AirPort Express is Bonjour Sleep Proxy but Wake on network access not working

Question

AirPort Express is Bonjour Sleep Proxy but Wake on network access not working

I have a Mac mini (mid-2011) running 10.7.5. I used to have a AirPort Express - 1st gen wireless-N, but it is having problems with the power supply/overheating (a known issue that I intend to attempt to fix). I purchased a refurbished AirPort Express - 2nd gen wireless-N unit to replace the failing one. I have the new unit connected to my existing wireless network as a client. It's connecting using the 5 GHz band and WPA2. This is the way my Mac mini and iPad are connected too. AirPlay is working fine from both. I want to be able to wake my Mac mini to use iTunes Home Sharing, SSH and Screen Sharing, either with another Mac or my iPad. My understanding is that the AirPort Express operating as a Bonjour Sleep Proxy is supposed to enable me to do this.

The Bonjour Browser application on the Mac mini displays that the AirPort Express unit is on the network as a Bonjour Sleep Proxy and the Mac mini as a Home Sharing provider. However, when the Mac mini is asleep the iTunes library disappears from the network. The Scoutr app on my iPad shows that Home Sharing disappears as a Bonjour service on the network once the Mac mini goes to sleep. I've done extensive reading online and troubleshooting based on my findings, but so far I haven't found a solution. Here's what I've done:

-Disabled and re-enabled "Wake for network access" (multiple times)

-Rebooted Mac mini (multiple times)

-Updated AirPort Express to 7.6.4 (came with 7.6.3)

-Modified this plist: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist, in order to tell the Mac mini to use the network sleep proxy (based on http://stuartcheshire.org/SleepProxy/)

Added:

<string>-UseInternalSleepProxy</string>

-Tried using DHCP or Static IP address

-Set Service Order in Network preferences to the following: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, FireWire, Bluetooth DUN

-Switched to Automatic network profile and used DHCP on Wi-Fi connection

-Created new network profile and set all services except Wi-Fi to inactive

-Tried changing the darkwake behavior in this plist: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist, even though I don't think it would make a difference since this Mac mini doesn't support Power Nap (Based on http://www.cnpbagwell.com/mac-os-x/bonjour-sleep-proxy)

Changed <string></string> to <string>darkwake=0</string>

I'm currently out of ideas. Is there a way to check what devices are registering with the Bonjour Sleep Proxy service on the AirPort Express? I have the installers for 10.8 and 10.9, but it looks like there are reports of this issue on those OS versions as well. I guess I'll give that a try when I have some time, but this should work just fine as is.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 12, 2014 1:58 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

141,408 points

Feb 13, 2014 9:06 PM in response to fredmanwalking

... My understanding is that the AirPort Express operating as a Bonjour Sleep Proxy is supposed to enable me to do this.

That's correct.

However, when the Mac mini is asleep the iTunes library disappears from the network.

That's normal.

You'll have to wake the Mini some other way - selecting it in a Finder Sidebar for example. Home Sharing doesn't wake a sleeping Mac, but using it will prevent it from sleeping.

Once awakened you can use iTunes on another Mac or the Remote app on your iPad to share its library, but neither one will wake the Mini.

I suggest you revert the changes you made to mDNSResponder. As you explained in the first quote above the Bonjour Sleep Proxy Service runs on the Express, not the Mini. The change you made is inappropriate - your Mini is the client that needs to be awakened by the magic packet, issued by the Express. The other changes you made are harmless but unnecessary.

Is there a way to check what devices are registering with the Bonjour Sleep Proxy service on the AirPort Express?

I wish there were. If you can wake the Mini remotely in any way though (e.g. ssh, file sharing, screen sharing), then everything about Bonjour Sleep Proxy is working correctly. I don't know what Bonjour Browser is but from what you describe it would seem that it supports that conclusion.

Other means of waking the Mini exist for Mountain Lion or Mavericks, and since Mavericks is Apple's focus these days upgrading may be advantageous for you. I no longer have any Lion systems that I could test for you, and Mavericks should run better on your Mini anyway.

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Answer 2

Feb 13, 2014 9:37 PM in response to John Galt

Home Sharing doesn't wake a sleeping Mac, but using it will prevent it from sleeping.

I was beginning to think that too when I started troubleshooting this, but Apple's documentation states otherwise, which is why I started this thread:

"Works on any service

Because Wake on Demand uses Bonjour, it can handle any service that registers with Bonjour regardless of the underlying protocol."

and

"For example: On a home network with an AirPort Base Station, a Mac sharing an iTunes playlist goes to sleep. A Mac or PC user on the home network sees the iTunes playlist in its iTunes and clicks it. The Bonjour Sleep Proxy wakes the sleeping Mac and its iTunes playlist appears on the other Mac or PC ready to play shared media."

Both from: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774

"Cannot access my library when my computer is asleep

For Apple TV to access your library while the host computer is asleep, "Wake for network access" must be turned on.

Open System Preferences > Energy Saver and select (enable) the "Wake for network access" option.

In addition, the network that the host computer and the Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation) is connected to must support Wake on Demand feature. This works by partnering with a service running on your AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule called Bonjour Sleep Proxy."

