ftp to original Xbox - PC comes up with 'IP address conflict'?

[Link83]

Hi all,
I have been ftp-ing to my original Xbox quite happily for a long time now, but just in the past month of so when I turn on my Xbox the PC (Windows XP) comes up with an IP address conflict message which looks like this:-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/vashondude/Error%20messages/IP_address_conflict.jpg

Now the only thing I can think of thats changed is that I had to reset the modem and router for the first time in about 6 months. All systems were off at the time so I dont see how that could have caused the problem?

My router is set to use DCHP with a lease time of 'Forever' No devices have a static IP set, so I figured the router would automatically assign different IP address to all the connected devices?

Heres the LAN IP addresses:-
192.168.2.1 - Belkin Router
192.168.2.2 - Main (Only) PC running Windows XP
192.168.2.3 - Original Xbox
192.168.2.4 - Original Xbox sometimes switches to this IP address instead

Now when this IP address conflict occurs the PC still has IP 192.168.2.2, but when the Xbox is turned on it is also assigned 192.168.2.2, so causing a conflict.

One other strange thing is the ftp-ing still seems to work when the xbox has 192.168.2.2 aswell - I expected it wouldnt as I thought flashfxp would think that I was trying to send the files to both address, but this doesnt seem to happen. Also the internet still works fine

As a temporary fix I have set the Xbox's IP address to 'static' on 192.168.2.3, but is this my only solution? and why is this happening in the first place?

Thanks in advance

[egparadigm]

I don't see why you have a problem with setting a static IP address on your Xbox. In my view, static is far preferable because it allows you to set specific settings for each device - for example, port forwarding.

Personally I would set your OG Xbox to something like 192.168.2.8 - far up the other end of the numbers so that further problems won't occur when introducing other wireless devices.

I guess what you're really after is information and personally I find the behaviour of your network thoroughly baffling. Could it be something to do with spyware or somesuch? If you're still able to connect with both devices and use the internet it sounds a bit odd. Or is it only the Xbox that can still work with both devices connected?

If no one is able to help you, I would suggest you just opt for static IP and try to forget about it. I've spent more hours than I'd like to admit faffing about with networks and never really finding the cause of the strange idiosyncrasies at work.

[Link83]

Its no so much that I mind setting a static IP, its just im unsure as to why I should have to! and previously I had always read that it was best to use DCHP if possible rather than static IP's?

Both devices remain connected just fine, ftp-ing works, and the internet on the PC continues to work, so I have no idea why it happens, or what the cause is.

I just dont like errors when I dont know what caused them or why they happened in the first place - especially when it was working fine before.

Have done a full spyware and virus scan and come up with nothing out of the ordinary (tracking cookies etc)

Will definitely allocate the Xbox a higher IP address though - thanks

[egparadigm]

Have you verified that the IP address reported by both devices (Xbox and PC) are also reported the same way by the router? On my web app utility I can see a list of "attached devices" which lists all the other devices, their MAC adress and, crucially, IP address.

Thinking about it, I know some people use IPs like 192.168.2.22,23,24,25, etc. Although I've never had a router accept the smaller numbers. Could it be that each device is one point different from the other?

[GMANLS20]

Ensure all your devices are set to "ip address automatic" or "Obtain an IP Address automatically".

Something on your network must be setup to be using a static address, the router's DHCP server by its very nature cannot give out the same address twice.

[Link83]

OK, well im bringing this thread back from the dead as im having a related problem.

To get around the issue I mentioned previously in the thread I had left the Xbox with a static IP. Now though I have found an unexpected problem with this...

A couple of months ago I noticed I had lost all RSS feeds and the Weather channel in XBMC, but at the time didnt make the connection between the static IP settings and losing the Xbox internet connection After looking up the problem I eventually realised that this was caused by having a static IP, and indeed as soon as I enabled DHCP the RSS feeds and Weather were back!

However, this puts me right back to square one Either I have the Xbox set to DHCP and put up with the IP address jumping around (Which can be a pain when when you want to ftp) and can also sometimes cause an 'IP address conflict', or I set it to static IP and can ftp easily, never get an address conflict, but lose all internet connectivity on the Xbox.

Anybody have a solution? As it doesnt seem to make alot of sense to me!

Thanks in advance

Oh, and in response to the last post - I did double check that nothing on my network had a static IP address, and none of them did (Checked 'ipconfig/all' on PC, and Evox settings on Xbox) So I still dont see how I could get an 'IP address conflict' in the first place!

[Number45]

Your router should have a means of reserving IP addresses based on the MAC (hardware) address that requests them. This way you will still be using DHCP, but each device will always get the same IP address.

MAC address can be found with the ipconfig /all command, and it's a twelve digit string formatted like: 00-00-00-00-00-00 (You might need to input it differently on the router though, could also be 00:00:00:00:00:00 or 0000.0000.0000).

Give that a whirl. No idea why using a static IP would stop RSS working though.

[smouty]

I have always set aside ranges for Static and dynamic addresses to avoid conflicts.
E.g. 192.168.1.1 router + .2 - .9 for other network equipment
192.168.1.10 - 30 static
192.168.1.50 - 99 dhcp
with a SM of 255.255.255.0 you still have 150 addresses to play with.
Depending on your router you can use DHCP but reserve certain addresses for devices.
On my Draytek it is called 'Bind IP to MAC'.

On your Xbox check how IP is being allocated in -
a) standard dash
b) In XBMC
c) In Evox
as they could all be different.

With static addresses you normally have to set default gateway and DNS servers manually

[Link83]

Thanks for the replies

Well I spent the last hour pretty much learning everything I could about all my router settings, and unfortunately my router (Belkin Model # F5D7231-4) appears to have no option to allow you to bind a MAC address with an IP (Which would have been a great solution)

However, based on smouty's suggestion I went and set Evox's IP address back to static with IP 192.168.2.8, rebooted, then went into XBMC and as before had lost the RSS feeds and Weather.

I then went into XBMC network settings and it was set exactly the same as Evox (It was actually set to 'dashboard' which means it copies the network settings exactly from Evox) so I changed it to 'static' and set the details exactly the same as the Evox dashboard had (It already was exactly the same but I thought 'no harm in trying') and to my surprise it worked! I had RSS and weather back.

...but heres were it gets alittle strange, since XBMC network settings were now manually set to be exactly the same as what it had previously copied from the evox dashboard, I thought id flick back to 'dashboard' to see if I would lose connectivity again, but I didnt Now that I have set XBMC back to 'dashboard' again RSS and weather have continued to work. To say im baffled would be an understatement...

Anyway, as long as it keeps working im happy now, so thanks very much everyone

[smouty]

Thanks for the replies

(It was actually set to 'dashboard' which means it copies the network settings exactly from Evox)

I thought this meant it copies it from the Xbox dash but if it is working great

[Link83]

I thought this meant it copies it from the Xbox dash but if it is working great

Well you could be right! All I know is when I altered the IP address in Evox it was also changed in XBMC aswell, so I assumed that it must copy the Evox settings, but perhaps the network settings for MSdash, Evox and XMBC are all interconnected/one and the same thing?

{EDIT} Actually, having just tried a little test it appears the Evox and MSdash settings must be one and the same thing because every change I make in one appears in the other.
XBMC seems to use the same settings aswell - but not exactly, as when the MSDash and Evox dash are both set to 'static' the XMBC setting just says 'dashboard' and had to be manually configured for the real 'static' setting, if that makes sense!...Although everything else appeared to be the same.