Wild MAC Address in hardware?

[saabman]

Having problems with an onboard ethernet port not connecting to other network nodes.
I tried both DHCP and static IP address, static IP=192.168.1.47.

1) Get link lights at both ends ( RJ-45 at MB and switch RJ45) YES
2) Ping localhost YES
3) Ping 192.168.1.47 YES
4) Ping any other IP address on the network, like DHCP router 192.168.1.1 NO

I also used a pgm on the Ultimate Boot XP CD to do an audit of the system and here is what I got.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Network TCP/IP Settings

----------------------------------------------------------------------

DESCRIPTION --------------------- VALUE
------------------------------------------------------ -----

Host Name --------------------- bartpe-5825
Domain name server(s)

Adaptor name-----------------{38956C8E-7E46-43E9-B08A-646545185F4A}
DHCP enabled-----------------No
IP Address---------------------192.168.1.47
Subnet Mask-------------------255.255.255.0
Default gateway--------------192.168.1.1


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

NAME ---------------------------------- VERSION
---------------------------------------------------------------

Media Access Control (MAC) address-----LANA 1: ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
Adapter type -----------------------------------Ethernet
Maximum number sessions-------------------16
Number sessions pending--------------------0
Maximum data packet size -------------------65535 bytes
Maximum datagram packet size--------------512 bytes
Major software-release level---------------- 3

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Why is the MAC address ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff so strange ?

I've already Re-Flashed the BIOS to the latest version to see if that was the problem, Nope

Anybody seen this before and can comment?

I understand there are programs that can write a new MAC address to the ethernet NIC, but I haven't tried one yet.

Ultimately, I guess I can buy a low-profile ehternet card if need be.

 

[bwatson283]

you know what you just did, you just gave all the info needed for a hacker to try and hack your connection....nice posting newb

 

[Fardringle]

There's no public address information in that post, so unless you have mod access to the forums and can view source IPs, you'd never know where the poster is to even start trying. Also, since the MAC address is "stealthed" in the report, even if you got on the network you wouldn't know enough about the computer to connect to it, particularly if it's already set back to DHCP or if, as it appears, the NIC isn't functioning properly.

As far as the MAC address showing an invalid number, I've seen a few network adapters that give all zeroes or all "f"s to programs like the one you are using and to IPCONFIG /ALL, but they do have a valid MAC address that is used when communicating with the network.

However, since you can't connect to anything outside of the computer itself, I would suspect a problem with the NIC itself. It's highly unlikely, but I suppose it's possible that somehow the device escaped the factory without having a MAC address assigned. You could try an application to flash a MAC address to the adapter to see what happens but you need to make sure you don't use an existing MAC address on your network or it will cause conflicts. Another option would be to visit your local mom-and-pop computer shop for a basic $5 NIC to put in the PC and test the connection. If you have a spare NIC laying around, that would be even better since it will save you the five bucks to buy lunch later.

 

[saabman]

Thanks Far...

This was an ebay purchase of a new (old) motherboard for a P3 CPU with Intel 815e chipset and onboard video.

Since this specific NIC is an onboard chip, I'm not sure what program to use to flash a new MAC address.

My plan was to run Linux on it, but couldn't get it to access a network.

Any links to programs that allow flashing a MAC address would be appreciated.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Linux may be able to change the MAC in software, check the ifconfig man page.

Sun machines with dead NVRAM batteries would often display that MAC address, so maybe you could also try changing the motherboard battery...

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: bwatson283
you know what you just did, you just gave all the info needed for a hacker to try and hack your connection....nice posting newb

/smilin puts on his flame resistant gear and slowly backs away from the real newb who doesn't understand non routable addresses.

 

[spidey07]

I think sometimes VPN adapters will do that.

You might want to post "ipconfig/all" or look in device manager for "ghost" network card entries...where you have interfaces that don't really exist.

oh, and here's my IP for anybody that wants to hack me...

10.197.255.250

 

[saabman]

Originally posted by: bwatson283
you know what you just did, you just gave all the info needed for a hacker to try and hack your connection....nice posting newb

Don't want to shock you, but I've probably been around networking technology longer than you've been aware of what it is. Maybe you should go back to school and learn a little more.

 

[saabman]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I think sometimes VPN adapters will do that.

You might want to post "ipconfig/all" or look in device manager for "ghost" network card entries...where you have interfaces that don't really exist.

oh, and here's my IP for anybody that wants to hack me...

10.197.255.250

Thanks Spydy,

Yep, I've run ipconfig in XP and ifconfig in linux and everything shows up OK with a static IP assignment (except for the MAC address), but it's interesting that it won't check out a DHCP address from the server.

By the way, this is a dual onboard 10/100 ports MB and the other port is just fine. They have sequentially numbered MAC address' so I know what it's suppose to be, just not sure why it sorta works in some instances (takes a static IP, takes a loopback ping, etc) but won't respond to a ping from another IP or get a DHCP.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Linux may be able to change the MAC in software, check the ifconfig man page.

Sun machines with dead NVRAM batteries would often display that MAC address, so maybe you could also try changing the motherboard battery...

I have P3 I815 machines out there, I think those are completely configurable via software. I am not able to access one till later on this evening, unfortunately.

 

[saabman]

Thanks skyking,

Hope you can provide me with a little guidance.

It is interesting that I'm able to use a small linux distro (puppy) and get partial operation.
I'm able to define and load the driver as Intel Pro100 in the ethernet setup utility, and then get this same interface to acquire a DHCP address from my router (192.168.1.1).

