Connecting via ethernet (help)

Appologies if this has been asked before, I have done a quick search.

Ok, here it is..

USB, plug and play, very easy, no problem !
Ethernet, difficult, hard, difficult, hard, hard, hard !

I have bought a 10/100MBit Ethernet card to hopefully speed things up a little in communicating with my EMPEG. However, I feel the manual is rather lacking in this department. I'm a fairly capable kind of guy (i.e. have set up databases for allocating MAC address on units at work) so I'm not toally clueless about these things but this has got me stumped.

I have Win 98 running at home and don't have any other Ethernet products to communicate with, so I don't care about DHCP, IP address, net masks or default gateways, whatever one of those is. I just want some instructions on how to get it to work.

The Windows help page says "you will need to allocate an IP address on your local network and know the subnet mask. You will also need an address for the gateway", but this means nothing to me. From the other line saying "If you have a DHCP server on your network" I get the impression it assumes we are all techies and have super DHCP networks setup at home, I don't.

Can anyone out there help me with some basic settings to use?

Within the EMPEG Player Configuration I have set the IP address to 192.192.192.1, the netmask to 255.255.255.0 and the default gateway to ... (well, no idea with this one).

Do I have to configure anything on the PC side, the network address maybe?

Anyway, would it not be a good idea for the manual to suggest some basic settings for people like me to use to get things up and running very quickly, as the manual failed with me miserably. I would imagine quite a few people will be in a similar position, i.e. just go out and buy a cheap ethernet card for the EMPEG alone and then get stuck with the configuration. Does it need improving a little?

What do you think, are my concerns justified?

Thanks for any help,

Andy Walker

The easyiest way for you to setup is enable internet connection sharing as this assigns you an ip and sets your system up as a dhcp server.

rgds

bill

-------------
MK II, (Blue but should be Amber) SN: 118

On the PC you need a different address with the same network: to add to your example

empeg: address 192.192.192.1, netmask 255.255.255.0, DHCP off

PC: address 192.192.192.2, netmask 255.255.255.0

For a simple setup such as this, you don't need to bother setting a gateway address. (The gateway would be the PC the empeg used to talk to other networks, beyond the one it's plugged into.)

You also need to take a bit of care over the connection. You can't connect two Ethernet hosts (e.g. empeg and PC) together with a normal Ethernet cable -- the plugs fit, it just won't work. Normal cables only work from a host to an Ethernet hub. Your choices are either (a) get a "cross-over" cable, which is capable of connecting two hosts directly, or (b) get a hub. Hubs cost less than twenty quid these days.

Once you've got all that sorted out, an Ethernet connection to your empeg should appear in emplode's "choose an empeg" window.

Peter

In reply to:

---

I have bought a 10/100MBit Ethernet card to hopefully speed things up a little in communicating with my EMPEG. However, I feel the manual is rather lacking in this department. I'm a fairly capable kind of guy (i.e. have set up databases for allocating MAC address on units at work) so I'm not totally clueless about these things but this has got me stumped.

---

It looks like you already got some sound advice here - but one site I find particularly helpful when the jargon get over my head is http://www.whatis.com. It is an encyclopedia of geek-speak terms. It is by no means as cool as the empeg site, but I find it helpful from time to time.

A word of caution, Ethernet seems to spread like a virus. Its just your empeg and desktop today, but before you know it you will have the hole house wired and be converting linen closest in wiring closets

Good luck with your adventures in networking...



-Doug
(Mk2-12G-Blue)

Thanks for this info - I was going to ask anyways as my position in the queue is rapidly approaching. My main concern is the ethernet cable.. I have some straight through cables and wondered if they needed to be crossovers or not.

I do not have a hub but may want to invest in a small cheapie.. I already have ethernet set up and working on my home computer as I have a DSL line. No dial up modems for me!

With a hub, I won't have to disconnect my DSL at all. I can just plug my empeg in to the hub.

Now that I think about it, I bet the ethernet cable from my DSL modem to my ethernet card is a cross over cable.. cool! I may already have one!

Either way I will post once I receive my player and let the rest of you know in case it will help someone else.

Greetings!

Actually, I also have DSL and it is a straight cable. I don't know which DSL interface / modem you have, but mine is pre-wired to take a straight cable. The hub is your best bet.

