Richard Setterberg

Q: "Wake for network access" doesn't seem to work

I have several Yosemite Macs.  My main Mac Energy Saver setting is set to wake for network access.  That's the only box checked (Display set to turn off after an hour). 

 

I can't seem to get access to this computer on my network (get a "connection failed") after the display turns off.

 

Any other settings I need to set to cure this?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Retina 5K

Posted on Apr 11, 2015 5:57 AM

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Q: "Wake for network access" doesn't seem to work

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  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 11, 2015 12:59 PM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Apr 11, 2015 12:59 PM in response to Richard Setterberg

    Does it work on the other Macs?

  • by Latranner,

    Latranner Latranner Apr 11, 2015 6:49 PM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Apr 11, 2015 6:49 PM in response to Richard Setterberg

    Does the main Mac go to sleep once the display turns off?

  • by BobHarris,Helpful

    BobHarris BobHarris May 5, 2015 2:42 PM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 5, 2015 2:42 PM in response to Richard Setterberg

    How are you trying to wake the Mac?


    Do you have an Apple Airport Extreme, Airport Express, Time Capsule, Apple TV which may provide a Sleep Proxy service?

     

    If you do not have a Sleep Proxy service, have you tried WakeOnLan to wake up your Mac?

    <http://www.readpixel.com/wakeonlan/index.html>

  • by Richard Setterberg,

    Richard Setterberg Richard Setterberg Apr 12, 2015 5:58 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 2 (169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 12, 2015 5:58 AM in response to BobHarris

    Thanks for the responses. 

     

    I tried waking three Macs on the network this morning, one a laptop (old MacBook Pro--wireless), one a desktop (recent iMac--hard wired) and the main computer in question, a new iMac Retina 27.

     

    I was able to access the first two from a fourth, a (wireless) Mac Book Pro Retina.  I did this by going to the Finder window sidebar, scrolling to the "Shared" devices and clicking on the desired device.  The two I was able to access showed the available drives, and I was able to access folders and documents on each.  I was unable to do this with the main Mac in question.  The "connection" bar eventually reported "failed."

     

    All devices are connected via a network router, an old Linksys WRT54G.  No other network do-dads.

     

    The two accessible computers had "wake for network access" and "put hard drives to sleep when possible" checked.

     

    I suppose I could move the computer sleep slider over on the main machine to "never," but that kinda defeats the whole idea of "wake for network access."  Anything I'm missing?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 12, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Apr 12, 2015 6:33 AM in response to Richard Setterberg

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

    dns-sd -B _sleep-proxy._udp local

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

    Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

    You may see some output below what you entered, like this:

    Browsing for _sleep-proxy._udp.local
    DATE: ...
    ...  ...STARTING...
    Timestamp A/R Flags if Domain Service Type Instance Name

    Below that is a list of the Bonjour sleep proxies advertised on the network. The name of each proxy is at the end of the line. If you don't see any such output, no sleep proxy is available.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 12, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 12, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Richard Setterberg

    Please follow 's advice to see if you have a Sleep Proxy server on your home network.  For example, here is what the command shows on my home network:

    dns-sd -B _sleep-proxy._udp local

     

    Browsing for _sleep-proxy._udp.local

    DATE: ---Sun 12 Apr 2015---

    16:34:14.530  ...STARTING...

    Timestamp     A/R    Flags  if Domain        Service Type         Instance Name

    16:34:14.531  Add        3   5 local.        _sleep-proxy._udp.   30-35-10-70.1 Pantry

    16:34:14.531  Add        2   5 local.        _sleep-proxy._udp.   50-35-10-70.1 TV_Console

    I have 2 Sleep Proxy servers active on my network (both are Apple Airport Extreme home WiFi Router base stations; the names Pantry and TV_Console are the management names I have given them).

     

    If you DO NOT have a Sleep Proxy server, then you MUST use a special program to wake up a sleeping Mac.  WakeOnLan is one such program.

    <http://www.readpixel.com/wakeonlan/index.html>

     

    The Sleep Proxy or WakeOnLan will send a specially composed network packet that the networking hardware listens for and will wake up the Mac when it is seen.

     

    The Sleep Proxy server pretends to be your Mac while it is asleep, and if you attempt to connect to the Advertised service, the Sleep Proxy server will send that magic network packet to wake up the Mac, and forward the connection request to the new awake Mac.

    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonjour_Sleep_Proxy>

  • by Richard Setterberg,

    Richard Setterberg Richard Setterberg Apr 30, 2015 10:33 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 2 (169 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2015 10:33 AM in response to BobHarris

    I tried Linc Davis' command line, and I have no sleep proxies.

     

    I will try wake on lan and see how it goes and report back.

     

    Why would this only be a problem on one of the 5 Macs on the network?  All are running 10.10.3.  Some are connected via wireless, some hardwired.

