Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite
1

I have just added a MBP to my home network and while I can connect to the internet etc, i cannot browse my home networked computers. I have already added a new location in my Network preferences yet when I goto the WINS tab, there is no dropdown to select my workgroup so i manually enter it.

From what I have read, once I go to the finder and open the network, i should see the workgroup and systems...yet i do not. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

share|improve this question
What operating systems and versions are you running on your other home computers? – mindless.panda Mar 6 '10 at 4:52
Systems are running Vista Home Premium, and Windows 7 Home. I am hoping that once I get this figure out I will be able to print to the Epson RX580 that is shared off of the Windows Vista machine, I cant see it on the network at all, and I have bonjour for windows loaded on the PC with the printer attached to it. Thanks, J – user30340 Mar 6 '10 at 19:03
I managed to get the printer working by manually entering it via the advanced icon and configuring it as smb:\\uname:pass@workgroup\system\name. Called Apple and they couldnt help me get the MBP to see the rest of the network either. Wiped and reloaded, still no joy. The PC's can see the MBP on the network, the MBP can see nothing. It sure seems like there is something on this MBP that is prohibiting me from browsing the network. – user30340 Mar 9 '10 at 0:47

3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

Most likely the firewall is enabled on the Snow Leopard machine (Security pane in System Preferences) and SMB Sharing is not enabled in the Sharing pane in System Preferences. Enable SMB Sharing and leave the firewall ON but ensure that SMB Sharing is permitted through it.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I won't pretend I know the deep meanings of the following advices (like about WINS), they may not be the best options, and I'm not talking from knowing the inner workings. It's just from some experience on "try to see what happens" and some knowledge.

That's most likely a windows issue, unless you have tweaked your MBP. It comes as default prepared to see any windows network, and even linux.

The Locations are just presets for each place you go, if you wish to have many different configurations. I personally just leave it always on Automatic.

But regardless, try removing any WINS configuration you've set, it's not needed. It's supposed to accelerate things, but you most likely don't have a WINS server anyway and even if you did, in such a small network, you wouldn't need that kinda of performance gain.

As for the windows side, maybe it's because you've set users and permissions on it and forgot to allow some public access or broadcast. "smb://uname:pass" is quite unusual for printing in a Home Network or even most offices, so I'd guess you've tweaked quite a bit.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

This is a great resource for cross platform compatibility between Mac and Windows, specifically for Leopard, but I've found it to be a huge help in networking my Mac Book Pro to the rest of my Windows machines.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.