File sharing between Mac OS X & Windows XP?

[sykopath79]

I'm trying to access shared folders on my Windows XP machine from my Mac running OS X 10.1. OS X offers SMB connectivity for Windows networks but I cannot figure out if there is something on my Windows machine that I need to install/enable in order for UNIX clients (such as OS X) to connect with SMB. Right now, my Mac can't see my PC, and my PC can't see my Mac.

If anyone has experience with this and can tell me what to do I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Fencer128]

Hi,

I only have experience from MacOs X 10.2, but I know that shared directories on my work network are available using samba without any obscure configurations (editing smb.conf as root). We have a peer to peer Win XP Pro(majority)/WinME/98SEworkgroup using TCP/IP if that's any help.

Please supply additional network details if you'd like further help.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Schnieds]

Hey sykopath79,

I just started fooling around with OS X myself. I went the other way though, setting up file sharing from my OS X 10.2 machine to my Win machines. I have a background as a network admin, so I might be able to help you figure this out.

First off, have you tried pinging each machine from the other? Do that first to make sure that you have the most basic network connectivity between machines working.

Whilst I was reading about setting up my OS X box as a file share server I saw a lot of documentation about what you are trying to do. It seems that OS X 10.1 didn't have very good support for accessing Win file shares, but OS 10.2 is supposed to work fine ( I can't say that I like Macs or how Apple charges $100 for bug fixes... ) The site that had a full Samba server for OS X also had a solution for getting to Windows shares, you might want to check this out:

xamba

Report back with what you find and I will try to help you get this figured out...

 

[sykopath79]

OK, I tried pinging my PC from my Mac and it didn't work, it just sat there. I could ping the router/switch into which both my PC and Mac are plugged just fine, but I couldn't ping my PC.

However, I can ping my Mac from my PC, but it doesn't show up in the Network Neighborhood (should it?).

I am using OS X 10.1.5, I know that Jaguar has more seamless support for Windows networking but shouldn't I be able to connect to my Windows network out-of-the-box with 10.1 also? I really don't feel like dropping $130 right now to upgrade to Jaguar.

 

[Schnieds]

Strange ping results, were you using IP addresses or your computer names?

Since you can't ping your PC from your Mac it sounds like there is a network configuration problem on your Mac. Can you browse the internet, or test network connectivity otherwise with your Mac? You most likely won't be able to see your Mac in your PC's network nieghborhood. In order to get this functionality you would need to install the OS X Samba server that I discussed in my previous post in this thread...

Like I said, I am new to OS X myself, so I don't know whether or not 10.1 should work out of the box. I am very very very famlilar with Linux and Windows, and I have never had a problem with connectivity between those. I know that 10.0 and 10.1 had a lot of problems and many people couldn't do much with their Macs until 10.2. Unfortunately, from what I have read, the SMB support in 10.1 is the same way. =(

Hopefully this is just a network config issue and once we get that resolved your SMB will work fine under 10.1.

 

[sykopath79]

Originally posted by: Schnieds
Strange ping results, were you using IP addresses or your computer names?

IP addresses, of course.

Since you can't ping your PC from your Mac it sounds like there is a network configuration problem on your Mac. Can you browse the internet, or test network connectivity otherwise with your Mac?

I'm typing this to you on said Mac, so that should tell you something. I can get on everything on the Internet just fine sharing the same cable connection as the rest of my home LAN.

I will try the Samba client you suggested and see if that gets me going.