I've been running version 2.10.13 and it has been working just fine. I am waking up and shutting down a Windows 8.1 Pro x64 PC from a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 PC. Just a simple WORKGROUP LAN with a fixed IP address. Upgraded to version 2.10.16. Now the PC will wake up but not shut down. Get the error: "ERROR: The RPC server is unavailable (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)" just as TxRedCat posted. Removed 2.10.16 and re-installed 2.10.13. Shut down is working fine again. I'll stick with 2.10.13 for now. Did I miss something obvious?
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When it cannot find the RPC server, that is a permissions issue or the necessary services are not running on the destination host.
I'm going to look at which services might responsible for this.
In the meantime, if you like, send me an email directly to webmaster@aquilatech.com and we can speed up the troubleshooting...
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Additional questions:
What do you have in the "FQDN / IP" field for that host?
Do have anything specified in the password fields (user id, password, domain) ?
Does the remote host have a firewall enabled? (can you stop it temporarily, just for testing?)
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Well, for the benefit of anyone who searches for this problem, the RPC error is caused by the WOL computer not being able to reach the destination host computer over RPC to initiate a shutdown. I am adding notes to the troubleshooting page on the WOL website, but it's hard to document because I have not been able to get anyone to supply details about their configuration and problem. We test here with XP, 2003, 2012, Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1, and Win 10 preview. Everything is working perfectly and I have not been able to see the error, except when my firewall is blocking RPC...
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Still same problem as with 2.10.15. Why did it work with versions 2.10.14 and prior? Remote shutdown also works from the command prompt. All my PC's are Win 8.1 Pro 64bit.
I have the following setting tweaked in my PC to enable remote shutdown. They were needed to make remote shutdown work from command prompt:
CHANGE THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS ON THE REMOTE COMPUTER:
Change Advanced Sharing settings "Private" enable "Turn on File and Printer sharing"
Add Registry Key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
"LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy"=dword:00000001
If name and password are not the same on both computers change the following:
Local Security Policy, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights Assignment
Add "Everyone" to "Force shutdown from a remote system"
I am experienced and willing to help, PM me and I will provide direct contact information.
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OK, the reason it changed from 2.10.13 (i think), was that the core code that handles shutdown, sleep and hibernate was changed from Windows API to the more modern WMI API. The purpose was to simplify the code, and make it more compatible and better supported in the future, as everything seems to be moving toward WMI. Now I realize it let you down, but we'll get it fixed.
I built some plain vanilla test machines, and some tough cases, including my secure laptop from work that is nailed down and not even in the same domain. It all works.
I documented the minimum requirements to run WOL, and I updated the "troubleshooting" page on the web to reflect this. Please look at Firewall Considerations, and the paragraph on RPC Server Not Available.
You may need to enter the userid and password in the host configuration if your default login is not sufficient.
You can email me at webmaster@aquilatech.com and we can continue the discussion offline.
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I emailed webmaster@aquilatech.com on 12/16/2014, but never received a response. Probably got filtered out somewhere along the way. I'll take a look at the updated troubleshooting page. Thanks!
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No worries! I've been experimenting and it looks like it might be a problem with the Norton 360 firewall. Have Norton 360 installed on both machines. Tried turning off Norton 360 firewall on the Windows 8.1 machine and then on both machines. When this is done attempting to shut down comes back immediately with "access is denied". Not sure what is denying access at this point. Remote desktop continues to work.
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Ok, access denied is a good sign. You are no longer blocking the RPC.
Now we just need to use the proper credentials to shutdown. I’m assuming the userid you are using on the WOL computer does not have authority to shutdown the remote hosts?
If that is the case, click the password in the host properties and enter a userid, password and domain that does have authority.
Let’s get that working.
Finally, after that works, we can go back and get the Norton firewall configured.
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Hello BasilDane,
No luck, yet. While researching the issue I ran into Spiceworks and its problems with WMI. It states WMI will not accept a blank password, so I set the password. It also states: "If you are getting an Access Denied scan error it might be UAC blocking inbound requests on the remote device. If the remote computer you are trying to query is in a workgroup (or not joined to a domain), UAC prevents remote queries by default, even if the account being used is in the Administrators group." Are all of your computers in domains? Might try the software in a workgroup if that is the case. The solution for windows 8 appears to be stepping into regedit and disabling UAC (Ug, me afraid of regedit!).
here's the link to the article - http://community.spiceworks.com/help/Authentication_Workgroup
For Norton 360 it also adds a fairly long process for opening all the ports WMI requires. All of this would certainly explain the problem I'm seeing.
