Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360

Many people have noticed that the Xbox and Xbox 360 will not obtain an IP address from a Mac running Internet Sharing using DHCP. (Apparently some other devices have the same problem, but I don't have any of them to test with.) One workaround is to simply set the Xbox to use a static IP, DNS server(s), etc. That will certainly work, but it may be inconvenient and is definitely inelegant.

This hint will allow your Xbox to obtain its IP, DNS info, and so on from the Mac using DHCP. You need to have administrator privileges on the Mac in question, and the procedure is different on 10.4 vs. 10.5. (Presumably older systems were similar to 10.4, but I haven't tested on anything older than 10.4.10.).

10.4:

I haven't had much time to interact with the 10.4 machine I have access to, so I haven't tested this as much. Some variation on this procedure may be necessary to get the change to stick -- in particular, you may need to perform it more than once, or start and/or stop Internet Sharing before performing it. Also, the restart at the end may be unnecessary (though you do need to start and stop Internet Sharing somehow). Please post your experience in the comments, if someone hasn't already.

Start Internet Sharing if it's not already running.
Open NetInfo Manager, located in /Applications » Utilities. Authenticate as an administrator using the lock icon in the lower-left.
Navigate to the /config/dhcp node (so that dhcp is selected in the browser pane).
In the lower pane, find the reply_threshold_seconds property and change its value from 4 to 0.
Quit NetInfo Manager and then restart your Mac.
After the restart, open NetInfo Manager again and confirm that reply_threshold_seconds is still 0.

10.5:

The following procedure is confirmed to work as written.

Start Internet Sharing if it's not already running.
In Terminal, type cp /etc/bootpd.plist /tmp/bootpd.plist
Stop Internet Sharing.
Open /tmp/bootpd.plist for editing using TextEdit or whatever.

Locate this section of the file, near the end:

<key>reply_threshold_seconds</key>
<integer>4</integer>

Change the value 4 to 0.
In Terminal, type sudo cp /tmp/bootpd.plist /etc
Start Internet Sharing.
If you want to, check that your change to /etc/bootpd.plist hasn't been reverted.

[robg adds: There wasn't an Xbox 360 under the tree this year, so I haven't tested this one...]

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Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ecbtln on Mon, Dec 31 2007 at 1:26PM PST

does this apply to all types of internet sharing specifically, taking the wireless using it as a bridge as sharing it as wired, or is it only for one set of internet sharing

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Mon, Dec 31 2007 at 1:44PM PST

Any time you're relying on a Mac with Internet Sharing running to get an Xbox (or device that behaves similarly) connected to a network. Doesn't matter if it's wired ---> wireless, wireless ---> wired, wired ---> wired, modem ---> wireless...whatever.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Mon, Dec 31 2007 at 1:58PM PST

Whee, my first hint!

A couple of notes:

In 10.5 step 5, one easy way to open the file is to type the following in Terminal: open -e /tmp/bootpd.plist
In 10.5 step 6, you do need to save your changes to the file before going to step 7 (duh).
We (well, mostly me) had a couple of threads about this at Ars Technica: thread 1, thread 2. The first thread contains my bug report to Apple about the issue, which (for people who are interested) should help to explain what's actually happening.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Mon, Dec 31 2007 at 2:00PM PST

Aack, I meant step 4, not step 5, in the first item there.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: spalka621 on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 1:21PM PST

Whenever I type "open -e /tmp/bootpd.plist" I get a message saying that "The file /tmp/bootpd.plist does not exist." Does anybody know why this is happening?

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 10:43PM PST

Did the command in step 2 execute without an error message?

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: Michelasso on Sat, Jan 26 2008 at 10:19AM PST

Actually it doesn't seem to be a bug. It looks like Internet Sharing before to enable the sharing looks for the file /etc/bootpd.list. If one is there it reads it, gets the interfaces configurations and global parameters (like reply_threshold_seconds), stores it somewhere and then updates the file only for the interfaces that have been modified (enabled/disabled, I believe).

I discovered that because by mistake I didn't stop InternetSharing before to modify bootpd.plist. When later I stopped it bootpd.plist got deleted. Then it has been created again with the default OSX value once I activated Internet Sharing again. I believe it's kind of messy as a system configuration, but once it is understood it does the job.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: brooks_lt on Tue, Jan 1 2008 at 12:02AM PST

Wonder if this would solve the problems I was having sharing a connection out to a PS3. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to that system to test. Any takers?

