169 IP address issue

Hi High1, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

The 169.254.x.x addy simply means it's not getting any addy from a DHCP Server at all.

Is the network encrypted? WEP? WPA?

Op[en Internet Connect, click on 802.1x icon, Choose Ethernet for Network Port, fill in info... does that work or give any more clues?

Is it that the Mac is trying to remember a previous location (she sometimes takes it hope and logs on to her home ISP there). If so, how can I delete these previous locations?

If you feel that is the case, Trash these files & reboot...

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.internetconnect.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sharing.firewall.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.networkConfig.plist

/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.networkConnect.<12 digit number>.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.nat.plist

Sorry to be such a pain!

No, not at all, don't worry about that. 🙂

how do I access 'Internet Connect'

That Application is in the Applications folder, if there isn't an icon in the dock for it, then double click on the HDD on the Desktop to view it in Finder.

and how do I access the 'Library'

Double click on the HDD on the Desktop to view it in Finder, or use Finder>Go menu>Go to Folder... & type in /Library

Have you checked the DHCP server logs to see if there are any clues there?

The problem might not be with the client. There are all kinds of reasons why the server might not respond to a DHCP request.

For example, it may have run out of available IP addresses, or it may be using access controls to restrict certain MAC addresses to the network and this user's machine isn't on the access list.

Both these issues should be apparent from the DHCP server logs.

Hello High1,

Did you ever get this issue solved?

I am having the same problem right now. I work away from home so I am constantly using different networks, usually with no problems. I arrived home last night and when I tried to connect (wirelessly or with ethernet) I couldn't get on. I kept getting the self assigned ip beginning 169.

Though I don't have all of the files mentioned, I tried the method suggested by BDAqua but it didn't do any good. I am currently booted up from a clone I made about one week ago and the network settings work fine, I log on automatically. I'm considering using this clone to restore my Primary HD but I would rather find the cause of the problem, understand it and fix it from there.

My battery seems to have died this week which could be the cause; it caused 2 unprompted shutdowns. But it was a few days between that and this new problem with the self assigned ip address.

G4 Powerbook 1.67 GHz/2GB RAM/OSX 10.5.6

Hello:
A couple days ago, I experienced the SAME problem!!!!! I'm worried!

I have an eMac G4 running OS X 10.4.11, and I've had this for about 8.5 years now and it's great (knock on wood). I don't want to lose this computer!!!
I have a DSL model (Westell model 6100) and barely had any internet connection problems.
Tuesday morning (01/27), I was able to get on the internet fine. I get home that evening, and my internet connection was GONE!! I called up my DSL tech support and they mentioned this 169.xxx.xxx IP Address is NO GOOD!!! By the way, as far as being a computer geek with these things, I'm sooo far from it.... I'm a graphic designer, not a computer tech.:o)
Anyway, it can't be my modem because I also have a MacBook running 10.5.6, and my internet is fine. So, what is this 169 IP Address? What can be done? Have you solved your problem?
I've been trying to get some info online in forums about this 169.xxx problem and it's been going on a lot lately.
I remember reading a forum where a person came home and had to change the date because it was dated back in '69.... that happened to me last weeked (or late last week?).
ANY HELP? Please...
Thanks!!!

Hi GraphXArtist, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

I remember reading a forum where a person came home and had to change the date because it was dated back in '69.... that happened to me last weeked (or late last week?

Sounds like it's time to replace the PRAM Battery...

http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_XLR8YourMac.cfm?ID=2524&Item=NWTBAA36VPRAM

PS. It's quite acceptable to start a new topic if you have more questions or need more help, often preferable, and since it can be hard to find out where to do that, here's the link...

http://discussions.apple.com/post!default.jspa?forumID=755

Hey BDAqua. Thanks for the reply.

I just mentioned the date/time problem because the same user came home one day, turned the computer on, noticed he had to fix the date/time, and then a couple days later, his internet connection was down on THAT one computer. His IP Address was a 169.xxx... Very similar story to mine. I thought maybe it was a coincidence that we both had to reset the date/time and a couple days later... BOOM.. no internet connection and with an 169.xxx.xx.x. IP address.
I connected my DSL modem to my MacBook now, and I obviously have internet connection... but this eMac isn't getting a signal whatsoever.
I'm sorry... I just thought ( hoping) the date/time problem was part of my IP address problem.
I don't know what it can be...?

Thanks for the help.

One diagnostic to try is to go down the Apple Menu to Locations, select that and open Network Preferences from that menu.

What is the Location you have selected, and what is shown in Network Preferences for that Location under Show "Network Status"? Typically some green, yellow red dots are shown, my guess is that you won't have any green ones, but some will be yellow or red and will have some text by them. That text may provide a clue as to why you aren't connecting.

Hey steve...

The location that is on is called "dsl." That's what I named it. Under Show, it says "Network Status."
Now, below that there's Built-in Ethernet and Internal Modem. The Built-in Ethernet (yellow dot) says...
"Built-in Ethernet is currently active. Built-in Ethernet has a self-assigned IP address and may not be able to connect to the Internet." Internal Modem (red dot) says, "Internal Modem is not set up."

I played around with these settings... renew the lease option... put in an IP address manually and still nothing.

I have no clue what that means. Sorry!

My issue has (annoyingly) righted itself so I can't actually tell you what it was that fixed it.

As I was in a position to do it I restored my system from a backup clone I keep. I was lucky enough to have backed up very recently so doing such a thing wasn't I wasn't going to loose out. That did the trick and my internet settings were back to normal.

A couple of nights later when using my laptop online but away from a power source it died on me. My battery is almost worthless and it can die whilst it's telling me it's a 80%. When I powered back up I was on the 169 ip address again.

This time however I didn't restore from a backup but after a couple of hours it righted itself. I have no exact idea of what happened, but I'm fairly sure it must be my internal backup battery. I know only use it when I'm connected to the mains and plan to get a new battery and internal battery. When I do I will post back.

Hope you get it solved....


Double ohh..

Thank you so much! This fixed the problem instantly. All I had to do was go into the network preferences and select a network. By the way, I have Leopard and I haven't tried it on Tiger yet.

Thanks,
musicman432

Hi musicman432, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Great to hear, thank you! 🙂

BDAqua wrote:

Op[en Internet Connect, click on 802.1x icon, Choose Ethernet for Network Port, fill in info... does that work or give any more clues?

There is no 802.1x icon showing on internet connect!