Personal File Sharing via Airport

[assscat]

I have an iMac running Tiger and I have just got an iBook (also running Tiger). I want to copy some files from the iMac to the iBook, preferably using Airport (which both Macs have, and I have a base station).

I've set Personal File Sharing running on both computers. When I choose Go from the Finder menu and then select Network (as the Help instructs) on either Mac, nothing appears under Network.

I have also set AppleTalk running on both Macs, as suggested here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107369.

I thought this would be easy!

 

[mad jew]

Click in the window. Sometimes it can take a while to register/come up.

This is assuming they're on the same wireless network, right?

 

[assscat]

This is assuming they're on the same wireless network, right?

They're both sharing the same internet connection (via the Airport base station), so that means they're sharing the same network (right?).

 

[mad jew]

Yeah, it should be working straight off.

 

[assscat]

Maybe a restart?

Apple stuff should just work...

 

[mad jew]

Have you tried manually connecting? On the Mac you want to connect to, look up the IP address by looking at the network section of the System Profiler. By default, it'll probably be something like 10.0.1.X or 192.168.0.X where X is a pretty small number.

Now, on the other Mac, go to Connect to Server from the Finder's Go menu and in the first little box, type:

afp://10.0.1.X

Where that number is your IP address.

Hopefully this'll work and then subsequent connections can be made through the route you've been trying.

 

[assscat]

Thanks for your help!

I can connect manually (hurray!) but the original (and easy) way still isn't happening...

 

[mad jew]

I can connect manually (hurray!) but the original (and easy) way still isn't happening...

Glad it's working.

I've had a bit of trouble since 10.4.1 trying to connect my iBook and iMac (what are the chances ) through the easy route too. Hopefully it'll get fixed in 10.4.3.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

One thing I've noticed with Tiger when connecting our two Macs is that it no longer is enough to identify the machines with their names...

When connecting to my iBook, ono-sendai, from my girlfriends Pismo, either using Terminal.app and ssh/(s)ftp or Finders "Connect To Server", I need to identify it as ono-sendai.local (or by it's IP address, obviously) or the Pismo will not find it.

I have no idea why, or exactly when it changed, but I'm quite sure it wasn't like this in Panther, and that this is something that came either with Tiger or the 10.4.1 upgrade.

 

[mad jew]

I'm pretty sure it was 10.4.1 because I remember connecting normally in the original Tiger. It's pretty annoying. Do you reckon it's a bug or a security measure?

 

[assscat]

It IS annoying. I thought it was all part of Bonjour that two (or more) Macs could automatically talk to one another if they could see each other (e.g. wirelessly).

I hope it is fixed/changed in the next update – the manual way of connecting, whilst not difficult, is more involved than it should be. Two Macs, both with Airport, should be able to communicate without anything needing to be done. I can understand the need for security, but only the Public folder is accessible.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I'm pretty sure it was 10.4.1 because I remember connecting normally in the original Tiger. It's pretty annoying. Do you reckon it's a bug or a security measure?

Ok, I wasn't quite sure about when it started...

I guess it is security and not a bug, but it still bugs me...

I don't have the other Mac here right now, but I think it shows up among Servers using Finders Network icon (in the sidebar of any Finder window). Doesn't it? (This was a problem for the OP.)

 

[assscat]

I don't have the other Mac here right now, but I think it shows up among Servers using Finders Network icon (in the sidebar of any Finder window). Doesn't it? (This was a problem for the OP.)

Nope, other than using the manual connection (mentioned above) neither Mac shows up on the other.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Nope, other than using the manual connection (mentioned above) neither Mac shows up on the other.

Hmm... fishy... I'll have to try this later when my girlfriend and her Pismo comes home...

I usually use the cmd-K in Finder or ssh/ftp via Terminal.app to connect, so I'm not checking the Network icon too often...

 

[assscat]

Here's something I noticed: using iStumber (a wireless network identifier), under the Bonjour heirarchy the network names of both my iMac and iBook are there. For each computer it shows both a workstation and an afp connection. iStumber includes a button which attempts to connect to the selected machine/network etc. When I click the workstation button nothing happens (a la Go -> Network) but when I select afp it connects to the selected Mac OK (i.e. using the same method as the manual connection that worked above).

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Weird. Now I finally had a chance to check how the Network behaved when we have both Macs here, and the Pismo (aka "treskjegg") showed up at once. A funny thing is that they are not even connected to the same wireless base. My iBook hangs on an AirPort Express while the Pismo hangs on an old AirPort UFO.

And the most funny thing is that connecting that this way my iBook recognizes the Pismo with just its name, treskjegg, and don't need the additional domain, treskjegg.local, as I described above...

I give up. I officially don't understand anything about this...