Can someone please explain OSX file sharing?

A

aluminum

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Once every two months or so, I try and connect two OSX machines together and consistently forget how to do it. Can anyone help me?

I have a laptop running x.2 and a desktop running x.1.5

On the desktop, I set up a new account/user called Laptop.

On the laptop, if I go to browse the network, my desktop DOES show up, but it is listed 9 times...each with a different IP address. Another OSX machine on the network also shows up listed under 4 IP addresses.

All of the options to connect time out.

I can connect to the laptop via Guest, or logging in as the main account owner. The laptop only shows up with one IP address on the desktop (as is correct).

So, my questions:

Is every 'user' also an 'account'? Isn't this a bit messy? In an office with 30 macs, wouldn't there then have to be 30 accounts on each machine to enable file sharing among everyone? Isn't this really messy for the IT staff?

Where are groups? I can see groups in the INFO panel, but I can't seem to create/edit them.

Why does my desktop (and the other OSX.1.5 machine) show up under multiple IP addresses?

Thanks.

I really wish filesharing was like OS9's.

Sigh.
 
I'm sure someone will be along with more help, but . . .

It should be as simple as setting up different IP addresses for each Mac. I use 192.168.0.##. From the network pref pane manually configure a TCP/IP connection. "Make Appletalk Active" from the AppleTalk tab. Apply changes.

Go to File sharing pref pane. Start Personal file sharing and whatever else you want. Start all.

Go to Finder menu "Go" . Connect to server. Should auto-detect.


I'm not sure I will be any help to you at all with this post. In any case, good luck!

Doug
 
Well, I'm using DHCP, so they are getting whatever IPs the router is dishing out.

However, I can go to the file sharing pane and see my IP. If I then choose that specific IP off oc my local servers to connect to, it will connect.

So, it seems to work. However, I still have my desktop show up as 8 different IP addresses...making it a bit of a pain to hunt down the correct one each time I connect.
 
I'm with you on this one. Sharing seems very Unix still at this time. Every time my wife wants to connect her computer to mine I have to go through the "it was so much easier in OS9, why did we move to OSX". There should be a simple one button approach here for machines that are commonly connected to one another.
 
This should work for commonly mounted remote volumes.

Can't you just mount your remote volume(s) as you wish. Once they are mounted on your desktop, just make an alias of the mounted volume.

Later, when you want to connect to that remote volume, just click the alias.

Works for me.
 
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