Paul G.
Q# 15189
SN# 090000587
Status: D.O.A. - 29 Sept 2000 (36GB Green)

You mentioned you had some straight through cables....

It is really easy to cut the wires and solder them back together swapped. Thats what I did and it works perfect.

Also, just a note: I bought a network starter kit with 10/100 cards but the hub was actually 100Mbps only. Thats why I couldn't go through the hub. Just in case this happends to anyone else.

Alex Lear

It is really easy to cut the wires and solder them back together swapped. Thats what I did and it works perfect.

This might work at low speeds and for short cable runs, but once you've done that, the cable isn't up to Cat-5 spec any more, so you might get some intermittent problems with it if you try to push it (segment length or bandwidth). Be careful with any hand-altered 10baseT cabling. For my money (as a sysadmin where I work), it's worth it to buy pre-made cable in the format I want it, to avoid possible future problems.

___________
Tony Fabris

Actually, the easiest way to get Win98 ethernet up for just the empeg is to install the NIC card and touch nothing else. When 98 (Or ME) dosen't find a DHCP server, it creates it's own IP, in the format of 169.254.x.x, where the x's are a randon number between 1 and 254. The subnet is 255.255.0.0 Simply hook the empeg to the PC with a crossover ethernet cable, give the empeg an IP of 169.254.1.1 and a subnet of 255.255.0.0 and then emplode should be able to see the empeg.

I have a question in regards to Eternet connection to the empeg. Everything works fine with no problems for me, however in the initial screen of Emplode it finds the empeg Twice (same empeg, same ip address) ... I can click on either and it works fine, however i'm curious what might be causing this?

The empeg is plugged into a Router which also has the computers plugged into. Router has it's own DHCP server, however it has been disabled for now and is using direct ip configuration (which has been setup in the empeg).

however in the initial screen of Emplode it finds the empeg Twice (same empeg, same ip address)

I thought they fixed this. Are you running version 1.01 of the software?

___________
Tony Fabris

No .... Still running 1.0 for the time being, but i'm going to assume by your reply 1.01 fixes this.

Had to play around with it first before I wanted to update the software, since I just installed it =)

I am unable to get ethernet to work. Here at work we use DHCP. I hook up the EMPEG and turn it on then go into emplode, specify ethernet. Can't see the EMPEG. Do I have to go into the empeg via serial and do any configuration? I looked at the Config via Emplode and it was set for DHCP...I know DHCP works cause I can hook up my laptop and get an IP address. Mabe I will hookup my laptop, get an IP, then assign that to the empeg and unhook my laptop....may have conflicts later but I want to see it work...

If the DHCP server doesn't assign an IP address in the same subnet as the PC, emplode won't find it automatically.

v1.01 of emplode allows you to specify the exact IP address of your empeg. The about box on the player tells you the IP address of your empeg.



Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

I am sure it does assign the same subnet....Once I get v1.01 on the empeg I will check the About box. Thanks.

Ah, if you're not running v1.01, you should. There's several fixes in the area of DHCP anyway. It's entirely possible that the player isn't getting assigned an IP address properly.


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

Ah, if you're not running v1.01, you should.

Squid's problem is that he's stuck at 1.0 until he can sort out his upgrade problem he reported elsewhere on the BBS (it doesn't work for him, possibly a miswired cable).

___________
Tony Fabris

I just received my MK2 this morning while I was at work. I plugged it in to check it out, and it booted for me just fine. Its very nice.

On my way home from the office I stopped by my local computer super store and purchased a CAT-5 crossover ethernet cable for about $15US. I wanted to make sure the cable was good so I went ahead and bought one instead of crimping my own.

I read the manual as much as work would permit, to become familiar with the finer points of my player so that when I got home I would be ready to create my play lists and sync this bad boy.

But when push came to shove, I too have problems with my ethernet connectivity. I am 100% convinced that its nothing more than a configuration problem on my end.. but being somewhat of a techie myself I thought I could figure it out. Instead here I am.

I am running Windows98, I have TCP/IP and my ethernet card installed correctly because my DSL modem functions fine. And don't forget my store bought cable.

I plugged in the crossover cable (I knew I should have bought that $29US Ethernet Hub instead, I hate having to reach around the back of my computer already!) and turned everything on. Once bringing up my copy of Emplode (v1.01) I never saw my player in the list.

