Mac OSX and Windows XP sharing problems

[Manster]

Hi.
I hope that you can help me. I've just set up a network (wired) for a PC running Windows XP SP2 and a Mac Mini running OSX 10.3.9.
I can share the internet fine, and can see the mac from my pc. However, I cannot seem to set the mac up to see the pc properly.
I thought I had done everything okay and in my Network folder I have four icons (folders) Server (which links back to the mac HD), Local which is empty, Workgroup which is empty and HOME which has an alias to my pc - but when I double click on the icon for my pc it opens a window asking me to select folder (at which time I select shared folder - which is the only option given). It then states "The alias of ***** (my pc name) could not be opened because original item cannot be found.
My pc is switched on and working ok. Both computers are connected to the same monitor, keyboard and mouse using a KVM switch.
On my pc the mac shows in my network places under 'Workgroup' and the pc shows under Home. Should they both be in the same group? If so, how can I change this.
Help??
Thanks

UPDATE added: Update to last message - have now narrowed down to one network group (i.e. workgroup) - mac still showing up on pc. But still getting same problem with pc (showing but saying that original item cannot be found). The alias to my pc is now showing up directly in the Network (i.e. not in a folder). Any suggestions?

 

[Ric]

Hi there and welcome,

I haven't got a PC with me at the minute, but I'll do a couple of screengrabs tomorrow, on how I have my network set up...these will explain it better.

regards

Ric

 

[alanxr]

Hi,
I have a similar issue, I have an OSX 10.4.8 mac mini connected to a Netgear WGT624 wireless g router through cat5 cable and I configured share point to share My fire wire drive with the PC wich has WinXp SP2 and is also connected via wire the main problem I have is that when I try ro access the Mac Mini from windows the connection seems to hang or drop I can stablish the connection for a few second a minute tops and then it just dissapears, but from the Mac to PC it's working great. If you can help me on this one I'll appreciate it, Ahh I almost forgot another issue I have is that when I try to connect to the mini from My Black(if its important for Something)MacBook which is OSX 14.4.8 I seem to have the same problem that I have with windows the only difference is that the Macbook is connected via wireless.

 

[alanxr]

For the Guy who creted this Thread, how are you connecting to the pc? via afppc ip) or by smb://(pc ip) i'll suggest smb for connecting to the PC. Press apple key + k and use smb:\\(pc Ip) hope this helps.

 

[Kyomii]

They do both need to be in either Home or Workgroup - so they are in the same folder, this helps to avoid connection issues.

Additionally, if you are running a firewall, then you need to put the IP of the Mac in the trusted zone on the PC firewall.

 

[Manster]

Hi. Both mac and pc now in Workgroup. Have tried smb:\\(pcip). Still nothing working. Still getting same error message that original item could not be found. Also getting error code -41. Have been using mac and pc with network connection only from pc to mac - but this is not very convenient. Would love to solve this if possible. Any other ideas?? Thanks.

 

[Kyomii]

Hi, have you added the Mac to your PC firewall?

 

[Kyomii]

I found this, BUT do this at your own risk as editing the registry can cause severe problems if you do not know what you are doing!!!!

The problem is not with the Mac's configuration, it's in Windows. (Why am I not surprised?) The following (Windows XP) registry value needs to be increased:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters --> LPRStackSize

It's easy to check if your problem accessing Windows can be fixed by making this change. On your Windows machine, go to Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Event Viewer and look at the System Log. You're looking for an error message with a source of "Srv" which occurred when you tried to access the Windows machine from your Mac. The description will read:



Then it gives a link you can click to get Microsoft's instructions on how to increase this value.

Here are brief instructions to how to apply this fix in Windows XP:

1. Launch the Registry Editor. (Select Start --> Run... and type in "regedit".)

2. Navigate through the list of folders to find this one:

Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
3. Look for an entry named "IRPStackSize" in the right pane. If it doesn't exist you will have to create it. To create the entry, right-click in the right hand pane and select New --> DWORD Value. Then enter "IRPStackSize". (I had to create this entry on my machine.)

4. Double-Click the "IRPStackSize" entry to change the value.

5. Click the "Decimal" radio button in the Base group.

6. If there's already an entry, increase the value by a small amount. If it's set to zero, then Microsoft recommends starting at 15. (On my machine, a setting of 18 resolved the problem.)

7. Save your changes by clicking the OK button.

8. Close the Registry Editor and reboot the computer.

9. Test your access from the Mac. If you're still getting the error message, repeat the process to increase the setting a little more.

Of course, the usual caveats about how dangerous registry editing is still apply. You can completely hose Windows if you delete or change the wrong things in the registry, so be very, very careful that you do not make a mistake.

 

[guavaman]

I'm having the same problem as Manster - the XP PC can see (and access files) from the Mac, but the Mac can see the XP PC, but cannot connect to it. Can someone explain how to ad the Mac's IP address to the XP firewall? I only have the firewall the PC came with, and I don't see anywhere to add an IP address. Thanks.

 

[Ric]

Hi there,

if you turn 'off' the Windows firewall does it work ?

regards

Ric

 

[guavaman]

I'd thought of turning off the firewall, but wasn't sure how safe that would be. However, I have figured out the problem (well, my problem, perhaps not that of the original poster of this thread.) I have McAfee virus protection on the XP notebook. I was not aware that McAfee had installed it's own firewall with one of its recent updates. I first turned both firewalls off and was able to connect to the XP notebook from the Mac. I then turned the Windows Firewall back on, and was still able to connect. After turning the McAfee Firewall back on, however, I was no longer able to connect. I will either keep the McAfee Firewall off, or figure out how to teach it that the Mac is a friend. Thanks for the help.

 

[Ric]

How do you connect to the internet ?

Do you have a combined router/modem/firewall ?

If you have then you can turn off the firewall on the PC without any problems.

regards

Ric