Super frustrated. Can't use Airprort in Win XP

I

ICreel

Junior Member
I have been trying to get online on the WinXP side of Parallels running OSX for a long time with little success. I tried going to the Apple Discusssion forums and I was told to check here.

I searched through the forums and found a generic explanation from Paralells that didn't help. I have read though so many threads and don't seem to see anyone with the same problem. That tells me one of two things: 1) the average user is not having problems using Aiport Express to access the internet on Win XP (or there would be more threads). Or 2) I am missing something on the XP side that is straight forward to others.

I am running Tiger 10.4.7 on a MacBook with 1GB RAM and set my VM memory to 256.

I set "Bridged Ethernet; en1: AirPort/Wireless Adapter" on the VM and when I try to crete a connection in windows it will not work.

I posted a similar question earlier and Joem wrote back:

"There's been a fair amount of discussion about this, which you can find by searching the forums. You need to have a DHCP server in your access point or router, and you may need to set a MAC address for your VM. Some DHCP servers won't play with the bridged arrangement, and if that's your problem, you will need a different router, or to use host only networking. Unfortunately, it doesn't "just work"


I should have replied to him (or her) that I have no clue what a DHCP server is but it has been awhile and I wanted to try to show up as a new thread.

I would REALLY appreciate help with this if anyone can offer any suggestions.
 
First the simple things:

1) Have you installed Parallels Tools?
2) If yes, then open a windows command prompt and type ipconfig <return>. What does it say?
3) Ffrom the same command prompt type ipconfig /renew <return> . What does it say?

What type of wireless router are you connecting to? (Brand/model) Is this a home or business network?
 
Very odd. I run Parallels with my MacBook and Airport network card every day. Are you sure you have it set up for bridged? Is it enabled? And do you have "connect cable at startup" checked?

On the Windoze side it will NOT appear as a wireless connection. It will appear wired. So if you are trying to make a wireless connection, then it won't work. It looks like a normal wired e-net.

Jon
 
Ditto! Also super-frustrated!

ICreel is not alone. I too have been unable to find a workable - make that understandable! - solution in this forum or anywhere else for that matter. it seems that rather a lot of people have had this sort of problem.

I simply cannot connect to the net from Windows XP within Parallels.

But my new Macbook Pro instantly recognised our home office wireless network the first time I used it. We have a Netgear FWG114P router attached to a Billion 5102 ADSL modem.

From within Parallels I can connect with the PCs on the network and I have wirelessly transferred files from networked PCs to "XP in Parallels" without a problem. So I suppose "XP in Parallels" is recognised by our home office network.

In Parallels' Configuration Editor I've tried "Bridged Ethernet" with "Default Adapter" and also with "en1:AirPort/Wireless Adapter". I've also tried "Host-only networking".

If you can help please respond in simple terms because, like ICreel, I start floundering when acronyms like DHCP are mentioned...

Cheers
 
medunkt - if you can transfer files on your home network to XP in Parallels, then most likely the problem is not related to Parallels as that indicates the network is in fact working. So I have a few questions for you:

1) Can other machines on your home network connect to the internet at the same time your connecting in OSX?
2) Have you tried the Host Only Networking option in Parallels?
 
Does your OS X get to the Internet all right?
1/3 to 1/2 of connection problems have something to do with the router configuration.
If it's indeed DHCP related, you should try a better router that is easy to configure and understand. For example the ones from Linksys or Apple. I had several other brand routers and had problems from time to time and I ended up dumping them all.

If you don't understand what DHCP is, you should spend more to buy the best routers that simply work and don't need to worry about dhcp.
 
Hi VTMac.

1. Yes the PCs connect to the net OK at the same time as the Mac in OSX.
2. I tried Host-only networking and that didn't work either.

In response to the questions you asked ICreel here's what I get:

"ipconfig" gives me this...
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection
Connection-specific DNS Suffix :
Autoconfiguration IP Address : 169.254.151.40
Subnet Mask : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway :

"ipconfig/renew" gives me this...
An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection ; unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.

