Is it normal that the LEDs of the network adapter are off when the computer is off and you want to power it with WakeOnLan?

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I'm trying to configure Wake-On-Lan on a computer. Here is what I've done:

  1. enabled it in BIOS (Power on by PME: Allows you to turn on the system through a PCI/PCIE/onboard LAN device).
    Note: I'm using a PCI ethernet card.
    Note2: motherboard: ASUS M4A79XTO EVO manual.

  2. enabled it via Linux with sudo ethtool -s eth0 wol g, then when using sudo ethtool eth0, I see: 

    Supports Wake-on: pumbg
Wake-on: g

    which seems to confirm it's ok.

  3. either shutdown the computer with sudo halt -p or suspend with systemctl suspend or hibernate (I tested all of them)

  4. send the magic packet from another Windows computer on the same local network using WakeMeOnLan by specifying the right IP address + MAC address

  5. but nothing happens!

Fact: when I hibernate or suspend or turn off, the LED of the ethernet card is off. Is it the same for you who successfully use WakeOnLan? Is it normal that the green LED is off (usually saying that the network is no more connected)?

More generally, what could cause the WoL to fail?

Basj

Posted 2019-02-05T14:47:59.003

Reputation: 1 356

Making it work can be a real struggle, and it is also dependent on your hardware. You will find an account of such a struggle in the Debian Wiki Wake On LAN. Follow this article and let us know what happened by editing your post. If using Arch Linux see this article.

– harrymc – 2019-11-17T18:32:15.717

@harrymc Just to be sure: does WOL wake from "computer off" state or from "hibernate" state? – Basj – 2019-11-17T19:26:16.067

I know that Windows needs to be in Sleep, not Hibernate, for WOL. On Linux there are too many distributions and drivers to speculate. To be safe, use Sleep. – harrymc – 2019-11-17T19:32:46.563

Ok so on Windows: Sleep: OK, Hibernate: not OK, Power off: not OK, is that right? – Basj – 2019-11-17T19:53:25.437

About Linux: do you know a distribution at least that can WOL from "Power off" state? – Basj – 2019-11-17T19:53:53.957

For Windows - correct. For Debian - the above link is positive, others I don't know. – harrymc – 2019-11-17T19:56:32.163

If the link LED on the switch is off, you can be sure there is no way to run WOL. – davidbaumann – 2019-11-20T06:25:08.717

Are you sure you use PCI, not PCIE? – davidbaumann – 2019-11-20T06:26:23.717

Please specify the PCIE network card brand, model and if possible, chip. Networking is a complex issue and having as much info as possible helps. State S5 (as stated in the manual) is OFF. That means the motherboard supports waking from full shutdown. The manual states you need at least 1A in the +5V SB of the mother from the PSU. Also, did you try the WoL feature with the onboard ethernet? – Leo – 2019-11-21T05:07:20.340

What Ethernet card are you using? Are you sure that one is eth0 and not your board's onboard ethernet? What does cat /sys/class/net/eth0/device/power/wakeup say? – tgies – 2019-11-22T17:09:11.190

1"Ok so on Windows: Sleep: OK, Hibernate: not OK, Power off: not OK, is that right?" - that's completely wrong. Wake on LAN absolutely wakes PCs from hibernate and off power states. I use it all the time. – Mr Ethernet – 2019-11-23T23:25:20.243

Answers

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I replaced my motherboard with a new one (Asus M5A78L) and I'm now using the built-in LAN adapter, instead of a PCI Ethernet card.

Now Wake-On-Lan works out of the box from all these states:

  • shutdown -h now
  • systemctl hibernate
  • systemctl suspend

Basj

Posted 2019-02-05T14:47:59.003

Reputation: 1 356

1You can also generally wake Windows computers from sleep, hibernate and off power states, not only sleep. It's easy enough to make it work, you just need to enable it in both the BIOS and NIC driver. – Mr Ethernet – 2019-11-23T23:29:29.150

That depends a lot on the hardware. – harrymc – 2019-11-24T18:23:48.433

Asked: 2019-02-05T14:47:59.003

Viewed: 109 times

Active: 2019-11-23T21:18:07.647