Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mac 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.

Networking Mac and Windows via ethernet

snarfois — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 08:18:55 -0800

Please help me troubleshoot my (cross-platform) home network. Networking already works via wi-fi, but not via ethernet cable. I'm networking a Windows XP PC to a Mac Mini running OS X Leopard. I have already succeeded in setting it up so that I can browse the Mini from Windows in "My Network Places" or via a mapped drive letter, but this is slow (802.11g) and I want to transfer large files.

I have bought a 20 meter cat5 cable (crossover) and connected the two computers, and disconnected the wi-fi adapter. Can I expect the network to work straight away without further configuration? Anyway, it doesn't. Please help!

(Irrelevant background: I only need to do this because the Mac Mini's DVD burner is useless -- I keep getting the "failed to calibrate the laser power level" error. So I'm forced to use the PC for burning.)

OSX can't see my XP drive

middleclasstool — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:50:15 -0800

Suddenly my Mac can't see my Windows PC, and I'm stumped. So I have a Windows PC (XP, latest service pack) and a new Macbook Pro (latest up-to-date version of Leopard). When I first got the Mac I was able to connect to my XP drive over wifi just fine by going to Finder and choosing "Connect to server" and typing in smb://bill (Bill's the XP PC's name, natch).

But suddenly it's not working anymore and I'm stumped. When I try to connect, using either that PC's name or IP address, it says it can't connect. When I ping that IP address, it sees it just fine.

The only thing I can think was awhile back I attempted directly connecting a Linux box to the Win PC to try to share its wifi connection. I did some tweaking of local network settings, but it never worked quite right, so I reverted changes. It could well be that something is still configured incorrectly on the Windows box, but damned if I can see what.

Any ideas?

Does file sharing on OSX 10.5 work???

arniec — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:56:36 -0800

Is file sharing with Mac OS X 10.5 completely unreliable, or am I doing something wrong? Let me explain my setup:

I have a Mac Mini running OSX 10.5. Into the Mac Mini I have a Drobo with 4 1TB hard drives, which shows up on the Mini as 2 separate volumes due to Drobo's 2TB limitation.

(I had the Drobo connected directly to my Airport Extreme before this but after hearing another MeFi question about someone who lost all Drobo data due to failing to properly eject the disks using the Drobo software, I moved the Drobo to a real computer).

The Mac Mini is connected to my Airport Extreme using an ethernet cable.

I then have 2 Windows PCs and 3 other Macs that are trying to reach files on this Drobo. On the Drobo I in fact keep my entire iTuens library and thus all my iTunes installs are set to use that as the music directory.

Here are the problems I am having:

1) At times the Drobo shares will just disappear for no apparent reason. I look at the Mac Mini and they are there, I see the Mac Mini on my Mac Finder window, but the only share I see available is my "Public Folder". Rebooting the Mini usually brings back up the Drobo shares.

1a) This is exceptionally a PITA because when this happens, iTunes can't find the Drobo share and then reverts the music directory back to the default downloading my podcasts where I don't want them and basically creating a manual mess for me to reintegrate these files.

2) There seem to be strange permissions errors that happen and I can find no logical reason for them. Examples:

a) I go to my Drobo share from my laptop and find half the files missing. In going to the Mac Mini it shows that my account should have full read and write access, but Everyone has no access. I try "Connect As..." and have no further luck.
b) One time I was copying a folder from my laptop to the drobo over the network. Halfway through the copy it aborted and told me I had no permissions. I went to the Mac Mini and it had locked out EVERYONE from that folder. I had to change permissions on the parent folder and have them cascade to unlock the folder's permissions. Of course, this happened seemingly spontaneously as I had copied half the files before the permissions error happened.

In the end, I am REALLY getting frustrated with this networking experience, and I'm about to just get a cheap Windows machine to start holding my file shares if this is what it comes to. But I can't imagine Mac networking is so...BROKEN. So is it something I'm doing wrong?

OSX latency monitoring for windows games

mccarty.tim — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:07:43 -0800

Is there a way I can monitor latency to gaming servers easily in OSX, preferably through a widget? My computer spends most of its time in my college dorm. My college internet connection is good, not great. The speed is consistently fast enough to get things done, but latency fluctuates. Sometimes, it can stay around 400MS for an hour or so. At good times, the latency is around 12 MS for servers in the same region.

