[bierslayer]

I've got an Actiontec DSL modem from my ISP that I had functioning properly until I tried messing around with setting up the PC to run headless (i.e. using the iMac keyboard, mouse and monitor to control the PC via VNC) . The IP address was the standard 192.168.0.1 default as reported by both the iMac (Panther) and PC (running Windows 2000).

For reasons I can't explain (stupidity would probably be one explanation) I disabled DHCP on the PC and now the modem is not responding to either machine. The IP addresses show up as 16?.???.??? when I try connecting each machine separately. The tech person from the ISP is sending another modem that will take too long to arrive so I'm hoping someone might have some input to solve the mystery I've created. My wife needs the PC with DSL functioning ASAP to work from home and the sooner the better. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers.

[ghporter]

Start over from scratch. If that means going step by step through the setup process for your wife's PC, then do it.

Unless there's some interesting software involved that you didn't mention, the Mac and the PC should both have their own, unique IP addresses. Also, either enable DHCP on both, or manually give both an IP in the 192.168.1.X range.

Depending on what PC operating system you're using, you may be able to get away with controlling it remotely, but the odds are against a stable situation. Windows isn't too great sometimes with hardwired console peripherals (keyboard/monitor/mouse) much less with "virtual" components.

[bierslayer]

Thanks GHPorter. I managed to fix the situation by hitting the reset button on the modem and that got the iMac connected. The Windows 2000 box was still not connecting until I discovered that DHCP was not enabled on the PC. Still don't know how everything got so messed up. Also, I managed to get RealVNC server set up on the PC and tried both ChickenoftheVNC and VNCThing on the iMac and got them both to work! VNCThing seemed more responsive but I have to play with both of them a little. My wife is trying to get her employer talked into putting XP Pro on the PC so I can try running RDC as I've heard that it's an improvement over VNC.

Very weird looking at a Windows desktop on an iMac flat panel. It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do!