Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: Help with DHCP not working (non-Amiga)  (Read 1533 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline amigadaveTopic starter

  • Lifetime Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jul 2004
  • Posts: 3836
    • Show only replies by amigadave
    • http://www.EfficientByDesign.org
Help with DHCP not working (non-Amiga)
« on: February 11, 2011, 04:55:40 PM »
This is not Amiga related, but some  of the people here are smarter than the average computer user, so I  thought I would ask for help/advice here regarding a recent problem I am  having.

My G4 PowerBook (running MacOSX, not MorphOS2.x) has recently been having problems  getting a valid IP address to connect to my wireless router and access  the Internet.  I noticed that sometimes the PowerBook would give itself a  "self-assigned" IP address and could not access the Internet, but it  was an intermittent problem that would correct itself after a reset of  the computer, the router, or the cable modem, but now for the last two  days, I have not been able to get my PowerBook connected.  I have tried  all kinds of fixes, including renewing the DHCP lease, resetting the  computer, the router, the cable modem, trying a manual IP address,  trying a manual IP address but still using DHCP, and even connecting the  PowerBook to the router via an Ethernet cable, or directly connecting  to the Cable Modem via an Ethernet cable and all have failed to give me  an Internet connection.  The PowerBook sees all the wireless networks in  my neighborhood and I have even tried to connect to other unsecured  wireless networks, but get the same "self-assigned" IP address that  starts with the numbers 169.xxx.xxx.xxx and no Internet access.

I  am beginning to think it may be a hardware failure of some kind.  I  went to my ISP's chat support to get help, but my Windows desktop  crashed to the Blue Screen of Death in the middle of the session.  The  support person was leaning toward a hardware failure of some kind in the  PowerBook, but that seems strange since it can see all the wireless  networks, but just not obtain a valid IP address from any of them to  make an Internet connection.

Any ideas about what I should try next or what might be wrong?

Thanks is advance.
How are you helping the Amiga community? :)
 

Offline odin

  • Colonization had Galleons
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2002
  • Posts: 6796
    • Show only replies by odin
Re: Help with DHCP not working (non-Amiga)
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2011, 06:10:42 PM »
Can you try a linux bootdisk? That way you could at least rule out if your hardware is going wonky.

Offline krashan

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jan 2003
  • Posts: 247
  • Country: pl
  • Thanked: 1 times
  • Gender: Male
  • Hardware designer and programmer
    • Show only replies by krashan
    • Personal homepage
Re: Help with DHCP not working (non-Amiga)
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2011, 06:17:49 PM »
Quote from: amigadave;614864
to connect to my wireless router and access  the Internet.  I noticed that sometimes the PowerBook would give itself a  "self-assigned" IP address and could not access the Internet, but it  was an intermittent problem that would correct itself after a reset of  the computer, the router, or the cable modem, but now for the last two  days, I have not been able to get my PowerBook connected.


It is a pure speculation, but it may be that MAC addresses of network interfaces are stored in small battery backed up NVRAM. If the battery is dead, MAC may be randomly random ;-) and the problem will increase gradually as the battery becomes dead. I remember that Efika may have similar problems, after its CR 2032 gets exhausted.
 

Offline brianb

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jan 2009
  • Posts: 175
    • Show only replies by brianb
Re: Help with DHCP not working (non-Amiga)
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2011, 06:31:33 PM »
My $0.02...

- Have you tried another Wifi computer on your router?  Is the WiFi router going up?
- Have you rebooted your router/modem/etc. recently?
- You could try blowing away your network related plist's.  They may have become corrupted.
- You could try AppleJack diagnostic and repair tool - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15667/applejack
- Self assigned-ip is rarely a serious problem or hardware issue.  Most likely a corrupt config or incompatibility.  I even had it on a Windows XP laptop until I updated the firmware on the WiFi router.   Weird thing with yours though, is it was working at one time.
- I wouldn't worry about the PRAM/NVRAM/battery, OS X doesn't store any information their and definitely not your MAC.  
- You didn't give a lot of info to assist with troubleshooting.   Have you changed or upgraded anything recently?  What version OS X are you running?  What's the make/model of the WAP?
 

Good luck