WOL working intermittently

[loady]

I have an Asus RT N16 in repeater mode wirelessly connected to an Asus N66U router, both running Merlin.

My server is connected to the repeater and I can wake it once or twice and shut it down then it stops waking, it seems I have to manually power it on and off to get it working again and then it does the same, what can I do?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Maybe you need to create a static arp entry on the router as discussed in this thread.

 

[loady]

Maybe you need to create a static arp entry on the router as discussed in this thread.

Sorry for late reply, was going to start another thread, better not.

You may recall my recent posts regarding a server, repeater and router, i got it all working fine now (ill post in that thread also). I am now stuck with WOL not working anymore though, at all. the router still had the usb stick in it with static ARP script when i was at former address, should i try deleting it and starting again ?, everything is the same except the server is now connected to a repeater which is connected to the router with the old static ARP entry, when i cam here it worked ok as it was so not sure that is the issue as i cant even get it to WOL once anymore

 

[Smokindog]

WOL magic packets are not routable. Don't know for a fact but I'll bet your repeater (guessing you mean switch if wired) is dropping the magic packet. There's not exactly a "uniform code of magic packet handling" Welcome to WOL, the mechanism of last resort IMO.

If you're really trying to use wake on wireless LAN then OY VEY!

Why not just allow your server to run 24/7? If it's anything built in the last 4-5 years it's not going to cost a lot of electricity..... Buy a Kil-A-Watt if you're suspicious

 

[loady]

It's an unraid server so it's quite good but I can't warrant leaving it on 24/7, firstly I'm not paying the bill and secondly I might watch a film or boxset at the weekend only.

Anyway, when I first got setup here it work both inside and outside the Lan, maybe I need to look to the static arp as mentioned

 

[elbubi]

Hi @loady .

Your case reminds me the struggle I had for the last year with a very similar issue.

Let me start saying that I had all basics covered (open ports, fix arp/mac entry through startup script, windows fast boot, etc, etc, etc), and that I've been using wol for many many years so had a little bit of expertise regarding this topic.

One year ago, when I changed my pc, suddenly wol started to malfunction when pc was powered down (S5) for quite a time (+6 hours aprox, but random). Sometimes worked, sometimes not (most of times not). I tried literally EVERYTHING to get it solved, to obtain nothing but growing frustration. Leaving pc on standy mode is not suitable in my case for various reasons (kids, pets, etc.), so had it working from S5 was/is vital for me.

I know for sure it wasn't my router (rt87u) cause it worked perfectly fine before with my old rig, so it had to be my new motherboard/nic controller. Tried dozens of drivers, bios versions, etc... No luck. Contacted ASUS saying that my new moterboard (crosshair hero VII wi-fi) seems to have a bios bug cause wol is working erratically, and previous mobo (p8z68-v pro/gen3) worked just fine with same other network components. No luck either (didn't got much attention from them tbh).

So, long story short, after hundreds (literally) of tests, and seriously considering buying another brand/model of motherboard, I found the pattern of this bug and a way to workaround it:

Resume from S5 does not work ONLY when S3 state has been inmediatly active prior to S5 and no restart has been performed in between.

EXAMPLE 1 - WOL NOT WORKING (AFTER hours of being spent off):

1) POWER ON
2) SLEEP (S3)
3) RESUME FROM SLEEP
4) POWER OFF (S5)
5) WOL NOT WORKING

EXAMPLE 2 - WOL WORKING

1) POWER ON
2) POWER OFF
3) WOL WORKING 100%

EXAMPLE 3 - WOL WORKING

1) POWER ON
2) SLEEP (S3)
3) RESUME FROM S3
4) RESTART
4) POWER OFF (S5)
5) WOL WORKING 100%


Hope my quest may help you.

Regards!!!

 

[loady]

Hi @loady .

Your case reminds me the struggle I had for the last year with a very similar issue.

Let me start saying that I had all basics covered (open ports, fix arp/mac entry through startup script, windows fast boot, etc, etc, etc), and that I've been using wol for many many years so had a little bit of expertise regarding this topic.

One year ago, when I changed my pc, suddenly wol started to malfunction when pc was powered down (S5) for quite a time (+6 hours aprox, but random). Sometimes worked, sometimes not (most of times not). I tried literally EVERYTHING to get it solved, to obtain nothing but growing frustration. Leaving pc on standy mode is not suitable in my case for various reasons (kids, pets, etc.), so had it working from S5 was/is vital for me.

I know for sure it wasn't my router (rt87u) cause it worked perfectly fine before with my old rig, so it had to be my new motherboard/nic controller. Tried dozens of drivers, bios versions, etc... No luck. Contacted ASUS saying that my new moterboard (crosshair hero VII wi-fi) seems to have a bios bug cause wol is working erratically, and previous mobo (p8z68-v pro/gen3) worked just fine with same other network components. No luck either (didn't got much attention from them tbh).

So, long story short, after hundreds (literally) of tests, and seriously considering buying another brand/model of motherboard, I found the pattern of this bug and a way to workaround it:

Resume from S5 does not work ONLY when S3 state has been inmediatly active prior to S5 and no restart has been performed in between.

EXAMPLE 1 - WOL NOT WORKING (AFTER hours of being spent off):

1) POWER ON
2) SLEEP (S3)
3) RESUME FROM SLEEP
4) POWER OFF (S5)
5) WOL NOT WORKING

EXAMPLE 2 - WOL WORKING

1) POWER ON
2) POWER OFF
3) WOL WORKING 100%

EXAMPLE 3 - WOL WORKING

1) POWER ON
2) SLEEP (S3)
3) RESUME FROM S3
4) RESTART
4) POWER OFF (S5)
5) WOL WORKING 100%


Hope my quest may help you.

Regards!!!

Well at the previous address i had same issue because the ex wife kept switching of the power to the router at night, i remedied this by setting the bios to power on after AC loss, this would be like a reset that allowed me to switch the server on again.

Im in two minds whether to switch out the mobo for a board with rock solid WOL, but, i had this working fine just recently..now it wont function at all, even if i reboot the server and everything else..still wont initiate WOL

 

[Smokindog]

Well at the previous address i had same issue because the ex wife kept switching of the power to the router at night, i remedied this by setting the bios to power on after AC loss, this would be like a reset that allowed me to switch the server on again.

Im in two minds whether to switch out the mobo for a board with rock solid WOL, but, i had this working fine just recently..now it wont function at all, even if i reboot the server and everything else..still wont initiate WOL

If the MOBO had an Intel NIC, the interactions between power states and WOL are pretty well defined on the Intel website (provided the BIOS maker followed "the script").

If you've got another slot you may find a NIC that supports WOL to play with. Just tossing out options other than new MOBO. Like I said, I'd just let it run

This neweg search is supposedly NICs that support WOL. No guarantees express nor implied

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100158104 8000 600013904&Order=PRICE

 

[loady]

If the MOBO had an Intel NIC, the interactions between power states and WOL are pretty well defined on the Intel website (provided the BIOS maker followed "the script").

If you've got another slot you may find a NIC that supports WOL to play with. Just tossing out options other than new MOBO. Like I said, I'd just let it run

This neweg search is supposedly NICs that support WOL. No guarantees express nor implied

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100158104 8000 600013904&Order=PRICE

Thanks.

Been messing with this, got it to WOL, but its something to do with the power. i woke it up after unplugging and replugging, shut it down..then tried again, wouldnt WOL. again, i removed the power lead from server, plugged it back in and it let me wake it again, only seems to let you do it once every power unplug/replug..not making much sense