Yet another "self-assigned IP" case -- it must be a 10.4.8 bug
Many people have already posted about the "self-assigned IP" error that occurs when they try to connect their laptop to the Internet through wifi. Various theories blame the hardware (e.g., new MB or MBP, new 802.11n cards, new router), but I'm here to say it's almost certainly a bug in 10.4.8.
I'm using a three year-old iBook G4, and up until 10.4.8, I had no problems connecting to the Internet through wifi. But since 10.4.8, I am spontaneously and randomly losing my connection and getting the "self-assigned IP" error. The Airport signal is always loud and clear, but I can't actually go anywhere.
A month ago, I lost my connection at the corner diner but was still able to connect everywhere else: home basestation, coffeehouse, public library... no problems. I performed the usual troubleshooting with no results, so I blamed the diner's WAP. However, other customers were connecting just fine, so the diner said there was nothing they could do. A couple weeks later, the connection came back. The diner hadn't changed the router and I hadn't changed the iBook settings. It just happened.
Then, last night I lost my connection to my own home basestation, which is an iMac G5 running in Sharing mode. And when I say I lost the connection, I mean in the middle of a download; one second it was there and the next it wasn't. Restarting or waking from sleep was not a factor. Airport signal is still loud and clear, but the DHCP is screwed. I've been using this same setup (i.e., iBook G4 + iMac G5) every day for the last year and a half, and I never had a problem before last night.
Since I now had same problem with two different WAPs in two different timeframes, I realized it may be a problem with the iBook. I went searching for answers and found the other "self-assigned IP" threads here. I've read them all, and the only common factor seems to be 10.4.8. I've deleted keychains, I've disabled WEP, I've repaired permissions, I've reset power management, I've reseated Airport cards... nothing works.
All I can do now is wait for it to come back on its own, or wait for 10.4.9 to fix it.
iBook G4 1.0GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)
I'm using a three year-old iBook G4, and up until 10.4.8, I had no problems connecting to the Internet through wifi. But since 10.4.8, I am spontaneously and randomly losing my connection and getting the "self-assigned IP" error. The Airport signal is always loud and clear, but I can't actually go anywhere.
A month ago, I lost my connection at the corner diner but was still able to connect everywhere else: home basestation, coffeehouse, public library... no problems. I performed the usual troubleshooting with no results, so I blamed the diner's WAP. However, other customers were connecting just fine, so the diner said there was nothing they could do. A couple weeks later, the connection came back. The diner hadn't changed the router and I hadn't changed the iBook settings. It just happened.
Then, last night I lost my connection to my own home basestation, which is an iMac G5 running in Sharing mode. And when I say I lost the connection, I mean in the middle of a download; one second it was there and the next it wasn't. Restarting or waking from sleep was not a factor. Airport signal is still loud and clear, but the DHCP is screwed. I've been using this same setup (i.e., iBook G4 + iMac G5) every day for the last year and a half, and I never had a problem before last night.
Since I now had same problem with two different WAPs in two different timeframes, I realized it may be a problem with the iBook. I went searching for answers and found the other "self-assigned IP" threads here. I've read them all, and the only common factor seems to be 10.4.8. I've deleted keychains, I've disabled WEP, I've repaired permissions, I've reset power management, I've reseated Airport cards... nothing works.
All I can do now is wait for it to come back on its own, or wait for 10.4.9 to fix it.
iBook G4 1.0GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)
