Hardware
address is a unique identifier of a network interface card (NIC, a.k.a.
Ethernet card), the piece of electronics in a computer that the network
cable is plugged into, usually using a jack on the back of the computer.
This is built into most Macs, laptops and pinters. In many PCs, some
Macs and laptops the NIC is an add-on card. The hardware address is used
to identify the machine on the network so an IP address can be assigned
to it by a server. Therefore, it is required for all IP requests.
FYI: hardware
address is also called a MAC number which is not to be confused with
a Mac — it’s an acronym for Media Access Control. Other
names are: physical address, ethernet id, network interface address,
adapter address.
Hardware address appears in the following form:
XX XX XX XX XX XX or
XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX
where X is a hexadecimal number. It can be written down with punctuation
characters:
00 02 B3 0A 1D EF
00-02-B3-0A-1D-EF
00.02.B3.0A.1D.EF
or as continuous string:
0002B30A1DEF
How to find your hardware address depends on the operating system you're
using. Please refer to the instructions below.
When you submit the hardware address tyo request an IP address please use
the continuous string form without any spaces, dashes, comas, etc.
If this is a brand new Apple
computer you will find the hardware address, a.k.a. Ethernet ID on a white
label on the shipping box Click here for
an example.
How to obtain the hardware address of your computer
Macintosh:
Mac OS 7.6 to 9.2.2
Open the Apple Talk control panel. Make sure that Ethernet is selected in the
Connect Via drop-down menu (on newer Macs without modem installed Ethernet will
be the only option and there will be no drop-down menu). While the Apple Talk
control panel is opened go the File menu and select Get Info. An Apple Talk info
window will appear and the hardware address will be listed there.
To obtain the Ethernet address on a PC using Windows NT or
Windows 2000, click the START button go to the RUN menu item;
type COMMAND in the RUN box. This will bring up the DOS command
prompt window. Within that DOS window type IPCONFIG/ALL, the adapter
address should be listed as Physical Address.Make sure that you are looking at the readout
of your actual Ethernet adapter NOT the dial-up adapter!
Windows95/98
To obtain the hardware address on a PC running Windows 95 or Windows 98, click
the START button go to the RUN menu item, type WINIPCFG in the RUN box. A new
window will open in which you will see all the IP information. The hardware address
is listed as Adapter Address. Make sure that in
the drop-down menu your actual Ethernet adapter is selected NOT the Dial-Up
adapter!
Silicon
Graphics
To obtain the Ethernet address on a Silicon Graphics Machine,
type in the command 'netstat -ia'.The command output will
include all network interfaces, and the associated MAC addresses
for each interface. The hardware address will have the form:
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
Macintosh:
Mac TCP - Mac OS 7.5 and below
Hook your machine up to a working AppleTalk/Ethernet port,
then open up the MacTCP control panel. While holding down
the "option" key, click on the icon in the MacTCP window
which says Ethertalk When you do this, the
hardware address will appear below the Ethertalk icon.
Printers
There is no universal way of finding out the printer's hardware address
. Here are few tips:
Most printers are capable of printing a test page with all printer's
technical information. The procedure varies between brands of printers.
In case od newer HP printers use the Menu button on the printer's
panel to go to the Information menu, then use the Item button to select
Print Configuration and press the Select button to print the page
and the printer will produce two or more detailed information pages.
Look on the first page under JetDirect EIO section for Hardware Address
. If you have an older or other brand printer check the manual, if
you still have one, or check the vendor's support web page.
If the printer is still in the box you may be able to find the hardware
address on a specs label.
On some printers there may be a sticker on the back near the Ethernet
port with the Hardware Address.