Regards
 
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Thanks rinconj. Yes, OSX has connected flawlessly to the net from the first time i booted, wirelessly via the Netgear FWG114P router.

This router has been rock solid since I first got it a few years ago, and has an excellent reputation, at least here in Australia. I can't remember when I lost an internet connection or a download. Like Apple products are supposed to, my Netgear router has always "just worked" with PCs and more recently with my Macbook on OSX.

My problem, I think, lies in my Parallels set-up or somewhere in the "XP within Parallels" networking set-up.
 
medunkt - well it definitely appears you are having DHCP problems related to your Netgear router. It's hard to say if it's the router or something in Parallels. Do you know if the router is configured to limit the number of active DHCP assigned IP addresses? You might be able to determine if this is the problem as follows:

1. On one of your other "real" windows machines (I'm assuming one of the other machine on your network is a windows PC) open a command prompt and type ipconfig /release <enter>
2. On your Parallels XP open a command prompt and type ipconfig /renew <return>. What happens? If it works, then you likely need to configure your netgear router to allow more connections.

If it doesn't work, I'd suggest you try configuring Parallels XP to use static IP address.
 
VTMac,

I'm pretty sure my Netgear router isn't configured to limit the number of computers attached to it (if that's what you mean by "active DHCP assigned IP addresses").

1. When I enter "ipconfig/release" from a networked PC it immediately switches off that machine's wireless connection.
2. When i enter "ipconfig/renew" from Parallels XP I get: "The operation failed as no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation."

Since then I've configured Parallels XP to use a static IP address. Still no internet connection from Parallels XP. Here's the strange thing though - from Parallels XP I can:

- connect to the other networked PCs and exchange files etc.
- access OSX's shared files
- ping the Netgear router/DHCP server
- ping the ADSL modem/DNS server

What could my problem be?

Cheers
 
Here is what I've found for myself. I bet anything that your issue is DNS. If you're using DHCP one thing i noticed is that for whatever reason the guest OS running in Parallels does not get the DHCP info for DNS so while I get an IP address (in either network config) I can't get to any network UNTIL I manually put in my router's IP address in the DNS section of XP or Win2k. Then it all works perfectly.
 
You're spot-on akac! I discovered half an hour ago that my problem, when configuring Parallels XP to using a static IP address, was that I hadn't filled in my DNS server's - i.e. my ADSL modem's - IP address. Bingo! Woo-hoo! At last! Wacko!

Thanks very much to everybody who got me there!

Now, if only the people at Parallels would write a really clear, idiot-proof, set of guidelines covering a number of scenarios for getting virtual machines connected to the internet... it'd save a lot of people a lot of messing about. It's taken me many hours over 3 days! Your product has the makings of being really good, but your user guide is hopeless, Parallels!

Over and out
 
I helped a friend setup his Win2k machine too on Parallels and he told me he was scared because of the user manual. It was just too advanced. Parallels needs to rename it a reference with a warning at the top and then a simple 1-2 page user guide for average joes that barely understand Windows.
 
ICreel,
I have my MBP set to Bridged Ethernet: Default Adapter

And whether I hook up with wireless or wired, I am able to seamlessly get a connection.
DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Google search gives lots of techie info.
Bottom line, a computer, machine, router or something similar that responds to your computer saying "I need an IP (internet) address please"
In the home case, your netgear cable modem/router combo, Airport Express Basestation or something similar.
If you can surf on the Mac side, you can see the network configuration in System Preferences: Network. Lets assume 192.168.110.100 is what you have, with a router of 192.168.110.1
My parallels configuration shows some sort of 10.73.x.x number...
Going into windows XP, and looking at the local area connection --> support tab
I see 192.168.110.101 so my basestation responded to XP asking (through the mac connection) for an address. If I saw 169.x.x.x windows did not get an address but assigned its own generated address to "fill in" the blanks.

Start with setting the parallels VM settings for network back to defaults, on my machine they just work (MBP 10.4.7 2GB ; VM- Win XP SP2)
 
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