remote start over network interface card (NIC)
unless you unplug your machine, there is power to the network card.
long story short, i found this out the hard way back in the dial-up days (it wasn't the modem or the second modem) and now know to do a power down reboot.
this is specifically to make network start available (if enabled)
that and the data storage errors smells like the smoking a-bomb to me.