Bewildered by unattended starting of PC

[winlux]

Debian Etch is installed on a PowerEdge 2500 with all updates. The computer is starting itself sometime during the night. I have searched the forums for similar posts with no joy. I would know what to do on a Windows system, but as Linux newbie I am lost. Guidance would be appreciated.

[HROAdmin26]

If a machine is powered off, then by definition, the OS cannot "turn it on." The machine has to be powered up before the OS is even loaded.

You might check your BIOS settings for any "Wake on LAN" info where signals to the NIC can cause the machine to power up.

Also, depending on BIOS settings, if your machine has power and is turned off, BUT you LOSE power during the night, the re-application of power in combination with BIOS settings may tell the machine to turn on.

[winlux]

Thank u for post HROAdmin26. All BIOS settings are correct. Power shared with PowerEdge 2600 w/ Ubuntu 7.10 and no auto startups. I suspect that the default config for the NIC in Etch enables boot on LAN outside of the BIOS similar to what can be done in Windows environ. Don't know what to look for & edit/run.

[HROAdmin26]

Sorry, I've run Debian for many years and never seen a default install with the behavior you mention. I've got everything from PowerEdge 1550's, 1650's, 1750's, 1850's, 1950's, 2550's, 2650's, 2850's, etc...

Any Wake-On-Lan has to be supported by the NIC hardware itself and should also be available in the BIOS, since once the machine is powered off, there is no active OS.

Flashed the BIOS?
Unplugged the NIC for the night?

* And this could straight up be a faulty hardware issue as well.

[winlux]

BIOS was flashed to A07 about 1 month ago. Will unplug power and let rest a few minutes. I have PXE disabled on NIC. I have many clients with Dell servers but all w/ Windows NOS. Never this issue before. Newbie to Linux so unsure of relationship of HW to OS. Thx for the input.

[winlux]

Performance still a question. I did recall that this computer is setup as a dual boot w/ W2k Server. After down & unplug for 4 mins, I rebooted into W2k. I reviewed the properties for the Intel Pro/100 NIC. All features were disabled including the wake-on-lan and magic-packet options. Will monitor through the weekend for auto power-on. If it starts tonight on its own, I will unplug the network cable for testing Sat night. Will post results on Sunday or Monday.

[HROAdmin26]

I don't know if the issue is you're not onsite, but you may also want to check the Wake-On-LAN / NIC settings in the BIOS. The physical hardware/BIOS is the only thing that *potentially* has control of the machine after it's been powered off.

Another item to check - what time did it start up? You can check /var/log/messages for that - see if it seems random or roughly/exactly the same time...

Performance still a question.

Not sure I understand this?

[winlux]

I am on-site with the server and the BIOS settings are as I have state. There are no settings for wake-on-lan in the PE2500 BIOS.

Thanks for the pointer to var/log/messages. The log states that the system "restart" was initiated at 00:02:12 for the last 3 nights. I can guarantee that this computer was shut down each of the last 3 nights as it is in my lab.

When I shutdown Debian is it possible that it is putting the computer into hibernation? I have all power settings at "never".

[HROAdmin26]

Sounds very wierd...

So the log shows a "restart" at 12:02A - or is it an actual "power on" at that time? (Is the log completely empty for the time between power off and the nighttime power on?)

Also check your crontab (think of it as Windows Scheduler) for root for scheduled events:

crontab -l

Maybe post the log of the system startup to see if there is mention of what caused the start?
And the "last" command will show the logins of users and if any reboots occurred.

last

When I shutdown Debian is it possible

How is the machine being shutdown? What steps/commands?

[winlux]

crontab -l reports nothing for root or other su.

server@: last does not list any of the 12:02 starts on the computer.

I am attempting to attach the file messages.txt. Never done it before so it may not work. Limited to 19.5 KB on file size, so I have edited out items not related to midnight startups. Had to edit heavily. Notice AC battery check - not on battery backup.