I tried to use the ifconfig "hw addr" option to change the MAC address, which completed without errors, but didn't appear to really change the address.

When i do an ifconfig, it still shows the MAC address as ff:ff:. . . . but also shows an acquired IP address (192.168.1.44) with Rx (3) and Tx (3) packet flow with no errors.

Strange part is when I try to ping the router (192.168.1.1) all I get is 100% packet loss errors and no response.
I can ping the localhost interface with success.
When I try to use the Opera browser, it also returns an error "Not connecting".

I'm wondering if this is some internal BIOS "feature?" to keep the 2 ethernet ports from causing problems?

My problem is how to get both ports working with my m0n0wall firewall software?

 

[saabman]

An Update!!

Using a small quickly installed linux (Puppy 2.00) I was able to get the port working temporarily with the following

1) Load the Intel Pro100 8225? driver
2) Set for DHCP

3) After the interface comes up, do the following as root
(xx is substituted with the MAC address shown on top of myRJ45 connector)

# ifconfig eth0 down
# ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:E0:xx:xx:xx:xx
# ifconfig eth0 up

After this I'm able to ping my router, access router's admin page, and use Opera to access the Internet.

The only problem is this address is not saved when I reboot. Now I'm back to the same problem.

Sent an email off to Tyan support for some advice, also hoping someone here has some ideas.

Thinking about the MB battery, but the date and time in Bios seems to be fine even when I disconnect power supply, so doesn't seem like a failed battery.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: saabman
3) After the interface comes up, do the following as root
(xx is substituted with the MAC address shown on top of myRJ45 connector)

# ifconfig eth0 down
# ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:E0:xx:xx:xx:xx
# ifconfig eth0 up
...
The only problem is this address is not saved when I reboot. Now I'm back to the same problem.

If that worked and you were going to install Linux anyway, you should be good to go. Most linux installers will let you get a shell by doing Ctrl-Alt-F2 (or similar), so you can set the MAC there for installation. Probably the first step that requires a network connection will fail, but you should be able to set the MAC in the shell and repeat the step afterwards. And once you've installed, you can add that line into your networking startup scripts.

There certainly may be a "proper" solution that would get the MAC address correct without doing it manually, but I would just go ahead and use the dirty hack rather than spend a lot of time on it.

 

[saabman]

Thanks clever,

Unfortunately my plan is to use a FreeBSD based firewall (m0n0wall) as the OS on a CF Flash memory card.

I'm currently using linux to debug my MB's dual-port onboard ethernet PXE boot problems. I don't know enough about PXE to know if mine is a standard PXE implementation or not.

I can currently boot the OS from the CF card just fine and find both eth0 and eth1 interfaces, but it lists eth0 (MAC address ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff) as unavailable.

Kinda hard to use a firewall with only 1 ethernet interface.

My first investigation was to confirm I even had a working eth0 interface (proved it works). Now I just need to figure out how to set this up in the freeBSD m0n0wall environment.

Any sugestions?

 

[spidey07]

you very well could have a bad/flaky nic - it happens. you shouldn't have any troubles reading the mac address. all ones (F), is a layer2 broadcast, so if it is truly using that as it's MAC then I can see why you are having problems.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: saabman
My first investigation was to confirm I even had a working eth0 interface (proved it works). Now I just need to figure out how to set this up in the freeBSD m0n0wall environment.

I don't use FreeBSD, but a quick Googling suggests that

ifconfig <interface> link <MACAddress>

should work. Just find out where the interfaces are brought up in the rc scripts and plug that in there. I'm not sure I followed what you were saying about PXE in this situation, though. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[skyking]

you can specify a MAC as cleverhandle suggested, but for $5 I would disable that NIC in the bios, and install a good used working pro 100. I get them over in the FS/FT forums, they always work and don't require this special handling.
My concern is you will get it all going and then that NIC will let you down completely at a future date. It is already suspect.

 

[spidey07]

heh, yeah. assigning MACs to devices is just a really, really, really bad idea.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: skyking
you can specify a MAC as cleverhandle suggested, but for $5 I would disable that NIC in the bios, and install a good used working pro 100.

I agree - I'd rather have known good hardware than pull hacks. Just pointing out the options... for whatever reason, it may not be convenient to buy a new NIC.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle

Originally posted by: skyking
you can specify a MAC as cleverhandle suggested, but for $5 I would disable that NIC in the bios, and install a good used working pro 100.

I agree - I'd rather have known good hardware than pull hacks. Just pointing out the options... for whatever reason, it may not be convenient to buy a new NIC.

I used that method to keep my trusty old IP. I have dynamic IP on my cable connection, but it has not changed in 5 years now Gotta love those smaller mom+pop ISP'S
Anyway, I ran an old 486 with freebsd and IPFW for years, but the hardware got a little crusty. I kept cloning that mac along, and manually set it in other linux machines.

 

[saabman]

I finally got a workaround. m0n0wall has a MAC address spoofer in the WAN setup subsection where I'm able to enter the actual MAC address that is written on the metal top of the RJ45 connector. So I'm not just pulling a random MAC address out of thin air.

This configuration works just fine now with no problems. I just wonder what's up with that bizarre EEPROM memory address.

I would still like to know what utility software is used to flash the MAC address on the MB's EEPROM in place. Both ports are Intel ethernet chips. One via an 82599 controller and one via the chipset ICH2 (8252EM).


Thanks to all for their contributions.

This appears to be a really nice firewall. I used a small P3-667MHz flex MB with a Compact Flash card in a very small IBM netview case. Quiet and cheap.