Mac Internet Sharing to Squeezebox or XBox 360

If you try to share a Mac internet connection, and you can’t get your Squeezebox or XBox 360 to get an IP address from it, read on:

The important file here is /etc/bootpd.plist. If this file doesn’t exist when Internet Sharing starts, it will create it, and remove it when it stops. But if the file already exists when it starts, the Mac will leave it alone and not overwrite or remove it.

  1. Start Internet Sharing
  2. Copy the file somewhere safe: “cp /etc/bootpd.plist /tmp/“
  3. Stop Internet Sharing
  4. Edit /tmp/bootpd.plist
  5. Look for the “reply_threshold_seconds” setting at the bottom of the file, it will be set to 4
  6. Change the 4 to 0
  7. Copy the file back in place: “sudo cp /tmp/bootpd.plist /etc/“
  8. Start Internet Sharing

Now just check that your value of 0 is still there in /etc/bootpd.plist, it should have survived.

Your Squeezebox or XBox 360 will now happily get an IP address from your Mac’s Internet Sharing.