# Chronicles of a Noob!



## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Sorry for the long post, Any "constructive" advice would be helpful.

Let me just start by saying the obvious, "I know i should have made a back up!" unfortunately i didn't so now what?

From the start, about 2 years ago my Sony SVR-2000 (lifetime service) stopped making it's daily calls. After my talk with the Tivo reps and Sony Cust Service, I decided to just purchase a new machine and turn this one into a "project TiVo".

Several months ago i decided pull out my "project" and attempt to repair the modem with a "chip" kit commonly found online. All went well until I had to remove the "Larger (k2?)" chip. It wasn't pretty, and it didn't end well. Arghhh!! my machine seemed not to function without the chip as well as it didn't with it. A little more research and I decided that my next plan of attack would be a modem bypass by hooking it into my network. I mean hey my series 2 is already connected and if all went well I could put this one in my family room without having to install another phone jack. So I bought a Turbonet card and followed a set of instructions commonly found online, (minus one step  ) you guessed it, no back up.
Well anyways all worked great, I was connected to my network, able to boot and reboot, make the call, etc.... no worrys, all I had to do was leave well enough alone...
Nope, couldn't do it, i had to play around some. Please note that I posses a very basic understanding of networks, but lack the common sense to leave them alone when they are working. 
I decided to assign a static address to my Tivo, no harm in that right? Right? Wrong! It seems I assigned it an address outside my routers range ( my dlink is 192.168.0.1 and I failed to modify the new address accordingly and assigned a 1.1 address) Dohh!
I'm not really sure that this is exactly what happened because, now that my TIVO WON'T CONNECT! and My network won't locate it, I can't verify it. 
Here's where it gets comical, I didn't notice the lack of connectivity right away, so assuming all was well I proudly marched the tivo into the family room and proclaimed victory to my wife ahah!! I connected it to the tv and waited for it to connect......waited....waited.... you get the point. I thought it probably was the fact that I had it hooked up to a cable box and decided to redo the set up (WON'T DO THAT AGAIN), now I'm stuck at the inital setup screen with a Tivo that can't make the initial call, because it can't connect to the network and the modem doesn't work. Aarrgh, I'll just use the external modem I think, nope didn't work. (,#211 was used), I will try this approach again later as it seems promising, the unit makes a call but the service doesn't answer( whatever that means?). In the meantime I have also tried using a router (linksys) with a 1.1 address but still no use.
Anybody have a friendly suggestion? I'm too stupid to give up now.
Thanks for any and all help


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

My Bad, 

I think this thread might be better suited for the Upgrade Forum. 
Sorry, If one of the Mods agrees, could you please move it for me, Thanks
-Crispy


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

Crispy321 said:


> Sorry for the long post, Any "constructive" advice would be helpful.
> 
> Let me just start by saying the obvious, "I know i should have made a back up!" unfortunately i didn't so now what?
> 
> ...


Not sure about Tivonet card installations, but if you can access via a serial cable you should be able to reset your tivo's IP.


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Thanks for the quick reply,

I was mistaken it is a turbonet card. (I corrected original post)
could you provide a little guidance re: the serial connection?

-Thanks,
Crispy


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## MungoJerrie (Mar 30, 2006)

Rerun the Turbonet installation program to reset your ip address. See the SiliconDust Forum for the installation instructions; basically you have to remove the HD, put it in your PC, boot from the silicondust cd you make with their ISO and run the "nic_install_turbonet" program. The site has all the details.

PS - you should retitle your post "The Chronicles of Noobia" - couldn't resist


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Thanks Mungo,

I'll give that a try after I attempt to reset the ip via serial cable.

-Crispy


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

Crispy321 said:


> Thanks Mungo,
> 
> I'll give that a try after I attempt to reset the ip via serial cable.
> 
> -Crispy


I assume that the older models work in a similar fashion as the new models. Click on the "wiki troubleshooting page" in my sig check items 10 - 15 since they are fairly generic. I'm not sure if any of the things listed there are "zipper specific" so if things don't hash out I would follow the advice given by MungoJerry and rerun the turbonet install program. In fact if you don't have a serial cable I would just rerun it.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

and once you get it working again quick dinking with it !! :-D


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

Another option that shouldn't require a serial cable:
just manually set your computer's IP to *.1.2, connect to the tivo at *.1.1 via telnet, and then change your Tivo's IP back where it belongs (then reset your computer to what it was, of course)


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Scratchin' my head....  

