Resolved (SOLVED!) Issues connecting Mac to Linux via Ethernet

[Diogones]

Hey all,

I am running an iMac with Snow Leopard installed, and I'm trying to send over a 7.7GB file to a netbook running Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit installed. Rather than use an external hard drive, I decided to get fancy and use a direct Ethernet connection between the two computers. The problem is, I'm not sure how to go about it, and I've run into some problems.

First, I disabled the WiFi settings on both computers.

Next, I set the Ethernet IP address on the Mac to 192.168.1.215, and 192.168.1.216 on the netbook.

I set the Subnet Mask on both machines to 255.255.255.0, and I set the default gateway to 192.168.1.7 for both.

I left the DNS portions blank.

Here's what happened: I tried connecting to the Linux computer from my Mac using the Sidebar, but the Finder didn't see the computer under the Shared settings. So I tried using the trusty ⌘+K or Connect to Server option, and entered in the IP for the netbook, 192.168.1.216. I was prompted for the account's login credentials, and I filled them correctly, but I kept getting error connecting messages, and it wouldn't go through.

I had more luck using the Linux computer. I selected my iMac from the Network panel, and logged in with my iMac account credentials. I browsed to the Users folder, selected my account, and found the file I needed. However, during the file transfer, the file stops at 2.1GB out of 7.7GB, with approximately 7 minutes left in the transfer. It did this several times, and always stopped at the exact time and data size. I know that the Ethernet port on the netbook is just Fast Ethernet, or only transfers at 100 Mb/s. Is there a limit on the file size during transfer using Fast Ethernet - as opposed to Gigabit Ethernet - which is causing the file to stop transferring once it has reached a certain size?

If not, is there something I'm doing wrong? Is there a way to connect the Mac to Linux using FTP, or should I just set up a SAMBA share on the netbook, and use that instead? Any help would be most appreciated!

 

[waynep]

So do you have wireless network? If so, why not simply leave them on that network and have one of the put out a Samba share. Or, just ftp from one to the other?

 

[Diogones]

Yes, I do have a wireless network waynep, but it would be impractical for me to send a 7.7GB file over a wireless network; it could take well over an hour and a half, for example.

I would like to ftp from one to the other, but it isn't quite working, hence why I started my thread. I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong, because the transfer isn't completing.

 

[brdeveloper]

How about a scp (secure copy) transfer? Enable SSH on SL and have fun!

Other option is enabling the bundled Apache on SL then download the file from the netbook (wget command is nice to this task because it has download recovery capabilities).

If you don't want to do it from command line (unlikely from a Linux user), download WinSCP and run it through Wine in Ubuntu so it's straightforward browsing OSX's filesystem and download the big file.

Fast Ethernet x Gigabit Ethernet shouldn't be a issue. Maybe your switch is a bad quality one.

 

[Diogones]

Thanks for the advice brdeveloper! Is the wget command part of the Apache package for Linux?

How right you are! I don't mind using the command line, but I might keep WinSCP handy, in case I'm working with someone who would prefer the GUI instead when we are sharing files.

You could be right about the switch; I've heard horror stories about the networking capabilities of this particular netbook model, so I may yet replace that part myself.

 

[afin]

Thanks for the advice brdeveloper! Is the wget command part of the Apache package for Linux?

wget is actually included in the standard linux distro. its purpose is basically to allow you to directly download a file hosted by a web server. you might also consider taking a peek at the man page for the command if you're feeling a little shaky with the usage.

if you're ~8G file is taking an hour to transfer, you should definitely take a little time to re-examine your setup.

 

[ScoobyMcDoo]

If you don't want to do it from command line (unlikely from a Linux user), download WinSCP and run it through Wine in Ubuntu so it's straightforward browsing OSX's filesystem and download the big file.

Why on earth would you want to run winscp through Wine on a linux box. Most of the linux file managers (nautilus, dolphin, konqueror) already include scp capability. Besides winscp has a nasty habit of mucking up file transfers by trying to do line ending translations.

 

[brdeveloper]

Why on earth would you want to run winscp through Wine on a linux box. Most of the linux file managers (nautilus, dolphin, konqueror) already include scp capability. Besides winscp has a nasty habit of mucking up file transfers by trying to do line ending translations.

Sorry... I only use Linux through ssh (system administration) and I had good experiences using WinSCP in a Crossover bottle. Mac hasn't a easy graphical way for doing scp so I thought that Linux distros was in the same situation.

 

[Diogones]

Well now this is odd; I did the transfer through scp, and now the file exists on both the Linux box and the Mac, but with a reported file size of 0GB. What did I do wrong? Is there anyway to get the file back the way it was? If not, I do have a backup that I can reuse so that I can try the transfer again, properly this time.

 

[ScoobyMcDoo]

Mac hasn't a easy graphical way for doing scp so I thought that Linux distros was in the same situation.

Sure it does - cyberduck and filezilla to name a few.

Well now this is odd; I did the transfer through scp, and now the file exists on both the Linux box and the Mac, but with a reported file size of 0GB. What did I do wrong? Is there anyway to get the file back the way it was? If not, I do have a backup that I can reuse so that I can try the transfer again, properly this time.

This is several days old, so maybe you already found your answer, but if not, post the scp command you used and any feedback the program gave you. If used properly, scp should not have modified your original file.

 

[Diogones]

Thanks for your reply Scooby, but I think I found out the issue; I didn't scp the file, I used netcat!

On the netbook I typed:

nc -l 8080 >

and on the Mac:

nc 192.168.1.216 8080 < file

After I ran this setup, the file was irretrevably modified: the file on both computers was 0MB. Why that happened I don't know, unless the connection was interrupted somehow.

The good news is that I did have a backup of the file I'm attempting to move, so I restored the backup copy, and ran the scp command, and the file transferred without a hitch! From now on, I'm using scp instead of netcat for my Mac to Linux ethernet transferring needs.