DHCP/Static IP address assignment

[lwaller]

I have a new PhidgetSBC4 (SBC3003_0). I have encountered an apparent Catch-22 with IP address assignment. For some reason, DHCP does not work on the SBC (our DHCP system works with many other devices, so we don't know why this is the case). But I cannot change the IP address to a static address unless DHCP works (and the SBC is accessible via its Web page).
Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Patrick]

Does the SBC show up in the Phidgets control panel on your PC? If it doesn't get an IP from DHCP it should self-assign a link-local IP and still be accessible on the local LAN.

You could attach an HDMI monitor and keyboard and configure it locally to get in on the network.

-Patrick

[lwaller]

It's not obvious to me how one can start the GUI with an attached keyboard, mouse, monitor. My SBC4 boots up into terminal mode. There's no "startx" or any other command that I can find. Any hints? Thanks.

[Patrick]

Sorry for the confusion - you cannot start up the web interface from the console, you would need to configure the machine manually, using command line tools.

It would be interesting from the terminal, to 'tail /var/log/syslog' after you plug in ethernet, and see if there are any DHCP-related errors. You could also 'ifconfig' to list interfaces - see if the SBC has received an IP. If there is a DHCP server on your network, the SBC should be able to get and IP address.

-Patrick

[lwaller]

Thanks.

Here is how I did this:

In /etc/network/interfaces, changed interface eth0 to a static IP address (including netmask and gateway).

If one reboots at this point, this gets overwritten (presumably by settings saved in EEPROM), as per the "DO NOT EDIT" warning. Instead, restart networking ("systemctl restart networking").

Then access the PhidgetSBC via the new static IP address using the web interface and change the IP address assignment to static, manually assign the new IP address (including netmask, gateway, nameserver), which presumably updates the settings in EEPROM.

There are probably other, better ways.

I still don't understand why DHCP does not work in the office environment. Perhaps something to do with specific assignment to a MAC address, which is how we do it at the office? Time to get Wireshark onto it ...