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GUIDE: Networking Windows with OS X

Leonard said:
Just writing to mention that there is a *potential* bug that causes some headaches in OSX 10.4.2.

In System Preferences -> Sharing -> Windows Sharing, you now have to "Click Accounts to choose which accounts can use Windows Sharing." When you click on this, a list of accounts on your Mac will appear, and you select the ones you want to enable, then type in the password to authenticate the account.

The bug occurs when you type in your Account password and authentication fails ("Incorrect password") -- which isn't correct because your Account password *should* work in this instance. To fix this, go into your account settings (System Preferences -> Accounts -> My Account), and force a change of password for your account. This will enable you to authenticate yourself for Windows Sharing.

Just mentioning for everyone's benefits. Caused a lot of frustration here trying to figure out why I couldn't authenticate myself!

Leonard
Click to expand...

Are you referring specifically to connecting TO the MAC?

This seems that it will not do anything to authenicate when trying to connect to the PC from the MAC.

I can connect to the mac from teh PC but I need to connect to XP account from the MAC. Can you do the same?

-R
 
Some of it works, some of it doesn't.

Hi. I'm a 15-year PC user, 1-month Mac user, and already don't want to go back. Unfortunately, my whole life and business is on the PC, so I need to sort this out. edesignuk, thanks for the excellent tutorial, but my results are all over the place. (And shoemkr's tutorials are great, too, I tried his method, and couldn't resolve this. I tried to use his forums, but they're too busy.)

First up, what I've got:
- one Mac G5 running OSX 10.4
- one PC running XP
- one ADSL modem/ethernet router

I followed the instructions, and here's what I can do:
- ping both directions
- Mac can see XP share folder and pull files

Here's what I can't do:
- Mac can't drop files INTO the XP folder
- Mac can't use printer attached to XP
- XP can't log into Mac, and therefore can't share

Now here's the thing. When I log from XP into \\computername\shortname, I get the login prompt. I type in the username/password. I hit enter. It asks for the username/password again. Am I using the wrong username/password to access the Mac? (I've tried approximately 176,781 times.) It's the same one I'd log on with, right? The one I keep getting asked to enter when I load new software, right? I don't have any other user accounts on the Mac, so I have no idea what other username/password I could possibly try. Any ideas?

So, what I need to know is:
- What could I be doing wrong with this username/password thing?
- Why can't I move files from the Mac INTO the shared XP folder?
- Any idea why the Mac won't see the printer (or, if that's better asked elsewhere, can you point me to the correct forum)?

Thanks heaps for any help you can offer this, um, newbie. (Gawd, I haven't been a newbie in 15 years!)

Oh, and for the record, I used to be one of those PC users that snickered at the fanatical passion of Mac owners. Now I just snicker at myself. But I understand the knowing smile.

OZX
 
With regard to writing files to the XP share, make sure you have this box ticked off:

xpsharewrite.jpg


The name and password you use to authenticate to your Mac from your PC should be your short OS X username and accompanying password.

While you're trying to get this working, turn all firewalls off on both systems.
 
How to share entire MAC hard drive with PCs

Is there a way to share drives and or folders that are NOT in my Home folder. i.e. I have multiple hard drives on my machine from which I would like to share files with PCs on my network.

Many thanks!!!
 
One-way communication.

edesignuk said:
With regard to writing files to the XP share, make sure you have this box ticked off
Click to expand...
Thanks. So obvious in retrospect! But...

edesignuk said:
While you're trying to get this working, turn all firewalls off on both systems.
Click to expand...
I've got ZoneAlarm on the PC, but have turned it off as suggested. And in the Sharing section on the Mac, under Firewall, it says Firewall Off. Still no luck.

edesignuk said:
The name and password you use to authenticate to your Mac from your PC should be your short OS X username and accompanying password.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm not clear on the "short OSX username and accompanying password" thing. (That's the only thing I can think of.) Where exactly do I look to confirm what those are?

Got the Mac reading and writing to the PC, though. That's a good start.

- Any idea how to create a Desktop Shortcut (on the Mac) to the PC? (Similar to the XP "Map Network Drive"?) Thanks.

OZX
 
ozx said:
I've got ZoneAlarm on the PC, but have turned it off as suggested. And in the Sharing section on the Mac, under Firewall, it says Firewall Off. Still no luck.
Click to expand...
This may sound daft, but try removing ZoneAlarm all together. I had all sorts of problems trying to logon to an Active Directory domain while ZA was installed (even with it disabled), upon actually removing it everything worked fine :rolleyes: :confused:
Maybe I'm not clear on the "short OSX username and accompanying password" thing. (That's the only thing I can think of.) Where exactly do I look to confirm what those are?
Click to expand...
Open up System Preferences and go to Accounts. Select your account and it will tell you what your short username is just beneath your full name.
- Any idea how to create a Desktop Shortcut (on the Mac) to the PC? (Similar to the XP "Map Network Drive"?) Thanks.

OZX
Click to expand...
Not sure actually. What you can do is this. Connect to your PC from your Mac to get the share mounted. Then go to the Login Items section of your account settings in System Prefs, and drag the mounted drive from your desktop in to the list of items, this should make the share get mounted when you login to the computer.
 
