Re: OS X & Debian LAN [was: Mac OS X and Debian Linux LAN research.]
On Wed, Jan 11, 2006 at 03:48:49AM -0500, Chinook wrote:
> I've got /netatalk/ installed and minimally configured on Debian and set
> all the appropriate switches in OS X, and I can look at and move files
> back and forth from either box if I initiate (mount) the server on my
> Mac. I have not yet installed Howl (mdnsresponder) on the Debian box
> as I'm not sure of the benefit.
>
> There are, of course, a couple problems and I'm reluctant to screw
> with things on Debian as I've already messed it up enough once to
> have to rollback (restored backup).
>
> 1) I've got a Belkin 4 port router and my Mac's host name shows up in
> its configuration, but the Debian box host name there is blank (the url
> is correct). Debian is connected to it and can access the internet and
> my Mac (if I connect from my Mac). However when I configured Debian it
> recognized the domain name (the router) and has in the hostname file the
> proper host name, but that host name does not show up when looking at
> the router configuration (which I access from my Mac with Safari or my
> Debian box with Firefox). The proper url (192.168...) does but the host
> name is blank.
>
> When I connect to (mount) the Debian box as an AppleTalk server from my
> Mac, I used the url. Does anyone know why the Debian host name is not
> getting through to the router?
>
> 2) Also, even though I can get the connection up (initiate it) from my
> Mac, I can't seem to figure out how to get it up (initiate it) from my
> Debian box. The Gnome network control only shows a stupid windoze net
> icon (gotta get rid of that). With the net tools on Debian I can ping
> and trace the Mac url (192.168...) so it seems to know where to find the
> Mac. I'm missing something obvious here %-\
>
> I have not played with the separate /vsftp/ thingy yet.
>
> Any suggestions, off color comments :-) whatever are appreciated. I'm
> gonna sleep on it.
>
> Thanks,
> Lee C
>
> "*nix is user friendly - it's just picky about it's friends."
On 2): Just as you needed to load netatalk to get your Linux box to act
as a server for Macs, you also need to load some sort of server software
from Apple onto your Mac to get it to act as a server. But in the case
of the Mac it is a more difficult problem. You also have to load onto
your Linux box software that makes it behave as an Appletalk/Appleshare
*client*. I'm not aware of such being available, but you might find it
by googling. It could very well exist, I have never felt the need to
look, because I have always viewed the Mac as a quintessentially client
machine.
On 1): There are a lot of loose ends in the implementation of
Mac/Linux connection. You have already discovered the core
functionality and got it working. It appears that no one has actually
progressed beyond that to get the whole thing cleaned up in all its
aspects. Host names failing to appear in router status tables is not
the sort of thing that seems to be an interesting problem to the
people to have the skills to solve it. If you are looking for a
project where you can do original work and that gets you into the guts
of both Linux and Mac, this may be it.
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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