutdown command from PowerBooks at one time, and there are 2 models of PowerBook that actually did this - not by removing the Shutdown command, but by having the Shutdown command trigger a "deep sleep" mode, rather than causing a true shutdown. (extra points to anyone who can name the models)

BTW - there is no reason to run maintenance utilities if you're not having problems. If you have a good understanding of UNIX and know when/why to run the scripts...have at it, otherwise my advice is to leave well enough alone. The OS is generally very capable of taking care of itself.

sdemott wrote: Little known fact - Apple considered removing the shutdown command from PowerBooks at one time, and there are 2 models of PowerBook that actually did this - not by removing the Shutdown command, but by having the Shutdown command trigger a "deep sleep" mode, rather than causing a true shutdown. (extra points to anyone who can name the models)

I probably won't earn any points here, but trivia is fun!

The October, 2005 PB models introduced a hibernation mode, but I'm not sure about the extent of this feature because other models, including MBPs, at least one Mac Mini, a MacBook, and a 2006 MacPro can also support this feature. There was a widget floating around at one time actually called Deep Sleep which supported at least a half dozen machines, at least three of which are laptops.

Chalk it up to a good guess!

Thanks for the additional reply. Not sure now what to do. haha

Frodo wrote:

sdemott wrote: Little known fact - Apple considered removing the shutdown command from PowerBooks at one time, and there are 2 models of PowerBook that actually did this - not by removing the Shutdown command, but by having the Shutdown command trigger a "deep sleep" mode, rather than causing a true shutdown. (extra points to anyone who can name the models)

I probably won't earn any points here, but trivia is fun!

The October, 2005 PB models introduced a hibernation mode, but I'm not sure about the extent of this feature because other models, including MBPs, at least one Mac Mini, a MacBook, and a 2006 MacPro can also support this feature. There was a widget floating around at one time actually called Deep Sleep which supported at least a half dozen machines, at least three of which are laptops.

Chalk it up to a good guess!

Trivia is fun

Even farther back...we're talking 680x0 based machines. Anyone else care to guess before I break the suspense?