My (first) build is up and running and I'm trying to configure the basics, one of which is putting the server in sleep mode.

 

To be honest, I'm completely lost in all the input on this matter and very new to unRAID, so please .....

 

I have set the mobo (Super Micro X8SIL-F) at ACPI v3.0. When I enter "echo 3 >/proc/acpi/sleep 10", I get: "write error: No such device"

 

When I go into /proc/acpi, and input e.g. sleep 10, the prompt is blank for a short moment (I guess 10 seconds) and after that the regular prompt returns. The fans stay alive. There seems to be no reference to sleep mode in the System Log.

 

Before I make the next move on this, I would really like to know whether it could work. I would expect the fans to stop running and see some reference in the log... Any (simple) pointers to get me going would be greatly appreciated.

My (first) build is up and running and I'm trying to configure the basics, one of which is putting the server in sleep mode.

 

To be honest, I'm completely lost in all the input on this matter and very new to unRAID, so please .....

 

I have set the mobo (Super Micro X8SIL-F) at ACPI v3.0. When I enter "echo 3 >/proc/acpi/sleep 10", I get: "write error: No such device"

 

When I go into /proc/acpi, and input e.g. sleep 10, the prompt is blank for a short moment (I guess 10 seconds) and after that the regular prompt returns. The fans stay alive. There seems to be no reference to sleep mode in the System Log.

 

Before I make the next move on this, I would really like to know whether it could work. I would expect the fans to stop running and see some reference in the log... Any (simple) pointers to get me going would be greatly appreciated.

You are confusing two entirely different commands.

 

The linux shell has a "sleep" command.  it basically does nothing for the amount of seconds requested.  When the time has elapsed, it exits.

you can type

sleep 30

and 30 seconds later, you prompt will return.  It is a way to put a pause into a script of commands for a specific length of time.

 

The other command, which writes a "3" to the pseudo file /proc/acpi/sleep will put the system to s3 sleep IF it is capable of entering that mode.

 

To see the modes your motherboard is capable, you may type:

cat /proc/acpi/sleep

 

Often you must enable the S3 sleep in your BIOS before it will be visible as a possible option under /proc/acpi/sleep

Even then, it is not a guarantee you can awaken the motherboard.  (But it is a start)

 

Joe L.

Aha , thank you Joe.

 

I get: S0 S1 S5 (is this good or bad?). What I would like to achieve sounds simple: the server goes to sleep/suspend after e.g. 30 minutes of inactivity and can be brought out of sleep mode over the LAN (similar to the behaviour of my Mac's).

Aha , thank you Joe.

 

I get: S0 S1 S5 (is this good or bad?). What I would like to achieve sounds simple: the server goes to sleep/suspend after e.g. 30 minutes of inactivity and can be brought out of sleep mode over the LAN (similar to the behaviour of my Mac's).

Well.  It indicates that S3 sleep is not possible with that motherboard with the settings you currently have enabled in the BIOS.  If it was, S3 would be listed there.

I have been playing around quite a bit with XBMC on Ubuntu bases and have sleep/WOL now working nicely.  There are two things that need to be done, and I am assuming that the same may apply to slackware on which the unraid system is built.  First of all the bios must be set to allow sleep mode (s3) and Wake on LAN.  My PC (Asrock ION 330) has no setting for this and Asrock informed me it is always enabled. Putting the unit to sleep with no cross network method of waking it up did not meet my needs.

 

The OS generally has to be adjusted also.  My experience with XBMC was that there was no issue putting it into S3 (suspended) or shutting it down; the issue was waking it up. Using ethtool eth0 you can query what is the configuration of the ethernet interface.  You need to pick the correct one, My systems used eth0. It shows whether the ethernet interface can do a wake on LAN (Verifies the BIOS setting I assume) and wether the OS is configured for WOL.  The proper configuration parameter (for me) is wol g. I did that by making sure that a little script (Actually on XBMC I added the line to /etc/rc.local) is run on boot. The line is ethtool -s eth0 wol g.  Naturally ethtool needs to be installed and on one of the XBMC beta releases it was not there.  I found it in /etc/sbin on the Ubuntu bases. I assume it is in the same place on slackware (unraid)

 

Hope that helps someone

Thanks a lot for this feedback. X8SIL-F's bios allows for acpi v1, v2 and v3 options and seems to support WOL. Although "cat /proc/acpi/sleep" indicates only S0, S1 and S5, I would like to double check that my board does not support S3. Any way that I can do that?

 

Thank you.

 

edit: from Super Micro's FAQ I understand that the server boards (a.o. X8SIL-F) do not support S3 suspend mode. Mmm, I guess I'm out of options.... 