Okay, I figured out what it was.

On the Sharing folder, you have to make sure that the account is shared. Simple, but not always so obvious to MacNewbies:

Click on "Accounts..." and tick the box of whichever account you want to allow in to the Mac:

mac_sharing.jpg


Thanks for the help!

But did you have any ideas on creating a desktop shortcut on the Mac to the PC? Can't figure that one out.

OZX
 
edesignuk said:
Not sure actually. What you can do is this. Connect to your PC from your Mac to get the share mounted. Then go to the Login Items section of your account settings in System Prefs, and drag the mounted drive from your desktop in to the list of items, this should make the share get mounted when you login to the computer.
Click to expand...
Sorry... saw this after I posted my fix.

I've done that, but there was no shortcut on the desktop, and when I went back into Login Items, it read as "Unknown".

I'm happy to have to log in each time, but just wondering if there's a way to put something on the desktop that I can double-click to get to the PC. I really prefer double-clicking a desktop icon to Finder > Go > Connect to Server > [click on Favorite Server] > Connect.

Let me know if you can think of anything. Cheers.

OZX
 
ozx said:
Okay, I figured out what it was.

On the Sharing folder, you have to make sure that the account is shared. Simple, but not always so obvious to MacNewbies:

Click on "Accounts..." and tick the box of whichever account you want to allow in to the Mac:

mac_sharing.jpg


Thanks for the help!

But did you have any ideas on creating a desktop shortcut on the Mac to the PC? Can't figure that one out.

OZX
Click to expand...
Well spotted that man! I remember doing that now when I upgraded to Tiger, but it completely slipped my mind that it might be an idea to update this guide....I'll get right on it :eek: ;)
 
Still can't connect to PC...

edesignuk said:
Well spotted that man! I remember doing that now when I upgraded to Tiger, but it completely slipped my mind that it might be an idea to update this guide....I'll get right on it :eek: ;)
Click to expand...


Hi there... sorry to sound like a broken record. I see so many others being able to do what I can't... :(

How do you get to the PC from the MAC? I cannot, and I can't figure out it out.

Is there anybody out there that has had the same problem?

I CAN:
- ping both ways
- access the MAC (10.4) from PC (XP)

I CAN'T:
- connect to server (MAC to PC)

Am I missing something? I followed the instructions form the thread... a couple times. Thanks to everyone and all the great info, it really is well done, only I have "one of those cases".

I even disabled my internet security when trying to connect to PC and I still get the "cannot connect to server because the password is incorrect", but I use the correct WORKGROUP name, my XP user account name, and pswd (i'm sure).

Is there something I need to set on the XP?
Do I use computername\useraccount when trying to connect?
Do I use SMB//10.0.0.1/Temp or just SMB//10.0.0.1 ?

-i'm at the point of clicking the same buttons again and again in case it works this time.

=) cheers and hope to hear from someone soon.
 
i used to be able to put the whole "router network" in the network folder in finder.

inside the router network, it has like MSHOME (the name of the connection), another folder. and inside these folders have my windows...

but i accidently unmounted it and now i unno how to get it back!

can someone please teach me if he/she knows how to do this!?
i'm on wireless so when i go to Finder > GO > connect to server is really slow and sometimes it doesn't work! :(
 
Problem accessing folders on Win2003 server

This is my first post to this forum so please forgive me for any ramblings or errors with my typing. I have been a MAC user for since 1984 and been a believer since the beginning. I just upgraded to OS 10.4.2 within the last 2 weeks and have not have too many issues. I do have one particular that I can't to get resolved. Since the upgrade, I have some folders on a Win2003 server that are not accessible. There are some folders in the same shared volume that accessible and some are not. The volumes that are not accessible were available prior to me upgrading to OS 10.4.2. These same folders are also accessible in Windows based computers. I have checked the properties of those folders that I can not access with those that I can access, and there appear to be no differences. Again, these folders were accessible prior to me performing the upgrade. Any thoughts and assistance would be appreciated.

cwhitehurst
 
Geez, this thread is excellent... However, before I even attempt any of the above, I need some advice.....

Here's the situation:
We have a LAN with six OS 9.2 macs, 2 brand new G5s (tiger 10.4.2), an XP workstation, an XP machine running specific printer software, a UNIX running specific software, and a couple of really old OS 8 Macs..
I am the dedicated Mac person, and my co-worker is the dedicated PC person, and between us, we have been able to set up, and have our network running well... until last night when I set up the G5's with Tiger.....

What we really need to have happen is Both G5's need to talk to G4's with OS 9.2, and these same G4's need to talk to the XP set-up with this special printing software. The other XP is a workstation and needs to talk to all computers also. Basically, we need full networking between, Tiger, OS9, and Windows XP.
We have been doing this effectively with 'PC-MacLan' running on the XP boxes, but as I found out last night, when I 'have' to check the "Enable file sharing clients to connect over TCP/IP" on the OS9-G4's so Tiger will see them, all of a sudden, the connectivity between OS9 and the XP's is really really sloooow. So slow in fact it hangs the OS9 machine after a while. If I uncheck the TCP/IP on OS9, the transfer time to the XP's is back to normal...

