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Wired Apple TV won't connect

I

ichabodkky

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 25, 2008
79
0
My Apple TV will only connect to my Time Capsule wirelessly. I have tried a wired connection, and nothing. My friend has a AEBS and we have the EXACT same settings on his AEBS as my TC and his works just fine. Mine pulls a 169.XXX.XXX.XXX IP address instead of the 192 it should be pulling. Here is my set up.

Embarq is the DSL Modem Set to Port Forwarding to the TC.
TC set into bridge mode (to avoid the dual NAT so "back to my mac" will work)
TC plugged into CAT5 that runs to the Living Room
Apple TV Connected to Wall outlet of the CAT5

The only other problem I can think of is bad cables, but I plugged my MacBook Unibody into to same LR port with the same cables I use for the AppleTV and it pulled a 192 IP and connected just fine.

So I took the AppleTV in to the Apple Store and the genius hooked it up there to run diagnostics, "Everything appears to be working, let's see if it will connect to our network." Sure enough, boom. Connected just fine. He gave me some BS about resetting firmware or some crap like that, and said it should be fine now.

So I get it back home and guess what. NOTHING. No connection on the wired connection......same cables I used for the MacBook. What is wrong? Why is it that me and my buddy's settings are exactly the same, but mine won't connect? Why will my MacBook pull a 192 IP address but the ATV won't? I know somebody out there has an answer for me. Please help!!!
 
That 169 ip address sounds like it's self-assigned. Are you sure you have a good ethernet connection at the wall? Have you tested another device with it? It is evident that your ATV is working properly. I don't have a TC, only an AEBSn so I cannot help you troubleshoot that device.
 
I have connected my MacBook Unibody to that same port in the LR with the same cable I connect to the Apple TV and it worked fine.
 
The 169 address indicates that your Apple TV is not getting an IP address from a DHCP server. This could be because of physical problems (your Ethernet cables) or a configuration problem in your DSL modem.

To test the physical connection, just connect your Apple TV and your Macbook together with an Ethernet cable. They should both end up with a 169 address and Bonjour should take care of the rest.

If that works, I'd try and understand why the DSL modem isn't offering an IP address. Do you filter by MAC address? The Apple TV's Ethernet MAC is different than its wireless one.

"Only change one thing at a time"

A.
 
Cave Man said:
I understand that MacBooks/MBP have auto-crossover ethernet ports, but I'm not sure if the Apple TV does. Did you use a cross-over ethernet cable, or did you wire the outlet yourself?
Click to expand...

The house was pre wired with CAT5 when we bought it, but I'm not sure about the crossover thing you are talking about. It is getting some kind of signal from the TC because the back of the TC has two little green lights on, on for the Desktop Windows machine plugged in to it, and one for the AppleTV plugged in to it. What is the difference between an ethernet cable and a crossover cable?
 
Alrescha said:
The 169 address indicates that your Apple TV is not getting an IP address from a DHCP server. This could be because of physical problems (your Ethernet cables) or a configuration problem in your DSL modem.
Click to expand...

If his ATV is connected to his Time Capsule, shouldn't the Time Capsule's AEBS be assigning the ip address, and not the DSL modem? Our setup is:

DSL > AEBSn > (hackintosh, Mini HTPC)

Our DSL doesn't participate in any DHCP assignments (other than to the AEBSn).

ichabodkky said:
The house was pre wired with CAT5 when we bought it, but I'm not sure about the crossover thing you are talking about.
Click to expand...

Have a read here about cross-over.

It is getting some kind of signal from the TC because the back of the TC has two little green lights on, on for the Desktop Windows machine plugged in to it, and one for the AppleTV plugged in to it. What is the difference between an ethernet cable and a crossover cable?
Click to expand...

What's confusing is it worked fine at the Apple Store (presumably they were using DHCP). Give Alrescha's post a try to see if that works.
 
But I have the TC in Bridge mode because if it is set to assign ip addresses, the "back to my mac" won't function properly because of dual NAT addresses (one from DSL and one from TC).
 
Well. It's the CAT5 in the wall.

I unplugged the AppleTV from the Living Room and moved it to the closet where the TC is located. I plugged the ATV into the TC using the ethernet cable I had in the living room and WOOHOOO it connected, Synced and everything. So I KNOW the problem is the CAT5, I just don't KNOW how to fix it. Any suggestions on this? Can I re-wire the plug in the wall in the LR and get it to work, or am I going to have to replace the CAT5 in the wall?
 
YES!!!!!! Upon further inspection, I compared different cat5 wires from around the house and found that the blue and green wire had been reversed on the connection in the closet, so I reversed them on the connection in the Living Room and BOOM (as Steve Jobs would say), IT WORKED!!!

I would not have known to check the wires if you guys hadn't told me about Crossover cables and I went to look at the wiring. You guys are AWESOME!!
 
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