Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ibook and networking

Simple Mac/PC Network

rossination — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:57:06 -0800

I have an old iBook G4 (Tiger) that I would like to use as a low-budget "media server". I'd like to set it up with an external hard drive so that our other two computers (laptop running Vista and netbook running XP) can access its files over our wireless network. I'm pretty clueless with networking stuff, but I'm able to set up a workgroup so that I can view the iBook's files from the PCs. I'm not able to get to the external hard drives, though. I thought I'd be able to put aliases to these drives in the iBook's home directory and navigate over to it, but that didn't work.

The hard drive is currently formatted for Mac OS, which I understand isn't readable by a PC without a program like MacDrive. If I reformatted the drive as FAT32 (or bought a copy of MacDrive), would I be able to access files from one of the Windows computers?

Also (less importantly), I'm not able to get to the Windows computers from the Mac. I've gone through some online tutorials but they seem mainly focused on PC/PC networks or Mac/Mac networks, and/or they assume that I'm running Leopard.

I thought that this would be pretty easy to Google a solution to, but so far I'm stuck.

Is it possible to share network/internet connection via a usb dongle (from XP)?

mule — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 22:31:57 -0800

wifi sharing via USB dongle filter: Is it possible to share network/internet connection via a usb dongle (from XP)? if so how? My mum just purchased a new laptop (ibook) which she would like to connect wirelessly to her home network. She has a wired Linksys broadband modem connected to her WinXP box via ethernet.

I advised her to pick up a wifi usb dongle to share the internet and network from her PC to the iBook, thinking that the dongle could be used to 'push' the netwprk out. With plenty of fiddling the laptop can see the network as a peer to peer but not share the connection to the net.

I'm pretty experienced with the mac side of things but the Windows stuff seems like an endless loop of wizards.

Can anyone point me to set of instruction on how to get this working?

Can I wirelessly connect my iBook to my (rather restrictive) work intranet?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 08:32:58 -0800

How can I become a rogue employee? I want to set up an unauthorized hotspot in my office, that "circumvents" the IT policy, by wirelessly linking my iBook to the all-PC network. My tiny office has 9 people crowded around 4 crummy Dell desktops. We've invested in our own personal laptops: 3 Vaios, 2 Thinkpads, and me with an iBook. The trouble is none of us are allowed access to the work intranet. The IT department are adamant that only authorized Dell laptops can be configured to access the network.
When I plug my Airport Express in, it seems to think it's connected to the intranet, but it won't pass any data. Does anyone have any tips or resources to help me "configure" it, to allow us all untrammeled access?

Can I access my mp3s remotely?

synecdoche — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 10:28:12 -0800

Can I access my files on a Window 2000 machine (at home) from my iBook when travelling? I have a Windows 2000 desktop at home. I store my MP3 collection on it. Usually when doing day-to-day computing, I use my iBook laptop. At home, I can easily access the files on the Win2K box over my local network. However, I do travel from time to time, and I'd like it if I could mount the remote computer as a hard drive when I am away from home (whether across the country or at my university).

Is there any simple way to do this? If it works okay, I'll just tell iTunes that the library is in a new location and then keep it all the time. It'd be nice to be able to move files back to the Win2K machine, too.

I've seen somebody do something similar but they were running Linux, which I am not too proficient with.

I have Win2K Pro, updated to whatever they're at now, on the desktop where the fiels are, and OSX Tiger on the iBook.

Installing OS X without a DVD burner

dobbs — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 13:42:15 -0800

I have: 1) G3 iBook 500 running OS 9.2 w/ a CD-Rom, firewire, and ethernet 2) iMac G5 w/ dvd, firewire, ethernet; Panther and Tiger on DVD. Any way to get OS X onto the iBook? I'm hoping I can somehow use the iMac's DVD drive to install OS X onto the iBook. Also, the iBook only has 128mb of ram. HOWEVER, I only plan on running two pieces of software on it: Movie Magic, which is a screenwriting package (ie, a fancy word processor), and DevonTHINK.

Will this thing be okay with that little ram? I'll be doing nothing else with the unit. If that's not enough ram, where is the absolute cheapest place to get ram for an old laptop like this and what type of ram do I need (I bought it used and don't have manuals or anything). Thanks!

Wireless help for my iBook

hughbot — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 17:38:38 -0800

Wireless Help! iBook related. (more inside) I just got a new iBook, and while my wireless internet works fine everywhere else, when I'm using my school's wireless network, I can't get MSN to connect. It seems like it doesn't even know it's online. At home, I've got no problems connecting, and at my freinds house I'm fine, it's only at the school. All my PC using friends seem to be able to connect to MSN fine. My nerd-tron freind suggests that maybe it has something to do with 'Ports'. This word means nothing to me. Lil' Help?

Shared drives between PC and Mac

pieoverdone — Sat, 07 Aug 2004 22:15:30 -0800

I have a PC with WinXP Pro. She has an iBook with Mac OS X. Together they ~~fight crime~~ share a router. e:\ is where I shove all my ~~porn~~ music. How can I make this available to her to copy what she wants to her machine or her ipod?