Troubleshooting Common Errors

The following page contains a tutorial for configuring target computers to be able to receive and process Wake On LAN commands: Wake on LAN with WakeOnLANx

The most common reason one encounters this error is due to a firewall. It could be a software firewall or a network level hardware firewall. In either case, WakeOnLANx needs access to the target machine’s RPC server in order to initiate reboots and shutdowns, and if there is a firewall enabled on the target machine or in between the WakeOnLANx computer and the target computer, it will need to be configured to allow the appropriate traffic to pass through. For instructions on configuring WakeOnLANx to work with Windows Firewall, please see: Using WakeOnLANx with Windows Firewall.

Another possible reason for this error is because The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service is not started/running on the target computer. Launch the services console on the target machine (Start > Run > services.msc) and make sure the service is set to Automatic and that it’s started.

Finally, if the WakeOnLANx computer is not able to resolve the name of the target computer (typically using NetBIOS or DNS), or if there is simply no response from the target computer or IP address, this is the error that we would expect to see. If, for example, you added a non-existent host or IP address into the WakeOnLANx grid, and then you tried to perform a reboot or shutdown of that non-existent host, you would encounter this RPC error. So, if you are sure that the machine name or IP is correct and that the machine is powered on and connected to the network, then it means that the machine simply isn’t responding to RPC requests, likely due to one of the above-mentioned reasons.

If you’ve gone through the above information and still get this error, then you’ve probably got something more significant happening with the target computer in question. You might consider looking through Microsoft’s posting and troubleshooting steps here: Windows Server Troubleshooting: “The RPC server is unavailable”

This error message is due to an issue with account permissions. The following link explains everything you need to know about resolving permissions problems: WakeOnLANx Authentication in Domain and Workgroup (non-domain) Environments