How to test Wake On LAN WOL

Background

Wake on LAN (WOL) is a feature of many network interfaces (NICs).  If a computer is shut down but still has mains power, sending a WOL packet to it will cause the computer to boot, just as though someone had pressed the soft power button.  

WOL is implemented on all Eos-Family consoles, including Apex for Remote Power On (Remote Power On/Off).  It allows any Eos-family console in a multiconsole system to turn on all the other Eos-family consoles.

  There are some known limitations:

• The WOL packet is sent through the first available Network Port of the Sending device. 
  • If only Port 2 is connected to a network, WOL is sent through Port 2
  • If Ports 3 and 4 are connected to a network, WOL is sent only through Port 3
• WOL packets are targeted to all known MAC addresses of Eos Backup and Clients, including ones that are not enabled for Multiconsole
  • It is not currently possible for Eos software to send WOL to non-Eos devices or computers
• Apex consoles do not wake from WOL packets sent to their SFP (fiber) ports: Unable to Remotely Power On Eos Apex Consoles via SFP Ports - Electronic Theatre Controls Inc
• Windows 10 consoles can only Wake on LAN if they have remained in standby mode since the previous shutdown.  If their power is switched off and switched back on from the back of the console, they will not respond to the WOL packet.  This is limitation in Windows 10.

 

The body of the WOL packet starts with six octets of FF followed by the target MAC address sent 16 times in a row.  As an example:

ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa 00 00 50 f3 18 aa

The WOL packet is sent as UDP to IP address 255.255.255.255, UDP Port 9

Wireshark displays this packet this way:

As noted above, in a multiconsole system, many WOL packets are sent, one for each MAC address of each Primary/Backup/Client in the system.

  

Several software programs exist that can send arbitrary UDP packets.  Two that ETC may use are

• StringTheory (How to use StringTheory - Electronic Theatre Controls Inc)  
• Packet Sender - Free utility to for sending / receiving of network packets. TCP, UDP, SSL. 

StringTheory allows for bi-directional messaging, whereas Packet Sender can only send packets but not receive UDP packets.

Wireshark is useful for verifying that the WOL packet has been sent.

To Test:

1. Determine the MAC address of the target device  For instance, in Eos-Family consoles the MAC address is displayed in Shell > Settings > Network.  If you can ping the device from your computer, do so, then run arp /a ip_address_of_device in Windows CMD and the MAC address will be displayed and can be copied
   
2. Create the body of the packet in a text editor
3. To test with StringTheory
   1. select "Ethernet UDP". 
   2. Set the Dest IP address to 255.255.255.255. 
   3. Send to port: 9
   4. Formatting: Raw Hexadecimal
   5. paste in the body text
   6. click "Send"
      The packet should appear in the "Received Data" area
4. To test with Packet Sender
   1. paste the body text into the HEX field
   2. set Address: 255.255.255.255
   3. set Port: 9
   4. format: UDP
      
      
       
   5. click "Send"
      The packet should appear in the log
      
      

Use Wireshark to verify that the packet is being sent.

Related Links/References

• Remote Power On/Off | Eos Family v3.2.1 User Manual