Networking a Mac to an XP Pro System

[dvornik]

I believe you can use either Dave or PCMacLan (or something like that) software. For just sharing files someone here once mentioned some free solution, I think it involved running an FTP server.

[Neison]

Using VirtualPC should work. I personally haven't used it, but that is one of its advertised features.

[ZrO-1]

Virtual PC sucks. Don't use that app unless you have no other choice. VPC is a resource hog, it runs like crud on anything but the latest 1GHz+ G4s, and once installed you open yourself up to all the security vulnerabilities of windows since you're running the Win OS ontop of your Mac hardware. (Wine for Linux is the same way with the vulnerabilities BTW).

Dave works very nicely, it is probably the best soultion for getting Mac OS9 machines sharing/talking to Win OS machines.

[elvis]

connectix doubletalk was hands-down the best application for allowing OS9 to connect to windows XP machines. unfortunately microsoft recently bought out connectix, and the product now no longer is officially supported.

if you can find a store that still sells copies of doubletalk, do yourself a favour and grab it while you can. dave is a good program as well, but nowhere near as simple to use as doubletalk.

with doubletalk on our mac here in the australian office we could connect to any of our windows machines worldwide over WAN and VPN without any tricky configurations. i was extremely impressed when i first used it. it's a damn shame microsoft chose to kill it off.

[digitalshaman]

upgrade to OSX and you dont need to do anything, it just does it itself

[elvis]

Originally posted by digitalshaman
upgrade to OSX and you dont need to do anything, it just does it itself

i agree 110%, but you'd be absolutely amazed at the number of people who are too afraid to do so. we struggle daily to find graphic artisist who can use mac os x, and even worse is trying to find someone who can use macOS and windows!

http://www.macminute.com/2003/09/22/os9usage

those figures are pretty damn scary. i'm sure some people have a very valid excuse for not upgrading (waiting for new hardware, not willing to spend money on a new OS until old machines are end of life, etc), but on the whole the uptake is still slow.

the fact that newer macs are only shipped with OS9 or can only boot OSX will certainly help things. the death of OS9 can't come quick enough in my eyes.

[ZrO-1]

@ elvis:
<shameless plug>
Hey man, if you guys need multi-comp savy artists down there, I have full admin and working experiance in Mac OS 9, Mac OS X.1/.2, Mac OS X server, Win 9x/NT/2K/and XP, Win 2k server, Win 2k3 server and Linux. I'm willing to relocate...
</shameless plug>
:blush:

[dvornik]

Originally posted by elvis
i agree 110%, but you'd be absolutely amazed at the number of people who are too afraid to do so. we struggle daily to find graphic artisist who can use mac os x, and even worse is trying to find someone who can use macOS and windows!


There's nothing to be amazed about. OS X is too hard for people to use. It's not an insult to OS X. It's an insult to people. I've seen countless "artists" that just can't handle OS X.

By the way ZrO-1, if you relocate I want to apply for your job. What, NYIT doesn't pay well?

And I'd relocate to Australia any day cause it's close to where my girlfriend lives. :) Closer than NYC anyway.

[kromekat]

There's nothing to be amazed about. OS X is too hard for people to use. It's not an insult to OS X. It's an insult to people. I've seen countless "artists" that just can't handle OS X.

Well I have been using it 99.9% of the time since December last year, and it's never caused me any problems other than the obvious, initial disorientation you'd expect from changing to a new OS.

Upgrade to OSX and the Mac will talk to your PC like it's just another Mac on the end of the cable.

Elvis - It would have to be one hell of an offer for me to relocate to Aus, but I work freelance from the UK on OSX/Windoze etc. :)

[vrljc]

Ok, I am a Mac Veteran and I do actuallty have OS X on my old clunky iBook, (normally i use OS 9 on my G4), but anyways, I just got a PC for 3D work and I know my way around XP, but in terms of networking, I am totally lost.

Are there any specific settings that I need to set on both OS X and XP to get them to talk? Also, do I need a peer to peer network cable, or will a CAT 5 cable work too? Or with a CAT 5 do I need a hub?

-vrljc

[elvis]

Originally posted by ZrO-1
@ elvis:
<shameless plug>
Hey man, if you guys need multi-comp savy artists down there, I have full admin and working experiance in Mac OS 9, Mac OS X.1/.2, Mac OS X server, Win 9x/NT/2K/and XP, Win 2k server, Win 2k3 server and Linux. I'm willing to relocate...
</shameless plug>
:blush:

we're a bit light-on with work at the moment, but we're expecting a boom soon. i'll PM you and get your details and resume, and hand all that to our HR department.

be warned: this company pays like shit. the work is fun tho, and we drink way too much on fridays. :)

[kromekat]

Vrljc - Standard ethernet 2 way should be fine - thats what I use between my Macs.

All you *should* need to do is turn on file sharing on the Mac, and in the Finder, go to : Go>Connect to Server.

The Mac should then find and list all networked machines, select the PC and type in the password, and the PC drive should appear on your desktop!

