MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hello,

Recently moved over to a different desktop computer and connected my Mister via Ethernet same as before, but i'm now not being assigned an IP address (the 'Lan' image is not being shown on the Mister to indicate a connection either).

I did think perhaps the ethernet port on new desktop computer was the cause but the port 'lights-up' when I insert the cable and desktop changes from status 'not connected' to 'no internet'. I'm thinking it must be a setting somewhere (on the desktop) but not sure.

Can you describe more precisely which cables go where from all the devices involved in your network?

Thanks Bas,

Sure . It's a direct connection from the Ethernet port on the Mister (the opposite end of where the VGA cable is inserted) to the ethernet port on my motherboard (Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller). I'm using a 'Cat6 Molded Slim UTP Ethernet Cable'.

Automatic (DHCP) is on.

You need a DHCP server somewhere, IP addresses do not come out of thin air. If you check the IP on your PC it will be something starting by 169.
One solution would be to connect both your PC and MISTer via a router. If you want to use a direct cable you would have to give a fixed IP both to your PC and MISTer.

Your PC must be configured to act like a DHCP server for this setup to work. That's not exactly common. The more common setup in a wired network is to connect all devices to a central point like a switch or the LAN ports on a router (which behave like a small switch). The router then provides DHCP to the local network and your MiSTer will get an address that your PC can use.

Is there a reason why you do a direct connection like this? You may also run into issues with the cable. Both ports must autodetect the need for a cross-cable connection and be able to provide it in a direct link like this, or you'll need an actual corsa-cable that is wired differently from a standard network cable.

Thanks both - that's starting to make sense and would explain it. The desktop PC I am using to connect to the Mister is away from my main router and I am connecting over wifi (to the internet). I do have a wifi dongle installed on the Mister so perhaps it will be best connect to it over wireless? A shame as my Mister is right next to the desktop and I thought a direct connection via Ethernet to it would have been the most straight forward and fastest.

if you have a crossover cable and manually set up the IP's and subnets you should be able to connect to your MiSTer, however relocating the router or setting up a switch connected to the router would be easier'ish.

never mind i saw that Bas already mentioned crossover cable, i really should read all replies before replying next time....

I also forgot to mention the cross-over cable. I did not know that you had a Wi-Fi dongle on your PC so your PC will get a regular IP on Wi-Fi. When you connect your MISTer to your PC via a cable I suppose at that point your wired connection on your PC will get the 169... address because it does not see a DHCP server. By giving fixed IPs to your MISTer and the wired Ethernet on your PC, in a different subnet from your Wi-Fi, MISTer will see your PC but wouldn't have internet access.
You can still do it:
https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/sha ... rnet-wi-fi
Better use a Wi-Fi dongle on your MISTer, don't forget to choose one supported by MISTer.

Thanks both that has made it clearer and I am starting to see what is happening.

jca wrote: ↑Thu Jun 22, 2023 1:20 pm

I did not know that you had a Wi-Fi dongle on your PC

Yes but just to confirm as a receiver , it is not sending out a signal by hot-pointing (I am using a Asus PCE-AC88 wifi card inside desktop) . I am receiving the connection from my wireless router some distance away and not possible to connect directly to it via ethernet.

I think as I already have a wireless dongle in the Mister , connecting to it wirelessly (the signal is ok) will be best for the moment. And for any big transfers I can remove the card and connect it directly and then move it back over etc.

I always avoid moving the SD card as these connectors are fragile. I always use WinSCP and recently someone said to switch WinSCP from the default SFTP to FTP; this improve the speed considerably.
It is still slow but who cares.

Will try that now

When you say slow (and as I don't know what I should be aiming for) what kind of speeds are you getting?

I really do not pay attention. I just start the transfer and come back later to see if it is finished as I do it when I am not using my MISTer.

WinSCP uses the SFTP protocol. That's an encrypted protocol which isn't all that relevant on the MiSTer. Plain FTP is unencrypted meaning it won't tax the DE10 Nano's modest CPU nearly as much, giving you better network and SD-card IO performance.

If you want to connect the Mister directly to the PC, you could use Internet Connection Sharing. I could never get good results with a wifi dongle, and I found this to be a good solution. This does not use a crossover cable. Since the IP address the Mister gets will be pretty much random, use the FQDN of mister.mshome.net in WinSCP.

Connecting two endpoint devices directly requires the cable to be crossed. That's not dependent on what you do with the link later. Modern RJ45 ports sometimes detect this need so they cross automatically, but it's still required.