I’m attempting to setup my first network/internet connection to a Cerberus and either something isn’t working or I’m totally missing something. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m using Duke Nukem’s ThingSpeak code as a test but I don’t think that’s a problem at this point since my main problem seems to be in getting an IP address.
I have installed the latest ethernet firmware to the Cerberus and set the DNS address through MFDeploy to be that of my router. Running the code results in a DHCP IP address never being granted. I tried setting a static IP through MFDeploy that that didn’t work either. Then I made an interesting discovery. If I watch my current DHCP connections through my router GUI then I can see an IP address is granted to my device when I open the Network Configuration dialog within MFDeploy. The IP stays alive as long as that window is open. As soon as I close the window, I see the connection drop out of my router. Also, I’ve noticed that I can also see it granted an IP address when it is not debugging but the board is powered up.
Any ideas? Four nights ago I thought this was going to be a couple hour project…
Haven’t used Dhcp yet, but for static IP the following code works well for Cerberus/ENC28 (actual addresses are different in your case, of course)
I think you need to set the MAC in the program. The MSDeploy setup works for EMX, but maybe not for Cerbs. I believe there was a post about this.
W00t! We’re making some progress. I’m able to get a static IP using Lurch’s code. However, I still can’t get a DHCP address I had hoped that assigning the MAC at runtime would fix it also, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Any other ideas? I’d really rather have this work with DHCP.
private static void InitializeNetwork_Dhcp()
{
try
{
var nis = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
if (nis.Length == 0)
{
throw new IndexOutOfRangeException("No network interface was found. Make sure you have the ethernet firmware installed and a NIC attached.");
}
var ni = nis[0];
ni.EnableDhcp();
ni.PhysicalAddress = new byte[] { 0x00, 0x30, 0xFB, 0x87, 0xD2, 0x3C };
while (ni.IPAddress == "0.0.0.0")
{
Debug.Print("Waiting for IP address...");
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
Debug.Print("IP Address:" + ni.IPAddress);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
throw new ArgumentException("Could not resolve host via DNS.", exception);
}
}
EDIT: Using a static IP, Duke’s code is working perfectly for posting data to ThingSpeak! They will shudder in disgust when they see what I’m using their service for!!!
Does it work if the MAC is assigned before the Dhcp call? I don’t know enough about the Dhcp code to guess if it’s a timing problem.
AFAIK, Dhcp needs to know the MAC before it can assign the IP in order to check for a previous assignment.
hmmm … just changed the code on my Cerbuino Bee and the Dns worked (using this change).
Not clean code, but working …
//Debug.Print("Setting static IP...");
//networkInterface.EnableStaticIP(myIP, subnetMask, gatewayAddress);
networkInterface.PhysicalAddress = myMAC;
//networkInterface.EnableStaticDns(new[] { dnsAddresses });
networkInterface.EnableDhcp();
Debug.Print("Waiting for DHCP lease.");
IPAddress ip = null;
while (true)
{
ip = IPAddress.GetDefaultLocalAddress();
if (ip != IPAddress.Any) break;
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
Debug.Print("Client IP address:" + ip.ToString());
Another thing to check would be if your router disallows the assignment. Firewall rule etc.
In any case, thanks for prodding me - now I don’t need the fixed IP
the full procedure, just in case something is missing
static NetworkInterface networkInterface;
// Network Parameters adjusted HERE
static byte[] myMAC = new byte[] { 0x00, 0x30, 0xBD, 0xF7, 0xDF, 0x7C };
....
private static void InitializeNetwork()
{
Debug.Print("Initializing network...");
NetworkInterface[] interfaces = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
if (interfaces != null && interfaces.Length > 0)
{
networkInterface = interfaces[0];
Boolean isDhcpWorked = false;
//Debug.Print("Setting static IP...");
//networkInterface.EnableStaticIP(myIP, subnetMask, gatewayAddress);
networkInterface.PhysicalAddress = myMAC;
//networkInterface.EnableStaticDns(new[] { dnsAddresses });
// Change to use Dhcp
networkInterface.EnableDhcp();
Debug.Print("Waiting for DHCP lease.");
IPAddress ip = null;
while (true)
{
ip = IPAddress.GetDefaultLocalAddress();
if (ip != IPAddress.Any) break;
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
Debug.Print("Client IP address:" + ip.ToString());
Debug.Print("Network ready.");
Debug.Print(" IP Address: " + networkInterface.IPAddress);
Debug.Print(" Subnet Mask: " + networkInterface.SubnetMask);
Debug.Print(" Default Gateway: " + networkInterface.GatewayAddress);
Debug.Print(" DNS Server: " + networkInterface.DnsAddresses[0]);
}
else
{
Debug.Print("No network device found.");
}
}
Strange indeed, if fixed IP works. Must be some rule violation. Or the Firewall is refusing to lease for some reason. Or doesn’t have any free IPs to lease?
I can’t help there much. Sorry.
Can you try some other MAC, just in case the one you used is active somewhere else?
I usually just pick the MACs off old ethernet cards I have lying around.
How many addresses does the router have to lease? I set mine to allow it to use 101…199 for Dhcp.
Actually, it appears that DHCP is granting an IP address just fine if I look at my logs in the router. However, the ni.IPAddress property is never populated with the IP that it is given.
If I try to ping the DHCP IP, check out the response back in the pic. I am pinging the Cerberus, but I get an “unreachable” response back from my PCs IP. This feels like a Visual Studio proxy problem… I’m using Windows 8 Pro & VS2010 Ultimate.
That did it! So, does this mean that I have DHCP setup wrong on my router? I’ve got it setup to give a number between .100 and .254. These were just random (apparently bad) choices due to my limited knowledge of the insides of networking. Would .226 - .254 be better? What if I end up needing more?
Yes, it is 255.255.255.0. However, there’s something stranger going on… It appears that it will only work if I reserve a number in my router. I tried changing the range to .235 - .255 and it still would not register an IP on the Cerberus. But if I then reserve .235 the same code works just fine. It seems there’s something the NetworkInterface code isn’t understanding/handling properly.
How did you choose your MAC address? Can you grab a new on e from macvendorlookup.com and try it again, some routers don’t like handing out to MACs that they see as “invalid”?
not discounting that dhcp in 4.2 may have bugs, but what I found interesting in Ian’s testing was that by setting a reserved IP for the mac adder, the response worked.
Does anyone have a network hub and can do a packet capture to see what is going on? If you can get me a Netmon capture I’ll take a look
I had hoped that assigning the MAC at runtime would fix it also, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Any other ideas? I’d really rather have this work with DHCP.
They will shudder in disgust when they see what I’m using their service for!!! 