[elvis]

Originally posted by vrljc
Are there any specific settings that I need to set on both OS X and XP to get them to talk? Also, do I need a peer to peer network cable, or will a CAT 5 cable work too? Or with a CAT 5 do I need a hub?

-vrljc

if you are connecting two machines with one cable, you will need a crossover cable for them to be able to communicate. if you are using straight through cables, you will need a hub or switch.

you'll need to hard-set your IP addresses on both machines. set the mac to IP 192.168.0.1, subnet 255.255.255.0 (under system preferences - network - tcp/ip).

set the PC to IP 192.168.0.2, subnet 255.255.255.0 (control panel - network and internet connections. choose network connections, then right-click the local area connection and choose properties. right-click TCP/IP and choose properties).

enable file sharing on the PC side of things by right-clicking the folder you want to share, click "sharing and security", and give it a share name, then apply/ok your settings.

on the mac, click go -> connect to server. enter in smb://192.168.0.1 as the location to connect to, and a list of shares will appear. choose the share and it will be mounted on your desktop.

easy as that. :)

[EDIT] i understand that the gigabit standard for ethernet devices can cross a cable at the network connection. if you have a gigabit connection on one of your devices (G4 powermacs do) then you may not need a crossover cable to do a direct connection from computer to computer. i've never tried this myself, so i can't verify it. if someone has tried this please comment. at any rate, use a crossover to be safe.

[kromekat]

you will need a crossover cable for them to be able to communicate.

God it's annoying when you can't remeber the simple term used to describe something - crossover! - that's what I meant - and what I use.

[vrljc]

elvis, you have been a great help, i think i am almost there.

I got a crossover cable, hooked it up and I made some progress. I set the IP's on both computers, on the Mac I typed in smb://192.168.0.1 but nothing worked. So I tried afp://192.168.0.2 and the iBook seemed to think and search for about 2 minutes before I got an error stating that the server was not responding.

I went onto the XP machine and looked at the status of the LAN connection, and evertime I would try to connect with the iBook, the "received" data number would increase. So that shows that the PC and Mac are talking in some form.

I think what the problem now is figuring out the correct way to configure the network settings on the PC. I used the Network Setup Wizard and used it best to my knowledge. Are there any crucial settings that I MUST set on the PC in order to get the 2 computers to talk, other than those settings you already told me to set?

-vrljc

[dvornik]

XP has a firewall that may be enabled by the network wizard. It may interfere with networking. See if it's off:

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp

[vrljc]

The firewall has never been enabled, I just got the computer and I am still setting it up.

-vrljc

[dvornik]

Well, have you checked it? It's enabled by default by the wizard.

[elvis]

have you got shares set up on the windows machine? try making a few and connecting to the directly.

try connecting to smb://192.168.0.1/sharename/ instead of just the IP and see what happens.

[vrljc]

http://www.apple.com/uk/smallbusiness/mac_pc/tutorials.html

check this out, might shed some light on why this is not working on my computer. I might need OS X 10.2....I have 10.04...kinda old!

-vrljc

[ZrO-1]

Oh you poor soul.
Mac OS 10.0.4 was horrid (in my experiance at least) I think Apple definetly should have waited on releasing OS X until v. 10.1. I installed 10.0.4 on a test G4 and nothing ever worked the way it should have. It was really high-maintenance. 10.1 was better, but it still didn't play real well when running lots of classic apps, or getting user info from OS 10.1 server. I couldn't keep the one lab I configured with 10.1 (as a test) running error free for more than 3-weeks at a stretch.

When my college got 10.2 I imedietly reconfiged all the Macs with it. It is such a better OS than 10.0/.1. It is more stable, plays much better with classic apps. Works better with remote users coming from an OS X server, uses a much better version of BSD and Samba. I think 10.2 is really the first college-lab capable version Apple has released.

Needless to say, I absolutely cannot wait for 10.3. If it improves the OS as much as 10.2 did compared to 10.1, it should be really fantastic.

OK, I'm done blabbering on...

Here's my suggestion to your problem:

If you have access to a copy of 10.2, I would suggest you upgrade your system. If you don't already own a copy of 10.2, I'd suggest you wait untill 10.3 comes out later this year. If you can wait that long that is.

Hope that helps.

[elvis]

Originally posted by ZrO-1
When my college got 10.2 I imedietly reconfiged all the Macs with it.

our macs all came with 10.1, and about a week after 10.2 arrived i ordered it for all the office machines and installed it. i even upgraded my old imac just so it could run 10.2 (it had 64MB ram, which would crash on install. now runs fine with 256MB). i haven't looked back since.

OSX 10.2 is by far the best thing apple has ever done. 10.0 and 10.1 were a great start, but nothing compares to 10.2. indeed, i used to be a mac hater in the pre-OSX days. any mac i saw would have linux or BSD on it within hours of me getting my hands on it.

anyone still using 10.0 or 10.1, i'd strongly suggest holding out and grabbing 10.3 when it arrives. it looks like a real winner. if your hardware won't run 10.3, then check out a copy of 10.2, or wait till people start selling them second hand after the 10.3 release.

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