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Dan, I built a new Windows 10 machine last night and made it WORKGROUP. Just like you said, I could not get it to shutdown using WMI. This is a big problem.
Let's decide on the best solution.
Btw, the switch to WMI enables people to do things like shutdown remote machines using alternate credentials, and things that were not possible with the old method.
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BasilDane, WMI is definitely the way to go, you have to keep moving forward. Now that I know what the issue is, I can just use "shutdown -i" when I want to shut down the Windows 8.1 PC in my Workgroup. Not a serious issue for me. I'll try to disable UAC, if I can work up the courage to run regedit. Spiceworks seems to imply this is a fair trade off for the advantages WMI offers.
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Hi BasilDane,
The logging feature works good with the new beta... I, like the others, am having an issue with the RPC error when attempting to shut down a client machine. I manage a 2008R2 network and added the group policy user rights assignment setting to allow the administrators group (not the everyone group...bad juju) to force a shutdown from remote. This has appeared to work on the windows 7 clients but so far has not worked on the windows 8.1 clients. The firewall/av that i have installed on our network is vipre from threattrack. i'm positive that it's the firewall blocking the rpc call as i do not see any packets arriving to the client (using your monitor) until after i disable the firewall. currently i'm working with threattrack to resolve allowing internal only rpc calls to bypass the firewall... so far, not an easy thing to accomplish.
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When you say "my monitor", you mean the listener? If so, that function is monitoring WOL packets. It does not detect RPC, shutdown or any other traffic. (Although that's an interesting idea I never thought of).
Are the 8.1 clients in a domain? I have 2 8.1 machines here, I'm going to do some tests in a few minutes...
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yes... sorry, used the wrong term... the listener and yes, there were no packets making it through the firewall so my understanding is there is nothing there to "trip" the computer to start a shutdown. The 8.1 clients are part of the existing domain that I just added in the past couple months.
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Tested Windows 8.1 (domain) shutdown just now, it worked normally.
Jon: you added the necessary firewall rules as described in the help? Because by default, Windows firewall will block RPC.
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i spent some time working on one of the clients which in this instance is windows 7. i thought i had it working by using group policy for the OU this client belongs to but alas... not so. anyway, i understand that rpc uses dynamic ports and so i modified the registry to limit the ports rpc uses to a couple thousand ports and made sure those were opened in the firewall (vipre... windows firewall is turned off and overridden by vipre) but i still wind up with the same rpc error. i am still waiting for a call back from the vipre tech support people to help with a workaround to get the rpc calls into their firewall. svchost and lsass are already allowed so... kind of stumped with this one.
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have an update for you B... since i am not using windows firewall but am using a 3rd party application, in this case GFI Vipre, port 135 has to be opened - which i already had opened - but.. Vipre has an intrusion detection (IDS)system that rides on top of the firewall and that has to be modified in order for rpc calls to work. wol shutdown works fine after that addition.
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i definitely proved the issue with the firewall. there was a specific inclusion that treated calls to port 135 as a DOS attack. I added the exclusion to the firewall policies and have no issues with performing a shutdown. Not sure if that will be a factor in preventing any DOS attacks as our network is behind an ASA firewall at the head end of the internet connection. Might not be a bad idea to add "old code" back in but that may tend to break the functionality of what you have right now. I would think the 3rd party av/firewall vendors would add the ability to do what microsoft does in its firewall rules and that is to be able to add a specific windoze service to the firewall rules.
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Jon, I have been looking at this for quite a few hours, and I built some test functions using impersonation, but after a lot of research, I don't think it will work for workgroups at all, as you all have said. I wanted to make sure there was no other option. I think it is reasonable to say "you really need to be using domain login" if you are trying to make this happen in the way we described. I'm still looking at this, however.
do you take paypal?
I just noticed that question, it got truncated on the email I received. LOL.
Yes, the donate button is linked to paypal.
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I've been running version 2.10.13 and it has been working just fine. I am waking up and shutting down a Windows 8.1 Pro x64 PC from a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 PC. Just a simple WORKGROUP LAN with a fixed IP address. Upgraded to version 2.10.16. Now the PC will wake up but not shut down. Get the error: "ERROR: The RPC server is unavailable (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)" just as TxRedCat posted. Removed 2.10.16 and re-installed 2.10.13. Shut down is working fine again. I'll stick with 2.10.13 for now. Did I miss something obvious?
