Got it! How to keep it?

H

hank1

Guest
Finally I can "see" the eMac on the PC, and can see the PC on the eMac.

I know from experience that this is only temporary, an elusive thing. Next time I restart Windows XP or the Mac, it's likely one or both will have gone. It's more likely that I won't be able to see the PC from the Mac though, and much easier to reclaim the Mac from the PC by adding a Network Place. But it seems just a stroke of luck to get the PC back onto the Mac once lost.

Is there a way to keep it on the Mac? Is an alias the way to go? If so, that's likely to suddenly disappear too (I've tried it before). Is there a special place to put an alias, or for that matter the original? The original is sitting on my desktop for now.

I'm grasping at straws. Is there a script for this? If so, that'll be fun since I know absolutely nothing about scripts.

I love this eMac, and I'm glad there's a lot to learn. But I wish some things were as automatic as the XP.

Sorry if this sounds more like a diary than a question, but that's about the way it is: got the eMac in October, and working every day on it, I'm only this far....
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
I would suggest using the netbios name and adding an entry under favorites in Finder.

open a finder windows and type <cmd>k then the server address in the form

"smb://<computer name>/<share>" then hit the "+" button.

Then any time you need to connect to your windows box you can open a finder and hit <cmd>k and select your saved server connection.

Alternatively I think you can create an alias that you can double click on. I have read how to do it but can not remember off the top of my head. Something like connecting to the share then <cmd>L to create an alias of it. I will test tomorrow when I get into the office if I remember.

At the risk of being a bore I just set a trigger to connect to my common servers in QuickSilver. (It's a bad sign when you feel guilty for mentioning a program.)

EDIT: Since the netbios name never changes you should always be able to connect to your PC using it as long as both your PC and your Mac are in the same segment. Just make sure you do not have 2 systems with the same computer name.
 
PowerBookG4

PowerBookG4


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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Pro 8x3.0ghz 12gb ram 8800GT , MBP 2.16 2GB Ram 17 inch.
what kind of network are you using? just 2 computers" What kind of router?
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
PowerBookG4 said:
what kind of network are you using? just 2 computers" What kind of router?
Click to expand...


Mac and XP Home on a wired network. He had a post asking about how to fix his shares yesterday. This is a follow up to that.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
PowerBookG4 said:
what kind of network are you using? just 2 computers" What kind of router?
Click to expand...

To keep things simple in my original post on this subject, I mentioned "PC". Actually, there are two--mine and my wife's. And the eMac.

P.S.

And sure enough, putting the Mac to sleep last night I get up this morning with the network gone from the Mac. Now Linda's PC is usually easy to reconnect to; it's mine that's crazy.

The router is a Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL.
 
PowerBookG4

PowerBookG4


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could it be that is router is not keeping the connection when the one computer stops giving it information, since it is working both ways, its not just a problem with the mac, and its not just a problem with the pc. It goes both ways, so could it be the routher dropping the connection when it stops getting information from one of the computers that turns off?
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Kokopelli said:
I would suggest using the netbios name and adding an entry under favorites in Finder.

open a finder windows and type <cmd>k then the server address in the form

"smb://<computer name>/<share>" then hit the "+" button.

Then any time you need to connect to your windows box you can open a finder and hit <cmd>k and select your saved server connection.

Alternatively I think you can create an alias that you can double click on. I have read how to do it but can not remember off the top of my head. Something like connecting to the share then <cmd>L to create an alias of it. I will test tomorrow when I get into the office if I remember.

At the risk of being a bore I just set a trigger to connect to my common servers in QuickSilver. (It's a bad sign when you feel guilty for mentioning a program.)

EDIT: Since the netbios name never changes you should always be able to connect to your PC using it as long as both your PC and your Mac are in the same segment. Just make sure you do not have 2 systems with the same computer name.
Click to expand...

Where can I find the netbios name? Are my PCs and the Mac in the same segment? How would I find out?

