Help with Ethernet Network

[Stormyguy]

Hi All

Have 2 iMacs (OS 9.2.2) networked via an ethernet switch in our office and upon arriving this morning one of the machines had crashed while 'sleeping' overnight and I was obviously unable to connect to share files as usual.

After re-starting both machines (and later the whole network) I am unable for either Mac to 'see' each other on the network. All IP addresses appear to be assigned correctly, have checked TCP/IP control panel, AppleTalk and File Sharing panels and all appears to be well - or at least no different settings that I notice as incorrect.

Have 'pinged' both Macs from the PeeCee that also resides on the network and all responses are received correctly.

Can anyone offer a fix for this as I am racking my brains to no avail.

Thank you kindly in advance...
Danny

 

[peterjhill]

Start at OSI layer 1, are all the network cables plugged in.

Move to Layer 2, does your switch have a link light on for the problem machine? Does switching the port you are connected to on the switch also switch which machine has the problem? If so, hope you have an spare port, else go buy a new switch. (10/100 switch, don't buy a hub ever again).

Still having problems, move to Layer 3:
Do all machines have the same:
Default Gateway
Subnet Mask

Can you post the ip addrs and subnet mask, it would be good to check that they are all in the same subnet.

If the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, than it is sufficent to know that the first three octets are the same in all the ip addrs and default gateway.
(octets=numbers between dots).

If the subnet mask is not that written above, then you should probably tell us what the ips are.

Troubleshooting help:
So you have three of the four machines that can see each other via ping, so your problem is the fourth machine, concentrate on that machine. Have you rebooted it? If the mac is running OS X, open a terminal window (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) in the window that pops up, type:

ifconfig -a
Check to see that interface 'en0', your wired interface is set up properly. It gets these numbers from the network control panel.

You can also ping other machines here. If you are still having problems, let us know.

 

[Stormyguy]

Thanks for the advice so quickly.

I seem to be fumbling around with my settings here and while I can verify that the subnet masks etc are all correct and that we have a 10/100 'switch', it seems that the problem has been with the AppleTalk Control Panel on the 'problem' iMac.

When I first checked earlier this was clearly configured to 'via Built-in Ethernet' - one of my first basic checks. However after a couple of hours I have decided to have another troubleshooting session from scratch and now I see that this control panel shows 'via Airport' for some strange reason.

Upon re-entering via Ethernet the machine informs me it's switching the AppleTalk connection and we are back to normal.

Rather an unusual episode? Also I note that the 'Apple Menu' Apple in the top left of the screen (OS9) is now flashing as if either the machine is connected to the internet or a fax received in FaxSTF - neither of which is it actually doing!

Thanks once again for the help and the info on 'ping' from OSX - this will be noted for my home machine which is on X.

Danny

 

[rainman::|:|]

with OS 9, if you set up to use Appletalk over ethernet, and the computer doesn't think you're actually on an ethernet network, it will default to something else. annoying, isn't it? our powerbook will default to Remote Only whenever off the ethernet network, really sucks...

pnw

 

[Les Kern]

For our laptops and desktops I disable all other protocols except what I want them to be forced to. For instance, the laptops have ethernet disabled (remote access isn't even installed!), so no matter where they are they go Airport.
Just a helpfull suggestion.

 

[Stormyguy]

Interesting - thks for the tips!

Just out of interest, how would I go about disabling remote access as neither of our Macs needs internet access as this is also handled over the ethernet connection? Or would this even be necessary?

I still can't seem to stop the Apple icon on the Apple Menu (top left of screen bar) from flashing at all. Is this likely to be something remote access linked or is it perhaps a Faxstf issue? I think a remote access connection flashes a little telegraph pole icon and this is definitely reminiscent of an active Faxstf connection. Faxstf is 'Off' (and indeed not required at all) but I can't disable the flashing icon.

Danny

 

[Les Kern]

Remote access and Ethernet connectivity, for instance, can be disabled in Extension Manager under OS9.
To complicate things, our teachers all have laptops, so, in order to give them modem connectivity at home, under Location Manager I set up three sets, "MCHS WIRELESS", "MCHS WIRED" and "HOME". When they boot (normally) they can choose. On the desktops I disable Airport, and remote access was never installed on my disk images. Never have had an issue with this set up, and Loc Mgr is darned easy to set up... takes about 3 minutes to make the sets.
That being said, the "older" serial-based machines were a BEAR to get rid of those connections but it can be done.
As far as link speed, I set my switches at 100 Fdx and force the Macs to connect at that speed. Fdx is critical, 10 or 100 or 1000. There are exceptions, most involving older 2.4 Ghz WAN radio links, but you get the idea.
Good luck.