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MacPro Wake on Lan (WOL) No Longer Working - Lion

Ever since upgrading to Lion, my MacPro no longer wakes up on LAN (WOL). Before upgrading to Lion, I could wakeup and access my MacPro by connecting to it from my MacBook Air. For example, from my MacBook Air, I would open Finder and click on my MacPro. Now, perfroming these steps no longer wakes up my MacPro, even when both computers are on the same network. As a result, if my MacPro is asleep, I cannot access its files or share its screen because it won't wake up. I must manually wake it up before I can access its resources from my MacBook Air.


Is anyone else experiencing this?

Mac Pro 8 core, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Aug 4, 2011 3:33 AM

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17 replies

Feb 20, 2012 11:40 AM in response to elitebox007

You have to turn off the "dark wake" kernel feature in order to get the machine to come completely out of sleep mode when you send it a WoL packet.


To do so, I did the following (please don't do this unless you're familiar with using vi and editing XML files):


  1. Opened a Terminal window.
  2. Changed to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration by typing the following: cd /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration
  3. Edited com.apple.Boot.plist using vi under sudo (because the file is owned by root):
    1. sudo vi com.apple.Boot.plist
    2. Moved the insertion point down to the <string> associated with the Kernel Flags <key>
    3. Hit the "i" key to begin inserting text
    4. Typed darkwake=0
    5. Hit the "esc" key to exit insertion mode
    6. Typed ":wq" to save the file and exit
  4. Rebooted the system.

Feb 23, 2012 11:08 AM in response to DalekSec

DalekSec, what's your hardware setup like? I don't know anything about RealVNC on the iPad, but all works as expected with my MacPro. Are you sure you're sending a WoL packet to the sleeping machine before trying to do anything with it? I use WakeOnLan to wake up machines on my network.


I have a MacPro 3,1 with an ATI video card. Before making the setting I detailed above, when I'd send it a WoL packet, it would do nothing. Now that Dark Wake is turned off,when it's asleep, I can send it a WoL packet from anywhere on my network and it will wake up and the displays will turn on, just as if I had pressed a button or clicked the mouse. Screen sharing works using Screen Share from my Macbook, and VNC (I use Chicken of the VNC) works too.

Feb 24, 2012 6:17 PM in response to Quelqu Un

I'm on a MacPro5,1 OS X (10.7.3), 16gb ram, 120gb ssd (boot drive), two 2tb hard drives, and ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB.

I also have to 24" led cinema displays connected.


The only way I would be sending WoL packets (I assume) is through the Screen Sharing app...


Using RealVNC on my iPad, when I AM able to connect, it shows the fast-user-switching screen (lists all of the accounts on my computer) as opposed to my desktop. If I select my account and enter my credentials, it sends the login command but discconects my VNC session.


Message was edited by: DalekSec

Feb 25, 2012 8:56 AM in response to DalekSec

I don't think Screen Sharing sends WoL packets. Do you mean Screen Sharing or Remote Desktop? I don't have the latter, since it's payware and I don't need to run separate desktops over the network; I just want to see what's on the machine's screen. I tried waking my sleeping MacPro from my laptop using Screen Sharing, and it didn't work. I use the (free) Wake On Lan app to send a WoL poke to the MacPro so that it wakes up, and then I can browse to it and start a screen sharing session. It only asks for login credentials in order to start the screen sharing session; once the session starts, I see whatever is being displayed on the monitor.


BTW, how's that Radeon HD 5870 working out for you? Did you have to flash it to get it to work? What brand do you have? I'd like to upgrade the card that came stock with my system, and it seems that the 5870 is still quite competitive, even against newer ATI cards. The HD 2600 I have breaks into a sweat just trying to run both of my monitors at 1080p.

MacPro Wake on Lan (WOL) No Longer Working - Lion

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