Home Automation – Getting Your HTPC To Turn On When You Get Home – Part 2

This is the second part to this three part series on how to turn on your HTPC when you walk in the door. In this part we setup an app called Remote Launcher. This app does more than what we’re using it for, but right now it’s fine for what we need. We’re going to be using it to send the Wake On Lan packet. It ties in nicely with Llama. Continue below to follow along.

In case you missed it, here is part 1: Home Automation – Getting Your HTPC To Turn On When You Get Home – Part 1

In this part we’re going to be setting up Remote Launcher on our Android device (phone/tablet). Head on over to the play store to download it to your phone.

Remote Launcher Free

remote launcher free

We only need the free version for what we’re doing. In the free version, it only allows you to add one server. In my/our case that’s all I need. If you have multiple then you’ll need to dish out a couple bucks for the full version.

Once it’s downloaded and installed, open it up. Click the ‘Servers’ tab and click ‘Add Server’ at the bottom.
Screenshot_2014-02-26-15-02-44

You should end up at the ‘Add Server’ window. From here you need to fill out the form.
Screenshot_2014-02-26-15-02-51
Enter in the following:
Name: Htpc
Address: IP address of HTPC (optional, I have a static IP set for my HTPC)
Password: Leave blank
Port: Keep as 4444
MAC: MAC address we got from Part 1
Wake on lan port: 9
I have Send WOL to IP unchecked

My server details looks like the following:
Screenshot_2014-02-26-15-03-36
Click Save to save your configuration.

Now, we need to test our WOL feature, this is a pretty big step as it incorporates everything we’ve done up until now. From the servers tab in Remote Launcher, long press your server you just added (press and hold).Screenshot_2014-02-27-12-24-21
With your HTPC off and connected to your network, and your Android device connected to your WiFi, press Wake On Lan. This will now send a WOL packet to your HTPC, and it will hopefully turn it on.

Did this turn on your HTPC? Great! Head on over to Home Automation – Getting Your HTPC To Turn On When You Get Home – Part 3 to continue our quest for total automation.

HTPC still not on?

  • Double check the MAC address
  • Double check the settings in the BIOS, make sure WOL is Enabled
  • Google “[Motherboard model] + Wake on lan” or WOL and see if anything comes up.

Unfortunately this will be something you need to troubleshoot. There could be many things causing the WOL not to work, and you’ll need to do some investigating. If you need help comment below and I’ll see if I can find anything.

If you have any questions or comments please comment below.

Home Automation – Getting Your HTPC To Turn On When You Get Home – Part 3


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