I removed the HD from the TiVo, Hooked it up into my PC, did the reboot thing with the latest driver from Silicon Dust, all appears great, reset the IP, rebooted, removed and reinstalled into TiVo, Turned on, Turbonet has the green light, See the device on my Networking software :up: :up: :up: , attempt the SET UP CAll (with ,#401) and :down: :down: :down: FAILED. SERVICE UNAVAILABLE message

Any ideas???

And thanks again for all your help, I am learning a lot from hanging around on this site.

-Crispy


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

telnet into the tivo, and from there, try to ping 204.176.49.2 (that's the IP the tivo gets guide data from, AFAIK)


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Re occuring message: ping: send to: Network is unreachable

This thing is giving me grey hair.....

Any suggestions?

-Crispy


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

are you sure your gateway is set correctly?
typing "route" should show you the settings (if you have that utility installed)


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> are you sure your gateway is set correctly?
> typing "route" should show you the settings (if you have that utility installed)


Crispy you can also check that on TWP on the Net Config tab.


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

JWThiers, Thanks this is what i found
&
BTUx9, Bingo!! ( I think )

When I telnet to my TiVo and type route I get:

bash: alis: command not found
TiVo: {/var/tmp} % route
route_info, afname=inet, options=33
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 32767 0 0 eth0
TiVo: {/var/tmp} %
TiVo: {/var/tmp} %

I assume that I should have more than an "*" for gateway, but what? (I know, my level of noob just gained a few points)
Second question would be can I change this from my desktop or do I have to pull the hard drive from the Tivo Again?

-Crispy


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

If you can access your tivo with TivoWebPlus, you can got to the "net config" tab. 
All my other advice would be based on on having rbautch's enhancement script installed, Sorry I don't know the generic Linux commands to fix it.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

JWThiers said:


> If you can access your tivo with TivoWebPlus, you can got to the "net config" tab.
> All my other advice would be based on on having rbautch's enhancement script installed, Sorry I don't know the generic Linux commands to fix it.


I doubt very much that module will help with an S1 tivo. I've never used a turbonet card, but I would think that the setup for it would set the gateway (otherwise, you'll need to edit the author file and add the correct route command there, which could require pulling the drive if you make a mistake).


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> I doubt very much that module will help with an S1 tivo. I've never used a turbonet card, but I would think that the setup for it would set the gateway (otherwise, you'll need to edit the author file and add the correct route command there, which could require pulling the drive if you make a mistake).


Like I said all my advice is based on having Rbautchs enhancements installed. No Script for whatever reason, My advice would not work.


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Eureka !!! :up: 

Thank you so much JWThiers and BTUx9.

It's alive and connected. I had to remove the drive and reset the gateway. After that it was nothin but grins. 

Now the question is wheter to follow markman's advice and quit dinking with it, or... Do I install the WD 160GB Drive I just picked up at Office Depot for $29.00 (after rebate)???? Last night during my attempts at fixing the unit I purchased InstantCake and thought that if needed I could always just use it as a "Do Over".

What do you think?

I have been reading the "160 limit" thread and the loss of some space without having to adjust/modify doesn't seem to bother me that much. Perhapse that mod could be a future project????  

Seriously thanks again for all the help.

-Crispy


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

with the original drive tucked away, upgrading to the 160 would be a fairly safe "dink"
If you don't mind losing the space above the 128GB limit, it'd be an easier hack, but don't plan on re-expanding later... if you really want the 160, do it now


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Now look what you've started.....  160GB drive has been caked and is installed. Waiting for Tivo to update, told not to unplug for 4-8 hours, blah,blah,blah....but it appears to be working

It didn't ask me to specify a static IP, Even though the Turbonet driver is already installed??? I guess I will have a few more steps to complete before I will be able to set it back to the static IP I chose earlier.

When I log onto the device I get the Tivo Web Project Page, is this the same as the Tivo Web Plus? (TWP)

Thanks,

-Crispy


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Anyone have some insight into Static DHCP?

I have been trying to piece together the information I find. Apparently my Dlink router supports it. Am I correct in believing that it will allow me to assign an IP (which is normally dynamic in DHCP) based on the Device's MAC Address (which is always static). 
-And if so...-
Would I still have to configure my Turbonet to that Static IP or can I leave it in DHCP (Instantcake defaulted to DHCP)?

As I am reading it would lead me to believe that I would only have to make the change to my router and not mess with individual devices. After any powerdown or reset the router retrieves the MAC Address and assigns the Static IP. Sounds too good to be true, and you know what they say about things that sound too good to be true....

Thanks again for the help,
-Crispy


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

You've essentially got it correct.
One thing to note: the static address that's assigned must be within the range that dhcp is controlling (i.e. if dhcp is serving addresses 100-199, you can't put in a static entry for 99)


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

:up: Sweet!!!
Thanks again BTUx9. My router range defaults between .100 & .200 so I will keep that in mind.