It's usually one try to get Linda's back, but not this time. I feel like a pragmatist just trying things and so many variations on Workgroup/Domain, Username and Password that I never know how it happened when it does connect.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
PowerBookG4 said:
could it be that is router is not keeping the connection when the one computer stops giving it information, since it is working both ways, its not just a problem with the mac, and its not just a problem with the pc. It goes both ways, so could it be the routher dropping the connection when it stops getting information from one of the computers that turns off?
Click to expand...

I'm sure I saw the IP address of the router once. If I can find that again (and, again, I don't know how I stumbled upon it), would that be valuable information?

I've had some suspicion about the router. A friend who's used the Mac forever tried to get into my eMac via Timbukto (sp?) and couldn't, guessing there's a firewall problem with the router.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Does this common error mean anything to you all?

Under "Connecting to Server", "Connecting to smb://192.168.1.101/Sweetbud...(Linda's PC) I get this:

The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "smb://192.168.1.101/Sweetbud" could not be read or written. (Error code -36).
Click to expand...

Other times the error is simply a wrong username or password.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
OK. That took only a few seconds to reconnect to both our PCs. How I got there is not by Go>Connect To Server. Rather it's Network>Local. Click the Sweetbud icon, supply the password and there is the SMB Mount, Select a share. I go for both Drive_C (C) and Desktop, one at a time. Same for my PC.

But to have to do this every day! I just doesn't seem efficient. I'm curious about both the router and the
netbios name and adding an entry under favorites in Finder.
Click to expand...

I can't emphasize enough that I'm just a beginner on the Mac. Furthermore there's a lot (e.g., netbios) I don't know about on both systems. Ex: I don't see an entry for favorites in Finder, nor do I know how to look up the netbios name on either system, etc. I'm just a graphics maker and artist. Those are my interests in the computer. I believe everyone has their own knowledge and skills for whatever their intersts require. What I gain from others' knowlege on this forum is often invaluable.
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
The netbios name is actually a Windows thing. It is the name you see for your computer when you browse network neighborhood.

So as an example when I connect to my Apps drive I could use //FS1/Apps which would work locally using NETBIOS (or is it WINS? Does not matter I suppose). I could alternatively use //FS1.mydomain.com/Apps to connect using the IP address of the server.

DISCLAIMER: I have not read the thread since I last posted. So I am not sure what else is going on, just explaining what we mean by netbios name (versus IP address or DNS entry)
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Here's what I can find about the router:

Code: 
Status: Router 

Firmware Version: 1.05.03, Apr 29 2004 
MAC Address: 00-0D-93-47-4F-38 

Status

Login Type: DHCP 
Internet IP Address: 4.62.77.111 
Subnet Mask: 255.255.248.0 
Default Gateway: 4.62.72.1 
Static DNS1: 4.2.2.4 
Static DNS2: 4.2.2.5 
Static DNS3: 4.2.2.6

-------------------------
Local MAC Address: 00-12-17-AF-C9-64 
IP Address: 192.168.1.1 
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 
DHCP Server: Enabled

MAC Address


Shows the MAC Address of your Internet interface
IP Address Shows you Local IP address of the Router
Subnet Mask Shows the Subnet Mask of your Router

DHCP Server


Shows the status of the Router's DHCP server function as either 
enabled or disabled.

What's interesting is the Mac Address, and the Internet IP Address: 4.62.77.111. This latter is not what I use. Mine is 192.168.1.xxx. And the Mac address is 192.168.1.102, so I've seen somewhere, but it does say in another place on the Mac that Windows computers can reach the Mac at 192.168.1.100.

See how all this is crazy? Or I am.

Hmm...

Hope this is any help.
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
hank1 said:
What's interesting is the Mac Address, and the Internet IP Address: 4.62.77.111. This latter is not what I use. Mine is 192.168.1.xxx

Hmm...

Hope this is any help.
Click to expand...

That is fine. 4.62.blah is your routable address. 192.168.1.blah is your internal address.

Try following this and see if it works for you.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107486

It will not keep the share active but you will be able to double click on the icon to access the share. NOTE: I do not know if it is my setup or the fact that I am on Tiger but I could not drag to my desktop to create the alias. Instead I dragged it to another Finder window that was open to my home directory. I was then able to drag the created alias to my desktop though (strange).

