Thinking of getting rid of Leopard - any advice?

Typing this through my iPhone. For the fourth time in about six weeks, my iMac -- 10.5.8 OS, purchased in December 2008 from our local Apple dealer-- my iMac has lost the DHCP IP to our wireless home network.

Basically, it can RECOGNIZE our network -- it picks up the network signal and reads it -- but, it provides a self-assigned IP rather than finding an IP for the Internet.

Through a combination of this iPhone and the local tech school computers (where I am a student), I have managed to do some research. One commentor noted that this sort of problem appeared sometime after 10.5.2. Another comment has noted that this is a common problem with Airport and the Apple Leopard OS. Still another theorized that the problem appears to originate within the fact that while Windows has a near infinite waiting period to find the proper DHCP numbers, a Mac waits mere seconds, and when the issue of Airport having a communication problem with a router is present, a Mac "makes up its mind" too quickly, causing the self-assigned IP issue.

I really don't care what causes it -- for the past two hours I have been trying to fix it.

-cleared DNS cache
-zapped the PRAM
-removed the network connection and put it back
-reset under multiple circumstances
-tried manually inserting the DHCP
-tried resetting DHCP
-trashed the system config folder and reset
-created a new connection through Airport

And I STILL have a self-assigned IP!

So, anyway, a few of the search hits I found reccomended upgrading to 10.6.* where there may be some fixes for Airport that come with it.

Got a few questions, though. I'm learning as I go so patience is requested if possible

-if I manage to upgrade do I "lose" what I currently see on my desktop, and if so is there a way to back it all up through Time Machine? I also have a Lacie 250 gb external hard drive I can use for information.

-as I understand it, the 10.5.* makes me a Leopard user. Would upgrading to the 10.6.* make it Snow Leopard? Or another OS?

-given what I described, should I even really consider upgrading? I am so frustrated about these Airport problems. They are so aggravating! If however an upgrade gets rid of them then i am for the possibility.

It is not a router issue as it is a communication issue with the router. This does appear to be somehow involved with the iMac going into self-sleep mode; the last time (yesterday) it had been left idling, and one of the times beforme was a similar situation.

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated!

1) Its always a good idea to have a backup, particularly if you plan an OS upgrade.
2) No, you should not lose anything by upgrading.
3) By upgrading to Snow Leopard (10.6) you also make yourself eligible to upgrade to Lion (10.7) at a later date if you choose.
4) Have absolutely no idea if this will fix your issue--though I'm not sure how you can be so certain the router isn't a part of the problem.

HTH
Razormac

Because on each instance I have power cycled the router with no results and the router is a belkin. In my research online I have found several remarks, including at least one from this site, which states certain belkin routers have "play nice" issues with Airport cards or similar.

I'm also posting through my iPhone and have absolutely no router connection issues as well as the two other iPhone's and two laptops we have in this household have little to jk issue with our router.

Usually what I do for my iMac is put it into sleep mode when not in usage. Have hardly any problem catching the DHCP when I bring in back "awake."

AlexanderC said:

Because on each instance I have power cycled the router with no results and the router is a belkin. In my research online I have found several remarks, including at least one from this site, which states certain belkin routers have "play nice" issues with Airport cards or similar.

I'm also posting through my iPhone and have absolutely no router connection issues as well as the two other iPhone's and two laptops we have in this household have little to jk issue with our router.

Usually what I do for my iMac is put it into sleep mode when not in usage. Have hardly any problem catching the DHCP when I bring in back "awake."

Click to expand...

I am not following your reasoning. In fact you stated what I wondered, that you have a Belkin router and that they have "play nice issues" with Airport.

In the long run it may be easier (and cheaper) just to switch routers. The last Linksys I bought only set me back $60. (Not recommending Linksys BTW--just a reference)

Guess what I was trying to say was that from my perspective it appears to be more of a software-hardware issue involving Apple rather than a need to completely replace the Belkin router. Doing a search for "self-assigned IP" find this problem or similar going back to at least 2004.

That basically it's more on Apples end rather than Belkin. If I'm making any sense. It's a bit confusing with the multiple possibilty for fixes and all.

The real annoyance is that I have tried to put my settings in under the manually option in the tcp/ip setting. However if I try to move that option back to Using DHCP it just jumps back to the manually option---which still does not work.

In other words, if I put my information in manually for IPv4 m, subnet mask and router, then move back up to Using dhcp where renew dhcp is available; if I then click the renew dhcp, instead of renewing, I get bumped back into the manually setting entry.

