DHCP problem on iMac G3

M

macguy5150

Registered
I'm trying to help my niece with her iMac G3 350 (OSX 10.3.7) and cable internet. She had Brighthouse cable installed the other day, and tech set up her network using "Automatic" and "DHCP". A 192.168 address came up right away, and worked well for a couple days.
Then it just suddenly stopped being able to connect to the net. I checked DHCP, and it now has a self-assigned 169 address. I brought the machine to my office and hooked it up using "Manually" and my static IP, and it connects fine. Switch back to DHCP, and it self assigns a 169 address again. I upgraded it to 10.3.9 and rebuilt permissions, but no luck. Any ideas???
 
169..... address is normal go back to your systems preferences. In the Show box if network status is selected it should tell you in the box below the current status of that network connection. If it says active and connected to the internet try restarting the router or modem. When you configure your network settings make sure the "show" box has Built-in Ethernet in it then click on the TCP/IP tab in the configure ipv4 select dhcp. It should have ip address subnet address and router address all filled out if not unplug the modem and plug it back in dont just turn it off. If within say 30 seconds the numbers dont appear their is only 2 things it could be the ethernet cable to the modem or the modem.
 
If you get an address that starts with 169.254.x.x, that is called an APIPA address. This is an address that's given by the machine itself when the machine that sent out a DHCP_REQUEST to the DHCP server did not receive an address from the DHCP server after several tries.

Is it possible that the cable modem lost the ability to dish out dynamic IP addresses. What you might have to do is reset the modem using the instructions supplied for that modem (your provider should have sent you all of the documentation for the modem). Make sure you have your configuration information from the ISP handy since you might have to supply the login information to the modem once again.
 
I don't think the problem is with the modem. As I mentioned, I brought the computer to my office, and it will connect with my static IP, but when I switch to DHCP, I get the 169 addy. Also, she unplugged the cable from the mac and plugged it into their Playstation, and it got on the internet right away. Plugged it back into the mac, and it wouldn't work. This makes me think the modem and cable are fine, the problem sems to be with the mac. It did work on the mac at her place for a few days, then quit. But it works fine on the Playstation.

Scott
 
Make sure that your network settings are proper. You should be connected via Ethernet and configured via DHCP. With all of your swapping things around, your Mac's settings may be changing faster than you realize. It is known that cable modems must be reset when you switch them between MacOS X and another device. With the various devices that you have connected to the 'net, you really should connect your modem to the WAN port of a router and connect your Mac, Playstation, and whatnot to the LAN ports of the router.
 
Thanks for all our comments. Some I have tried, some not yet.
I'll keep at it and post again if I have success.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for your suggestions. On further questioning, I found out she was
unplugging cable from her mac while it was asleep, and plugging it into the playstation. Upon plugging it back into the mac, no internet.

After cycling the modem, DHCP would reset and get a new address and she was back in business. I have her on the road to buying a router to avoid the problem in the future.
Thanks again!

scott
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top