Stupid Question!

Believe it or not, I don't know what "server" and "share" mean in Add Network Place on Windows XP. Here are the examples:

\\server\share

Click to expand...

and

http://webserver/share

Click to expand...

For the first one I put in the server: 192.168.1.xxx (the IP address of my eMac), and for share: the workgroup name (MSHOME).

In the second one I put it this way: http://192.168.1.xxx/Bob (Bob is the name of my eMac).

Or I just put it this way\192.168.1.xxx\Bob

In all cases I get:

The folder you entered does not appear to be valid. Please choose another.

Click to expand...

I have Windows Firewall disabled. File and print sharing enabled. In My Documents under "Network sharing and security" I have "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network users to change my files" checked. And Windows Sharing and Personal File Sharing enabled on the eMac.

Is the server my eMac's IP address? And is "share" my workgroup name?

For months I was able to "see" the eMac from the PC, and visa versa. Did a clean install of Windows XP, and can't seem to get the network back.

Please someone who is not an ignorant user, please set me strait.

Thanks,

P.S. I had backed up my connection before the clean install. I still have the icon for accessing the eMac. But now it says

\\Mac\bob is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found.

Click to expand...

What you probably want is \\192.168.1.xxx\<user> you do not want the name of the server (Bob) but the name of the share you are connecting to. In most cases for Mac I believe this is the user name of the shared directory you are trying to connect to.

So yes "192.168.1.xxx" where xxx is your last hex pair is your server. "Bob" should be the share name.

One of the updates for Mac did require that you enable individual accounts, so you might check that under sharing on your Mac.

So yes "192.168.1.xxx" where xxx is your last hex pair is your server. "Bob" should be the share name.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's the xxx I had wrong. Under "Sharing" it tells where Windows users can access the eMac. However, under "Network" the Location {Mac} shows a different xxx. This last is the one I've been trying over on the PC. Now I can access the Mac from the PC. Shouldn't be too difficult getting my Network on the eMac squared away.

Thanks.

Except that I can't connect to the PC from the eMac because the PC's IP address is obtained automatically. So how can I know what to put in the Server Address under "Connect To Server" on the eMac?

This is not so easy after all.

Try \\<computer name>\<share> instead of using the IP address. It should work if Netbios is working correctly. You can check to see if it is visible by going into network neighborhood.

Kokopelli said:

Try \\<computer name>\<share> instead of using the IP address. It should work if Netbios is working correctly. You can check to see if it is visible by going into network neighborhood.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I had too many Roberts and Bobs, so I changed the name of the PC and now it's visible.

One more thing. I wonder if there is some confusion over on the eMac concerning the workgroup names. The PC's workgroup name is MSHOME, but I have the MAC in just "WORKGROUP". Shouldn't they both be under MSHOME? If so, how would I get the MAC over to MSHOME?

I've gone to Directory Access>SMB>Workgroup: MSHOME. But the MAC is still found under WORKGROUP, not MSHOME.

It does not matter. XP home defaults to MSHOME and the Mac defaults to the older WORKGROUP.

If you just like to keep things tidy you could change the value on your Mac in smb.conf. I think it is in /private/etc but don't hold me to that. Regardless there will be a line towards the top with a value of "workgroup = workgroup" change it to "workgroup = MSHOME" Stop and restart sharing and your Mac should now be in MSHOME. Standard Disclaimer: There may be an easier way to do this from the UI but I do not know it.

Also there are a lot of settings in smb.conf and you might be tempted to change them. Resist the temptation if you can, a messed up smb.conf is no fun to troubleshoot.

EDIT: It sounds like you found the location to change it in the UI. But you will need to stop and restart Windows Sharing before it will take effect. Also give it a couple minutes to refresh the cache.

Well, Kokopelli. I thank you very much. Looks like everything is squared away here now.

All the best,

Robert