[Blizzake]

i wanna connect my powerbook 12.1 to my xp pro hard wired tower.

ive searched and downloaded things and instructions, and im about to give up.

i know xp pro is the worst for netowrking, but i can not get each computer to see each other, ive tried for about the last 3 hours.

can i please have some tips and pointers before i cry..

thanks guys

the mac n00b

[si_lance]

let me ask some stupid questions... first of all can you ping each machine from each machine (can they "see" each other?) and you have Windows Sharing enabled on the PB? Is the PB just not showing up in the Network neighborhood?

[Blizzake]

im new to mac, and ive been reading up.

i can ping the laptop with its ip and i get a response, but i can not see either computer in the network .

i also tried to read this...

www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/2940 and i can do the ip in explorer and it says apache is working.

but i can not see each computer, im still shakey with netowrking preferences in the mac.

[si_lance]

what are you trying to accomplish?

[Blizzake]

i want to be able to see files on my pc so i can drag them over and i listen to music.

also my usb hard drive is fat32 and does not register when i plug it into my powerbook so i need to be able to drag and drop, i think it needs to be fat 32

[si_lance]

Do you know how to share a folder on WinXP? Are you familiar with permissions like making a guest account? or using the C$ admin share? If not, I would perhaps pick up a book on this. It's a little complex to just walk through over the net. Heterogenous networks are particularly ugly.

[Blizzake]

yea the tower is set up, it worked with my old thinkpad, im just lackin the info on the powerbook

[si_lance]

Go to System Preferences (usually on the dock as a gray Apple), then sharing on the third row, and check the Windows Sharing box (this turns on Samba). Then in the finder app on the top bar choose Go->Connect to Server (which is also open-apple-K shortcut key stroke), and type in the IP address of the XP box. Good luck.

[Blizzake]

thanks

do you know the ping comman for the xp box, i dotn know where the ip hides, its not winipcfg

[si_lance]

Originally posted by Blizzake:
thanks

do you know the ping comman for the xp box, i dotn know where the ip hides, its not winipcfg

choose Start->Run, type "cmd" no quotes to get a command prompt (looks like a unix terminal kinda), and just type ping whatever ip.

also,
I think winipcfg is like a ME or 98 command. For XP Pro it's "ipconfig" from command prompt again no quotes.

[Blizzake]

thanks man i can see my tower now, but when i click it it says orgional (something) can not be found, like it loses it.... grr i hate xp

[si_lance]

If you haven't added the sharename perhaps add that behind the ip like 192.168.x.x/sharename. It should prompt you for a user/pass (typical windows challenge/response).

[Blizzake]

?i stil cant get it but if i add a printer it sees the tower, and when i click it it asks for a username and password, i have the tower set for a login but i never set up a password for sharing.. wtf

[si_lance]

I'm thinking you're use to sharing on an older windows system which let's you setup a password per folder. On XP, it's more similiar to unix where you need permissions to a folder. So when you choose the sharing option on a XP Folder you need to add users (like guest) to the share. If you are the admin on the XP machine then your admin user/pass should work for any share (including a printer I believe).

[Blizzake]

yea the older stuff ie 98 and 2k are easier,

the only permission for the printer is "Everyone" and there is no passowrd, ive tried my login with my passowor and its no go, this is so fustrating

[si_lance]

did you try this with a folder rather than a printer? or have you tried using C$ as the share folder? like 192.168.x.x/C$?

[Blizzake]

i think im just gonna give up, and i cant even get my usb drive to work....

[si_lance]

sorry man, better luck later.

[Blizzake]

thanks for you help man hopefully something great will happen

[arclight]

I noticed that you said you wanted to share your music from your PB to your XP tower? Why don't you use itunes on both machines and use the sharing features of itunes. I understand how frustrating it can be but if all you need is music, itunes will do it. You can also grab Mytunes fo your PC and copy any shared files you see in itunes.

[siegzdad]

OK, lets start this from the begining:

On the Windows XP machine: You must create a share to connect to. If you want to connect to the root of any Hard Drive, you can use the default C$ admin share, but it must be enabled. By default, on an XP machine that is not a member of a domain, those shares are disabled. To enable them, open any window, and choose Tools -> Folder Options. Select View. Near the bottom is an option "Use simple file sharing" that is checked off by default. Uncheck this option. Click OK. Once that is unchecked, the admin shares will be automatically created.

You are correct, there is no WINIPCFG command in windows xp. To get the same info, click start->run. Type in cmd and click OK. Type ipconfig. This will give you all the info that WINIPCFG did.

Try to ping your Mac from the XP machine. Type ping x.y.z.1 (the IP of your Mac). You should see something like:

Reply from 10.10.0.101: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.10.0.101: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.10.0.101: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 10.10.0.101: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Assuming that worked, on the Mac, from the Finder, press Command-K or click Go->Connect to Server...

In the Server address field type in smb://x.y.z.1/c$ (smb://XP-IP/sharename).

You should be presented with the SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication Box. For the Workgroup/Domain enter the name of the computer. For the Username and password, enter your username and password that is ON THE XP COMPUTER. The Mac will NOT do pass-through authentication, even if you are joined to an Active Directory domain, so you must enter in your credentials. After you have entered in your credentials, click OK.

The share should be automatically mounted on your desktop.

You do NOT need to turn on Windows File Sharing from the System Preferences-> Sharing pane unless you want to allow the XP machine access to your Mac (even then it will only be able to get to your home drive without editing the smb.conf file). The ability to connect to a Windows machine is enabled by default out of the box.

[ghporter]

Originally posted by siegzdad:
OK, lets start this from the begining:
<Brilliant step-by-step explanation of how to do sharing in Windows XP>

Brilliant! I've never seen such a clear, no-nonsense explanation! You officially rock. Now, let's hope that setup is all the problem for our original poster.

Personally, I thin XP is easier to network with than previous Windows versions, especially NT (UGH!). 98 wasn't bad, but it also wasn't particularly picky about who could see your shares-not good sometimes. ME is still a joke, and Microsoft deserves a pat on the back for officially declaring it "unsupported" last week. XP lets you get at the details if you need them, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Sort of like Mac OS in concept...(don't hurt me!)-Windows is getting better and better, but it's still much more like a big diesel truck than the finely tuned, high performance roadster that Mac OS is.

[Blizzake]

siegzdad

i did what u said, its takeing forver to see the drive it just keeps saying connecting to server for ever, but it wont connect. i tried do to c$ what my hard drive is shared as and documents, thats a folder, and it wont find either. how long should this take. also what setting should the mac be, and what should be on and off.

anyone in providnece that needs money i will pay for you to make this work, and tell me why my usb drive wont read..