[Fozz_uk]

Today I bought a Netgear DGT634U wireless router. I've set it up without any issues to share my internet connection wirelessly to my PowerBook, and over an ethernet cable to my dad's Dell XP box.

The problem arises with the fact that the router also has a USB port to which you can attach a USB HDD/flash drive. I've done so and can access it from either computer using FTP, though of course this isn't much use in OSX due to the Finder's lack of any FTP write capability. An alternate method, from the XP machine, is to type "\\192.168.0.99" (the router's LAN IP) into Windows Explorer and the contents of the USB drive shows up using (I assume) a different network protocol (SMB..?). I don't need to enter a password at all.

It also shows up in OSX's sidebar under "Network" but when I click "Connect", unlike the Windows machine, I'm presented with a SMB/CIFS log in box with sections for Workgroup/Domain, Name and Password. No matter what I bash into here, or even if i blank everything, nothing seems to be able to persuade the router to let me access it's share, despite the fact it works flawlessly without a password in XP.

Can anyone explain how some OSX version of "\\192.168.0.99" can be used to access the share from my Mac..?

Cheers,
Fozz.

[MaxPower]

Do Command+k, then when the "connect to server..." dialog box comes up, type in 'smb\192.168.0.99' or if its using webDAV, 'http://192.168.0.99'

[Fozz_uk]

Thanks for the suggestion, but still no joy. Here are what I've tried...

- "smb://192.168.0.99" results in SMB password box then "Error code -36"

- "smb\192.168.0.99" (note slash direction) results in an attempted connection to an afp:// server followed by "The server may not exist or it is not operational at this time. Check the server name or IP address and try again."

- Clicking "WGT634U" then "Connect" in the sidebar which gives me the "alias...original could not be found" error.

- "http://192.168.0.99" gives me a server cannot be found on network error.

- "smb://192.168.0.99/share" seems the most positive as it does at least tell me I've got the wrong password instead of an inexplicable error, after the password box.

This is driving me mad. Why is this so simple on WIndows and seemingly impossible on OSX..?!

Anyone...?

Fozz.

EDIT: BTW, "Properties" in Win XP reports that the WGT634U is "Windows NT 4.1 Server".

[ghporter]

Try turning on "Personal File Sharing" on your Mac.

Error 36 is an authentication error. Personal File Sharing being enabled should allow your Mac to properly authenticate with the device.

[Fozz_uk]

I've tried that too, but OSX still asks me for a password for the share.

What I don't get is why WIndows XP can access the volume without needing to enter a password at any point, whereas OSX keeps imagining it needs one..?

EDIT: Even Virtual PC running Windows 2000 can access the share without any need for a password. This is getting stupid...

[ghporter]

Windows caches share passwords, so you should never have to reenter such passwords once you initially connect. Of course that's also true of OS X-the whole keyring thing, you know? I'm stumpped. Sorry.

[Fozz_uk]

Thanks very much for your input, but I've finally managed to solve my problem.

For future reference, it seems the the Netgear WGT634U does not support the encrypted passwords 10.4 sends by default. You have to instruct Tiger to send SMB passwords "in the clear" as per the instructions here - http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301580

Thanks for your help,
Fozz.