What complicates things is that I like TF2, a windows game, and I have to reboot my computer, a MacBook Pro, into bootcamp to play it. If I reboot into Windows and find that the latency is high, I just wasted a lot of time.

Is there a widget for the dashboard so that I could monitor Steam servers and their latencies so I know if it's worth my time to reboot? Or is there a webpage I could turn into a webclip to help me out? Thanks for your help.

will an airport express g work for me?

SECONDHANDSMOTE — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:45:51 -0800

Ok, since apple has released the new 802.11n revision of the Airport Express, and ebay is getting some decent deals on the 802.11g models, are there any strong reasons to get the n version if I just want to stream music from itunes? Basically I just don't want to be tethered to my stereo. I might want to have a printer eventually but I haven't owned a printer in a long while.
I'll be using either a time capsule or an airport extreme (n) for my routing and you know... stuff. I plan on using AirFoil to connect to audio from movies and FLAC (until itunes supports it if ever).

Is there anything about the 802.11g version of the Express that would eventually piss me off over the n version? I listen to a lot of high bitrate music (320 cbr and FLAC) so that's a concern for me.

Xbox 360 + Connect 360 (OS X) + 720p + 802.11n = jerky video?

bryanjbusch — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:26:43 -0800

Xbox 360 + Connect 360 (OS X) + 720p + 802.11n = jerky video? While recently streaming some 1280x720 video from the MacBook (10.5.2, RAM maxed out) through the AirPort 802.11n thing to the Xbox 360, which is connected via a physical ethernet cable, the show would periodically stop.

Then the audio would continue by itself, and then after a minute or so, the video would sort of "fast-forward" and catch up with the audio.

I wasn't running any other applications or downloading big files at the same time. Is this normal behavior, or should I be able to stream HD quality video with this sort of setup?

Will simultaneous network connections increase transfer speed?

unofficialsquaw.com — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:36:58 -0800

In transferring files between a mac pro and a macbook can I increase transfer speed by connecting the two via firewire, ethernet AND wireless simultaneously?

Help me add to my tech support skills.

fenriq — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:43:30 -0800

What are the core tech support skills needed to work in a school district and how can I improve those skills this weekend? I'm interviewing with the local school district next week for a site computer tech support position the includes both computer support and instruction. It requires knowledge of both Macs and PCs (though the school I'd be working at is all Mac), networking, wireless, end user support and a whole bunch of other stuff. I have the Mac side covered without fear but I'm a bit rusty on the PC stuff. I will be practicing on my wife's PC to get some rust off but could use some additional help for sure.

I've read previous AskMe threads that touch on tech support skills but none have been explicitly what I need.

I'd love a site that can walk me through tutorials and expand my knowledge if possible. But really, I'd love any insights to help get me through the multiple layers of testing and interviewing.

The first written test is on Monday followed by a hands-on on Tuesday.

Can I make my Airport Express into a repeater?

Duluth?! I Hardly Know Her! — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:47:00 -0800

How do I (can I?) make my Airport Express expand my wireless network? I am clueless about wifi, but I think I have the equipment to make a good home network for my TiVo and my Wii. I have a cable modem in the bedroom (back of the house) that plugs into a Buffalo WHR-G54S wireless router, which plugs directly into my iMac G5, which has an airport card. I have an Airport Express that is plugged into the wall in the middle of the house (not connected to anything other than my stereo).

Up until now, I have used the Airport Express as a way to play my iTunes music through my stereo, so I have just had it talking to my iMac's airport card and grabbing the music. I have not had it doing any kind of network function. Now, I want it to talk to my Router. I think I should be able to have my router whip the signal to the Airport Express, which will then whip it to my TiVo and my Wii. I want to do this because my router's signal is very weak for TiVo/Wii, which are on the complete other side of the house through some brick and concrete.

Can anyone help me with a straightforward way to do this? I have tried every which way of monkeying with my wireless network settings on the Mac, but I think all I am doing is changing the airport card-to-airport express settings. In the alternative, can someone tell me my Airport Express is not an appropriate tool for the job I am asking of it, so I know to quit wasting my time trying to fit a square airport express into a round wireless expander-thingee job?

