Mac would not connect to a Windows network

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jacobdol

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Hi, I need some help. I am new to Mac OS and need some help connecting my Mac to the Home network-
Currently I have this:
Internet<---Wireless Router/Switch <--- { 2PCs (wired), 1PC (wireless), 1 ibook (wireless, OS Panther), 1 Wireless Access Point (wired)}
I have WEP enabled with 64bit encryption.
ibook connects to the network and i can access the internet but the ibook does not see any PCs nor PCs can access it.
it only worked once when I was able to access the network computer from my ibook but now it is not working. Are ther any specific actions I should take in order to connect the ibook to the HOME network?
 
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T

TylerMoney

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Try loggin out of your account, then going back in and checking your networks...you should see them then...I have a similar problem sometimes.
 
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Applications >> Utilities >> Directory Access

change the Samba (SMB) setting to the workgroup you use for your PCs
 
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jacobdol

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I am yet to change the SMB settings but here's what's been happening now:
After I restarted my mac, it sees the windows computer but when I navigate to Shared folders they appear EMPTY in the Finder window :-|
Then, I also tried to connect to the mac comp from Windows PCs by going to Add My Network place and typing mac's IP address and it seems to work to the point where I get a login window with my user directory \\s.comp\[username] and it asks for a ?password ?! I tried entering my mac account password but it does not work. Is it because my account password is only four chars long and windows thinks it is not secure or what else? what kind of password does it need? Or may be my Mac would not let the PC connect to it without some weird password being setup?
Why cannot they just all get along? :)
 
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make sure you have enabled Windows Sharing in System Prefences >> Sharing

also, make sure you have enabled sharing of the drives/folders in Windows. you can right click a drive in XP and win2k and set up sharing. you might also want to go throught the windows home/small office setup to ensure the machine is set in the same workgroup
 
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jacobdol

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MacAddikt said:
make sure you have enabled Windows Sharing in System Prefences >> Sharing

also, make sure you have enabled sharing of the drives/folders in Windows. you can right click a drive in XP and win2k and set up sharing. you might also want to go throught the windows home/small office setup to ensure the machine is set in the same workgroup
yep, my PCs are all connected and sharing. and windows sharing is enabled on the mac.
 
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JohnXE

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Are you trying to connect them through the internet router or a network router? Are you sure the cables are put in correctly? I just recently got Mac (2 weeks ago) and I had no problems at all with sharing. You also need to make sure you put files you want to share with the Mac in your shared files folder on the PC.
 
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jacobdol

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JohnXE said:
Are you trying to connect them through the internet router or a network router? Are you sure the cables are put in correctly? I just recently got Mac (2 weeks ago) and I had no problems at all with sharing. You also need to make sure you put files you want to share with the Mac in your shared files folder on the PC.
I am trying to connect through Linksys router/access point and of course I have files in the share folders becaouse I can access them using PCs but not the mac
I changed SMB and it had no effect. bummer.
 
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jacobdol

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jacobdol said:
I am trying to connect through Linksys router/access point and of course I have files in the share folders becaouse I can access them using PCs but not the mac
I changed SMB and it had no effect. bummer.
Ok, I just solved the problem- as soon as I turned off WEP security I was able to connect to my windows network and even use a printer attached to one of the PCs to print out stuff from my ibook. Now why the ibook would not connect to the secure network - I have no idea. I do not like to have a network that anbybody can connect to and have an access to the interenet and shared folders but I guess I will have to live with it. Please, let me know if you use wep and it works fine with your Macs.
 
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jacobdol said:
Ok, I just solved the problem- as soon as I turned off WEP security I was able to connect to my windows network and even use a printer attached to one of the PCs to print out stuff from my ibook. Now why the ibook would not connect to the secure network - I have no idea. I do not like to have a network that anbybody can connect to and have an access to the interenet and shared folders but I guess I will have to live with it. Please, let me know if you use wep and it works fine with your Macs.

Make sure your Linksys is set for defaults on everything. I had changed the Preamble to short and the data rate setting. Messed up my Powerbook connection to everything. I am operating it now with a 128 bit WEP key and it works fine. I did have to use the Hex code cause the password feature must use a different algarithym than the Linksys password feature.

Jerry
 
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jacobdol

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GLJones said:
Make sure your Linksys is set for defaults on everything. I had changed the Preamble to short and the data rate setting. Messed up my Powerbook connection to everything. I am operating it now with a 128 bit WEP key and it works fine. I did have to use the Hex code cause the password feature must use a different algarithym than the Linksys password feature.

Jerry
This is interesting because when I set my Linksys router and an access point to WEP mandatory with 64 bit encryption my ibook was not able to connect until I turned it off (WEP) and after that it was ok. Maybe there was a problem with the 64bit encryption and Linksys, I will try 128bit encryption. Let's see what happens. Plus Apple just released an upgrade of the software for Airports, which addressed some security problems, this might help.
 

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