The important thing is to use the computer name, not the IP address, for this. Since on your private network you are using DHCP your IP address could change. Your computer name will not however (unless you change it manually).
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
By the way, I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but the easy way to detemine what to use for computer name is to browse your network in XP or Mac. The computer name you see there is the one you should use for the share.

If I am following your earlier posts correctly then your PC computer name is "Sweetbud". So follow the steps on the Apple site and see if that works for you on the Mac. I am at work but if no one else helps out before I get home I'll post directions on how to make your Mac shares mapped drives on your PC. That should solve the problem on that side.

EDIT: Don't worry about the IP address by the way. Without changes we do not want to make for a home network it will not be a reliable way to connect to a non-server computer. (If it were a server that was always at home I woul suggest assigning it a static IP.)
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Kokopelli said:
That is fine. 4.62.blah is your routable address. 192.168.1.blah is your internal address.

Try following this and see if it works for you.


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107486

It will not keep the share active but you will be able to double click on the icon to access the share. NOTE: I do not know if it is my setup or the fact that I am on Tiger but I could not drag to my desktop to create the alias. Instead I dragged it to another Finder window that was open to my home directory. I was then able to drag the created alias to my desktop though (strange).

The important thing is to use the computer name, not the IP address, for this. Since on your private network you are using DHCP your IP address could change. Your computer name will not however (unless you change it manually).
Click to expand...

OK, the apple article looks promising. Before I get to that though, I wonder about using the computer name. Because I connected right away with
Code: 
smb://192.168.1.101/Sweetbud for Linda's and smb://192.168.1.100/Chuck for mine.
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
That uses IP address, which wil be faster to connect most of the time. Unfortunately the address could change, which means they will not connect at all using that link. If you never take you computers out of the house you could assign static IP addresses but as it stands which one is blah.100 and which one is blah.101 depends on which one you boot up first.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Kokopelli said:
That uses IP address, which wil be faster to connect most of the time. Unfortunately the address could change, which means they will not connect at all using that link. If you never take you computers out of the house you could assign static IP addresses but as it stands which one is blah.100 and which one is blah.101 depends on which one you boot up first.
Click to expand...

I have to re-read your latest to try and get a grasp on this. I think you do mean to use
"smb://<computer name>/<share>" then hit the "+" button.
Click to expand...
But again, what is "share"?

I'm cross-eyed over this.

Suppose you actually see the setup HERE That way you might see what my "share" and "computer names" are, and might even see the problem and the solution. Sweetbud is Linda's and Chuck is my PC.

You know I can't delete the folder 192.168.1.100 because "an unexpected error occurred"--and it's empty! Still grasping at straws, wouldn't such a redundant file be a problem?
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Kokopelli said:
That is fine. 4.62.blah is your routable address. 192.168.1.blah is your internal address.

Try following this and see if it works for you.


http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107486

It will not keep the share active but you will be able to double click on the icon to access the share. NOTE: I do not know if it is my setup or the fact that I am on Tiger but I could not drag to my desktop to create the alias. Instead I dragged it to another Finder window that was open to my home directory. I was then able to drag the created alias to my desktop though (strange).

The important thing is to use the computer name, not the IP address, for this. Since on your private network you are using DHCP your IP address could change. Your computer name will not however (unless you change it manually).
Click to expand...

This looks so good, but one thing is scary:
From the Finder window, select the SMB volume and choose File > Eject.
Click to expand...
 
OP
K

Kokopelli

Guest
Ejecting a shared volume just means to stop connecting to the share. I can say with some certainty that it can't harm anything, though you don't want to eject while copying or when you have a file open in an application. Even then you are unlikely to hurt anything though the copy will abort or you won't be able to save any changes.


Let's take a step back.

Think of a network like a room and a computer is a desk in the room. Each desk has a set of drawers, some locked and some open. So let's say that you are Bob and I am Mike and we both have desks in the same room. I have a set of pictures I keep in one drawer, bills in another, and pencils in a third drawer.

