New Mac... not a good idea maybe!

I find this so hard to except, that is that my brand spanking new mac pro with the latest OS X 10.7.1 cannot be shared on my network with my PC that has XP Pro, or my printer that is plugged into the PC.

After a half day of unsuccessfully trying to get the printer working (including about an hour and a half with a mac tech)…. I decided to just set up the pc and mac to “file share”. Couldn’t quite work it out myself, so again I found myself ringing the helpline. After a 45 min conversation with the tech, he tells me that it cant be done, as the XP wont support the new mac system!!!!!!!!! I am bloody fuming. So now after spending a considerable amount on a new macbook pro, it seems I have to buy a new operating system and possibly a new printer!!!!

Any one here think that there is a way (software or whatever) around this?

Thanks

What brand and model computer are you running XP on ?
What brand and model is the printer ?
What brand and model is the router (if wireless printing is expected) ?
Are you running SP3 on XP ?

osxx said:

What brand and model computer are you running XP on ?
What brand and model is the printer ?
What brand and model is the router (if wireless printing is expected) ?
Are you running SP3 on XP ?

Click to expand...

Homebuilt PC with a ASUS 5e MB
Printer is HP Laserjet 1100 (old workhorse)
Router: DSL-2730B
Windows XP Pro 5.1 and SP3

… I can print from a ACER laptop which is networked, no problem.
Also, yesterday i seem to recall seeing my shared files on the Mac, but today they are not visible. I may have since installed the latest updates (just doing as prompted), so it may be that i have caused the issue inadvertantly.. not sure!.

Will try it again but I am 100% sure Lion and my Dell Optiplex Workstations with XP SP3 network fine. BRB

Ok, on my Dell Optiplex with SP3 XP. Network working both ways. No problem at all. Did you set up Lion correctly?

System Preferences, Sharing, File sharing checked? Options, Share Files and Folders Windows SMB checked?

dtravis7 said:

Will try it again but I am 100% sure Lion and my Dell Optiplex Workstations with XP SP3 network fine. BRB

Click to expand...

I’ve just managed to see the shared folders that are on my PC by typing in smb://192.168.1.2 (found it somewhere on the Mac…..) so that’s a breakthrough. So the Tech guy was wrong I guess…. So maybe the printer is fixable also?....

Will post if I fix it, and thanks for the support….

Since you have such an old Laserjet, there might not be drivers for Lion. Will check and see what I can find. You using Printer Sharing in XP?

dtravis7 said:

Since you have such an old Laserjet, there might not be drivers for Lion. Will check and see what I can find. You using Printer Sharing in XP?

Click to expand...

Hi dt... yeah I am. It shares with XP, Win 7 etc etc....

Well it appears that i can see the PC shared folders but the Mac remains invisible!!!....

Have you got the workgroup name added to wins in network preferences?

Did you enable what I mentioned in Sharing and Options on OSX?

dtravis7 said:

Did you enable what I mentioned in Sharing and Options on OSX?

Click to expand...

Yes, all done, but still can't use the printer... looked on HP site and it says that the 1100 isn't supported by OS Lion. Funny though, it works if i plug it into the Mac, but not if i leave it on the PC.

bazanders said:

Have you got the workgroup name added to wins in network preferences?

Click to expand...

Not sure... not with my PC at present.... just packing luggage as we are off on holiday tomorrow. (10.30pm here at present)

With all that set up, can you view network shares on BOTH ends? On the Mac and on the PC? Are you logging into the Mac with your Macs username and Password? That you have to do .

Either that is the problem with the printer of the driver in Lion is not network capable.

I just went to my Dell and tried it. Needed the OSX username (Case matters) and password and all the shares showed up in XP.

dtravis7 said:

With all that set up, can you view network shares on BOTH ends? On the Mac and on the PC? Are you logging into the Mac with your Macs username and Password? That you have to do .

Either that is the problem with the printer of the driver in Lion is not network capable.

I just went to my Dell and tried it. Needed the OSX username (Case matters) and password and all the shares showed up in XP.

Click to expand...

Hi dt... might go down and try again later, as i would dearly like to get this sorted out before we go off on hols.... really bugging me now!

I'm thinking that your Dell has a driver that works with OX Lion,whereas mine doesn't , but it does work with generic driver when plugged directly into the mac??!!

Oh, and i can't see the mac on my PC at all.
Tech support said that Lion wasn't compatible with XP, as far as sharing etc, which I find difficult to believe!!!

It's sharing here and both ways. There is no driver. Network does not need a driver. If you mean printer, not talking about network and the Macs shares showing on the XP system. I can fire up my AMD, my C2D gaming system (All with XP SP3 BTW) and all work both ways with the file shares if the settings in OSX are like I said and you log on from windows to the mac.

Is the Windows system using Workgroup or some other name? Got to hit the bed. Long day tomorrow. I will help more later.

I'm not an expert at this, and I'm sure dtravis is correct that Lion and XP can communicate, BUT I do have to point out that trying to hook up BRAND NEW equipment that is SEVERAL generations more recent than your old equipment is ALWAYS -- A-L-W-A-Y-S -- a recipe for hassle and frustration, whether we're talking PC/PC, Mac/Mac or Mac/PC.

Not that this helps your present situation, but useful to bear in mind for future reference. For example, when you decide to buy an iPhone 4S and then want to hook it up to a G4 eMac ...