Total newbie question here but... I need to transfer a 150 MB file from my PowerBook G4 to my friends Sony VAIO laptop. Can this be done via Ethernet? If so how do I set this up? Thanks!
It certainly will work with a cross style Ethernet cable. It might work with a straight style cable. (Some recent Macs auto-sense the kind of cable and adapt themselves accordingly.)
The windows PC has to be setup for sharing. The PB will log in to the PC server. In NT or 2000 setup a shared folder or volume with a known name and password. Then in the finder under the Go menu select Connect to Server.
Where it says address: you need to type in some magic words. Here are some that I have found.
One (very general) recommendation is:
smb://domain;username assword@server/drive
Apple's knowledge base recommends:
smb://ServerName/Sharename/
Since you are just connecting the two machines together you don't need a domain. If you just use Apple's short version then you will be prompted for a user id and password.
To get the two machines to talk at all first go to the network control panel on the Mac and setup Ethernet to connect manually and give it an IP address (like 192.168.123.001). Do the same on the windows machine and give it an address like (192.168.123.002).
You can get more information from Apple's site starting at knowledge base document 106471.
If you have Jaguar it can be even easier than that: Go to Sharing in the System Preferences and start up Windows File Sharing. As soon as it's running, your friend's Vaio should be able to connect directly to your Mac. It will tell you the exact address your friend can use to connect right there in the Sharing pref panel.
Caveats: You need to connect a crossover cable between the Mac and the PC, and you may need to create a user on your Powerbook so your friend can use that name and password to log in. Or he can use any existing name and password, it's up to you. If you put your file in your Public folder, you won't need to change priveleges on anything.
Comments
It certainly will work with a cross style Ethernet cable. It might work with a straight style cable. (Some recent Macs auto-sense the kind of cable and adapt themselves accordingly.)
The windows PC has to be setup for sharing. The PB will log in to the PC server. In NT or 2000 setup a shared folder or volume with a known name and password. Then in the finder under the Go menu select Connect to Server.
Where it says address: you need to type in some magic words. Here are some that I have found.
One (very general) recommendation is:
smb://domain;username
Apple's knowledge base recommends:
smb://ServerName/Sharename/
Since you are just connecting the two machines together you don't need a domain. If you just use Apple's short version then you will be prompted for a user id and password.
To get the two machines to talk at all first go to the network control panel on the Mac and setup Ethernet to connect manually and give it an IP address (like 192.168.123.001). Do the same on the windows machine and give it an address like (192.168.123.002).
You can get more information from Apple's site starting at knowledge base document 106471.
Caveats: You need to connect a crossover cable between the Mac and the PC, and you may need to create a user on your Powerbook so your friend can use that name and password to log in. Or he can use any existing name and password, it's up to you. If you put your file in your Public folder, you won't need to change priveleges on anything.