NASLite Network Attached Storage

Thanks for the response, Tony.

Like I said my hardware and BIOS all appear to support WOL yet it doesn't work. This leads to my original, unanswered question: Are there different ways for software (including NL) to shutdown the PC that MIGHT affect it's WOL ability? Or is there just one shutdown command and it's up to the hardware how to handle it?

I'm thinking I might replace my 99 cent Airlink e-net card with something more mainstream and see if that might fix the problem.

Shutdown is just that – a powered-off state. It should not be confused with standby or hibernate modes. The WOL from powered-off state must be implemented in hardware, mainly the motherboard, BIOS and NIC.

I’m not sure what else I can provide in terms of information. Does your NIC support WOL? Do you have the WOL connector installed? You will need to take a look at the hardware you are using.

Yes the NIC supports WOL. There is no WOL connector on the MB of the Gateway PC I'm using as it has, according to Gateway's web site, PCI 2.2 PCI slots that don't need the WOL connector. The BIOS (latest available) has no specific WOL options but does have a PCI Power Management Event option as well as an ACPI power off option (Fast Wake or Low Power). So I believe WOL should work. Feel free to correct me here. When I do a NL shut down the PC goes, as far as I can tell, completely off and doesn't respond to WOL or pings.

The older Compaq I previously tried I didn't have any WOL or other power management options in the BIOS. When NL shut this one down the drives shut off but it remained powered and the NIC did respond to pings.

One possible difference I just thought of: the Compaq was running 2.03 USB. The Gateway is running 2.04 USB.

Let’s say you don’t have an OS installed. How does the WOL event occur? Perhaps you should pose that question to the board/NIC manufacturer. What I’m desperately trying to communicate here is that the OS is irrelevant since the event is handled by the hardware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_on_lan

I understand the OS isn't running when trying to wake up. However it IS running at the time of shutdown.

That said, I found a DOS config utility on the NIC driver CD. I put that on a DOS boot floppy. It turns out the NIC was set for WOL (which the MB doesn't support) but was not set for PME (which it does support). So, I enabled PME.

Now... if I boot the DOS floppy and then turn it off via the front panel button it always responds to a magic packet. But if I boot NL and then use it's shutdown command or the front panel button it will not respond to a magic packet. Something is different.♦

azjerry,

I swear I’m not trying to be difficult.

I understand that some cards require WOL to be enabled programmatically at shutdown. That is why in my March 5th post I said the following:


The DOS disk you are using includes drivers specific to your NIC and that's the key. Some cards may need special drivers that support WOL. For most cards this is not an issue.

Re magic package sending, how do I remotely determine the MAC address of the NIC on my NL? thanks jeffjohn

Initially I got it out of one of the NL network screens. It also shows up in the NIC configuration program.

Honest, I'm not trying to be difficult either

I don't think the DOS floppy has any special drivers. I created a standard Windows XP startup floppy and copied only the single config.exe program file to it, no other driver files. As far as I can tell the config program only updates the EEPROM on the NIC. If I boot using the DOS floppy, wait for the A:\ prompt and then immediately power off, magic packet works.

As an aside, this thread I jumped into started talking about a Realtek 8201 chipset. I've verified that my NIC uses the Realtek 8139 chipset listed in your hardware guide.

In v2.04 we added ethtool in order to provide some more network card info in the status and admin interfaces. Ethtool can also be used to set the WOL in a card’s registers, but this will work only with drivers that support WOL and also provide an interface supported by ethtool. I’m not sure if the existing RTL driver will do.

I did mean it when I said that we'll take a closer look, but at this time it is not a priority item. WOL can still be implemented by using the appropriate hardware alternatives, so if the functionality is of high importance, then there are proven ways to implement it.

OK Tony. Thanks for putting for putting up with my ramblings on this. It's not critical for me right now, more of a nicety. If I ever getting around to moving the server to another room, though, it does become more important.

FYI, other discussion continues in a somewhat parallel thread in the hardware forum. Further discussion should probably be moved there.

Ramblings can often be very enlightening, so please keep the pressure and share any findings that may be of value. I have to admit that before you brought it up it wasn’t even a consideration. Not something we use and no one has really made an issue out of it. Now, thanks to the above posts, I can assure you that it’s on the TO-DO list.

I can’t guarantee anything since NASLite will always be subject to established existing code that may or may not lend itself to the functionality, but the seed has been planted and as the capabilities of NASLite improve, support for WOL likely will too.

Just as the OS doesn't need to support WOL, neither does the driver.

WOL is purely a hardware function - the system board and BIOS must support it, as must the network card.

It may be necessary to configure both the BIOS and the network card for WOL to function, it is also possible that WOL is enabled by default as it is on many business class desktops.

I agree, however according to google's findings some of the newer "improved " NICs appear to require a WOL reminder on shutdown. I don't know if that's an ACPI or a PCI issue yet, but some newer NICs seem to behave badly. I really haven't spent much time on this to understand clearly what the issues are.

Some further test results from my setup:
- If I boot the DOS floppy, run the NIC config program and update the EEPROM on the NIC- I can shut down and reboot the DOS floppy using a magic packet as many times as I want.

- If I then boot NL and then shut it down, magic packets do not wake the PC

- If I then boot the DOS floppy and then shut down, magic packets do not wake the PC.

- If I then boot DOS,run the config and update the EEPROM, magic packets will again work.

So, it appears the the config program "sets" something. Repeated DOS boots, shutdowns and wake ups do not affect it. Booting NL appears to "unset" whatever was "set" as I need to run the DOS config program again before the PC will wake up.