When it cannot find the RPC server, that is a permissions issue or the necessary services are not running on the destination host.
I'm going to look at which services might responsible for this.
In the meantime, if you like, send me an email directly to webmaster@aquilatech.com and we can speed up the troubleshooting...
Additional questions:
What do you have in the "FQDN / IP" field for that host?
Do have anything specified in the password fields (user id, password, domain) ?
Does the remote host have a firewall enabled? (can you stop it temporarily, just for testing?)
Well, for the benefit of anyone who searches for this problem, the RPC error is caused by the WOL computer not being able to reach the destination host computer over RPC to initiate a shutdown. I am adding notes to the troubleshooting page on the WOL website, but it's hard to document because I have not been able to get anyone to supply details about their configuration and problem. We test here with XP, 2003, 2012, Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1, and Win 10 preview. Everything is working perfectly and I have not been able to see the error, except when my firewall is blocking RPC...
Still same problem as with 2.10.15. Why did it work with versions 2.10.14 and prior? Remote shutdown also works from the command prompt. All my PC's are Win 8.1 Pro 64bit.
I have the following setting tweaked in my PC to enable remote shutdown. They were needed to make remote shutdown work from command prompt:
CHANGE THE FOLLOWING SETTINGS ON THE REMOTE COMPUTER:
Change Advanced Sharing settings "Private" enable "Turn on File and Printer sharing"
Add Registry Key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
"LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy"=dword:00000001
If name and password are not the same on both computers change the following:
Local Security Policy, Security Settings, Local Policies, User Rights Assignment
Add "Everyone" to "Force shutdown from a remote system"
I am experienced and willing to help, PM me and I will provide direct contact information.
Hi TxRedCat!
OK, the reason it changed from 2.10.13 (i think), was that the core code that handles shutdown, sleep and hibernate was changed from Windows API to the more modern WMI API. The purpose was to simplify the code, and make it more compatible and better supported in the future, as everything seems to be moving toward WMI. Now I realize it let you down, but we'll get it fixed.
I built some plain vanilla test machines, and some tough cases, including my secure laptop from work that is nailed down and not even in the same domain. It all works.
I documented the minimum requirements to run WOL, and I updated the "troubleshooting" page on the web to reflect this. Please look at Firewall Considerations, and the paragraph on RPC Server Not Available.
You may need to enter the userid and password in the host configuration if your default login is not sufficient.
You can email me at webmaster@aquilatech.com and we can continue the discussion offline.
Hello BasilDane,
I emailed webmaster@aquilatech.com on 12/16/2014, but never received a response. Probably got filtered out somewhere along the way. I'll take a look at the updated troubleshooting page. Thanks!
Sorry about that Dan. It did in fact go to the spam filter.
I have your email now and will respond within a few hours.
Apologies.
No worries! I've been experimenting and it looks like it might be a problem with the Norton 360 firewall. Have Norton 360 installed on both machines. Tried turning off Norton 360 firewall on the Windows 8.1 machine and then on both machines. When this is done attempting to shut down comes back immediately with "access is denied". Not sure what is denying access at this point. Remote desktop continues to work.
Ok, access denied is a good sign. You are no longer blocking the RPC.
Now we just need to use the proper credentials to shutdown. I’m assuming the userid you are using on the WOL computer does not have authority to shutdown the remote hosts?
If that is the case, click the password in the host properties and enter a userid, password and domain that does have authority.
Let’s get that working.
Finally, after that works, we can go back and get the Norton firewall configured.
Hello BasilDane,
No luck, yet. While researching the issue I ran into Spiceworks and its problems with WMI. It states WMI will not accept a blank password, so I set the password. It also states: "If you are getting an Access Denied scan error it might be UAC blocking inbound requests on the remote device. If the remote computer you are trying to query is in a workgroup (or not joined to a domain), UAC prevents remote queries by default, even if the account being used is in the Administrators group." Are all of your computers in domains? Might try the software in a workgroup if that is the case. The solution for windows 8 appears to be stepping into regedit and disabling UAC (Ug, me afraid of regedit!).
here's the link to the article - http://community.spiceworks.com/help/Authentication_Workgroup
For Norton 360 it also adds a fairly long process for opening all the ports WMI requires. All of this would certainly explain the problem I'm seeing.
Dan, I built a new Windows 10 machine last night and made it WORKGROUP. Just like you said, I could not get it to shutdown using WMI. This is a big problem.