Thanks a lot for this feedback. X8SIL-F's bios allows for acpi v1, v2 and v3 options and seems to support WOL. Although "cat /proc/acpi/sleep" indicates only S0, S1 and S5, I would like to double check that my board does not support S3. Any way that I can do that?

 

Thank you.

 

edit: from Super Micro's FAQ I understand that the server boards (a.o. X8SIL-F) do not support S3 suspend mode. Mmm, I guess I'm out of options.... 

Probably because servers do not typically go to sleep, so their BIOS are not made to do so even if the hardware might be capable.

Just my 2 cents ... I find it a bit ironic that your board supports WOL but not S3.

Another noobie here as well.  Just a few questions.

 

If I want to test that the "echo 3 >/proc/acpi/sleep" works, I need to telnet to my server and issue the command there.  Do I need to install anything to test it?  When I test it should my array be started?  IF it does go to sleep, how do I wake it up?  I don't have WOL setting in the BIOS.  I have

Power on by RTC Alarm

Power on by External Modems

Power on by PCI Devices

Power on by PCIE Devices

Power on by PS/2 Keyboard

Power on by PS/2 Mouse

 

I noticed in the specs for my MB that it indicates WOL by PME (whatever that is).

 

I enabled power on by PCI Devices.  If my server does go to sleep and I can't somehow wake it up, do I just power off the system and then restart and do a parity check to make sure all is ok?  

If I want to test that the "echo 3 >/proc/acpi/sleep" works, I need to telnet to my server and issue the command there.

Yes.

 

Do I need to install anything to test it?

No.  But you should make sure that your ACPI is set to S3 in your BIOS.  My MB has two options - S1 and S3.  Your MB may not have this option.

 

When I test it should my array be started?

Not sure, but I did it with my array started and it worked fine for me.

 

IF it does go to sleep, how do I wake it up?

You'll need to send a "magic packet" from another PC on the LAN to the MAC address of the NIC in your server.  I highly recommend you write down your server's MAC address before putting it to sleep.  You can find it on the Settings page of the unRAID webGUI.  I found a link on the How-To wiki titled Setup Sleep (S3) and Wake on Lan (WOL).  It's in the Utility section.  This guide will walk you through all the steps, including how to send the magic packet.  I would have provided a direct link to that post but I thought that you might find some of the other info on the How-To wiki useful as well.

 

I don't have WOL setting in the BIOS.  I have

Power on by RTC Alarm

Power on by External Modems

Power on by PCI Devices

Power on by PCIE Devices

Power on by PS/2 Keyboard

Power on by PS/2 Mouse

Power on by X is not what you're looking for.  You want WOL by PME.

 

I noticed in the specs for my MB that it indicates WOL by PME (whatever that is).

WOL by PME is what you want to be sure is enabled in your BIOS.  If there is no BIOS setting then it is probably just enabled and you can't change it.  Here is a description from my MB manual of WOL by PME...

Allows the system to be awakened from an ACPI sleep state by a wake-up signal from a PCI or PCIe device. Note: To use this function, you need an ATX power supply providing at least 1A on the +5VSB lead. (Default: Enabled)

Checking my MB architecture diagram I can see that the GigE port is connected to the PCIe bus so the WOL signal would be received on the PCIe bus.  Most likely your MB is the same.

 

If my server does go to sleep and I can't somehow wake it up, do I just power off the system and then restart and do a parity check to make sure all is ok?

Yes.  Force it off.  When you reboot it will most likely start a parity check by itself because you did not properly power down.  That has been my experience.

Thanks!  I hope to do all the testing this weekend with S3 and WOL.

No problem.  I just went throught this myself about 6 weeks ago so it's still fresh in my mind.  Once you confirm that your server enters S3 when commanded and will wake after receiving the WOL command then you're halfway there.  Part II is to make it go to sleep on it's own.   Just follow the guide and you'll be fine.

Well I tried the echo 3 >/proc/acpi/sleep command but it didn't do anything.  No error and no sleep.  I did check the BIOS of the board and S3 sleep is enabled.

Did you spin down the drives before sending the command?

Nope.  Was I supposed to?

Okay got the sleep command to work as well as the wake command.  Problem is when my server wakes, I lose the network connection to it.  Funny thing is I can ping the server and get a response, but not able to telnet or connect via the web.  Now it looks like I have to power off the server now and I hate having to do that.

I ended up never powering off the server but do spin down the disk when not being used and spin them up when the Theater starts up. The theater is the major user of the unraid system.

Just my 2 cents ... I find it a bit ironic that your board supports WOL but not S3.

 

That was my thinking too. Maybe obvious for the seasoned unRAIDers (not me!), but it turns out that I can WOL my server from S5, so WOL support makes sense.

 

edit: WakeOnLan (for OSX) dashboard widget works nicely to power up the server. Now I only need to find a way to power down the server from OSX's desktop.