Plex and Wake On Lan

Dirk Diggler · 6 Aug 2014 at 21:27

I want my media server to sit in sleep mode (Windows 8.1) until I want to stream some media via Plex.

Does anyone have this configured and could share the settings please?

Thanks.

badcompany · 7 Aug 2014 at 12:30

Can do this of client is running xbmc and has advanced wol add-on installed I think.

Dirk Diggler · 7 Aug 2014 at 13:10

badcompany said:
Can do this of client is running xbmc and has advanced wol add-on installed I think.

It's Plex I'm using, not XBMC. I've playing around with it, but it's complicated by the fact I want Teamviewer running too.

Rig is drawing 40w so maybe I should just leave it on 24/7 as it shouldn't cost that much?

It just seems a shame to have it on when not in use, would be better for the components (especially the fans) if I could have it switch on on demand.

Can I set the PC to boot into Windows on power up? I'm looking at those power sockets that are worked by wifi...

cokecan · 7 Aug 2014 at 13:20

String said:
It just seems a shame to have it on when not in use, would be better for the components (especially the fans) if I could have it switch on on demand

I think there's still a lot of debate around as to whether this is true or not. I believe components are more likely to fail during the start-up phase from being off than randomly failing while sitting within recommended operating temperatures/environments. Having said that things do wear out, hence the debate lol

As for Plex, is there any add-on's you can install in the Plex client like you can with XBMC to give WOL options? Plex is based on XBMC so I would imagine there might be

Finners · 7 Aug 2014 at 17:42

Can you not just let it sleep and under device manager allow the network adapter to wake the computer.

Then when something tries to connect to it, it should wake up.

Dirk Diggler · 7 Aug 2014 at 18:52

Finners said:
Can you not just let it sleep and under device manager allow the network adapter to wake the computer.

Then when something tries to connect to it, it should wake up.

I can't get it to sleep automatically, and when I manually make it sleep it wakes pretty much straight away. I think Teamviewer has to go.

sWiZzLe · 21 Dec 2014 at 02:17

In case you or anyone needs WOL for Plex, I use this

I've got mine set up so that when a media centre starts up, it wakes up my NAS.

I keep meaning to map it to a key on the remote.

ASE001 · 2 Jan 2015 at 10:55

cokecan said:
I think there's still a lot of debate around as to whether this is true or not. I believe components are more likely to fail during the start-up phase from being off than randomly failing while sitting within recommended operating temperatures/environments. Having said that things do wear out, hence the debate lol

Components tend to fail during power-up and power-down are due to the rapid changes in temperature (gradient). The materials components are made of have different expansion and contraction properties, growing and shrinking at different rates (fractional change in unit length per unit length per unit temperature change). Causing stress between materials making up a component. Powering up a cold system (especially if located somewhere cold i.e. a loft) can cause rapid change in temperature. Keeping a system permanently powered-on maintains a stable temperature.

For laptop users its always been recommended that a laptop should be allowed 15minutes or so to warm up to room temperature before powering-up. Especially if you have just lifted it out of the boot of a cold car!

Sorry a bit off topic

Back to the topic, I use a similar setup but currently use a web server app running on a Raspberry pi to wake up my servers, see http://www.jeremyblum.com/2013/07/14/rpi-wol-server/. This works over the internet if you setup port forwarding on your router. The Pi only uses about a 1 watt of power when idle

Very easy to setup even for a novice Linux user!

Dirk Diggler · 2 Jan 2015 at 15:03

So consensus is that if the electricity cost isn't too high, just leave it on 24/7?

wengole · 2 Jan 2015 at 16:19

It's not an integrated solution, but there are several WOL apps for iOS/Android. In fact the Roku has an app for it too (if you own one).

I understand this might not be great for the family as it's another thing for them to remember.

Otherwise you could set a schedule to at least turn the computer off at night and on in the morning.