Snow Leopard Server, Big Problems with Networking

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I have two large posts on two other forums, so I’ll get right to the point here. I tried upgrading my Mac Mini from 10.5 server to 10.6 server. On 10.6, my server was not able to get an ip from DHCP. After 2 days of messing around, I went back to 10.5 and everything worked perfectly. Well in the process of doing this, my MacBook Pro, which had been running 10.6 Server since about day one, well now it also can’t get an IP over DHCP. Only difference is that the MBP CAN get an ip over ethernet, it just can’t get an IP over Airport. The mini couldn’t’ get an ip over built in etherhet, or the apple usb ethernet.

Well the mini is back to 10.5 and thats fine for now. But the Macbook is what I use for work (its running server solely for the netboot server). I need it fixed. I tried every trick in the book, nothing was able to get my mini to work for more than an hour or so. Then all on it’s own, it would drop it’s IP and go to self-assigned, and it would never, EVER get another IP again. Thats kind of what my MacBook is doing. The only way I can have it get an IP over AirPort, is to netboot the machine off a 10.5 disk image. Then it gets an ip over airport right away, but that’s not very helpful.

So is anyone else having these major DHCP [i]CLIENT[/i] problems with 10.6?
And of course, does anyone know a solution?

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OK so this is most strange. On a whim, I shut off the firewall on my MacBook, and everything worked perfectly. I turned it back on, and wifi was dead but ethernet was still working just like before. And whats even more strange, my firewall is set up to allow all traffic from ‘any’ where. Nevermind that there aren’t any settings at all in Server Admin about blocking specific network interfaces. I have no idea what is going on here. Makes me think the problem I had with my mini was of the same source, something the firewall was doing. Any thoughts?

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WIth the macbook, you name it. The Mini is the main router/dhcp server for my network. But the macbook wasn’t getting an IP over wireless no matter what network I was connecting to. Is there something special you have to do to the 10.6 firewall?

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UPDATE

Maybe about a month ago, I decided to update my mini server from 10.5 to 10.7. After that didn’t go well for different reasons, I figured I’d try 10.6, they MUST have fixed it by now. IT seemed like they had, it was running great for a month.

Then tonight at about 2am, the 10.6 firewall started blocking all internet connections. Even after being changed to allow ALL traffic, the firewall still kills everything the instant it’s turned on. Including simply GETTING an IP address from my ISP via DHCP. The firewall even blocks that.

What I don’t understand is, why am I the only one that has these problems? And yet I have them on EVERY machine I’ve ever put 10.6 Server on. How is it that no one else is having these problems, and I’m having nothing BUT these problems???

Also, a solution would be helpful too.
For now, I’m going to try running the 10.6.8 Server Combo installer. Maybe that will somehow help. If not…. I’m going to be an unhappy s.o.b.

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