Would you know if I would also assign one for my Wireless Accespoint/Bridge that my Tivo conects through or is it working as an extension of the Tivo? It has it's own MAC however I only see it on my network map during the initial bootup, it then changes to the Tivo's MAC so I don't know if assigning it a seperate Static DHCP address would confuse the network or not. (hope that makes sense)

-Thanks
-Crispy


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

if the wireless bridge properly passes the dhcp request, then I'd think you'd assign based on the tivo's MAC... I don't have a wireless bridge, so can't tell you for sure


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Thanks, I will probably try it later this weekend. I will post what happens here.

Thanks again for all the support.
-Crispy


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

The type of "Static" IP you are thinking about really isn't static it just never expires. The DHCP server (your router) just doesn't use it again. It does however have a caveat that if the DHCP server (Router) ever gets reset or loses power, It starts handing out IP's from the start of its range again on a first come first served basis. Meaning that in event of a power failure, flicker, brown out, whatever the client list gets reset and the tivo you thought was at 192.168.1.102, is now at 192.168.1.104. In order for this to work make sure your router is on a UPS, especially if you live in an area prone to power fluctuations. In my experience it is easier to just assign a true static address outside the range that your DHCP server uses and be done with it. You only have to set it up once and you are good to go from then on power failures and system resets and all.

As far as the access point/bridge goes, when I put my belkin into access point mode to do bridging it asked for a static address to be assigned to it. the access point / bridge is just replacing the wire so any data that gets sent just gets passed thru including the MAC address's.

Home Networks were not even envisioned when DHCP started it was used to allow things like large businesses (>255 stations) to keep the same subnet because not everyone would be on at the same time. It is just a side effect that it makes it easy for non-technical people to connect to a network. Network administrator would be taking care of the network not Joe Schmoe with a tivo and an xbox.

Your tivo can access the network no problem with either Static or DHCP. The problem is that if you don't know what the tivo's IP is you can't access the tivo. The software that we use to access is general purpose software that is not designed with just tivo in mind. If a program were purpose written (like Tivo Desktop for example) it would actively search for the tivos on the network and automatically connect to them. But with a web browser or FTP/telnet client, if you don't have the IP you can't access it.

Honestly the only thing that DHCP does is make it easy for devices that aren't connected to connect in the first place and really wasn't intended for things that would always be connected. 

Sorry for the rant, just trying to save you headaches down the road. See my sig.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

JWThiers said:


> The type of "Static" IP you are thinking about really isn't static it just never expires. The DHCP server (your router) just doesn't use it again. It does however have a caveat that if the DHCP server (Router) ever gets reset or loses power, It starts handing out IP's from the start of its range again on a first come first served basis.


That just ain't true. If your router does that, it's very poorly designed. A "static" dhcp is supposed to be flashed to memory, and isn't just a long expiration (AFAIK, there isn't a response that never expires). Then, the router is supposed to return that same IP whenever the machine with that MAC requests it.


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> That just ain't true. If your router does that, it's very poorly designed. A "static" dhcp is supposed to be flashed to memory, and isn't just a long expiration (AFAIK, there isn't a response that never expires). Then, the router is supposed to return that same IP whenever the machine with that MAC requests it.


Thats how my current belkin and previous lynksys worked. I wouldn't call them Great routers, but they aren't poorly designed either. And they are probably 2 of the best known (and highly selling) brands, the other being Netgear. On my belkin router (F5D7231-4), Under Lan Setup, Lan settings, Lease Time, There are 8 settings ranging from 1/2 hour to 2 weeks and "Forever". Maybe you haven't had any power flutter severe enough to cause a restart of your router. Central Fl is the lightning capitol of North America (if not the world) and FPL (Florida Flicker and Flutter, I mean Power and Light) gives us a power brown out at least weekly in the summer, thanks to the thunder storms and everyone using A/C.

There are cost issues as well. I wouldn't think that they would physically flash a rom for a Static DHCP address. That is a whole lot more complicated than just using a standard memory chip and setting a lease time to never expire. Complicated =$. Relatively speaking a prom chip is much more expensive than a regular memory chip. IF someone were to do that it would have to be separate from the firmwear prom. They wouldn't want to bork the whole router just because you added a static DHCP and the Flash failed.

What router do you use?


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

JWThiers said:


> Thats how my current belkin and previous lynksys worked. I wouldn't call them Great routers, but they aren't poorly designed either. And they are probably 2 of the best known (and highly selling) brands, the other being Netgear. On my belkin router (F5D7231-4), Under Lan Setup, Lan settings, Lease Time, There are 8 settings ranging from 1/2 hour to 2 weeks and "Forever".