---
If everyone used macs, we'd be working on how to get to Alpha Centauri rather than how to get to Mars.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Tue, Jan 1 2008 at 3:23PM PST

Yes, I learned after I submitted the hint that the PS3 behaves the same way as the Xbox and Xbox 360, so this hint should be helpful for it as well.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: adam.modlin on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 3:46PM PST

I have not been able to get this to work on my PS3 unfortunately. The /etc/whatever.plist file does not exist for me.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 10:41PM PST

Hmm. If you're running 10.5 (Leopard), I'm pretty sure it should be created, if it doesn't already exist, every time you start Internet Sharing. If that's not happening, something is wrong. Perhaps use Console (in the Utilities folder) to look at system.log for error messages around the time you start Internet Sharing.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: mahakk on Tue, Jan 1 2008 at 10:24AM PST

Will this allow me to... you know... use proxies? :)
I.e., connect via a US-Proxy in order to get full access to the US Video Store from the EU?

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Tue, Jan 1 2008 at 3:27PM PST

I don't think it helps or hinders using proxies. But, if you're referring to the iTunes Store, you need more than a US proxy to buy from the US store--I'm pretty sure you need a credit card with a US billing address.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: mahakk on Wed, Jan 2 2008 at 3:17AM PST

I'm talking about the Xbox Live Video Store as well as the Games Downloads. See, due to certain restrictions, citicens of certain countries can't access certain content offered on XBL Marketplace. That's for... uhm.. certain, sorry.

They check two things: Your address, your IP. E.g., if you're a Swiss or British citizen, but happen to live in Germany (and thus connecting via a german provider), you can't access content deemed "unappropriate" for Germans.

Having the Xbox360 connect via a Mac which in turn would connect via a proxy COULD at least give me access to said content. US citizens could use that method to get access to the US Video Store on XBLM.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: deanr on Wed, Jan 2 2008 at 4:11AM PST

Thanks for the hint, It solved the problem of sharing the internet from my macbook with my iPhone, before it would work for a few seconds then not be able to download anything or even ping the phone.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: atpanetta on Wed, Jan 2 2008 at 8:31AM PST

hey thanks for the help, but im having a hard time with step 4, im not really sure how to open that in text edit? or what to do after that...this is somewhat new to me but i really want it to work. thanks

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Wed, Jan 2 2008 at 3:01PM PST

Since you already have Terminal open, the easiest way is probably to type (or copy and paste from here):

open -e /tmp/bootpd.plist

Then the file will open in TextEdit. Scroll to the end (the file isn't very long) and you should see the section mentioned in step 5. Proceed from there; post back if you need more help.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Wed, Jan 2 2008 at 3:04PM PST

Also, make sure you save the file after changing 4 to 0 in step 6.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: tim_farinholt on Fri, Aug 22 2008 at 11:22AM PDT

still after i enter that it says that the file does not exist

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: atpanetta on Thu, Jan 3 2008 at 8:21PM PST

nvm i figured it out lol, thanks

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: armed&dangerous3 on Sat, Jan 5 2008 at 12:57PM PST

I followed the directions, but my xbox still fails at the DNS part. It automatically does the IP Address, but refuses to get any further. What do I do?

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 10:46PM PST

Odd. Perhaps the DNS settings on the Mac running Internet Sharing are a bit off? I think I would try re-checking those first.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: Michelasso on Fri, Jan 18 2008 at 11:39PM PST

Personally I get a similar problem when using the Airport connection. For some reasons OSX takes a long time (a minute or two) before to accept the replies from the DNS server. I've checked it with tcpdump. Which, I believe, goes down to the other problem I already mentioned, i.e. performances issues connecting the PS3 to the MacBook via Airport.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: adam.modlin on Tue, Jan 8 2008 at 3:45PM PST

I have the same problem. That file does not exist for me.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ryansheffer on Tue, Jan 15 2008 at 11:05PM PST

WORKS WITH PS3! Both ethernet cable sharing and airport card sharing work with my Mac Pro. Problem is, I'm still getting NAT3, can anyone help???? I'm more than willing to try any ideas people have.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: Michelasso on Fri, Jan 18 2008 at 11:59AM PST

You are a G E N I U S!

I spent so many hours trying to make the DHCP working with my PS3 that eventually I gave up. Now it works with both Ethernet and Airport using OSX 10.4.10. Here are step I followed (more or less like you did, just to confirm):

- Start NetInfo from Application/Utility
- Browse config then select dhcp
- set "reply_threshold_seconds" to "0"
- dhcp_enabled must have the list of interfaces you want to share for DHCP connection. In my case :(en0,en1)
- Go to menu "Domain" then "save changes" (I am translating it from Italian)

There is no need to reboot.

