Windows 7, Dell Optiplex 320, and Wake-on-LAN

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The charity where I work has a collection of (elderly) Dell Optiplexes, in order of production: 320, 745, 330, 360, 755, 760, which I have recently converted from XP Pro (32-bit, not surprisingly!) to Windows 7 Pro 32-bit.

All these PCs, when running XP, could be powered up from the shutdown state using Wake-on-LAN.

Once converted to Windows 7, all the models can be powered up from the shutdown state using Wake-on-LAN – with the exception of the two Optiplex 320s!

Both Optiplex 320s have a Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller, and the latest=final BIOS level 1.1.12.
There is no NIC driver for Windows 7 on the Dell website or on the Broadcom website, so it is using the appropriate Microsoft v4.60.0.1 2008/10/13 driver, bcm4sbxp.sys.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time changing the BIOS options and the NIC Power Management options, and there is one, single, method by which I can get WOL reliably to wake up the 320s:

[*]power the PC on from the front power button,
[*]wait until the BIOS screen with the progress bar shows,
[*]then immediately hold in the power button to power it off again

Using any other (software-induced) method of powering down (Start button then click on Shut Down or SHUTDOWN.EXE -s or PSSHUTDOWN.exe -s) means that a subsequent Wake-on-LAN command fails to power-up the system unit.

This makes me think that the problem must lie somewhere within the confines of the Windows 7 Power Options settings, but I’ve been through these and tried a few changes, but to no avail. I’ve googled extensively, but nothing I’ve come across will work, or otherwise it doesn’t apply to my circumstance.

Any suggestions about what else I can try? Thanks!

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Did you see this Optiplex GX320 Wake on Lan?

Are there Vista drivers available that you could trying installing in compatability mode?

Joe

--Joe

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Did you see this Optiplex GX320 Wake on Lan?

Are there Vista drivers available that you could trying installing in compatibility mode?

Joe

I think I’ve already tried this Low Power Mode flip-flop, but I’ll try it again next time I’m in.
I tried to install the Vista drivers (same level from Dell and from Broadcom), but kept on being told that the (Microsoft) one which was already installed was newer. (Is there any way to force install an older driver?)

Suppose you put them in sleep or hibernate mode. Perhaps WOL would work if you did one of them.

You are probably right, but it would mean changing the mind-set of the users, who have been programmed both at home and at work to shut down their PCs. It might be easier to get WOL working from shutdown, rather than to change the habits of a lifetime!

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Suppose you put them in sleep or hibernate mode. Perhaps WOL would work if you did one of them.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Seems to me that Windows is disabling WOL in the NIC on shutdown. The only suggestion I have is to check the settings in the driver when Windows is running (obviously).

cheers, Paul

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Seems to me that Windows is disabling WOL in the NIC on shutdown. The only suggestion I have is to check the settings in the driver when Windows is running (obviously).

Not sure I quite understand that, Paul!
The settings in the driver (Power Management) are correct to the best of my knowledge, so are you saying that the NIC itself could have some internal settings changed by Windows 7 during ‘normal’ shutdown, and kept like this after power-off, which would prevent WOL waking up the PC? How could I ever determine that?

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Joe – I’ve just tried the Low Power Mode flip-flop again, and, no, sadly, this doesn’t cause WOL to work subsequently…

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Have you removed the NIC and re-added it? You should have the opportunity to use your own driver.

Joe

--Joe

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Not until tomorrow!

… and installing the back-level Dell Vista 32-bit NIC driver didn’t restore the ability to get WOL to work. Grrrh.

Unless I can find where in Power Options the Magic Setting (to match the Magic Packet!) is located, I will have to try mrjimphelps’ suggestion of replacing shotdown/poweroff everywhere with hibernate or sleep (WOL works with hibernate and sleep, but of course the original user is still logged on).

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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If you power off the machine while Windows is running does WOL work?

cheers, Paul

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You mean just crash Windows? No, I haven’t tried this – since my earliest youth this has not been a good move…!

Later…
As a one-off experiment I started up the PC, logged on to Windows 7, and held in the power-off button until it turned off. And, no, Wake-on-LAN wouldn’t then power it on/wake it up.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Using Device Manager for my Intel NIC I can enable or disable WOL under Properties | Power Management.

Joe

--Joe

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Ah, Joe, would that it were that simple! I have been there many and oft…

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Can you add another NIC and disable the on-board one?

cheers, Paul

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I suppose I could, but the Optiplex motherboard would need to make available a two-pin connection for wires from the NIC which would convey the Wake-on-LAN signal. I’ve never managed to find such a connector on an Optiplex motherboard!

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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Looks like those two machines are destined to bug you forever. ;-))

cheers, Paul

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Like you, I don’t like it letting a problem get the best of me – but . . there are 2 kinds of computer malfunctions:

a) problems – I can deal with problems.

b) mysteries – these are usually caused by a wrinkled old person sticking pins in a voodoo doll. Can’t deal with that stuff.

You can usually buy a “rebuilt/refurbished Optiplex (several models available) from Newegg for about $200 – $250. It would surely cost you less than the time you’re spending on this problem. We bought 3 and had no problems. They may also be available from Dell, which would be a better solution, IMHO.

In general, I suggest only using drivers from the manufacturer (Dell), but I know that desperate times call for desperate measures, though.

Good luck.

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I’m late on this thread. Hope still helps.
I assume you already know all these. Does not hurt to double check.

Access the NIC property and configuration pop-up. [Control panel-Networking-right click network-Property-Configure.] The popup has 6 tabs.
A. Power Management tab:
1. Uncheck “Allow PC to turn off this device to save power”
2. Check “Allow WOL.
3. Optionally check “allow a magic packet to wake…” based on your setup.
B. (Also try all or one at a time, on) the Advanced tab:
1. Disable “Green Ethernet”
2. Disable “Energy Efficient Ethernet”
3. “WOL & Shutdown Link speed”: select “No speed down”.

If none of above works, try the Vista or even XP driver (32-bit driver).
The driver name(s) info is in Driver tab-Driver Details.
Change the Win7 driver name(s) first to avoid refusal to install older driver in place of new driver. Then install Vista or XP driver.

If the scheme does not work, delete old driver(s), return to the Win7 driver: Rename back the Win7 drivers.

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Sadly the ‘B’ half of your points doesn’t apply to the Broadcom 440x NIC (which is quite an old model), and I’ve tried every option available from ‘A’.

I’ve given up with these Optiplex 320s and modified my shutdown BATch files to cause these two PCs to hibernate rather than shut down.
Unfortunately I can’t program their users NOT to shut down the PCs…

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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I find a lump of 4 x 2 helps the programming process.

cheers, Paul

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