*THAT* explains it... a lease time of forever is NOT the same as static DHCP.


> What router do you use?


I've used dlink and a few others... some don't have a static DHCP option (I keep away from those)... they ALL have flash (or an equivalent non-volatile ram) because, otherwise, it wouldn't be able to keep track of other vital settings
(I DID have 1 router that would lose all its settings on a brownout, which is what I believed you were talking about originally)


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> *THAT* explains it... a lease time of forever is NOT the same as static DHCP.
> 
> I've used dlink and a few others... some don't have a static DHCP option (I keep away from those)... they ALL have flash (or an equivalent non-volatile ram) because, otherwise, it wouldn't be able to keep track of other vital settings
> (I DID have 1 router that would lose all its settings on a brownout, which is what I believed you were talking about originally)


I looked at the Dlink site and I do see what you mean. I also noticed that particular feature (network reservations or static DHCP) isn't available on the lower end (read Cheaper) models. It is a useful feature to be sure but I don't think that it is common. Most people just get the cheapest one that the can get and few, I would guess, if any of the cheaper routers that are commonly in use (and I would bet that they are the most common) have that feature. I stand by what I say about using a static IP address. I gotta admit though, that is a cool feature.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

Mine's a dlink di-604... not one of the expensive ones... also had it in an SMC barricade, IIRC

My point is that you shouldn't be telling people that static DHCP doesn't work when what doesn't work is trying to emulate static DHCP with long-term dynamic... they just aren't the same thing


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> Mine's a dlink di-604... not one of the expensive ones... also had it in an SMC barricade, IIRC
> 
> My point is that you shouldn't be telling people that static DHCP doesn't work when what doesn't work is trying to emulate static DHCP with long-term dynamic... they just aren't the same thing


I admit I didn't look at all of their routers, I looked at 2 of them a newer wireless router (wbr-2310) did have it and a low end wireless one (di-524) did not appear to have it. Figuring most people are generally cheap, I figured most would buy the 524. I didn't look at any others because it already proves that not ALL implement a static DHCP or never expiring DHCP the same way.

They may not technically be the same thing. But enough people have used the term to mean setting the lease to not expire that I started using it to mean that as well. I will change my opinion to be many of the more common routers implementations of ... does not work. The effect for me is the same, until most of the routers implement it the way that some of the dlinks I would not in general recommend using DHCP on a hacked tivo. Its just simpler to not to deal with it. A static IP will work on EVERY router, and only SOME of the implementations of a static DHCP will work. If you stick with a static address it does not matter what else the are using.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

Here's my problem: you're telling everyone who will listen "don't use static DHCP because a power failure will screw it up"... that just isn't true


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

You realize we are arguing about the definition of a word. I agree that I used a term in a way that was NOT technically accurate. But having said that the intent was unless your router has a specific feature (DHCP reservations) you will end up with the results I describe. But if you have the feature that is available on most routers and many inaccurately call Static DHCP (actually DHCP with no expiration time) you will not get the results that they intended. Are you happy now?


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

JWThiers said:


> You realize we are arguing about the definition of a word. I agree that I used a term in a way that was NOT technically accurate. But having said that the intent was unless your router has a specific feature (DHCP reservations) you will end up with the results I describe. But if you have the feature that is available on most routers and many inaccurately call Static DHCP (actually DHCP with no expiration time) you will not get the results that they intended. Are you happy now?


Just To be clear I made a mistake, "Static DHCP" and a "DHCP IP that does not expire" are NOT the same thing. IF you have a router that supports STATIC DHCP it will work fine even if you have a power glitch. For everyone else save yourself a lot of trouble and either get a router that supports "Static DHCP', such as some D-Link models or use a regular Static IP address.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

JWThiers said:


> Just To be clear I made a mistake, "Static DHCP" and a "DHCP IP that does not expire" are NOT the same thing. IF you have a router that supports STATIC DHCP it will work fine even if you have a power glitch. For everyone else save yourself a lot of trouble and either get a router that supports "Static DHCP', such as some D-Link models or use a regular Static IP address.


 :up: With that, I heartily agree


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

Okay, after reading the posts and "pre-thinking" my plan, this is what I have done and what has happened so far:

I have opted to use the Static DHCP feature of my DLink router (Dl-624) and have mapped my entire network ( I use the network magic software, It's definitely "nooby", but also very easy to understand). My main concern was wether or not my wireless bridge/access point (NetGear Me101) would become a headache. So I assigned the "static?" IP addresses for each item (except the access point/ bridge) by using their MAC address. First the desktop, then laptop, Tivo Series 2, "*GAP IN IP ADDRESS*", and then the Sony Tivo Series 1.

