Stupid Mac Ethernet question

On Jan 14 2006, 18:10, Richard A. Cini wrote: to 5e Anyway. Ethernet switch old 10BT Yes, it does. Check that the cable that came with the Mac is a straight-through Ethernet Cat 5 cable, not a crossover (pins 1+2 at one connected to pins 3+6 at the other; ie the orange and green pairs). It could also be an autonegotiation (speed/duplex) problem, but I'd check the cable anyway, becasue that's usually easy to do by eye. Sometimes Macs have been supplied with crossover cables which work fine on devices that have ports which autodetect crossover -- some hubs and switches do this to make interconnections easier. I once was on the receiving end of a rant from a visitor who had a crossover cable, though neither of us realised it immediately. I tested the socket, which was live and my Fluke OneTouch got a link and a DHCP lease. I connected it to his Mac; that showed a link. I tested his cable, which showed as a crossover. I told him that was the problem. Not withstanding the "Wiremap Error" displayed on the OneTouch, he insisted it was our network at fault, and "of course" his cable was the right type "because it works at home". I gave him a brand-new patch cable sealed in a polythene bag and left him to get over it. BTW, there is no colour code convention for patch cables, but we like to use a local system that helps to prevent most accidents and puzzlements: grey is temporary, purple is crossover, black is serial, and pink ("barbie-net") is telephony. Anything else is "Just Ethernet". It might be wise to adopt some similar convention, at least to distinguish crossover cables. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York