PCA Forums

I have 4 Win2K PCs and (cough), yes....even an older Mac G4 running OSX. The Mac is connected through my broadband router and goes online yet I have no clue about how to properly network it with my Win2K PCs so that I can see, share certain files IF possible. The PCs don't see it nor does the Mac see them.
I've had the Mac for months now yet I'll admit that it's a strange computer to me and I'm not at all familar with it. Havent been bored enough to read through my OSX book either.
I Know, unusual request here but anyone?

I could try asking this at a Mac forum too but those Mac people REALLY hate PCs (Windows) yet I'm still wondering what their problem is. I think it's lack of PC knowledge, experience myself but.....?

the Mac should be using the AppleTalk protocol for networking...you can add that to your Windows pc(s) via the network adapter properties. Add a new protocol, select the Appletalk option, etc.

if you are running a server you can just install that on the server and then share out folders like normal...but if it is a workgroup i believe you will need each client to have the protocol.

If the MAC is connected to the Broadband router is it safe to assume it supports TCP/IP? Or are there special routers for MAC's that convert Appletalk or to TCP/IP or something?

I would think with OSX being based off of BSD it would now support TCP/IP??

I'd "assume so" too. I did nothing extra to make it go online. I bought it as a used computer, pre-loaded with OSX (Jaguar) and once plugged into the network, it just works (goes online). I'll look into the protocol info mentioned by bman-1 too. Thanks.

sharing files isn't going to be easy. windows uses netbios to facilitate this and macs just kinda scratch themselves wondering why port 135 is active.

if you REALLY need to transfer stuff back and forth, setup FTP on the boxes; it's probably the easiest way to get stuff from one to another without having to fuss with third party software and/or a lot of tweaking.

oh wait... mac uses fetch (YUCK!!!!). just a forewarning...

I don't need to transfer anything, just wondering IF it was possible and if so, how well it might work. If it's a bad idea to even try, I won't bother.

Originally posted by TheManiacal1
sharing files isn't going to be easy. windows uses netbios to facilitate this and macs just kinda scratch themselves wondering why port 135 is active.

if you REALLY need to transfer stuff back and forth, setup FTP on the boxes; it's probably the easiest way to get stuff from one to another without having to fuss with third party software and/or a lot of tweaking.

Don't all OS's support SMB by default? j/k

Agreed FTP is the easiest way to get things back and forth...

You can map smb (windows shares) on an OSX Mac no problem. You just have to type something like smb://servername/sharename in the file server dialog. I forget the exact syntax. I've got an old Mac on my desk at work I use for testing Java programs on occasion, but I haven't used it in months. I think 10.2 can browse them too.
I'm not sure if OSX can also export windows shares. If not, it's close enough to BSD you could probably get samba to work on it if it doesn't already have an OSX build target.
If you can't get the "connect to server" dialog to work you can mount a windows share from the command prompt. It's mount.smbfs or something like that. Look around in the usual unix bin directories. (/bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin. /sbin is the normal place for mount progs, but it's a Mac so...)

A couple other tips & a question:

You can use ssh to log into the Mac. Of course it'll be a unix command line, but it's that why you want a Mac in the first place? (cmd.exe blows) Telnet works too if you turn it on, but I wouldn't unless you've got a firewall.
Microsoft has a Remote Desktop client for MacOS. Along with using it to access the PCs remotely, you can use it to mess with the clueless.
Regarding the fetch thing... it's got a standard unix ftp client in it & you could probably build ncftp if it's not there already.
Anyone figured out how to export nfs mounts from a Mac?

It's almost as much fun as the time I used a full-screen DOS terminal emulator to make it look like I'd installed Linux on my college roomate's windows box. Of course, that doesn't even come close to the time I took a resource editor to the exit windows (this was in the 3.1 days) dialog box. I changed the text to "Guess the button to escape from Windows" and replaced the Ok and Cancel buttons with 50 buttons all bearing question marks. One was OK and the rest were cancel.