We cannot (unfortunately) change any other hardware or software, ie. upgrade to OSX on all machines.. We need to intergrate these 2 new G5's into the current network without it throwing a wobbly on us.

I was hoping it would work really well, but I've been stopped in my tracks. Mind you, both my co-worker nor myself are wizards by any stretch of the imagination. We are mere operators who are self taught, and (somehow) manage to stumble to a solution for our employer... We have no IT dept., and it is assumed that 'we' are out IT dept...

I am hoping someone reading this will know exactly what we need to do.
Do we eliminate PC-MacLan from the XP's?,
Do we.... umm, I don't know....
Please help a man near the ennd of his teather....

Cheers and thanks in advance.
 
connect to PC

So is there anyone out there who can help. What does it take to connect to the PC (XP). Does xp have some silly thing that prevent 10.4 from connecting to the shared files...

Can you do this?

Connect to servere GO>connect...
enter IP address of PC on network (airport)
- smb://10.0.1.3/

type on
WORKGROUP = workgroup (PC computer workgroup title)
NAME = user name on pc (Ryan)
Pswd = *******

but then I get the error dialog

"Cannot connect to serve because name or password is incorrect"

but it is correct!

what am I missing... I have set up the PC and mac as directed. I can ping wach computer seperatly. I can connect to mac from PC and push files.

I need to connect to pc from mac... but can not.

Any advice?
much appreciated!!

thanks

NB: screen grabs are attached (how to add them to the post not sure yet)
 

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Getting an Error -36?????

So...I've followed the instructions and well.... I'm getting this:

The Finder cann't complete the operation because some data in "smb://blahblahblah" could not be read or written.
(Error code -36)

Any clues here?

I'm trying to connect to a Windows XP Pro SP2 laptop over my wireless network.

Thanks
 
digitalskillz said:
Connect to servere GO>connect...
enter IP address of PC on network (airport)
- smb://10.0.1.3/
Click to expand...
You don't seem to be specifying a share to connect to, which *could* cause a problem. The address should be smb://ipaddress/sharename. Also in the WORKGROUP field you should be putting the name of the PC, not its workgroup.
 
edesignuk said:
You don't seem to be specifying a share to connect to, which *could* cause a problem. The address should be smb://ipaddress/sharename. Also in the WORKGROUP field you should be putting the name of the PC, not its workgroup.
Click to expand...

Thanks Edesignuk... I'll give it a try. If this doesn't work not sure what will, it seems like I have tried all angles... I am thinking my windows is not letting me connect for some reason.

cheers,
skillz
 
mac & mac

Thanks for finally explaining how the whole filesharing works with a windows computer.

Could you also explain how I can share files with someone how isn't on the same router but across the city? I would love to share files with her but I understand that the ip adress on the internet differs from the ipadress on your "netwerk" at home. Where can I find this different ipadress. And how do I connect to her apple and viseversa? She has a mac mini running 10.4.2 and I have an Ibook running 10.3.9.
 
I've wondered the same thing myself - I have two drives, and I have the main original drive, and then a 2nd 80gb drive the previous owner had installed where I keep the bulk of my mp3s, etc...but transferring them requires moving them to the other drive and then moving them over to the POS MSDOS machine.

mikez93 said:
Is there a way to share drives and or folders that are NOT in my Home folder. i.e. I have multiple hard drives on my machine from which I would like to share files with PCs on my network.

Many thanks!!!
Click to expand...
 
Hockey Czarina said:
I've wondered the same thing myself - I have two drives, and I have the main original drive, and then a 2nd 80gb drive the previous owner had installed where I keep the bulk of my mp3s, etc...but transferring them requires moving them to the other drive and then moving them over to the POS MSDOS machine.
Click to expand...
Sharepoints, as explained earlier, does that trick. :)
 
Strange Networking Question:

I was wondering if there is a way to network a powerbook G4 on a wireless network with a machine running XP on a wired network? I've been able to connect them when they're both on the same wired network, but I don't know how (if it's possible) to access the pc on the wired network from the mac on a wireless network. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I also heard about publishing my pc to the internet, and that if I did that then I could access it from the G4, but that it would be really risky (with regards to viruses or hackers). I don't know the validity of this argument, or how to go about implimenting the plan.
 
Great thread! I still have a problem, however. I have the XP (sp2) computer and OS X computer able to connect to each other. My problem is, when using the XP machine and trying to copy over files FROM the Mac TO the PC there are certain files that stop the copying process (Some of which were "ICON" which I deleted, and removed custom icons on folders in OS X as well). I can copy folders that do not have these files, but I need to backup GIGS of data and cannot copy any folders that contain certain files. The error is:
Cannot copy (filename)
filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

I need to get these onto my XP to burn DVDs, how do I get windows to ignore files it doesnt understand to prevent stopping the copy process? I appreciate ANY insight you can give me, I've done searches and havent found a solution yet.

Rob
 
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