  • by SuperSizeIt,

    SuperSizeIt SuperSizeIt May 5, 2015 2:17 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 3 (579 points)
    May 5, 2015 2:17 AM in response to BobHarris

    Even with the Airport Extreme sleep proxies It's intermittent at best. The Mac will wake up the first time, perhaps a second time, but in time it just stops responding. Using something like WakeOnLan or Mocha VNC can wake it up. Apple TV  or other Macs trying to access the shared iTunes Library simply won't wake up the Mac hosting the library. You have to use one of these apps to force it to wake up or just leave it on. Which is a huge waste of electricity.

  • by Richard Setterberg,

    Richard Setterberg Richard Setterberg May 5, 2015 2:47 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 2 (169 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 5, 2015 2:47 PM in response to BobHarris

    I installed WakeOnLan on the computer I usually use to try to waken the main one (I didn't find instructions saying which computer you have to install it on).  On the one time I've tried it, it seems to work.

     

    I still don't understand why the "wake for network access" radio button is there.  I doesn't work.  But, in any event, my problem is solved.  Thanks.

  • by cdhw,

    cdhw cdhw May 5, 2015 4:06 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 4 (2,653 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    May 5, 2015 4:06 PM in response to BobHarris

    If you DO NOT have a Sleep Proxy server, then you MUST use a special program to wake up a sleeping Mac.  WakeOnLan is one such program.

     

    This is not true if the Macs are on the same subnet, which is likely to be the case if you only have a few dozen computers on your network. If you can see it via Bonjour then you should be able to wake it for network access with no problem.

     

    In my experience 'wake for network access' is not very robust and it doesn't take much to stop it working.

     

    C.

  • by SuperSizeIt,

    SuperSizeIt SuperSizeIt May 7, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Richard Setterberg
    Level 3 (579 points)
    May 7, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Richard Setterberg

    It's a workaround thats for sure. It's rather silly that we need to use an external third party app to wake up a Mac so that Apple TV or other devices can access iTunes Shared Library. Worse, BTMM will not work because of this huge bug.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris May 7, 2015 7:40 PM in response to SuperSizeIt
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 7, 2015 7:40 PM in response to SuperSizeIt

    It's a workaround thats for sure. It's rather silly that we need to use an external third party app to wake up a Mac so that Apple TV or other devices can access iTunes Shared Library. Worse, BTMM will not work because of this huge bug.

    I disagree with cdhw about not needing a sleep proxy server if you are not going to use a utility such as WakeOnLan.  Something has to send the wakeup packet to bring a Mac out of sleep.

     

    But even if cdhw is correct, Back-to-My-Mac is NOT on your local LAN, and something needs to talk to the Apple server that relay the BTMM connection and something on your LAN has to send the magic wakeup packet.  So BTMM is not going to work without a Sleep Proxy.

     

    If you have an Apple TV (3rd edition), it is suppose to act as a Sleep Proxy server.

    <About Wake on Demand and Bonjour Sleep Proxy - Apple Support>

     

    What you should do is use the commands Linc provided above to see is you have a Sleep Proxy server running on your LAN

    dns-sd -B _sleep-proxy._udp local

     

    As far as I know just about all the intel Macs and the PowerPC Macs support Wake-On-LAN via ethernet cable.  I think only more recent intel Mac have WiFi chips that support Wake-On-LAN.  I just do not know what models this is.  If you are using WiFi and the Mac is rather old, it is possible its WiFi chips do not support Wake-On-LAN when asleep.

     

    If you do not have a sleep proxy server, and do now wish to get a device the will provide sleep proxy, then you will need to keep the system you wish to access on demand awake.

  • by SuperSizeIt,

    SuperSizeIt SuperSizeIt May 7, 2015 8:29 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 3 (579 points)
    May 7, 2015 8:29 PM in response to BobHarris

    Yes I have AX "n" and two ATV latest gen. Terminal confirms sleep proxy through AX. So that checks out. The Mac connected directly to the AX via Ethernet will now wake on demand reliably. It simply stops working Using Yosemite. Snow Leopard on the other hands works fine with Wake on demand.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris May 8, 2015 6:00 AM in response to SuperSizeIt
    Level 6 (19,479 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 8, 2015 6:00 AM in response to SuperSizeIt

    SuperSizeIt wrote:

     

    Yes I have AX "n" and two ATV latest gen. Terminal confirms sleep proxy through AX. So that checks out. The Mac connected directly to the AX via Ethernet will now wake on demand reliably. It simply stops working Using Yosemite. Snow Leopard on the other hands works fine with Wake on demand.

    If you have not done so, you might try toggling off, then on, the System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> Power Adapter -> [_] Wake for network access, just to make sure that the preferences is being seen.  Strange as it seems there have been instances where toggling a preferences gets things cleaned up (I'm not saying this is the case for Wake for network access, just in general).

     

    If the problem does not clear up, I would encourage you to file a bug with Apple at either:

     

    BugReporter

    <http://bugreporter.apple.com>

    Free ADC (Apple Developer Connection) account needed for BugReporter.

    Anyone can get a free account at:

    https://developer.apple.com/register/index.action

     

    And/Or

     

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