Xbox Won't Connect To Network After Softmod, Installed UnleashX and XBMC as an app Options

[grue82]

Over my winter break I decided I wanted to try softmodding my xbox. Well, the softmod worked fine. I had hotswapped the hard drive and installed UnleashX as a second dashboard on the xbox, later followed by adding XBMC as an app.

However, now when I try to get the xbox to connect to my network it says it notices that the cables are hooked up, but it can't get an ip. Before the mods it could connect fine. I used to use XBConnect to play Halo 2 without Xbox Live.

The network configuration I have is the cable modem hooked up to the uplink port of a 8 port Netgear Switch.

I gotta go but if you need more detail I'll be happy to give more.

Thanks.

[Pulsemasta]

Over my winter break I decided I wanted to try softmodding my xbox. Well, the softmod worked fine. I had hotswapped the hard drive and installed UnleashX as a second dashboard on the xbox, later followed by adding XBMC as an app.

However, now when I try to get the xbox to connect to my network it says it notices that the cables are hooked up, but it can't get an ip. Before the mods it could connect fine. I used to use XBConnect to play Halo 2 without Xbox Live.

The network configuration I have is the cable modem hooked up to the uplink port of a 8 port Netgear Switch.

I gotta go but if you need more detail I'll be happy to give more.

Thanks.

You need to go into the network settings and make sure you have everything set up correctly. I don't believe it is all set up by default.

[grue82]

Thanks for the reply.

I checked the network settings for both UnleashX and XBMC and both seemed okay. I have both set to use DHCP. The funny thing is, using the xbox dashboard off a cold boot, I could do the same thing. Doing the network test it will detect the cables but fail to obtain an ip for itself or resolve the DNS.

I even went as far as to enter the isp DNS info in the xbox dashboard, which yielded no better result.

I tried different cables, too. Though the cable I'm using now (presumably CAT5) worked with the Xbox prior to the softmod.

Also, sorry for posting this in the homebrew section. I was in a bit of a hurry to get to classes and I overlooked the dashboard category.

[obcd]

On your setup, the xbox should get it's dhcp ip adress from your internet service provider.

Some providers only allow a limited number of adresses.

Some providers check the mac adress of the connected equipment and only provide an ip if the adress is correct.

The xbox mac adress is stored in the xbox eeprom. Maybe, due to your softmod, you have a virtual eeprom enabled with a mac adress that is seen as invalid by your internet service provider.

So, I would check the xbox mac adress. Most modern dashboards have an option to check this out.

You might try to disable the virtual eeprom and see if that makes a difference.

Connecting multiple devices to the internet is better done with a router.
Those boxes have a buildin dhcp server and usually function as firewall as well.
The router only needs 1 wan adress from the ISP.

regards.

[grue82]

Thanks for the reply.

Well I ventured into finding out how to disable the virtual eeprom. The only way I discovered was to place a blank file named EEPROM_off.bin in the E:\ root directory. I did this and rebooted, but it didn't change anything.

It seemed to grab the DNS ip's on it's own in DHCP mode, though I have a sneaky feeling that might have been grabbing them from the ones I entered for the static option. I don't know :/.

Also, the reason I don't just use a router is I don't have have the money to put out for one, and until I modded the xbox it was able to connect with my laptop connected at the same time, too.

[grue82]

Sorry for the double post, but I thought I should mention I got it to connect eventually...sorta. I let the modem sit for a few minutes (normally I don't need to wait longer than 30 secs), then hooked the xbox up to it directly. It worked like that, And it also worked on the switch if it was the only device connected aside from the cable modem.

What confuses me about this is why having my laptop and the xbox running side by side before didn't cause conflicts, but I suppose it can't be helped. I guess I'll need to get a router or just use both connected alone.

Regardless, thanks for the suggestions.