What kind of addresses are you talking about, anyway?
If they're 169.254.x.x, then they are what is called an "Automatic Private IP". They are self-assigned from that pool set aside specifically for local networks that have no IP-assignment infrastructure such as DHCP.
I seem to recall that some older versions of the Mac OS would *NOT* assign an automatic private IP, they would just sit without any address, if no DHCP (or BootP, etc,) server was available.
If they're 169.254.x.x, then they are what is called an "Automatic Private IP". They are self-assigned from that pool set aside specifically for local networks that have no IP-assignment infrastructure such as DHCP.
I seem to recall that some older versions of the Mac OS would *NOT* assign an automatic private IP, they would just sit without any address, if no DHCP (or BootP, etc,) server was available.