[oivindi]

Suddenly I�m having problems connecting my Pismo with my girlfriend�s iMac G4 through a local network (using just an Ethernet cable between the machines).

It�s been working 100% before, but now there is no way *either* of the machines will assign an IP-address to themselves through TCP/IP (DHCP). I�ve now tried various solutions numerous times, but not once have I experienced that an IP-address will show up in the Network Address field in the Sharing panel.

I�ve tried with Appletalk on, and with Appletalk off. Nothing.

Both machines have recently been upgraded to OS X 10.2.6.

I�ve also tried assigning IP-addresses manually in the Network panel, but not even then will the (manual) IP-address be acknowledged in the Sharing panel.

To put it simple: What on earth is going? Why will neither machine be "IP-addressified"? This has been working marvellously before, but now it�s all dead.

I�m having a real hard time "error searching" in OS X. It seems almost as complex and insurmountable as Windows (shudder), and while deleting a preferences file was often enough in OS 9, I have no idea at all where to start in OS X.

Yes, I have tried with two different cables etc.

Any and all suggestions appreciated greatly.

/Oeivind/

[Hozie]

First thing is always to ping the remote machine through the terminal as follows:

ping ip_address_of_remote_machine_here

(Kind of a 'duh' suggestion, but it's a start.) If that works, then at least you know it's software-related. If it doesn't work, then carry on...

Second, firewall. Make sure it's turned off. (You can turn it back on later) Ping again, and if that works, then it's port-related.

Third, restart/log out and back in. It's always worth a shot to manually assign an ip and then restart the comp to see if it sticks.

Fourth, permissions. Unlikely it'd be a permissions issue, but fixing permissions hasn't ever hurt anyone. (Utilities/Disk Utility/Repair Permissions)

If none of these (admittedly, somewhat trivial) suggestions work, please report back and maybe include a detailed report of what you did and how.

[oivindi]

Thanks for your reply.

I've tried one, two and three - no luck.

I've also run a permissions check, but things look OK.

Judging from the results from a "ifconfig en0" (in the Terminal), there doesn't seem to be any physical contact between the two machines:

en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500
inet6 fe80::230:65ff:fe57:6824%en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
ether 00:30:65:57:68:24
media: autoselect (none) status: inactive
supported media: none autoselect 10baseT/UTP <half-duplex> 10baseT/UTP <half-duplex,hw-loopback> 10baseT/UTP <full-duplex> 10baseT/UTP <full-duplex,hw-loopback> 100baseTX <half-duplex> 100baseTX <half-duplex,hw-loopback> 100baseTX <full-duplex> 100baseTX <full-duplex,hw-loopback>

"Status: incactive" is the message I get on both machines, unfortunately.

Some have suggested I switch cable .type. (not just cable), but I don't see the point in this since I've been using the same kind of cable previously - with great success.

Any way to check my Ethernet ports (hardware diagnostics)?

Perhaps I've fried something. Who knows.

/Oeivind/

[topcat]

Cables can go bad. Happens more often than you might think. Borrow one or, if necessary, buy one. Cheap compared to the alternatives!

[oivindi]

Originally posted by topcat:
Cables can go bad. Happens more often than you might think. Borrow one or, if necessary, buy one. Cheap compared to the alternatives!

Have tried two different "machine-to-machine" cables, and yesterday I also tried another type of cable when trying to connect to the LAN of my University (which also used to work just fine).

Nothing works. The Ethernet port seems completely dead. Something is at least completely dead.

Also tried reinstalling OSX last night. Nope, nichts, nada.

Will return my Powerbook for repair today.



/Oeivind/