Invalid IP address for DHCP server

[Guest]

When I run the network diagnostic tool from MS there is a line that states:
DHCPServer = 255.255.255.255 (invalid IP Address). How can I change it to
the right address which, I believe, should be 255.255.255.0?

 

[Daniel Crichton]

Wazza wrote on Tue, 1 Nov 2005 01:06:03 -0800:

When I run the network diagnostic tool from MS there is a line that states:
DHCPServer = 255.255.255.255 (invalid IP Address). How can I change it to
the right address which, I believe, should be 255.255.255.0?

255.255.255.255 is the default address for the DHCPServer entry - as it
hasn't changed to the correct address (which will definitely not be
255.255.255.0) then that indicates that your machine has not been able to
find the DHCP server, so either you're not running one on your LAN or
there's a networking issue preventing your PC from communicating with it.

Dan

 

[Guest]

Wazza wrote on Tue, 1 Nov 2005 01:06:03 -0800:


255.255.255.255 is the default address for the DHCPServer entry - as it
hasn't changed to the correct address (which will definitely not be
255.255.255.0) then that indicates that your machine has not been able to
find the DHCP server, so either you're not running one on your LAN or
there's a networking issue preventing your PC from communicating with it.

Dan

Thanks for your interest in my problem. I have previously had this network running correctly. ICS was working fine and I had access to share files and printers on both PC's. The only change to my set-up has been the addition of an ADSL modem. Could this be causing the problem?

About my set-up:
Host PC is running Windows XP Home 2002 SP2 directly connected, via ethernet
cable, to Client PC which is running Windows ME 4.90.3000

Work-arounds I have tried:
Release and renew ipconfig on both PC's
Winsock repair procedures(as detailed by Chuck in other posts)
Download and install new driver for Host PC NIC

When renewing ipconfig on Host I get an error message: "An error occured
while renewing interface Local Area Connection : unable to contact DHCP"

The event viewer has this to say:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: ipnathlp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 30013
Date: 27/10/2005
Time: 5:49:43 PM
User: N/A
Computer: BEAVER1
Description:
The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 169.254.7.140, since
the IP address is outside the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which
addresses are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP allocator
on this IP address, please change the scope to include the IP address, or
change the IP address to fall within the scope.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

It suggests that the network connections have the wrong address manually
configured but both PC's are configured to obtain addresses automatically.

Both PC's are able to ping themselves and each other on the 169.254.x.y
addresses listed in the ipconfig files below. I know these addresses should
be in the 192.168.x.y range but I'll be darned if I can find out how to
achieve this.

Also ran browstat on both PC's. The client PC returned an error message
"Error starting program. The BROWSTAT.EXE file is linked to the missing
export file NETAPI32:_BrowserDebugCall"

Below are the ipconfig files for both PC's and the browstat file for the Host.
Host ipconfig:
Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : BEAVER1

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : vic.bigpond.net.au



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet
Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-8F-34-BC-DC

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.7.140

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vic.bigpond.net.au

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Speedstream Ethernet USB Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-23-D7-B1-3A

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.138

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.138

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.138

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 27 October 2005
9:34:22 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, 19 January 2038 1:14:07
PM

Client ipconfig:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . : BEAVER2
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS Scope ID. . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . : No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS : No

0 Ethernet adapter :

Description . . . . . . . . : Accton EN5251 Series Chip Based Fast Ethernet
Adapter NDIS5 Driver
Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-D0-59-6A-AC-BD
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 169.254.70.41
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . : 10 27 05 5:48:34 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . :

1 Ethernet adapter :

Description . . . . . . . . : PPP Adapter.
Physical Address. . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . :
Lease Expires . . . . . . . :

Host browstat:
Status for domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{96BC8782-F722-42C7-B2F6-9F968A1BEEEF}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: BEAVER1
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master BEAVER1
\\BEAVER1
There are 2 servers in domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{96BC8782-F722-42C7-B2F6-9F968A1BEEEF}
There are 1 domains in domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{96BC8782-F722-42C7-B2F6-9F968A1BEEEF}


