Network DHCP issues

[jimmejames]

Steps taken:
   1)  Full format of HDD
   2)  Full Ubuntu 6.10 install
   3)  Installed all updates
   4)  Installed LinuxMCE

Problem: 
  As soon as LinuxMCE starts up I, my network breaks.  Windows boxes, linux boxes- it doesn't matter, can see the network but are unable to connect (either wirelessly or via RJ-45).  If I physically disconnect the RJ-45 cable from the LinuxMCE box and wait about an hour the network is back to normal- all computers can connect.  Sometimes, if I leave the LinuxMCE box connected long enough when the other computers try to access the internet all URLs are redirect to the LinuxMCE admin login page.

I have two Belkin F5D7230-4 wireless routers setup as WDS (wireless bridging).  Access is controlled via MAC address- no WPA/WEP etc.  I've done full formats on two different machines with and without the core and with and without the dhcp server, and I've tried turning off DHCP as suggested here: http://forum.linuxmce.com/index.php?topic=1298.0.


For now, I just want to be able to connect my LinuxMCE box to the network without it messing up the other computers- keeping my Belkin routers as the DHCP server.  Any ideas?  Suggestions?

Thanks in advance-

[sharlee_angelo]

the problem here seems to be the dhcp server of linuxmce which allocates another addresses to the comnputers in your home. of course, the solution is to turn off the dhcp from linuxmce. to be sure that dhcp is working or not write in a terminal ps ax |grep dhcp and this will show you if it is working or not. also, dhcp can be turned off by invoking the command /etc/init.d/dhcp3-server stop.

[rictec]

check network cards maybe your installation has changed their order and you are trying to get dhcp on the wrong network card ...

Rictec

[jimmejames]

I checked the NIC settings using ifconfig and everything is as it should be.  And then I ran /etc/init.d/dhcp-server status and it says:  "Status of DHCP server: dhcpd3 is not running".

Temporarily I setup a second network with a different router to see if it does the same thing...  so for no.  But this second network isn't running WDS.

Thanks

[saturn]

Linux MCE does the same for me. I have a custom network setup (wireless bridge which converts into an ethernet switch) running via typical DHCP perfectly. Ubuntu understands the DHCP for this weird setup and has NO issues out of the box. Ever. As soon as I (attempt to) install Linux MCE, the installer screws up my network config and sets it to something NON-standard (tries to run its own DHCP server?!) and I can never get it to install.

Installing Vista Media Center doesn't break things and actually works fine for me.

I WANT to use Linux. Too bad this is not worth the trouble.

[thynk]

For now, I just want to be able to connect my LinuxMCE box to the network without it messing up the other computers- keeping my Belkin routers as the DHCP server.  Any ideas?  Suggestions?

Something that might help would be to set up the dhcp to be in the same subnet as your network but a different range in the subnet... for example, my router gives out dhcp on the internal network from 10.0.1.100 to 10.0.1.150 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 so I set up the dhcp range on the LMCE box for 10.0.1.150 to 10.0.1.200 with a subnetmask of 255.255.255.0 as well.  That way, if an errant dhcp request does make it past the router and to the LMCE box (on wireless), it will still function as a happy member of the network and not just up and die.

The intrusiveness of this release is something I know the developers are working to overcome, it's just a matter of time, coding and testing before it becomes a nice, stable suite of apps that play well with the other parts of the machine, network and doesn't have world (or network) domination in it's code :-)

HTH,

Stu