swtichs and mac-address

well, this comp on our LAN gave me alot of problems. sum1 somehow damage the face plate and i had to run cable directly to the swtich. well the comp refuse to browse again. i did all the kind of trouble shooting i can, it still refused to browse. we changed the IP, no dice. finally we switched to another port on the switch and it browsed. a friend said its the mac-address, the switch learnt the mac-ad. i know switch do that kinda schooling but is it a central data-table they store all their learnt mac-address? if yes, then y didnt it browse earlier with the former IP given to it and even when the new IP given, it still didnt browse until we changed port. and may i say, that other port is working just fine with other systems tested. need ur help.

MAC adresses are stored in the CAM (Content Adressable Memory) table.
Maybe there's a static entry for that port on which it didn't work?
Or maybe the switch is configured to not learn new mac adresses anymore once it found one on that particular port? (If that's possible, as I've never seen a switch in reality).
Changing your IP won't make any difference (if it's a layer 2 switch) as the switch learns only MAC adresses and not IP adresses.

hmmm? i will hold take ur explaination for now. thnx.

what he tried saying was a Mac address is a physical address, meaning its on the hardware, an IP is logical. You need to change hardware to change a Mac addy. The first few bit of hex on it is for manufacturer model number, the rest....i forgot. that last part has ntohing really to do with your question anyway, so dont worry ;)

but remember, mac = physical/hardware address, so you cant just change it.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by mandraketux
what he tried saying was a Mac address is a physical address, meaning its on the hardware, an IP is logical. You need to change hardware to change a Mac addy. The first few bit of hex on it is for manufacturer model number, the rest....i forgot. that last part has ntohing really to do with your question anyway, so dont worry ;)

but remember, mac = physical/hardware address, so you cant just change it.

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emmm, are u trying to explain the answer above i doubt. i know wat mac address is and where the manufacturer's id stops and where the native id starts. ur answer got nothing to do with the question. i am not dissing u but dont be too trigger happy to answer a question u dont understand. thnx

What type of switch is it ? If its a simple not manageable switch, it can't be possible to refuse a new connecting mac. It should update its cache than.
Try to connect another pc (lookup its mac for later reference) on the defectuous port and than arp on the good box. That should give you a good look if the interface even is alive, and if a mac adress is coming through.

If its a cisco switch, most of them are manageable and can be configured. I also believe those are able to refuse or not refuse macs. Also there you should be able to clear mactable manually

Greetz,