wol - Wake On LAN client - FAQ

Many people mailed me and asked for various stuff. I hope I can sum this up so you don't need to wait until I mail back.

Q1: If I shutdown my PC under Windows I can wake it up. When I shut it with Linux down, it doesn't work! What's up?

A: Get ethtool and try this one as root:

	$ ethtool -s ethX wol umbg

Replace "ethX" with your WOL-capable NIC. This will enable WOL on your NIC, since most drivers in Linux turn WOL off per default. Then turn off your PC and try it again. It should work now. To enable it every time you boot see this FAQ entry. Some drivers don't like "umbg" as parameter. Try "ubg" or something else instead.

Q2: But this changes don't survive a reboot! How do I make them persistent?

A: It depends on your driver and your Linux distribution. Here is a not up-to-date list of Linux drivers and their corresponding WOL enabling parameter.

To enable this parameters, you have to edit your /etc/modules.conf and add an entry like this:

	options 3c59x enable_wol=1

If you use a Debian based distribution you should add this line to /etc/modutils/local (replace local with your favourite module options file) and run update-modules afterwards.

If your driver use ethtool to configure it's WOL settings you have to add following line to your /etc/modules.conf (Debian: /etc/modutils/local):

	post-install 8139too ethtool -s ethX wol umbg

Following drivers use this method (not up-to-date):

You can insert the driver via modprobe driver and the corresponding driver options enables WOL on your NIC.