Help me network my Mac with a pc please

[Bern]

I have one airport express and both my Mac and my partner's pc using XP Pro can use it to access the internet wirelessly with no problems.

However I want to network our computers so we can exchange files with each other. When I click on Network in the Finder I see his pc (chingsim) but every time I hit the connect button I get this stupid error message (screen shot below). So I try to "fix alias" but it asks me to choose a location I would like chingsim to access, when I do this nothing happens and I am still unable to network both our computers.

Any advice would be great thanks.

 

[jsw]

Possible fix:

Optional: set up your Mac and his PC to use predefined IP addresses (*) so that you both have the same IP all the time. That just makes this next step easier....

Next step: in Finder, hit ⌘-K to connect to another system. Type in his IP address (either static, if you did the above step, or whatever he currently has, if you didn't).

That should work.

Odds are, because you're likely using DHCP, you guys alternate on getting the same two IP addresses (or more, if other systems share your AirPort), so the Network link's name lookup is out-of date.


(*) Go to System Preferences->Network->AirPort->TCP/IP->Configure IPv4 set to "Using DHCP with manual address", then enter something, like your AirPort's IP plus 1, for example AirPort=192.168.1.100 -> Yours=192.168.1.101), then set the AirPort to serve DHCP to addresses two above that (e.g., starting with, say, 192.168.1.103), and, however it's done on XP, set your partner's system to use the IP address above yours but below the ones handed out by DHCP. If it 's only ever the two of you, you can disable DHCP on the AirPort altogether.

 

[yellow]

You should be:

Finder -> Go -> Connect To Server

And then type in the server address:

smb://192.168.0.3

or whatever your IP is of your PC.

 

[jsw]

You should be:

Finder -> Go -> Connect To Server

And then type in the server address:

smb://192.168.0.3

or whatever your IP is of your PC.

True, that's a completely different approach to what I suggested above.

 

[jsw]

One thing I forgot to mention: if you plan to exchange large files (say, more than a gig total), you'd be well served to just connect your two systems with an ethernet cable and transfer directly. 802.11g is fast, but not that fast, esp. when you're both using it.

 

[Dafke]

i had similar problems, the ifelix site helped me out:

http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3020.html

good luck!

 

[Bern]

One thing I forgot to mention: if you plan to exchange large files (say, more than a gig total), you'd be well served to just connect your two systems with an ethernet cable and transfer directly. 802.11g is fast, but not that fast, esp. when you're both using it.

If we both have firewire can we just hook up via a firewire cable? Or is that a stupid question?

 

[jsw]

If we both have firewire can with just hook up via a firewire cable? Or is that a stupid question?

If you connect the Mac with a Firewire cable and boot it while holding down "T", it should appear as a Firewire external drive on the PC.

 

[yellow]

Except the PC won't read the HFS+, so it probably won't show up at all. You'll have to buy MacDrive for the PC.

 

[Bern]

Ah of course that makes total sense.

So how do I use an ethernet cable to network them both?

 

[rnb2]

Ah of course that makes total sense.

So how do I use an ethernet cable to network them both?

If your Mac is relatively recent, you can use a normal ethernet cable and just plug it in to both machines. If it's a few years old, you'll have to get a crossover cable instead.

 

[Bern]

Mine is only a year old Powerbook so should be ok I guess.