straight ethernet work between macs?

[Shivetya]

I know it worked during migration assistant but does it work all the time?

I need to slurp off the 40+ gig music directory from the old machine as MA didn't get it ... and I figure direct eth-eth would be fastest.

if it does, do I just use network to find the other mac?

 

[robbieduncan]

As long as both are on the same network sections then sure. I'd suggest manually setting the IP addresses on both Macs to make sure. Set one to 192.168.0.1 and the other to 192.168.0.2, netmask of 255.255.255.0 on both...

 

[fohawk17]

yes it should. make sure they have the same ip. i used to do it all the time

 

[0098386]

yes it should. make sure they have the same ip. i used to do it all the time

No, make sure they don't have the same IP. Follow Robbies post for winnage.

And it does work. I connect my Macbook and iMac via LAN quite often to transfer large files.

 

[GoKyu]

Slight detour off the original topic - It used to be that to hook 2 machines directly to each other, you needed a crossover ethernet cable...why is that not necessary anymore? Isn't the networking still the same?

 

[velocityg4]

As for the IP address mentioned above. I always list the one computers IP address as the others router address.

ie
Computer A
IP Address 192.168.0.1
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Router 192.168.0.2

Computer B
IP Address 192.168.0.2
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Router 192.168.0.1

You really need to do this for a direct connections with Windows but I am not sure about OS X. I use a router now and don't want to drag one of my Macs across the house to test.

Slight detour off the original topic - It used to be that to hook 2 machines directly to each other, you needed a crossover ethernet cable...why is that not necessary anymore? Isn't the networking still the same?

Most ethernet adapters are smart enough to see the direct connection and are capable of making the switch themselves to the patched mode. Macs have had this capability much longer than most other PC's.

 

[Shivetya]

OK.

Will creating this link mess up my wireless? I figure to offline them both from the wireless before doing this.

 

[jodelli]

Slight detour off the original topic - It used to be that to hook 2 machines directly to each other, you needed a crossover ethernet cable...why is that not necessary anymore? Isn't the networking still the same?

Macs have been able to use regular ethernet directly connected for a while now, they're capable of detecting which cable is plugged in. Particulars here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2274

 

[killmoms]

You don't even have to configure manual IPs. With auto-assignment the Macs will negotiate and pick private IPs that will work.

 

[chaos86]

Yep. This method has worked for me in the past without need for any settings changes on ethernet, firewire (800 and 400), ad-hoc wifi, and even bluetooth (though it was slow as crap).