From: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2972

I suggest you revert the changes you made to mDNSResponder. As you explained in the first quote above the Bonjour Sleep Proxy Service runs on the Express, not the Mini. The change you made is inappropriate - your Mini is the client that needs to be awakened by the magic packet, issued by the Express.

The change made to the UseInternalSleepProxy value was to force the Mini to use the service on the network, which in this case is on the AP Express. Anyways, either way the mDNSResponder service is configured doesn't make a difference, as Wake on Demand wasn't working properly when the Mini was allowed to use the built-in proxy.

An OS upgrade is sounding more and more likely. The performance gains that Mavericks offers certainly are appealing, I just find myself putting off the upgrade "chore" even though I'm sure it won't be that bad.

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Answer 3

Apr 24, 2014 2:23 PM in response to fredmanwalking

Home Sharing should not disappear when the Mac goes to sleep, and nor should any other Bonjour services on the sleeping Mac. That’s the whole point of the Bonjour Sleep Proxy.

You said you’d looked at “Understanding Sleep Proxy Service” <http://stuartcheshire.org/SleepProxy/>. Did you follow the “Further Debugging Information” steps there to view the log messages in /var/log/system.log? What did the log messages say?

You do have “Wake for network access” enabled in the Energy Saver Prefs, right?

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Answer 4

Dec 25, 2014 9:27 PM in response to Stuart Cheshire

Bump. I'm having a nearly identical problem to the first post in this thread, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. My hardware/network specifics:

Linksys WRT54Gv2.2 router
Network sleep proxy is (supposedly) supplied by my 2nd gen. AppleTV, which is connected to LAN side of router via Ethernet. Its software/firmware is up to date (as of 23 Dec 2014). Running "dns-sd -B _sleep-proxy._udp local" from Terminal on another Mac on the network gives:

Browsing for _sleep-proxy._udp.local

DATE: ---Thu 25 Dec 2014---

23:55:00.160 ...STARTING...

Timestamp A/R Flags if Domain Service Type Instance Name

23:55:01.509 Add 2 5 local. _sleep-proxy._udp. 70-35-60-63.1 Living Room Apple TV

Mac to be woken is a Mid-2007 20in iMac, Core 2 Duo, up-to-date Mavericks 10.9.5. System Information > Network > WiFi lists the "en1" interface as having "Wake On Wireless: Supported", as per About Wake on Demand and Bonjour Sleep Proxy - Apple Support. Also, the router is listed as the first (and only) wireless network under System Preferences > Network > WiFi > Advanced > Preferred Networks, and "Wake for network access" is checked under System Preferences > Energy Saver.

I've carefully followed the writeup at http://stuartcheshire.org/SleepProxy/ (thanks Stuart!), but since I my sleep proxy is the AppleTV, I don't think I can do any of the checks described in "Part One: Setting up the Sleep Proxy Mac" in that article. However, I can see that my Mac to be woken isn't registering the proxy correctly: running "sudo killall -INFO mDNSResponder; tail -1000f /var/log/system.log" produces this:

Dec 26 00:09:31 heywood-imac.local mDNSResponder[40]: ------ Network Interfaces ------

Dec 26 00:09:31 heywood-imac.local mDNSResponder[40]: 00007FAD44045400 5, Registered 0000000000000000, v6 en1 (140733193388037) 00:1C:B3:78:BD:E5 00:00:00:00:00:00 FE80:0000:0000:0000:021C:B3FF:FE78:BDE5 dormant for 7919 seconds

Dec 26 00:09:31 heywood-imac.local mDNSResponder[40]: 00007FAD44048E00 5, Registered 0000000000000000, v4 en1 (140733193388037) 00:1C:B3:78:BD:E5 00:00:00:00:00:00 192.168.1.10 dormant for 7919 seconds

Dec 26 00:09:31 heywood-imac.local mDNSResponder[40]: 00007FAD4382D000 5, Registered 00007FAD4382D000, v6 en1 (140733193388037) 00:1C:B3:78:BD:E5 00:14:BF:B4:E3:C1 Active v4 192.168.1.10 v6 A M FE80:0000:0000:0000:021C:B3FF:FE78:BDE5

Dec 26 00:09:31 heywood-imac.local mDNSResponder[40]: 00007FAD43844C00 5, Registered 00007FAD4382D000, v4 en1 (140733193388037) 00:1C:B3:78:BD:E5 00:14:BF:B4:E3:C1 v4 0.0.0.0 A M 192.168.1.10

where 00:1C:B3:78:BD:E5 and 192.168.1.10 are the MAC address and LAN-side IP of the Mac's WiFi interface, respectively. In particular, I see neither a black nor white sun anywhere in the Network Interfaces block.

Not surprisingly, when this Mac goes to sleep (either on its own or via Apple Menu > Sleep), it disappears from the output of dns-sd and becomes inaccessible until I wake it manually. Its shared printer (attached via USB) also becomes unavailable, and does not get woken up by print jobs sent to it from anywhere else on the network.

Can anyone spot what I'm doing wrong here? I would be very grateful for any pointers or suggestions.

Thanks very much in advance,

-H

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Answer 5

dmbono

Level 1

98 points

Sep 23, 2015 9:58 PM in response to Heywood J

Did you ever solve this? Having the same issue. Any advice?

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