DHCP messages every 30 seconds in logs from Nintendo 3DS

[Jake]

Below is a sample of what my Tomato logs look like. This happens every 30". None of the other devices do this just the 3DS which I set up to use DHCP. Even when the 3DS is closed it still fills the logs. Any ideas? At least now I know why my son is complaining about battery life. The wifi never shuts off.

May 7 22:45:16 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPDISCOVER(br0) 192.168.1.17 2c:10:c1:88:A6:ff
May 7 22:45:16 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPOFFER(br0) 192.168.1.17 2c:10:c1:88:A6:ff
May 7 22:45:16 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPREQUEST(br0) 192.168.1.17 2c:10:c1:88:A6:ff
May 7 22:45:16 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPACK(br0) 192.168.1.17 2c:10:c1:88:A6:ff Nintendo 3DS

[Tikker]

some DS games have a tag mode where when the unit is closed/sleeping they'll look to exchange game data with other DS's in the same mode

[JamesK]

^^^^
That shouldn't require frequent DHCP requests. Normally, a DHCP request is made when a device is first turned on and then part way through the lease time. If the lease is 7 days, then a renewal will likely occur around 3 or 4 days.

[Jake]

There are 2 DSs that are used to play head-to-head games. The other is a DS XL. I will have another chance tonight to try a few things and report back.

[Jake]

The only way I could get it to stop is by removing the wifi settings. I will figure it out another day.

[Tikker]

Originally Posted by JamesK

^^^^
That shouldn't require frequent DHCP requests. Normally, a DHCP request is made when a device is first turned on and then part way through the lease time. If the lease is 7 days, then a renewal will likely occur around 3 or 4 days.

you're assuming it has an address

if it's not getting an address, or not accepting it for some reason, it will continue to DHCPrequest forever

[JamesK]

^^^^

May 7 22:45:16 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPACK(br0) 192.168.1.17 2c:10:c1:88:A6:ff Nintendo 3DS

That line says it is getting an address. If the address is rejected, then there should be a DHCPDECLINE. If it doesn't get an address, it also won't be able to communicate with anything. Either way, it indicates a problem with the 3DS.

[Jake]

Either way, it indicates a problem with the 3DS

I am inclined to agree with you. And last night I tried a connection test and it failed. Not sure why since it was working before and showed the wifi connected icon on the screen.

[JamesK]

^^^^
I have no experience with the 3DS, but I have seen computers where WiFi connected, but didn't get an IP address. Is it possible to see if it has an IP address? According to the first message, the DHCP process worked up to the point where an address is sent to the 3DS. Since there doesn't appear to be a DHCPDECLINE, I can only assume it accepted an address. If it got that far, yet still doesn't have an address, then there's likely some problem with the 3DS.

[avengingangel]

Do you have MAC address authentication turned on your router (in addition to WIFI security) ?

I have seen this happen on my network whereby I setup a wireless device with the proper WIFI information but either forget to add the MAC address to my authentication list (2ndary protection) OR I entered the MAC address of the device incorrectly.

[Jake]

No I don't use MAC filtering. I do use DHCP but have static IPs based on MACs. That is something I will look into.

[Jake]

Now that my 3DS is disabled my WDTV Live is exhibiting similar behavior. Except it is every 6 seconds now!

May 9 18:35:32 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPREQUEST(br0) 192.168.1.6 00:90:a9:76:36:00
May 9 18:35:32 ? daemon.info dnsmasq[91]: DHCPACK(br0) 192.168.1.6 00:90:a9:76:36:00 WDTVLIVE

I have re-booted the router with no change.

Rebooting the WDTV Live stopped the requests.