Hi everyone. I'm having an odd issue with networking on MorphOS 3.9 on a PowerMac G4.

I know for a fact this isn't a hardware issue, because using OSX Tiger or OS9 on the SAME G4 machine works fine.

I have my network configured correctly, and have tested several other machines/OS'es flawlessly with same/similar configurations - even OSX on the same machine.

Upon booting MorphOS I can indeed view web pages etc in OWB. However, it usually isn't long before the headaches start.

The issue: Regardless of any open applications and after anything from 60 seconds to a few minutes (apparently randomly), all networking seems to just die/stop for no apparent reason without any errors. Can't view web pages. Can't access FTP. Can't resolve any hostnames. I can't even PING anything. Only thing I can do is reboot, rinse and repeat. OWB hangs at "sending request" at this point, naturally.

I have tried using the Chrysalis package and using a vanilla install. With the Chrysalis package, using 'restart network' from the menu bar has no apparent effect. Changing network settings (such as IP address to reset network etc) also has no effect. Once the network is dead, its dead until reboot.

Any suggestions appreciated, as I'm hitting a wall over this one.

Thanks.

[ Edited by Ameega 12.12.2017 - 02:17 ]

I have the same problem if I'm far away from the router. OSX works fine in the same location.

Using an Atheros PCCard works perfectly though no matter how far away I am.

Thanks for the reply, however my router is literally about 2 feet away from the my Powermac G4.

A little background on my network setup:

I have a router in the same room connected to the G4, which has a Windows box also connected to it. This Windows box is sharing its own Internet connection over the LAN - acting as a gateway for all my other machines.
Everything is set up over ETHERNET, with the exception of my Windows gateway box getting its Internet over a second Wifi connection.

So basically when I set up a new machine on the LAN, I specify the IP address (172.16.0.XXX) and subnet mask - but set the gateway to the IP address of the Windows box (172.16.0.2). The router is set to use 172.16.0.1 naturally.

What gets me is that it starts off working fine and then just dies after a random amount of time.

I can't even ping anything once it dies. Not even the gateway Windows box sitting right next to the G4. Its just weird. Its almost as if the entire MorphOS network stack decides to just die randomly until I reboot.


[ Edited by Ameega 12.12.2017 - 03:04 ]

Okay this is getting even stranger!

It sometimes comes back online if left for a good amount of time. I have no idea how long, but I left it sitting there with dead network for at least half an hour. Ping seems working. How long it will last is anyone's guess.

So this is apparently an 'on-again/off-again at random' issue. Weird!

[EDIT] And its off again.....

[ Edited by Ameega 12.12.2017 - 04:30 ]

Sorry to have to bump this topic, but the issue still persists.

Does anyone have an idea as to what might be causing this?

Quote:

Years ago I had some issues with antivirus software, but then connection sharing in Windows didn't work at all. Try with Linux maybe.

I don’t think we’ve ever really tested connection sharing from Windows. There are a few things you could try

A) keep a ping running to the windows machine
B) configure a static ip on MorphOS, it could be some dhcp lease issue - you can always try „netconfig autoconfig” in a shell to restart dhcp if the 60s cutoff happens.

I've used Windows as a gateway with MorphOS before but it was Windows 98 and with Miami, and I had to use a crossover cable, which goes to show how long ago.

You could track down the issue by installing Wireshark on the PC, then watching what traffic comes over the MorphOS IP address whenever you try to access a website.

Have you tried bridging the connection on Windows as well?

Quote:

But the thing is that it DOES work flawlessly for a while, but then just cuts out. Dead, Jim.

Regarding using Linux, there are 3rd party services on the server that only run on Windows. Linux really isn't an option.

Quote:

I would imagine that once it cuts out, there's nothing coming over the IP address, since MorphOS can't even PING anything (not even on LAN) by that point.

I can try bridging the connections - might that cause issues with having different IP address schemes (172.16.x.x vs 192.168.x.x) for the two LAN networks?

Quote:

MorphOS already has a static IP address. All machines on my network have static IPs to avoid conflicts etc.

I'll try 'netconfig autoconfig' and post here when I get the chance - but thats somewhat of a band-aid rather than a solution.



[ Edited by Ameega 18.01.2018 - 21:04 ]

[Sorry, accidently replied instead of edited. Ignore this post.....]

[ Edited by Ameega 18.01.2018 - 21:03 ]

Try as Jacadcaps suggested and use a ping command from MorphOS to ping the Windows gateway every five to fifteen seconds. Obviously it's not a workable solution, but if your connection stays open then the Windows gateway is at fault.

As for bridging, as I don't know exactly how your network is laid out then my suggestions are limited. I've found bridging to be far more reliable (and faster) than ICS, but you would have to dedicate a whole interface to it. I for example (before my old ISP allowed routers) connected my Pegasos to one LAN card on my PC and a second LAN card on the same PC to a cable modem. The Peg connected straight across as if it was directly connected to the modem. Getting a hardware router was just so much easier.

Quote:

I already established that the connection does not stay open - pings to literally anything other than localhost fail when the issue happens.

I know the windows box is not at fault, as it works flawlessly with a slew of machines connected to the network - from Windows to Mac and Linux. Heck even my phone and Android TV box access everything just fine.

[IMPORTANT NOTE:]
Networking in Mac OS9, OSX and Ubuntu work fine on the SAME machine. Basically, MorphOS is the only OS that has any issues with networking.

Does there happen to be anything suspicious in the MorphOS debug log when that happens? Use the GetRAMDebugLog command or select the "Show Log..." from the Debug screenbar module. I'm just wondering if something has crashed on the system which would affect to networking. I really haven't seen any problems with ethernet connections ever with MorphOS, and apparently not many others either, so it seems a bit guesswork what your issue could be...