How do I join a workgroup?

I have a question, my pc network has a workgroup. My XBOX has xbox media centre and it connects through the workgroup to other PCs to stream mp3s and such. How do I put my powerbook on the same workgroup so I can access it as well from the xbox?

First of all, does the windows machine detect the PowerBook? If it does.. thats one good thing. I don't really know how to fix that. Infact i dont even know what Xbox Media Center is.. Im sorry i cant help you but do you have a link for the media center thing? Good luck and thanks.

Xbox media centre doesn't matter. What I mean is, in Windows you can join a workgroup. So say I had a computer in my bedroom and living room, I can tell them to be on a workgroup and it will ask for the name so I could say "MyHouse". Then when you go to Network Connections it would show a list of workgroups and would show MyHouse, you'd go into that and it would show my bedroom computer and the living room one. Or say I put each on a different workgroup, you'd see 2 different workgroups each with one computer. In XBOX media centre it streams mp3s and such over the network but it does so through workgroups, so it basically uses smb to look for workgroups, then it would see the MyHouse workgroup. You'd click that and it would show my 2 computerse, and when you pick a computer it would show you any shared folders on those computers. That's what I want toknow, is how can I tell the PowerBook to use the workgroup MyHouse, so say in Windows even when I click workgroups and MyHouse it shows living room computer as well as the PowerBook?

Hmmm, let me think. You need help with your new mac.

Maybe go to 'Mac help' located in the finder bar.

There type in 'workgroup'.

1st answer "How to change the workgroup for your mac".

(So you don't have to go through all that, here's the quick answer:
Utilities -> Directory Access -> click on the lock to authenticate -> select SMB -> configure-> enter workgroup name.


Just trying to point out that 'Mac Help' actually helps you quite well. Just have to give it a chance!

Oh okay! I'm sorry I'll try that. I'm used to Windows Help where you click Help, then wait 5 minutes for it to come up. Or when it wants to run a troubleshooter to help you when you can't connect to the internet and it asks you questions like "Is the ethernet cable connected?" or "Is your computer turned on?" lol.

leemoreau said:

Oh okay! I'm sorry I'll try that. I'm used to Windows Help where you click Help, then wait 5 minutes for it to come up. Or when it wants to run a troubleshooter to help you when you can't connect to the internet and it asks you questions like "Is the ethernet cable connected?" or "Is your computer turned on?" lol.

Click to expand...

HA, YES! Win help sucks like that.

Wasn't trying to rile you, just pointing out that we all are fortunate enough to have a helpful and easy-to-use help system right under our noses.

I was sceptical at first too, especially since windows would make you fill in 100's of diagnostical questions to then produce the answer:

"This diagnostic wizard cannot solve your problem, please contact microsoft for further assistance"


Well, thanks! I wouldn't have thought of that...

You can join a workgroup via samba, a unix to windows networking app built into OS X. I'm not sure exactly how to configure it, goto the terminal and type man samba or man smb and that should give you better guidance.

I am just starting out on mac and i have the same problem. This thread at the bottom has a link for smb mount
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10651
It works great at navigating so you can find the computer name. then after you find the computer name click on the desktop and hit apple + K and type smb://computeranme. Dont worry about what workgroup its in...osx will find it.

I dont think most of the people here understand even the basics of windows networking, and this is the best I could find to the solution. Let me know if it works for you. I dont understand why chooser wont just let you navigate there, but whatever works right?

I'm going to try the method earlier when I get a chance. I can connect to my desktop using smb that's not a problem but that's not what I'm trying to do. My XBOX can only network to computers using a workgroup. It needs to see a workgroup and then when you choose the workgroup it lists the computers that are part of it.