PPC MDD - No Internet Via Ethernet

I'm not an electrical expert so the only thing your power problem suggests to me is the power supply. Others here know far more about that than I, so I'll just try to address your internet issue.

As a general check, open up System Preferences and go to the Security preference pane. Click on Firewall. Is your system set at "Set Access for Specific Services and Applications"?

If so, do this. Unplug your ethernet cable and switch the preference to either allow all aincoming connections or allow only essential services. Click OK and plug your ethernet cable back in. Open up System Preferences again and go to your Network tab. If your status does not say connected (it will probably say Self Assigned IP Address if it's not connected) then click on the Advanced button, go to the TCP/IP tab and click on Renew IP Address.

If you get a valid IP then you have fallen victim to a known Leopard firewall bug. You can switch the firewall back to the strict security once you get a valid connection. 169.xxx.xxx.xxx by the way is a Self Assigned IP address.

You can also add the system services MDNSRspndr and DHCP and a few others I have to lookup to the firewall exceptions so that you don't have to do this all the time or use a lower security. Those services reside in the hidden file system.

You reset the PRAM at one point which can reset the firewall settings. It may not have done that this time (if this is the problem) because files were open when you kernal panicked. That can cause permissions errors on the open files (some of which would be your network connection files). I am just speculating, I don't know.

If this was your problem then I'll go look that up for you. If not, then maybe someone else knows something.

 

Glad I could help. Of course while searching for the relevant information I can't find things again and I didn't have bookmarks.

Anyway, here is what I did based on the info I gathered.

Inside /usr/sbin are the following system services:
named
natd
krb5kdc
mDNSResponder
nmbd
configd

You can get to that folder by using the Go To Folder command from the Go menu in the Finder. After that it's a simple matter of dragging those services into the add window for the firewall.

Doing this allows you to keep the firewall on. mDNSResponder is the biggie though. Block that and you have no internet.

You can also reset the firewall by deleting com.apple.alf.plist which is in Library/Preferences. Restart. You will have to confirm every program seeking access to the internet once again if using the strictest firewall setting.

Also in looking around today for this stuff there seems to be some info that indicate this problem can happen if the time and dates are wrong and/or permissions on mDNSResponder and configd.

Doing what I mentioned previously, while it resolves the matter immediately leaves you wide open, unless you set the firewall back.

I have discovered since I first encountered this that there is a plethora of users out there who have had this problem ever since Leopard was introduced. I beat my head against the wall trying to solve this for four hours one night with my wife's Mac until I found the first solution I gave you. It kept coming back for me until I physically added the services to the firewall exceptions (because I want firewall protection) and that problem is how I found out about adding the services to the firewall.

So, you have options.

Hope someone can help you out with the electrical problem. My dad was an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry during the 80s, but other than how not to kill myself I pretty much am clueless when it comes to much more than switches and sockets!

 

eyoungren is on the right track with the power supply. My 1.42 GHz MDD had the same issue, first it began only wanting to start up after I had unplugged and replugged it in. A few weeks later it started to freeze up at random times, and finally would freeze after 15 mins or less of being on. It was the power supply, and putting a new one in fixed all of the problems. Two years later it's still in use every day and working great.

 

I don't know what the cheapest price is for a MDD PS these days but I suspect you should consider retiring that machine. If it's $200, that's 1/3 the way to a new Mac Mini.

 

I think a PS these days is around $100 or more. When I bought mine a couple of years ago it arrived with the faulty PS. The previous owner ran the IT department of a school and sent me a different working PS that I swapped out, so I didn't have to pay for a new PS.

It is a tough choice, whether to put more money into such an old machine. The other option is for the OP to see if they can find an inexpensive working model to scavenge for parts. The parts are worth far more than the machines since users want to keep theirs going and prospective 'new owners' don't want such an old machine. I see the MDD on Craigslist here in the Chicago area a few times a year, most of the time they are $100 or less, but I know every market is different.