//Mike

tells us you want to take a look at my desk, but it does not tell us which drawer you want to look in. In other words you have specified a computer, but you have not specified a share on the computer. In windows shares are the folders with the hand under them, you specify a name for each share under folder properties.

Now let's say you want to look in my desk (//Mike) in the drawer labeled photos. To do that you would go to

//Mike/photos

And if you want to look for a pencil in my desk you would go to

//Mike/pencils


So as you see connecting to a share entails telling your computer what the name of the other computer is (//Mike) and what share in specific you want to connect to (/pictures).

Continuing this metaphor. When you eject //Mike/pictures your are putting all the pictures bck in the drawer, closing it, and walking away.

Does that help you visualize what we are talking about?

I started to type an explanation of the difference between IP address and computer name but I think it would be better for you to mull over the above first. The short version though is that there are millions of Mike's in this world. But only one who lives at 13 Beacon Street. Similarly there are a lot of computers named mike in the world but only one at the address 24.22.4.122. So while talking about the computers in just one network using the name works well, but not when talking about the internet in general.



EDIT: In your case it looks like you have 2 computers (desks) named Chuck and Sweetbud respectively. I do not know what shares you have on each but if you were to double click on one of them the shares that you can connect to should be listed.
 
OP
H

hank1

Guest
Kokopelli said:
Ejecting a shared volume just means to stop connecting to the share. I can say with some certainty that it can't harm anything, though you don't want to eject while copying or when you have a file open in an application. Even then you are unlikely to hurt anything though the copy will abort or you won't be able to save any changes.


Let's take a step back.

Think of a network like a room and a computer is a desk in the room. Each desk has a set of drawers, some locked and some open. So let's say that you are Bob and I am Mike and we both have desks in the same room. I have a set of pictures I keep in one drawer, bills in another, and pencils in a third drawer.

//Mike

tells us you want to take a look at my desk, but it does not tell us which drawer you want to look in. In other words you have specified a computer, but you have not specified a share on the computer. In windows shares are the folders with the hand under them, you specify a name for each share under folder properties.

Now let's say you want to look in my desk (//Mike) in the drawer labeled photos. To do that you would go to

//Mike/photos

And if you want to look for a pencil in my desk you would go to

//Mike/pencils


So as you see connecting to a share entails telling your computer what the name of the other computer is (//Mike) and what share in specific you want to connect to (/pictures).

Continuing this metaphor. When you eject //Mike/pictures your are putting all the pictures bck in the drawer, closing it, and walking away.

Does that help you visualize what we are talking about?

I started to type an explanation of the difference between IP address and computer name but I think it would be better for you to mull over the above first. The short version though is that there are millions of Mike's in this world. But only one who lives at 13 Beacon Street. Similarly there are a lot of computers named mike in the world but only one at the address 24.22.4.122. So while talking about the computers in just one network using the name works well, but not when talking about the internet in general.



EDIT: In your case it looks like you have 2 computers (desks) named Chuck and Sweetbud respectively. I do not know what shares you have on each but if you were to double click on one of them the shares that you can connect to should be listed.
Click to expand...


It's that simple? Of course my connections were gone again this morning and this time I used my understanding of your metaphor. Typing in smb://Sweetbud/desktop I was there in an instant. Took about two minutes to get to smb://Chuck/desktop but I think that's because I have two folders in my main drive (C) under Documents and Settings; one for "All Users", one for "Robert". And shouldn't the latter be "Chuck". On the Mac under SMB Mount>Select a share I've got Desktop, MSHOME, My Documents, and SharedDocs. I do suspect the problem lies with my PC, but I'm beginning to see light at the end here, thank you.

Now I don't mind re-connecting every morning to Chuck and Sweetbud, but I still wonder if there's a way to make these connections permanent. On the Mac under Accounts>Startup Items I have Network Folder and MSHOME Folder checked. I suppose I must go deeper and get Sweetbud and Chuck in there.

No, I moved these items up in the hierarchy (thinking that might matter) and tested both a restart and a Sleep, and Sweetbud and Chuck do stay. On my PC I disabled sharing on Shared Documents, keeping it on Chuck's Documents.

Computers are, to me, almost mystical entities.
 

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