I thank you.

Help me sell XServe to my boss and our client.

odinsdream — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:33:57 -0800

Help me recommend XServe to my boss and our client. Please share your personal experience with the XServe hardware and software, particularly the GUI tools for service management. I work for a small business that provides technical support for a local school. They have a very small IT budget, and no IT staff (except for select volunteer students).

Currently, they have two 7-10 year old NT 4.0 servers. One is running Exchange, and the other is just used as file storage.

I have no personal experience with the XServe, but reading their specifications, it seems to fit what this school is looking to do. For the most part, I'd like to know about any caveats with recommending this system and software to my boss, and to the school, that otherwise aren't obvious from reading the specs and reviews.

I'm a bit concerned that it doesn't yet have iCal Server built in, but could I install some web-based software while we wait for the release?

What won't this server be able to do for them? The biggest hurdle I need to overcome is the momentum generated from my boss' sole experience working with Exchange and Windows servers. He's open to the idea, but seems to only vaguely understand that Macs aren't locked-off in some proprietary realm apart from Windows machines anymore.

Personal opinions, experiences, and thoughts on such a recommendation?

Thanks!

Joining a Mac and a PC, how?

yodelingisfun — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:01:42 -0800

One modem, two computers-a Mac and a PC. How do I do this? Can it be done if the two computers are on separate floors of the house? Not so good with computers... I looked through the archives but I'm not sufficiently computer savvy to know if this question has been answered previously. So I'm moving to Denver and will be moving in with my boyfriend who has Macs. I have a PC that I need to keep for school. We both want access to the internet and are thinking that we might have to split up the computers, one upstairs one down. Can I just go buy a regular old router and be done? He is in a contract with earthlink DSL and I know he pays extra for the Mac version of the modem. So, any advice in little words?

Advanced Network Routing

ijoshua — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:37:26 -0800

Is it possible to configure a Mac OS X Server to route incoming and outgoing traffic via two different interfaces? Here’s the problem: we have an Xserve providing various services to a small, company-wide network. Among other services, it handles DNS, DHCP, and NAT, and acts as the gateway through an asymmetric DSL connection to the Internet. We’ve recently begun noticing extremely high latency (over 1000ms,) with no appreciable degradation in download throughput (generally better than 3 Mib/s, as good as 6 Mib/s.) We seem to have finally diagnosed the source of the latency: our pitiful upstream is being saturated by larger uploads at just over 384 kib/s.

Is it possible, using ipfw/dummynet or some other tools, to filter packets destined to travel out on this interface, and reroute them through a secondary interface dedicated to uploading? Can return traffic still be delivered via the primary interface?

Any other possible solutions are also welcome.

Mac using a PC-connected printer over wifi network?

frenchbenj — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:56:46 -0800

How can i use the printer hard-connected to my PC from my wifi-connected Mac? I have a home wifi network with a Mac, a PC, and a printer connected to the PC (via USB). The printer is very basic and doesn't have any sort of network printing capability or whatever.

I want to be able to send print jobs to the printer from my Mac via my wifi network - how can I achieve that? Can i install anything on my PC so it looks to the Mac like there is a network printer on the wifi network?

Thanks!

How do I play music throughout my home on 2 stereo systems attached to a Powerbook G4 and WinXP Desktop, repsectively?

fearless_yakov — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 09:54:59 -0800

Help me fill my home with music: I want to play my iTunes library over two separate home stereo systems at the same time. What's the easiest, cheapest way to do this? (My apologies if this has been asked before; I searched every post tagged with "music" and "wireless" and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for -- perhaps it's out there and I'm just too dumb to know it when I see it.)

I live in a loft -- it's a big, open room (i.e., there's no way I can conceal long runs of wiring). I have 2 sets of speakers connected to amps / receivers on opposite sides of the loft. I want to play music on all of them, together.

Ok, here's my setup:

1. Powerbook / B&W / T-amp
Powerbook G4 (houses the master iTunes library), connected to...
Sonic Impact T-amp (via stereo mini-plug), connected to...
B&W bookshelf speakers.

