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joeswell · Oct 31, 2002, 09:43 PM

I want to access the Windows 2000 "network" at school with my G3 Powerbook running Jaguar. I'm using an airport card with a Dell Aeronet access point to use the internet and share files with other "leftover" Macs in my school. (They "switched" to all Dells 3 years ago), but I can't connect to any of the network drives I "see" when I log in on one the Windows machines and click on "My computer." Shouldn't I "see" the same thing with a Mac running Jaguar when I choose "Connect to Server?"

Our Tech coordinators have not been helpful because they have their hands full keeping the Dells working and say they don't have time (or the knowledge) for Mac problems. If I choose "Connect to Server," either the little wheel spins and spins forever, or I get an "Error -43" message. and the icon I clicked on won't log in.

Any suggestions as to where to look for help? websites? Books? Should I buy "Dave" or a similar program? I'll really appreciate any help you might offer.

fulmer · Nov 1, 2002, 06:00 PM

if you hook your mac directly into the ethernet jack, can you see the windows machines then?

tooki · Nov 2, 2002, 03:38 PM

Find out if they have Services for Mac running on the server. If so, you can just connect to the IP address of the server using AFP. Otherwise, try entering the Windows drive URL manually (smb://ServerName/ShareName/).

tooki

joeswell · Nov 4, 2002, 01:02 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tooki:
[B]Find out if they have Services for Mac running on the server. If so, you can just connect to the IP address of the server using AFP. Otherwise, try entering the Windows drive URL manually (smb://ServerName/ShareName/).

What would the "share name" be? my username?

What would the "server name" be? The name of the drive I "see" when I click on my computer on a Windows machine?

Sorry for the dumb questions.

ghporter · Nov 4, 2002, 03:07 PM

The "Server Name" is the name of the server on the network, and it could be anything-different network admins use different conventions. I've seen characters from "The Simpsons" and from Greek myth, element names, planet names, and stuff I just couldn't figure out. The "Share Name" is the name the administrator gives the shared folder or other resource. For example, a printer may be called "Color LaserJet 5" or "2nd Floor Color Printer." Folders, again, can have any name the admin wants to give them. A common standard calls for a larger folder, "Public," to contain users' folders, as in \\Bart\Public\JoeBlow.

I hope this helps.

joeswell · Nov 4, 2002, 10:05 PM

On the Dells, when you click on "My Computer," there's a "p" drive, and a "u" drive, and a "g" drive, etc. Would that be the name of the "server" or "share name?" Once you choose one the "drives," then you "see" all the different folders on the the drive.

I tried connect via an ethernet cable instead or airport and I got different error messages when I was unable to connect: "Error -1028" and "Error -5023."

Would a product like Dave make this easier? I used a trial version with an OS 9 machine two years ago and it was just like accessing the "My Computer" folder on the Dells. All I want is to be able to back up files on the school's server (It's bigger and has plenty of storage since no other teachers have any files to save because the Dells, Windoze, and Word are not real easy to use) and to be able to access my students' Hyperstudio projects that are saved on one of the network drives.

Thanks for all the advice I've received thus far. It has been very helpful.

ghporter · Nov 5, 2002, 09:34 AM

The school's IT folks have gone with an old standard-they have made network drives (or more properly network shares) appear as virtual hard drives. When you connect to, say, the "G drive," you've connected to the network resource-no more fussing needed. If you can save a file to a folder on one of those "drives" that you have access to, then you should probably be able to use that folder for your backups.

fulmer · Nov 5, 2002, 04:06 PM

just don't forget that the server admin or IT folks will have access to anything you put on those servers. for the most part they're probably to busy to care about nosing through your stuff, but you might want to put the sensitive stuff in an encrypted disk image.

solvent211 · Nov 5, 2002, 11:31 PM

I don't claim to be an expert, but I know what I need to get things done

...

As was previously stated, the drive letters on the Windows boxes (e.g. "P" drive) are mappings to a shared network location. Basically, the mappings are made to "trick" windows into thinking the network share is a disk drive (a la the C: drive, the A: drive or whatever).

Next time you're on the Windows box, double click on "My Computer". Instead of clicking on a drive letter ("P" or whatever), note junk that appears along with it. (You may need to select View | Details from the menu and then expand the name field to see everything.) What you should find is something like "myShare on Hoth\Public (P)" next to the drive icon. In this example, the server name is hoth and the shared folder is \Public\myShare. (In some cases, the shared folder is located on a root directory of the server. For example "myJunk on Kessel (Q)" means the data found in the "Q" drive is located on the server kessel in the myJunk folder.)

Now that you know the server name and folder, you're ready to connect using your PowerBook. Since you've got Jaguar, you can skip Dave and the like and head straight for the Finder. From the Finder menu, select Go | Connect to Server. In the address field of the dialog box that will pop up, type smb://server/folder (e.g. smb://hoth/public/myShare or smb://kessel/myJunk, or whatever it is you found out for the system your trying to connect to). If all goes well, you should then be prompted for a username and password. This is the username and password that you would use if you were to log on to the windows box you're trying to connect to. Once you connect, an icon for the shared resource you've just connected to will appear on the desktop. When you open it, the contents should be the same as what you would have seen as if you had opened the drive (P, Q, etc.) on a windows box

.

joeswell · Nov 6, 2002, 01:09 PM

Solvent,

Thanks so much. I followed your instructions to the letter and "got connected," well sort of. The first "drive" I typed in worked fine. The icon mounted on my desktop and I was able to copy the files I wanted (Hyperstudio projects) to my Powerbook.

However, when I wanted to mount another "drive," all I got were error messages (-43, -1028, etc.) Is there a resource to interpret what those codes mean? I made a "favorite" of the first "drive" I "mounted," and can "mount that "drive" whenever I want. However, none of the others (My folder ("U" drive), and some of the public folders.) work. I will try to make sure I'm spelling the drive names correct (example - smb://crms2000srv1/josullivan$/) and pray I can make it work.

Thanks so much for everyone's help!

ghporter · Nov 6, 2002, 05:19 PM

Those resources that you can't mount may be marked as private, or you may need to be logged into the network's domain to reach them. Alternately, they may be configured to be accessible only from certain parts of the network, as in from only certain ranges of IP addresses. An NT network is extremely flexible, and can be built to be quite secure for some resources, while freely sharing others.