Can't tell you how frustratingbit is for airport to tell me that it is connected on my "old" (previous) ip and yet I have no Internet connection.

I would recommend IP reservations. This is done on the router. (Ref. router manual).

I do IP reservations based on the connections I have; iPhone, MBP etc..

This way the IP that is reserved will not be auto-assigned to any device that joins the network. This is considerably easier to do than assigning static IP's and ensures the reserved IP is, well, reserved for you device.

Just a suggestion.

Now for clarification, it's really a DHCP reservation, however it is often called IP reservation. I've included this so when you Google this subject it will be easier to find. This may solve your issue.

You should also look under the Utility Folder and run the Network Utility app. If you know the IP of the router, run a ping test to see if it is communicating with the router.

Jut my 2 cents.

The computer is back online.

I was at 192.*.*5.

Now it's given me 192.*.*4.

From past experiences, I thought it might do something like that (my iPhone, for instance, currently carries the 192.*.*.7 on our home wi-fi network), but I don't know why it took so long to do it.

I hate these "wait and see" disconnections.

I'll do some research on IP reservations later, as well as some more research on that self-assigned IP, too. Thanks for all your help -- and I'm still thinking of "upgrading" to Snow Leopard from Leopard.

Um...how do I do that again? Sorry. I'm still new to a lot of this and learning as I go.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.)

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3910

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Snow_Leopard_Installation_Instructions.pdf

I would upgrade to Snow Leopard because it's a faster and better OS. I have probably 25 different routers here and all connect and stay connected to every Mac in my house via Wifi and I have quite a few Macs. I have heard all kinds of issues with a lot of Belkin routers and not just OSX.

I would consider another brand of router in the future.

Note, the reservation is based on your devices MAC address, that's how it reserves the IP for your device.

Well, I'm typing this from the Ethernet connection directly to the router-modem because once again, for the sixth time in less than six weeks, my computer (iMac) has decided not to talk to our router.

*sighs*

This. Is. Getting. Old.

This is what I get for my Airport card when I look it up through About This Mac> More Info


AirPort Card Information:

Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C)
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.21)
Current Wireless Network: AirPort is currently turned off


....could the type of Firmware I am using be doing this to my computer?

I'll respond when I can; most likely, it'll be when the computer randomly reassigns me an IP again.

I have tried everything again this time.

- Zapped the PRAM
- Removed the System Preferences folder/restarted
- Played with DHCP settings
- Removed and re-added the network name/connection
- Logged out of the iMac, logged back in as another user

among others

You know what really gets to me?

When I put all the appropriate information into DHCP that I *know* is correct using the Manually option, and the iMac tells me I am connected to the wi-fi through that IP information....even going so far as to show it in Airport...BUT IT DOESN'T CONNECT.


I am really, really starting to hate Apple.

I was going to suggest trying linking to your router by cat5 cable. If that works and you get an IP address, your IP stack in the MAC is ok.
Next test is eliminate your Belkin WiFi router by going to a friends house or elsewhere and attach to their WiFi and see if that consistently stays connected.
I woyldn't upgrade necessarily yet, that would only complicate matters.

At the local library to respond---

a cat5 cable linked directly to the router...I am sort of/kind of/maybe familiar with how that would work. The problem is, we have Comcast three-in-one package so that means that our router connects to a cable modem from Comcast, which in turn handles the cable connection, our home phone landline system and our router wi-fi system.

So if I put any sort of cable directly into the router -- it's possible -- onlyI cang et online.

For instance last night a relative was unable to get on the Internet because I had my router literally right beside my iMac connected into my iMac rather than the yellow phone jack connected into the router from the cable modem. Thus, I and only I was able to get online through Ethernet.

Not sure if I could take the iMac somewhere else to see about connection...

thing is, the iPhone works just fine. It connects to the router / wi-fi system. So do the two laptops. So do the other two iPhones in this house.

That's why I think it is a Leopard / Mac OS 10.5.8 issue rather than the router issue. In fact, the iMac READS our network just fine! I am able to put it down as an option to select the network. I can even delete it and re-add it as a network.

But even when I put the numerical settings that I know are correct into the manually option under DHCP, nothing works. That's what I was talking about before, it's the most frustrating when it says i am connected, gives me the IP for it, and yet nothing happens.

Stupid Apple.

Back online, finally - and with the same IP (192.168.*.4) as I had before the trouble started.

I'm glad it put me back online..I was getting ready to sacrifice a floppy disc to the Apple Gods.

Nice to know that they are so easily appeased, but I still curse the wireless settings.