Let's decide on the best solution.
Btw, the switch to WMI enables people to do things like shutdown remote machines using alternate credentials, and things that were not possible with the old method.
BasilDane, WMI is definitely the way to go, you have to keep moving forward. Now that I know what the issue is, I can just use "shutdown -i" when I want to shut down the Windows 8.1 PC in my Workgroup. Not a serious issue for me. I'll try to disable UAC, if I can work up the courage to run regedit. Spiceworks seems to imply this is a fair trade off for the advantages WMI offers.
Hi BasilDane,
The logging feature works good with the new beta... I, like the others, am having an issue with the RPC error when attempting to shut down a client machine. I manage a 2008R2 network and added the group policy user rights assignment setting to allow the administrators group (not the everyone group...bad juju) to force a shutdown from remote. This has appeared to work on the windows 7 clients but so far has not worked on the windows 8.1 clients. The firewall/av that i have installed on our network is vipre from threattrack. i'm positive that it's the firewall blocking the rpc call as i do not see any packets arriving to the client (using your monitor) until after i disable the firewall. currently i'm working with threattrack to resolve allowing internal only rpc calls to bypass the firewall... so far, not an easy thing to accomplish.
When you say "my monitor", you mean the listener? If so, that function is monitoring WOL packets. It does not detect RPC, shutdown or any other traffic. (Although that's an interesting idea I never thought of).
Are the 8.1 clients in a domain? I have 2 8.1 machines here, I'm going to do some tests in a few minutes...
yes... sorry, used the wrong term... the listener and yes, there were no packets making it through the firewall so my understanding is there is nothing there to "trip" the computer to start a shutdown. The 8.1 clients are part of the existing domain that I just added in the past couple months.
Tested Windows 8.1 (domain) shutdown just now, it worked normally.
Jon: you added the necessary firewall rules as described in the help? Because by default, Windows firewall will block RPC.
i spent some time working on one of the clients which in this instance is windows 7. i thought i had it working by using group policy for the OU this client belongs to but alas... not so. anyway, i understand that rpc uses dynamic ports and so i modified the registry to limit the ports rpc uses to a couple thousand ports and made sure those were opened in the firewall (vipre... windows firewall is turned off and overridden by vipre) but i still wind up with the same rpc error. i am still waiting for a call back from the vipre tech support people to help with a workaround to get the rpc calls into their firewall. svchost and lsass are already allowed so... kind of stumped with this one.
have an update for you B... since i am not using windows firewall but am using a 3rd party application, in this case GFI Vipre, port 135 has to be opened - which i already had opened - but.. Vipre has an intrusion detection (IDS)system that rides on top of the firewall and that has to be modified in order for rpc calls to work. wol shutdown works fine after that addition.
Perhaps we should add the old API code back in and offer a choice to the user.
i definitely proved the issue with the firewall. there was a specific inclusion that treated calls to port 135 as a DOS attack. I added the exclusion to the firewall policies and have no issues with performing a shutdown. Not sure if that will be a factor in preventing any DOS attacks as our network is behind an ASA firewall at the head end of the internet connection. Might not be a bad idea to add "old code" back in but that may tend to break the functionality of what you have right now. I would think the 3rd party av/firewall vendors would add the ability to do what microsoft does in its firewall rules and that is to be able to add a specific windoze service to the firewall rules.
Yes Jon, that is one advantage of the Windows firewall. Did you shutdown domain or workgroup machine?
All the clients I deal with are domain accounts. I forgot to ask... do you take paypal for donations?
Last edit: Jon Albright 2014-12-21
Jon, I have been looking at this for quite a few hours, and I built some test functions using impersonation, but after a lot of research, I don't think it will work for workgroups at all, as you all have said. I wanted to make sure there was no other option. I think it is reasonable to say "you really need to be using domain login" if you are trying to make this happen in the way we described. I'm still looking at this, however.
I just noticed that question, it got truncated on the email I received. LOL.
Yes, the donate button is linked to paypal.
If anyone on this thread are still around, I have worked out a possible solution to the workgroup shutdown problem.
I have a beta test that works for me. (don't do command line or scheduled shutdown yet).
Beta WakeOnLAN.2.10.19-15.exe: https://sourceforge.net/projects/aquilawol/files/Beta/
To do this, enter your userid and password with the Password button. You can leave the domain blank. Click on "Shutdown method", select "Legacy".