I can't explain why it works when it's turned off, some misunderstanding
somewhere there, but let me tell you how WOL works and maybe some more
will come clear.

When you turn a modern PC off by its own power switch (not with a power
bar), you don't really turn it all off. Small bits of it stay on, and
the power supply makes a trickle of power available for those small
bits.

One of the small bits is (part of) the network card. If your computer
is like mine, there's a LED on the network card and it will be lit.

There's enough intelligence staying on in the network card to recognize
a so-called "magic packet" which says, more or less "Hey, you, wake up"
and the address of the network card.

The network card has a cable to yank the main power supply and wake the
PC all the way up.

The operating system, when rudely awoken this way, has to know what has
happened, so it needs Wakeup-On-Lan (WOL) support (but most do these
days). 

Hope this helps.


-- 
Michaelwagner
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Michaelwagner's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=428
View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21480

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