I left the gap in the IP addresses prior to my Sony Tivo (the one connected to the wireless access point/ Bridge) because I have decided to leave access point/ bridge in DHCP mode and let it obtain it's IP automatically. I did this because I was not certain it maintained it's connection after the Sony Tivo connected or if it truly became an extension of the Tivo and no longer used it's MAC and IP. Either way it needs to connect to my network prior to the Sony Tivo and my software seems to hand out the IP's sequentially, so I left a gap in the IP prior to the Sony Tivo. 
Seems logical to me.... 

The results....
Initially I noticed that when I tried to connect to my Sony TiVo, via the Network Magic program, it was actually opening up the wireless access point/ bridge,, aarrgh! However a restart of my Sony Tivo corrected the problem. I have restarted my computers several times now without issue. So now I will wait for the dreaded "Power Outage/ Brown Out" It shouldn't be long until this happens as I live in the same neck of the woods as JWThiers and *F* lorida *P* hlicker and F*L* ash will strike soon.

I will let you know what happens then, but I would expect a system reset without problems and the devices to maintain their "static?" IP addresses.

-Crispy


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

you could also just briefly unplug the router count to 5 and plug it in again. The router is the brains of this thing so if it works the others should also work.

For the setup of your network devices, EVERY devices gets it own IP including the router and the bridge.

Read my suggestions on assigning static IP addresses here, the same principles apply for DHCP. By default your network bridge uses a static 192.168.0.200 so unless you changed it to DHCP that is where it is.

If you can't locate the IP of the bridge and can't find it on the DHCP client list use Angry IP Scanner to help you find it.


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

Crispy321 said:


> I will let you know what happens then, but I would expect a system reset without problems and the devices to maintain their "static?" IP addresses.


Don't go there, its not just Static, its not just DHCP. Its a "STATIC DHCP".

Personally I wouldn't even say one way or the other, it works or it doesn't.

LOL


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## bushman4 (Jun 6, 2005)

C'mon people, let's use the proper terms here:

Static IP address - an address that is assigned manually to a client, AT THE CLIENT, and never changes. The client never asks for an IP address from any server, it just uses what it is set up to use.

DHCP Address with no Expiration - A client requests an address from a centralized server, and is granted a random one that has an expiration date so far into the future that it is considered "permanent"

DHCP Address Reservation - A client requests an address from a centralized server, and the server is set up to always give the same IP address to that client's physical address. The address will expire as normal, but the client will attempt (and usually be successful) to renew the address reservation and the address will be the same.

Me personally: I use reservations for everything that I think might need an IP address that won't change. Then I have control from the server over everything, including what addresses are assigned to which devices.

And for devices that just need access, and I don't care what address they have, I just leave them as DHCP.

THE,

Bushman


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

umm... just curious... why do you consider "DHCP Address Reservation" a more proper term than "static DHCP"?


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

BTUx9 said:


> umm... just curious... why do you consider "DHCP Address Reservation" a more proper term than "static DHCP"?


Having done some research into this recently,... cough, cough...,They appear to be used interchangeably, but on Microsoft's Technet they use the term..... "Client Reservations" (See Here). Even the D_link user manuals use DHCP Reservation (Some say '(Also known as Static DHCP)", some don't) Cisco calls it "DHCP Static Mapping". I think the Answer is the technical term is either "DHCP Address Reservation" or "DHCP Static Mapping". The common term for it is Static DHCP, It is referred to by that term on many consumer level sites.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

Well, if you want to be technical, the RFC refers to it as "automatic allocation" (see http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2131.txt)

But given that google reports almost 40,000 pages with the phrase "static dhcp" on them, you (bushman4) will have a tough time convincing me that I'm wrong when I refer to it that way... it's common usage (it'd be different if I were a Cisco employee or somesuch and bound by their internal nomenclature)


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

Anyway, "static DHCP" is very clear and unambiguous IMO. So even if it's not official, it's clear and is in very common use amongst networking professionals.

There are more important things to worry about, like the way almost everyone misuses "Class C" when describing the size of an IP subnet. (That one really is wrong, and in a few situations can actually cause confusion.)


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

Lmfao


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## Crispy321 (Oct 2, 2006)

So should I go back and edit the posts to say "Static DHCP IP"?  

Seriously you guys are all a wealth of knowledge and are a great help.

Thanks again,

-Crispy


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