Comment 7 for bug 212441

The mediatomb faq suggest another solution that can be used for head-less machines (no need to log in) which is a bit more complex, I haven't tried it

<quote>
For a “headless” server where you can't log in, try this workaround: edit file /etc/network/interfaces adding these 2 lines:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Please note the following if using this method:

    * As soon as you save changes to /etc/network/interfaces, your ethernet port will become disabled. So make sure you are logged in via the physical console (not ssh or telnet) when editing!
    * After your edit is complete, you must run /etc/init.d/networking restart to re-enable your ethernet.
    * Network Manager will report that your network is manually configured. This shouldn't be a problem for most people.
    * This workaround is for dhcp. If you are sophisticated enough to be using a static IP address, you should know what to do :-)
    * You may still need to add a sleep command to /etc/init.d/mediatomb, as described below for OS X, to get reliable startup without error -117.
</quote>