Powerbook G4 can't connect via ethernet but connects via airport

Question

We have a small office network connected to an Efficient Networks DSL router that's managed by our isp. The router has 4 ports and a linksys 8 port switch is connected to one of those ports. Another D-Link wireless router/switch is connected to another port.
2 i-macs connect without problem via ethernet cable. They are set to DHCP and get 192.xx private addresses. Both run 10.4.5. Another older imac running 9.2.2. also has no problems.
I recently purchased a powerbook G4 and it will not connect via ethernet to the Efficient networks router. At first it was connected to the linksys, so decided to connect it direct to the Efficient Networks router. With DHCP, it acquires a 169. internet address which is self generated (i.e. no real connection). I tried to give it a static private address (talking to the isp provider). They could see the powerbook but saw all zero's (presumable mac address). By the way the Powerbook works perfectly at home connected via ethernet cable to a D-Link router connected to a cable modem so it's not a physical problem. I even checked the ethernet cable I used in the office with another computer - no problem.
When I switch to airport in the office, the powerbook connects to the network and the internet. I get some strange warning messages showing the server's and the router's private ip addresses. I click ok, and the powerbook finds an unassigned private ip address. It's the only way it will work, but it causes problems, because I can't connect to one of the network printers. Speed also isn't great.
Can anyone give me advise how to proceed. I am no expert on this stuff so keep it as simple as possible.
Tks

Answer 1

Tim,
Thanks for your help. Here's what I've done before reading your e-mail. The D-Link DI-524 wireless router is connected to the Effiicent Neworks DSL router as you mentioned. One ethernet port of the EFF.Net. router is connected to the WAN port of the DI-514.
Because I have a D-Link router at home which works flawlessly with my powerbook, I decided to connect the ethernet cable of the powerbook to the D-Link which has 4 ethernet ports. Lo and behold, the powerbook acquired a private ip address and connected to the LAN and internet!
When I connected the powerbook direct to the Efficient Networks router, it could not communicate. I believe that there must be some software incompatibility between the powerbook and the Efficient Networks router. By connecting to the D-Link, the D-Link assigned an ip address to the powerbook, and it could connect to the server, lan, etc..
Only problem is that I have a Brother network printer that cannot connect to the powerbook. My powerbook cannot find it on the network. Because there is a linksys switch connected to the efficient networks router's third ethernet port, maybe as you said, going through the D-Link via DHCP (when the Linksys is also acting as a DHCP server, might cause this type of problem. What do you think?
As a final note, other imac G5's connected to the linksys switch (which then connects to the Efficient Network's router) have no problem connecting to the lan or internet and have no problem connecting to any of the printers. When I put the powerbook on that switch, I could not connect to the internet - i.e. whether connecting via the lynksys switch or direct with the efficient networks router - same results: no internet connection whether manually or via DHCP.
So the imac G5 has no problem with the efficient networks router but the powerbook G4 hits a brick wall. The G4 likes the D-Link router. I am concerned (and I will have to check this) that if I turn off the dhcp server feature from the D-Link, that whatever software issue crops up between the powerbook and the Efficient Networks router, will rise up again, because the D-Link will act like a simple switch (just like my linksys switch), and we'll be back to square zero. In any case, no harm in trying. This may be the cause of the Powerbook not seeing that Brother printer (even though it sees another printer and other macs).
Having spent hours reading about network problems, I think it's safe to say that macs have problems with certain routers. Why a G5 works and a powerbook G4 doesn't is beyond me, but clearly software must play a role.