>But where is the address for device (so that you can poll it) coming
>from?  Do you want to be able to enter the MAC address, send
>an ethernet packet to get the IP address?
>
>Isn't it easier to enter and IP, rather than a MAC address?
>
>If the IP address is hardware assigned, what if it conflicts with
>an exisiting IP, how does it work out the subnet mask and
>router address to start with?  Surely you use a bit of software to assign
>these values first??
>
>Ignoring all this, if you are using FB2 and just want to do IP,
>I can provide you with a demo.
>It will not work under OSX, except in the blue box (Classic Mode)
>Let me know if it is of any use.
>
>If you want to do MAC addresses and play at ethernet level, your a 
>bit outta my
>field.
>
>Jamin

Jamin:

Playing at the Internet level or LAN level is about the same thing.

What you describe is known as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and 
the reverse of that is Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP). It 
is quite complex and lengthy for this list.

Checkout: ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1180.txt   Section 4+ for ARP

Most of what you seek (rft = Request for Comments) can be found at: 
http://www.rfc-editor.org

For example:

	TCP/IP tutorial is rfc1180
	FTP is rfc794
	SMTP is rfc793

and so on.

HTH.

tedd

ps: Yes, please provide me with a copy of your demo.
-- 
http://sperling.com