Wake on Wireless Reliability

[aced411]

Hi folks,

I currently have a powermac running 24/7 with my iTunes library so I can stream to the Apple TV. Looking to save some energy, I tested "Wake on Wireless" with my newer iMac by adding the shared library to Apple TV. I then put the iMac to sleep and tried to play a song from the Apple TV. It took about 20 seconds longer than usual, but the imac woke up and the song began to play.

Based on my test results, I decided to want to move all my content over to the iMac and use this feature. Before I put my eggs in that basket, I'd like to hear from a few people who are using this already and if it's been a reliable solution.

Thanks for your help!

 

[bohbot16]

It's been working great for me. One caveat for laptop users is that it doesn't work if the lid is closed, so you have to leave it open. It's my favorite Snow Leopard feature.

 

[tbayrgs]

It's been working great for me. One caveat for laptop users is that it doesn't work if the lid is closed, so you have to leave it open. It's my favorite Snow Leopard feature.

Not exactly true. I leave my Macbook on 24/7 attached to an external monitor with the lid closed, set to sleep after a duration and wake on demand works fine.

 

[bohbot16]

Good to know. I didn't realize that having the external monitor attached would still allow for Wake On Wireless, but I'm not surprised.

 

[aced411]

Re: Wake on Wireless

Thanks guys. Just the confidence boost I needed.

 

[aced411]

After going "all in" I've found the wake on wireless solution to be less than desirable. After the iMac is sound asleep, the Apple TV says the content isn't available...and trying to access the shares on my Macbook yields "connection failed". Yes "Wake for network access" is selected. I've tried with the built in airport and using ethernet connected to an Airport base station. My router is an airport extreme dual band.

I've tried everything than I can think of. I'm a step away of from a fresh install, but I'd really like to avoid the hassle if I can help it.

 

[mstrze]

I tried this as well and ran into the same problem where AppleTV says no content is available.

Went back to running 24/7 for now.

Have Airport Extreme with last year's iMac mini with current update of Snow Leopard. Airport and AppleTV software up to date. iTunes latest software as well for that mattter.

Having issues with Airport Extreme recently...having to reboot (unplug) a few times in the last week. Have you had any of this OP?

The reboot issues (Airport not available) showed up before I tried the 'wake on wireless' btw.

On top of this, when I DO wake the computer after finding nothing on AppleTV, I have found in the last week that AppleTV doesn't automatically sync....and I have to physically go to the computer and restart iTunes. (my library is on a FW drive attached to the mini btw...not on the internal if this adds any info.

Finally...with the waking I have noticed a new drive I purchased a couple of weeks ago does not behave well when the computer goes to sleep. When I wake the computer, I get a "This disk was not put away properly" error message although it does come back online without any issues. I have never had an external do this before....and this is not the iTunes drive. the iTunes drive 'sleeps' and comes back without issue as does the attached drive i use as my Time Machine backup.

So, with all of these issues, I have chosen to go back to running 24/7 FWIW.

 

[aced411]

I am also using a firewire drive for my iTunes library. I was hoping today's airport update would help, but alas the problem still exists. This is annoying. Guess I'll go back to 24/7 for now.

 

[aced411]

?

Ok now I'm confused. I went to go change the settings like I said and noticed the iMac had woke up..... so I put it to sleep manually, then attempted to play content I know is not cached on the Apple TV and it woke up the iMac! It might flake out again so I'll keep you guys posted if it keeps working.

 

[mstrze]

Didn't knoow about an Airport Update...going to try that when I get home. PLUS trying a 'hard reset' on the Airport Extreme to see if that fixes any of my recent issues...

Tried to reboot my Mini yesterday after a failed re-attempt of wake-on-wireless (this thread gave me hope that I just wasn't waiting long enough for the comp to wake...not so ) and when it came back up it could not join the wireless network until I cycled the power on the Airport box...at which point it connected immediately with my Mini. ARGHH.

So, once I get home: hard reset first...software update next and if all else fails a 'factory reset' for the Extreme....which I feel is the root of all my problems.

(I also have a new USB drive that has issues not 'being put away/removed properly' when my computer goes to sleep but it's not the iTunes drive at least and other folks seem to be having the same issue and it's seemingly going to be addressed in the next build I guess)

 

[mstrze]

UPDATE

Now working without a hitch! It was the Airport Extreme that was the issue. I did a lot yesterday, but it seemed that the 'factory reset' was the thing that eliminated the errors for me. No dropping of the ISP, no loss of the network when the mini went to sleep. Mini woke up immediately when requested by AppleTV...and there was little more than a 3- to 5-second delay in my experience from sleep to being able to play a song in my library...no content resides on my AppleTV...it all streams from the Mini! I was expected 15-25 seconds since my library is also stored on an external FW drive connected to the Mini.

When I did the factory reset I noticed that it upgraded to firmware 7.4.2 and I read elsewhere that this was the firmware version that is necessary for 'wake on wireless'. Perhaps this could be a problem for some?

All in all, I recommend doing a factory reset (unplug, hold down the reset button and then plug back in until amber light flashes rapidly) and re-build your network (takes 15 minutes max...it's like setting up a brand-new AirPort) and I can almost guarantee wake on wireless will work. The hardest part of the process will be typing in your airport/network password into AppleTV.

 

[aced411]

Things still going well after the reset? My setup is still sketchy at best

 

[ascender]

I'm having a similar issue, but its caused by my Drobo spinning down after inactivity. When you then try and access it, its not immediate at coming back up, so while this is fine for a locally-attached machine, Apple TV doesn't like it at all and I get a message about content not being found or the selected file can't be played.

 

[mstrze]

Things still going well after the reset? My setup is still sketchy at best

Yes, generally no issues.

The only problem I have had were after encoding several DVDs over the weekend, the computer needed a reboot...iTunes wasn't seeing my AppleTV.