Status for domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{6A29C480-97F7-4C76-8B82-62E38B1D57A6}
Browsing is active on domain.
Master browser name is: BEAVER1
Master browser is running build 2600
1 backup servers retrieved from master BEAVER1
\\BEAVER1
There are 1 servers in domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{6A29C480-97F7-4C76-8B82-62E38B1D57A6}
There are 1 domains in domain BEAVERNET on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{6A29C480-97F7-4C76-8B82-62E38B1D57A6}

 

[Daniel Crichton]

Wazza wrote on Tue, 1 Nov 2005 05:18:03 -0800:

Entirely possible, as you may well have caused ICS to stop working. For
instance, if the ADSL modem is also a router and by default uses the same IP
range as ICS, your XP PC will have 2 interfaces setup to deal with the same
IP range - and only one of them will respond correctly.

About my set-up:
Host PC is running Windows XP Home 2002 SP2 directly connected, via
ethernet cable, to Client PC which is running Windows ME 4.90.3000

Work-arounds I have tried:
Release and renew ipconfig on both PC's
Winsock repair procedures(as detailed by Chuck in other posts)
Download and install new driver for Host PC NIC

When renewing ipconfig on Host I get an error message: "An error occured
while renewing interface Local Area Connection : unable to contact DHCP"

OK, first thing to check is that the XP firewall has an exception to allow
DHCP, if you've got the firewall enabled.

The event viewer has this to say:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: ipnathlp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 30013
Date: 27/10/2005
Time: 5:49:43 PM
User: N/A
Computer: BEAVER1
Description:
The DHCP allocator has disabled itself on IP address 169.254.7.140, since
the IP address is outside the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 scope from which
addresses are being allocated to DHCP clients. To enable the DHCP
allocator on this IP address, please change the scope to include the IP
address, or change the IP address to fall within the scope.

So the LAN interface which the ICS connection is made over isn't getting a
DHCP allocated address from the ICS DHCP server. This could be an issue with
the XP SP2 firewall, or something the ADSL modem drivers have done.

It suggests that the network connections have the wrong address manually
configured but both PC's are configured to obtain addresses automatically.

Both PC's are able to ping themselves and each other on the 169.254.x.y
addresses listed in the ipconfig files below. I know these addresses
should be in the 192.168.x.y range but I'll be darned if I can find out
how to achieve this.

This again indicates that DHCP isn't working, so the the LAN interfaces are
being left with addresses in the range Windows uses when unable to get one
from DHCP.

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Speedstream Ethernet USB
Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-23-D7-B1-3A
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

OK, so the ADSL modem is using a different DHCP range so it doesn't appear
to be a conflict (ICS uses the 192.168.0.0 address range). However, as
everything was fine before it was introduced, it's well worth checking all
the ICS configuration on the PC and the firewall settings.


Dan

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. I appreciate your advice and effort.

In response to your reply:

-I have checked the IP address range of the ADSL modem and it uses a
different range from ICS
-XP firewall has the exception for DHCP enabled
-I have checked ICS settings and firewall settings. To all intents and
purposes it appears as though everything should be working.

I have attempted to manually configure IP addresses for the LAN but am not
sure of the correct ones to use.

Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

 

[Daniel Crichton]

Wazza wrote on Thu, 3 Nov 2005 01:02:02 -0800:

Thanks for your response. I appreciate your advice and effort.

In response to your reply:

-I have checked the IP address range of the ADSL modem and it uses a
different range from ICS
-XP firewall has the exception for DHCP enabled
-I have checked ICS settings and firewall settings. To all intents and
purposes it appears as though everything should be working.

I have attempted to manually configure IP addresses for the LAN but am not
sure of the correct ones to use.

Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.

Did you try removing the ADSL modem to see if that solved it?

Has XP bridged the LAN and ADSL connections? If so, disable the bridging.

I'm fast running out of ideas as I've not come across this problem before.

Dan

 

[Guest]

Hi Daniel

Thanks for your continuing interest and suggestions.

I have just tried uninstalling the ADSL modem and there was no difference
(apart from not having an internet connection)
As far as I can tell there is no bridge between the ADSL and LAN.

I could try to configure the connection manually but I am unsure of the
correct addresses to use for the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway or
the DNS server.

Where's an MVP when you need one?

Anyway, thanks again.