From the PS3 point of view, just tell the PS3 to have an automatic IP address and DNS server. Until now I had to set them by hand, and it was a pain in the ass.

I still have two minor problem:

- The Internet bandwidth via Airport is about 1/3 (50KBytes/sec) of the max bandwidth. No problem with the ethernet connection. The WiFi connection is good because I am using Medialink as a UPnP media server for streaming videos, and I have peaks of MBytes/sec.
- If I enable the OSX internal firewall, OSX forwards to and receives from the Internet the requests from the PS3, but then it does not forward the replies to the PS3.

Anyone has any idea?

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: cmcole101 on Mon, Jan 28 2008 at 6:19AM PST

This also applies to those of us who live/work behind a proxy that requires a login. If I could access the internet via my Mac, which is connecting through the proxy, I'd be able to then access Xbox Live on my console.

Does anyone know how to setup my Xbox 360 to connect with my Mac through the ethernet port so it will use the Mac network settings instead of trying to access the proxy directly?

Additional info:
I've been able to connect the Xbox 360 to my Airport Extreme Base and it is assigned an IP/DNS from the base but then won't access the proxy.

I've setup Internet Sharing on my PowerBook 10.4.11 bridging the Airport Base to the Ethernet and setup manual IP/DNS in Xbox network settings based upon ifconfig en0/en1 inet addresses. This allows the Xbox to pass the IP/DNS tests but then hangs up on the MTU because instead of accessing the internet via my Mac Network settings, it's trying to go directly to the internet hence stumbling at the proxy.

Any suggestions/hints would be GREATLY appreciated. :-)

Cole

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: bleachbypass5279 on Sat, Apr 19 2008 at 5:46AM PDT

Thank you so much! This worked wonderfully to get my Nintendo DS on my network, which is ethernet and WPA wireless. The DS doesn't work with WPA, and I was looking for some way to temporarily activate WEP when I wanted to play without reconfiguring my router each time. Now I can just activate Internet Sharing on my ethernet-connected Mac and I've got an access point for my Nintendo DS! Thank you again!

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: elkraneo on Sun, May 25 2008 at 7:53AM PDT

worked perfect with 360 elite, many thx!

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: phoopee3 on Sun, Jul 6 2008 at 6:39PM PDT

To use 'sudo' you need to type in your admin password. You also need to HAVE an admin password, so if your password is blank, make sure you change it to something so you can run 'sudo'

---
When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: tim_farinholt on Fri, Aug 22 2008 at 11:08AM PDT

I have been attempting to internet share to my xbox for a couple of days now but i cant seem to find the /tmp/bootpd.plist file in terminal it says that the file doesnt exist

any help appreciated

Tim

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: joshtb86 on Fri, Sep 5 2008 at 9:10AM PDT

mine doesnt exist either.. please send one if someone can.. i cant seem to find it at all anywher eon my comptuer no matter what i try

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: wm on Thu, Sep 11 2008 at 1:15AM PDT

For those of you who don't seem to have a bootpd.plist: don't forget step #1. Internet Sharing needs to be running or that file won't exist.

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: sttammanyguy on Mon, Oct 6 2008 at 12:34PM PDT

I am happy to report this works with my Dishnet PVR. I am able to now use my mac mini and connect an ethernet cable between it and the pvr. Goto system setup/broadband/reset on the DVR and Viola! Thx for the info =)

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ses on Sat, Nov 22 2008 at 3:11PM PST

Fix doesn't work for my iPhone (sharing from macbook with OS 15.5.5)

..I can set up the change in bootpd.plist and my iPhone receives the IP but I can't get access to the internet.

When I try to ping my iPhone from my macbook it only works if I'm in the Preferences /WiFi menu on my iPhone..

ps. I don't know if this is an issue: the IP on my iphone doesn't match with the IPv4 of my airport (the last two groups don't match)

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ses on Sat, Nov 22 2008 at 3:15PM PST

..uuhm obviouslyv I meant OS 10.5.5 in the post above - lol ; )

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ses on Sat, Nov 22 2008 at 3:16PM PST

Make Internet Sharing DHCP work with an Xbox/Xbox 360
Authored by: ice86 on Wed, Feb 11 2009 at 5:14PM PST

i followed these steps and all that ended up happening was now i cant even get a network connection. i worse than where i was before. help?

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