2. Desktop / Onkyo / B&W
Windows XP desktop (running iTunes), connected to...
Onkyo 6.1 receiver, connected to...
B&W floorstanding speakers / surrounds.

Both the Powerbook and Desktop are connected to my network, which runs through a cable modem attached to a Linksys WRT54g router.

SO: How do I play music from the "master" iTunes library (on the Powerbook) through all the speakers at the same time?

Other posts mention Soundbridge and Roku and Airport Xpress a lot. Do I really need to buy new equipment to accomplish this? -- or is what I have enough already? (Mega bonus points if your answer says "You don't need to buy anything." Minor bonus points if your answer says "You need to buy something, but it costs < $100. absolutely no points at all if your answer requires me to spend> $300.)

I realize I can share my iTunes libraries, but this doesn't allow me to play the same thing simultaneously on both systems, does it?

Finally, I've considered moving the "master" iTunes library to a large external HD. Would this help or hurt what I'm trying to accomplish?

Finally: When it comes to networking, I'm a dumbass. Sorry. If your answer says something like "Just tunnel through the whatever with VNC client and open a port and..." you can assume you have immediately lost me.

Thanks in advance!

Mac-friendly wireless routers?

Dunwitty — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 14:11:00 -0800

Help me find a Mac friendly wireless router? I've got a broadband neophyte Mac-using brother stuck in the wilderness. He just got DSL, but the router he has only uses PC software, and there's nobody even semi-local who can help him. Are there any wireless routers out there known for their Mac-friendliness? That is, come with Mac software for setup, have Mac-oriented support, etc?

Do you talk AppleTalk?

al_fresco — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:53:21 -0800

MacNetworkingFilter: Setting up a print server in a small office–Ethernet, AppleTalk, wireless, oh my… Lots I'll be setting up a small office for a client. She has three printers that she'd like to print to wirelessly. Luckily, she has an old G4 tower that she's not using that can act as a print server. It all makes sense except for this one piece.

One of the printers is a GCC Elite 12/600 that she connects to via the Ethernet port, of which there is one on the tower. I've set it up before, and the printer is chosen in the Printer Setup Utility as an AppleTalk printer, not IP. Works fine when connected straight into the computer's Ethernet port.

My question is this: Will the printer still talk to the server computer properly if they are both connected to two different ports on a NetGear WGR614 wireless router? The AppleTalk data doesn't have to be transmitted across the wireless connection, because the client computers will connect to the printer through Printer Sharing, but I'm not sure if the printer will work the same as if it was connected directly to the computer. Make sense?

If the above won't work, do I need a different type of Ethernet hub to be able to connect the printer to the computer, and the computer to the router? Please advise. Let me know if you need more information, and I may try to post a link to a schematic. Thanks!

Home Networking Filter: Why do I have to keep resetting my cable modem?

modernnomad — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:23:37 -0800

Internet access at home comes and goes, but can be resolved by resetting (powering on/off) the cable modem. Sometimes has to be done once a day, sometimes once every 30mins. No obvious pattern. What could be causing this? The cable modem is plugged into an Apple Airport Express, which I've had for over a year and have never had problem with before. I recently moved and the new cable hookup (though same company as before) has been relatively flakey. Sometimes I have to reset the modem, sometimes the Airport Express. I've tried fiddling with the settings -- different channels, b and/or g, different security options, nothing seems to consistently fix the problem. I'm using a Powerbook G4 under OS 10.4, but my roommate is running WinXP and has the same problems. Resetting the modem almost always seems to temporarily fix the problem but there is no obvious pattern as to how long is required until I have to reset again.

osx networking problems (in triplicate)

cmyr — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:49:17 -0800

osx networking problems (in triplicate) Several parts: I have a grey g4 in the 400mhz range that I'm trying to set up as a music server, and I'm having some network problems. Inside you will find a dead ethernet port, a banal remote desktop query, and a question about network printer sharing. So: I just installed tiger onto the g4 (which doesn't have a DVD drive) by using firewire from my laptop with the g4 in target disc mode. When I run the g4 now, it doesn't recognize it's own ethernet port; It doesn't show up in network settings when plugged into the router, and the router doesn't light up indicating that it recognizes the connection is in any way live. The ethernet is built into the motherboard, so I know that it's not simply a card that isn't plugged in.

