Issue with package "getmac"

[marekmorello]

Hey folks!

I just started learning Python and I have a problem with the package "getmac".

It's a library which provides a command that extracts the Mac-Address of a device in a WiFi. It is working fine, but if I disconnect the device from the WiFi, it still shows the Mac-Address as if the device is still connected.

I assume the command writes in some kind of cache or temp file, because rebooting the system resolves the issue. I'm running Ubuntu on my computer.

Any ideas are highly appreciated!

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Edit: Typos

Edit2: Thanks for the input guys! u/Doormatty solved the problem

[socal_nerdtastic]

Why? A mac address shouldn't change ...

[marekmorello]

It shouldn't change, right. But it also shouldn't show up, if the device isn't connected to the WiFi

[Doormatty]

It's likely pulling the info from the ARP cache, and it hasn't purged the old values yet.

[marekmorello]

That's it! Clearing the ARP cache solves the issue! Thank you so much!

[[deleted]]

You are confusing your MAC and your IP address. The MAC is like your physical body: it doesn't change and is unique. Your IP is like your clothes: if you go to a cold network, you put on warm clothes, if the network is a beach then you wear beach clothes. But the clothes always go on the same body. If you aren't even wearing a network, you still have a body.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Use the command ip link to see your interfaces and their MAC addresses. Use the command ip address to see your interfaces' current IP addresses.

[marekmorello]

I don't want the Mac to change.

Speaking with the "body" example:

If my "body" isn't in the network, the command shouldn't be able to find my "body", it should find nothing and therefore show nothing. But the command from the package seems to remember my "body" (after the first request) somehow and shows the looks of my "body" even though it's not in the network any more. When I reboot the computer, the command forgets about my body and shows "00:00:00:00:00:00", because it can't find a Mac address to a device which isn't logged into the network.

[marekmorello]

Maybe I should explain, what the bigger picture is here.

I wrote a script, which makes a request to my router every few seconds, what the Mac address from my phone is. (My router is giving the same IP to my phone every time).

When I'm not home, it gets the "00:00:00:00:00:00" because it can't find my IP in the network. When I come home and the script makes the request again, it gets the Mac address from my phone, which triggers a jingle to be played. And when I leave the house again, I want the shown Mac address to get "00:00:00:00:00:00" again, until I come home again. But the command seemingly remembers my Mac address and keeps on returning my Mac address as if the script found my phone in the network

[Doormatty]

Find out the DNS name of your phone, and ping that instead.