Wake On LAN (WOL) on Mac Mini?

I cannot make WOL function on my new Mac Mini. I am using the wired
ethernet interface. I enabled System Preferences / Energy Saver / Options
/ "Wake for Ethernet network administrator access."

I used the old reliable perl script wakeonlan to send "magic packets"
to the Mac Mini. Lots of magic packets. The Mini kept sleeping. Moving
the mouse wakes it up immediately, so I know that it is not dead.

Is there anything else I can try?

 

Mouse movement should only "wake" the display, not the Mac. If your
mini's pilot light isn't throbbing, it's not really sleeping.

 

I have a current model Mac Mini connected via Ethernet and I'm able to
wake it using the freeware WakeOnLAN application (and its widget), so
the feature definitely works.

How immedidately? If it instantly turns on the screen without making any
noises, then it wasn't asleep - it has just dimmed the screen.

Was the white LED on the front pulsing? That shows it is on but asleep.

My Mini recalibrates the optical drive and takes a couple of seconds to
wake up.

 

I think that there is a quirk in the Mac's WOL behavior. I find that
if Airport (WiFi) power is ON, then WOL will not work. If I turn
Airport off, then I can wake up my Mac Mini from another computer on
my wired LAN.

Is this the expected behavior? It seems a bit strange to me. I mean, I
am always using the wired ethernet port on my Mac Mini. That is where
the WOL magic packet enters. Why should the Mini "care" that the
Airport radio is also powered up?

 

Recognition of the magic packet is a feature of the Ethernet controller
and this feature isn't supported by Airport. It operates by leaving part
of the Ethernet controller powered on while the rest of the computer is
asleep. If the Ethernet controller receives the magic packet, it sends a
signal to the power management system to wake up the rest of the
computer.

The magic packet has to contain the MAC address of the Ethernet
controller for the computer to be woken up (and it contains additional
copies of the MAC address in the body in a special format).

There is no concept of "looking for" a magic packet on an Airport
network. If one happens to be sent via Airport, it will be received and
discarded if the target computer is awake and do nothing if the target
computer is asleep.

If Wake On LAN isn't working with the Airport powered on for David
Arnstein's Mini, the problem might be related to the order of the
network interfaces in the network configuration.

There could be confusing results if the Airport is connected to the same
LAN as the Ethernet port, as other computers might be sending a magic
packet with the wrong MAC address (using the MAC address of the Mini's
Airport interface rather than its Ethernet interface).

I should be able to test this one with my own Mini (later).

 

I've now tried it and can't fault it. I can use Wake On LAN to wake up
my Mini (addressed to its Ethernet MAC address) whether or not its
Airport is enabled.

I only tried it with the Airport network connected to the same LAN. I
haven't tried forcing it off the wireless network so Airport is active
but unconnected.

This is a current model Mac Mini.

 

Where does Bluetooth come in this? Is waking via that a possibility?

 

Bluetooth has a mechanism to wake the computer, as does USB.

I'm less familiar with the specifics, but I expect it requires the
Bluetooth and/or USB controllers to remain at least partially active
while rest of the computer is asleep, and it will require some power
being supplied via USB.

For a USB keyboard to wake the computer, it must be getting enough power
from the keyboard to be able to register a keystroke and send a message
to the computer.

Bluetooth is somewhat easier, because the peripherals are battery
powered. The computer only needs to be passively listening, and any
activity message from the device will wake up the computer.

Inside the computer, I expect there is a signal from the Bluetooth or
USB controller to the power management system, as with the Ethernet
controller. This signal will be activated to wake up the computer (if it
isn't already awake).

 

Thank you. That was the key remark I needed.

Although I don't understand the implications of all the things I've
click-selected on their Bluetooth panels, your advice was enough to keep
me persisting until I'd used Bluetooth to successfully waken my wife's
PowerBook on Panther from my Intel MacMini on Tiger.

There's a lot more for me to get my head round, not least what to do to
stop it going back to sleep around 20 seconds later!

I've already been using the Bluetooth connection for a couple of months
(I think -- they've both got WiFi) to print on the PowerBook's USB
printer. For that it's enough for the PowerBook to be awake -- it
doesn't need anyone to have been logged in through the keyboard.

So I've been able to go to the sleeping PowerBook
- press Escape
- wait for the password request to come up
- ignore it, but press Escape
and then the PowerBook would stay awake for its normal-wait-until-sleep
period while I sent printing through to its USB printer (that is, for
around 90 minutes)

Now I need to find what to do to get an equivalent effect via Bluetooth
that likewise allows the innards stay awake for 90 minutes.