[NDBounce]

I am trying to connect to a public network's internet while on vacation. For some reason when I plug in the ethernet cord to my powerbook G4 (15" 1.5GHZ 10.4.11) I cannot get an internet connection, and I can only get a self assigned IP.

On my dad's powerbook G4 (12", 1.25GHZ 10.4.8) there is no problem connecting to the internet.

I tried to even change my interent from DCHP to Manua, still to no avail).

Both compuers are using the same cord (I am moving it from one to another). I have restarted, renewed DHCP lease, and pretty much run out of ideas.

Does anyone have ideas as to what is going on? I also can tell you that 2 days ago the eternet was working fine from my home on my computer. Also, in Network status on my computer it can detect when I am plugging in and pulling out the ethernet cable. It just can't seem to get a IP.

Thanks for any help.

Peace,

O
B unce!

[besson3c]

Is the computer connected directly to the internet, or to a router? If the former, does the ISP require a PPPoE connection? Are you getting a 169 IP address, or a 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x?

[silver]

Try assigning a new network location. Other than that, that's all I can think of. Maybe others here might have a better perspective on the subject.

[Jesus On Cheese]

Sounds like there is a problem communicating with a DHCP service. Also possible that there is a faulty connection somewhere.

First thing to try is find out what subnet they are using (eg 10.0.0.x or 192.168.x.x or something similar) and what IPs are free. Easy way it plug in your Dad's powerbook, go to System Preferences/Network and write down the details the PowerBook is using. You'll need the IP, subnet mask and router, and DNS if it is there. Enter the exact same settings using 'configure manually', click Apply, and see what happens.

It is also sometimes useful to create a new network location, just in case it is holding old data somewhere.

Next things to try is if you can get a connection on your PowerBook anywhere else, and try a different network cable. This will help rule out hardware issues. Sometimes the pins in the ethernet port get damaged/bent.

Also a small possibility that they are controlling access based on MAC addresses, or that they've just run out of free IPs in the DHCP pool.

You could also try sharing the connection from Dads PB to your PB via firewire or airport.

[seanc]

What type of router are you using?
We've been having trouble with Netgears updating themselves with new firmware recently, which causes a lot of problems.

[NDBounce]

I should have stated in my original post that I have tried all the above suggestions.

I tried to set the settings manually - nothing happened.
I also tried to create a new location - that also did not work.

In terms of connections, I am guessing the only bad connection can be on my ethernet card, because as I said, it works perfectly with my dad's powerbook.

The network appears to connect to a linksys router (I gathered this when I tried to go to http://192.168.1.1 on the network in question). I am going to attempt to bring my computer to an Apple Store tomorrow to see if they can confirm that there is something not right with my card (it does, however detect when the cable has been plugged in or unplugged).

I was wondering if there are any network preferences that I can try to trash, and if so, where are they. I would guess library/preferences or user/library/preferences but I don't want to start trashing stuff until someone can confirm for me what I should trash, and what the consequences of trashing such files are.

Thank you,

O
B unce!

[Cold Warrior]

[nevermind]

[besson3c]

Can you access the internet from a different OS X account on your Mac? Is your router setup to restrict what machines can connect to the network via MAC address?

[Jesus On Cheese]

OK. Two guesses are hardware - damaged ethernet on your PowerBook. Check the pins. Btw, ethernet hardware issues normally involve a main logic board replacement. Cheaper might be to get a PC-Card Ethernet adaptor.
Guess 2 - Software - router doesn't want to give you a DHCP address because address pool is empty or MAC address access control is active. Can easily check this by plugging into another Router, resetting the existing Router, or by creating a manual connection between the two PowerBooks via ethernet. Just plug the cable into both ethernet ports and give both an IP on the same subnet, same subnet mask and leave the router address blank. Should be able to see the other computer.

As for trashing pref files, it is safe to do. The OS will recreate the files with default settings. try killing /Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkConfig.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.internetconfig.plist