I then remembered that my computer does not assign itself a specific IP, it lets the system get one automatically. So I assigned an address.. hey.. I just thought of something.

The address that I gave the empeg player was not even in the same ballpark as my computer. No wonder I didn't see it. I think.. now I don't remember.

As soon as my quick serial port sync is finished (worked like a champ first try) I will make sure I have my IP addresses correctly and try again. No way am I going to transfer all my data through this serial port!

I am very pleased with the product so far, I guess my only complaint to date echos what has already been said - there could have been more explicit instructions on how to do this.. for those of us that are not as smart as we thought we were.

BTW if anyone wants to chime in and lend a hand, feel free.

Carl
080000506 12gb green

Squid's problem is that he's stuck at 1.0 until he can sort out his upgrade problem he reported elsewhere on the BBS (it doesn't work for him, possibly a miswired cable)
Yep, miswired cable. Radio Shack fixed it up and I am now on 1.01...about to hook it up to my HTS to make sure sound actually comes out! Car install will be a week away... I will try the ethernet connection tomorrow at work when I stop by just for that!

Well, you are right, not much is said about it in the manual. But I think the manual would get pretty thick if it had to discuss all the thinkable home/work situations that it (the empeg) could end up in. But fear not, there are people here on this BBS more then willing to help anyone with some tailormade suggestions should you have trouble getting it to work.

I myself work for the Benelux division of a large multinational. I keep about 1500 to 2000 network users up and running and that is just my direct area of work. The entire Wide Area Network it is hooked up to (no not the internet ) spans the globe. And from what I have seen that is peanuts to some of the others on this BBS whom have far more experience then I have in all kinds of relevant fields of expertise. It is a little hard getting a good grip on a problem when you can not see the thing first hand but still with all the people here we can surely help you ahead a bit. And if even that is not enough, there are the guys@empeg too whom of course know everything there is to know about their product and are ready and willing to share it all (well as good as)...

Now add all that up and you will have to admit this is better then just about any manual you can think of no ?

Cheers,
Hans


Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

BTW if anyone wants to chime in and lend a hand, feel free.

Sure... how about using USB?

Not to be a luddite or anything, but if you're plugging the Empeg directly into your PC, why even bother with ethernet at all? At that point, you might as well use USB. It's sure a lot simpler than trying to get ethernet running. The USB just works, but configuring an ethernet setup is, despite Microsoft's valiant efforts to simplify things, still quite complicated. And this may surprise you, but throwing a DSL connection into the mix makes it even worse, especially since your only use for ethernet has been that DSL thingy so far. Who knows how that stuff is set up compared to a "simple" peer-to-peer microsoft network connection?

Sure you get a bit of a speed boost with ethernet over USB. But the USB connection certainly isn't dog-slow by any measure, and ethernet isn't that much faster.

Now, if you say that you want to do software development on the unit, okay. If you want to turn the thing into an FTP server, cool. But remember that those things are orders of magnitude more complicated than getting a little ethernet connection running. Something tells me that you're not planning on doing those things.

___________
Tony Fabris

Hi Tony-

I was already thinking about going that route. The only reason I have not done so already is my older design motherboard does not have a USB port on it. Not having looked, are there 3rd party PCI/ISA USB cards that I can purchase and be done with it?

Carl

080000506

I was already thinking about going that route. The only reason I have not done so already is my older design motherboard does not have a USB port on it. Not having looked, are there 3rd party PCI/ISA USB cards that I can purchase and be done with it?


Look here. That should give you some ideas. They're pretty cheap




________
Donato
MkII/Blue/40GB/080000565

Thanks Donato-

That sound like an ideal solution.. not to mention that it only 'updates' my older style motherboard as well.

I did some digging in the meantime, and I did discover that there is a place in v1.01 software to assign an IP, a mask, and gateway. I did not realize it was there, I only used the IP section from the very first screen where it asks you your connection type.

I still tried to set up IP to work and got the same result. Yeah well, I guess I was just not meant to use the program with ethernet. I didn't want to use it anyway.. sour grapes!

I guess CompUSA will be getting a couple more bucks from me for a USB port tomorrow.


Carl

080000506 12gb-green