As far as I know the ethernet port has never been used (it's previous owner had dial-up).Since I installed on the g4's HD from another computer, I'm not sure if the installation was configured for the laptop hardware or the hardware on the desktop. None of the built in diagnostics software does anything useful.

And: I was wondering what would be involved in remotely controlling the desktop over the (eventually/hopefully functional) network from the laptop. I know that osx has a remote login functionality, but i'm not sure if this is just access to the file system; do I need 3rd party software to login/run programs over the network connection?

But Also: I have an old LaserWriter 16/600 PS with an ethernet adaptor (from an RJ[something] port?) that I would like to be shareable over my (relatively small) network, via the g4 desktop mentioned above. I am currently considering two options: putting a PCI wireless card in the desktop/connecting the printer to it's ethernet port/setting up printer sharing, or else putting a switch in my office and connecting the g4 server, my PC desktop and the printer to that. I've played around in the past with connecting the printer straight to the router, but I was never able to get that to work; although I neither put forth particular effort nor am possessing of any particular apptitude for this sort of work.

Which may or may not be evident.

Please save me.

Powerline ethernet with Mac

gteffertz — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 10:26:55 -0800

I'd like to get internet service from my office (in a renovated garage) into the house. I bought two Belkin powerline ethernet adaptors, but I can't get them to work. Belkin says that they do not support Macs (I have two Macs, no Windows). Has anyone out there used powerline ethernet with Mac?

one-way scp?

ciaron — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 07:25:33 -0800

Linux to Mac SSH connection: Why is scp so much slower in one direction? I have a home wireless network of two Linux machines (a laptop and a desktop) and a G4 Mac mini. Between the two Linux machines I get a transfer rate of around 2.0MB/s in both directions using scp, and from the Mac to either of the Linux machines about the same.

The problem is with scp'ing stuff to the Mac mini. The rate starts out about 700KB/s, then settles down to about 400KB/s within a few seconds.

I also set up a Samba share on the Linux boxes, and I'm seeing the same slowdown using regular cp to/from the Mac.

Any ideas?

Mac to PC using VNC over a crossover cable?

tonyballinger — Thu, 25 May 2006 23:07:53 -0800

I have a G5 running MacOS 10.4 and a very old Win98 Compaq that has a certain sound card required for a piece of Generative Music software by Brian Eno. I have a wireless network at home for the mac, but the PC does not have a wireless card. Can I connect the Mac and the PC via an ethernet crossover cable and control the PC from the Mac?

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?

How to route audio from a Mac's built-in mic over a network?

namespan — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 09:29:47 -0800

Is it possible to route audio from a Mac's built-in mic (or other audio source) over a network to another machine in mostly-realtime? If so, how? Assume both machines have modern, fast ethernet connections. Bonus points for solutions that don't require keeping an application in the foreground -- the user should be able to keep working in other applications with the audio transfer happening as unobtrusively as possible. Terminal/UNIX wizardry is fine, but the command to invoke it and turn it off should be simple.

XP wants to talk Mac

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 10:43:40 -0800

How do I make XP talk to Mac os server 10.2.8? Ok, we have a new mixed network, Mac & Windows. I'm having problems making Windows XP consistently talk to a Mac OS X server 10.2.8. No, we will not be updating mac os server.

Here's the gist:

I set up Network drives on the PC and mapped the drives
yesterday. Today, when I go to access the drives via Windows My
Computer I get the following error:

"An error occurred while reconnectingX: to \\{ip address of Mac Server}\(drivename)

Microsoft Windows Network 221: The user name could not be found.

This connection has not been restored."

When I go to Run and try to reconnect via the Mac Server address
\\{ip address of server} it says:

"\\{ip address of server} not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrater of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The user name could not be found."

I went to the mac server and added the same username and password that I use to login to the pc and got the same results.

Since I was originally able to connect the PC to the Mac, I'm not sure as why it no longer works.

Finally is there a good primer on Mac/Windows networking?