[captiva]

We had a power outage in my home office network, and when the power came back up, all the Mac's IP addresses (normally assigned by DHCP) were different than what DHCP had given them for the past year... and we had come to rely on for things like a network calendar server.

So to prevent this prob from happening again I'd like to assign each Mac its own static IP address. (and there's other apps I'd like to use that need a static IP on the Mac, like screen sharing software, and Version Cue). I've searched the internet and can't find out how to do this! And so I turn to you.

We're all running Tiger; 10.4.6. I don't know what info you need to help me, so I'll tell you what I know.

System is this:
DSL Router > MacSense (XSense M120) Hub/Switch > 2 Macs via Ethernet, 1 PC via Ethernet, 1 printer via Ethernet, 1 Airport Express via Ethernet set up as a bridge (and 2 Powerbooks and one Compaq laptop connect via Airport).

The MacSense hub's IP is 192.168.254.254
DHCP is enabled on the MacSense, its starting address is 192.168.254.100
Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
Airport Express is 192.168.254.100
All other comps on network are 192.168.254.10[n] (.101, .102, etc.)
The two PCs are running XP Pro; it's not required they have a static IP.

Thanks for any help!

cap

[indigoimac]

Go into network preferences and configure the connection manually or you can do DHCP w/ manual IP in the same box.

[captiva]

thank you ... so it's just that simple? Do I need to restart the macs or the router or whatever afterwards in order to get it to "take"?

Do I need to do anything special with the router ... it says it's using DHCP.

thx
cap

[captiva]

indigomac, while waiting for your reply I went ahead and gave it a shot on two of the computers. I made a new location in Sys Prefs, config'd it manually, but It didn't work (I think because my DNS addresses were out of date) even tried rebooting the hub and the computers, still no love.

But when I tried to revert back to "Automatic" (with DHCP as before), one Mac was okay, the other ... my main one .. is not! It's been assigned an IP as usual, and I can surf the net and get my e-mail without a hitch.

But my main Mac can no longer see/find my iDisk nor other computers on the network. When I click the Network icon in the sidebar in a Finder window, it shows three folders: Applications, Library and Users. Every other Mac shows what it usually shows when you click the Network globe: shortcuts to the other Macs on the network being shared (it shows their Mac names). This includes the Powerbook that I had tried assigning an IP manually and then reverted back to Automatic ... which uses DHCP.

Why did the powerbook revert back fine, but my iMac did not?

I tried restarting, logging in/out, tried a different test user (same prob), repairing permissions (nothing).

Help!

cap

[captiva]

More info ..

It's now able to find my iDisk. The Network icon still isn't working.

However, I can connect to other macs on the network via the Connect To: command.

Why is this? What's the meaning of the three folders (Applications, Library, Users) when I select the Network icon? There's nothing in those folders by the way.

Is there some cache or something I should delete?

thx
cap

[f1000]

Originally Posted by captiva

thank you ... so it's just that simple? Do I need to restart the macs or the router or whatever afterwards in order to get it to "take"?

Do I need to do anything special with the router ... it says it's using DHCP.

You need to read the help file that came with your router since each brand needs to be programmed a bit differently. My router allows me to set static IP addresses manually and run DHCP at the same time, so it's not an either/or proposition.

In Network Preferences on each Mac:

Set Configure IPv4 to Manually
Enter an appropriate IP Address
Enter an appropriate Subnet Mask
Enter the router's IP address

You can get an idea for the appropriate values to use by jotting down the assigned values when using DHCP.

Next, add each static IP address along with its associated MAC address into your router.

Now all you have to do, I think, is unplug and replug your Ethernet cable.

[captiva]

okay, will do, f1000. I do have a tiny manual that came with my hub thing and I think I know where to set this in its web-based admin panel.

BUT ... what about my iMac's broken Network icon in the Finder? It's still showing "Applications," "Library," and "Users" folders when selected. This just happened when I tried following indigoimac's advice above, and though I'm back to DHCP Auto, the Network icon problem remains.

Before this, it showed what all my other Macs show when you click Network:
Library [alias]
Mshome [folder]
My Network [folder]
Servers [alias]
Workgroup [folder]

To mount computers on the LAN, we click either My Network (to get to the macs) or Mshome (to get to the pc's).

.... should I post this in a new thread? I'm hesitant since maybe it's related? (just happened when I was fiddling with a static ip)...

cap

[f1000]

Whoa, one step at a time. I want you to first confirm that each computer has a unique static IP address and that each can access the Internet.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by f1000

You need to read the help file that came with your router since each brand needs to be programmed a bit differently. My router allows me to set static IP addresses manually and run DHCP at the same time, so it's not an either/or proposition.

In Network Preferences on each Mac:

Set Configure IPv4 to Manually
Enter an appropriate IP Address
Enter an appropriate Subnet Mask
Enter the router's IP address

You can get an idea for the appropriate values to use by jotting down the assigned values when using DHCP.

Next, add each static IP address along with its associated MAC address into your router.

Now all you have to do, I think, is unplug and replug your Ethernet cable.

OK, that seems easy enough but every time I try to set the IP address manually in OS X, I lose internet access. I assume this is because I haven't entered the values in to the router. Of course, I have no idea how to do that in my router. I can't find a specific reference to setting up static IPs for clients in the help file of this Trendnet TEW-432BRP router. Could this be the page?

2.4.1 Static
It enables user to set parameters by which the router forwards data to its destination
if user’s network has a static IP address.

Network Address: Type the static IP address user’s network uses to access the Internet. User’s ISP or network administrator provides user with this information.
Network Mask: Type the network (subnet) mask for user’s network. If user does not type a value here, the network mask defaults to 255.255.255.255. User’s ISP or network administrator provides user with this information.
Gateway Address: Type the gateway address for network. User’s ISP or network administrator provides user with this information.
Interface: Select an interface, WAN or LAN, to connect to the Internet.
Metric: Select which metric that user want to apply to this configuration.

And I assume I shouldn't be mucking around in the Netinfo manager. I tried following an Apple doc page for setting static IPs but it was useless. I'm afraid I might have mucked something up too since the "machines" listing no longer exists. Fortunately all is still working but that "machines" entry was replaced with "dir:3". Do I need to correct this, and if so, how?

[indigoimac]

When you configure manually you have to manually enter DNS addresses, w/o them u r not going anywhere online.

Also configuring the addresses automatically on the comp and router are 2 totally different things, though the result is the same. If you tell it to assign a stic ip on the router set the comp to DHCP, if you config the comp manually ignre the static setting on the router.