3

I have a script on my XP machine that needs to contact my OSX machine by ip address. The OSX machine uses DHCP, and the ip address changes daily. However, it has a static computer name and netbios name (the same) that I assume could be resolved to the ip address somehow for the script to use.

So I'm looking (guessing) for command(s) that might reveal the ip address of the OSX machine from the XP machine using (at most) the OSX static computer name.

What I've tried:

ping my_osx_comp_name -> not found

ping my_osx_comp_name.local -> not found

arp -a shows an ip address for the OSX machine but not a name.

If I assume for the moment that I had the current dynamic ip address (192.168.235.18) but not the name (for the sake of diagnosing),

tracert 192.168.235.18 shows a single hop but no name resolution.

ping -a 192.168.235.18 pings successfully but shows no name

nbtstat -A 192.168.235.18 -> host not found

I did make sure that they are in the same workgroup "WORKGROUP". They are also on the same LAN with the same default gateway and subnet mask.

What else can I do or might I have wrong? Do I need a WINS server?

Like I said, I'm guessing at solutions. I'm not that familiar with NETBIOS, WINS, etc.

Improve this question
4
  • Did you try --- nbtstat -A 192.168.235.18
    – bryan
    Sep 21, 2011 at 16:16
  • Does the OSX machine HAVE to use DHCP? I've set up my computers at home to have static IPs, and anyone who comes and connects to the wifi gets assigned one from DHCP.
    – Rob
    Sep 21, 2011 at 16:19
  • @bryan - yes, you may have seen the question before my typo fix (netstat->nbtstat).
    – Keith Bentrup
    Sep 21, 2011 at 16:28
  • @rob - yes, i must use dhcp. i can not edit the router's settings.
    – Keith Bentrup
    Sep 21, 2011 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Paragraph 2 is a little confusing.

Can you please clarify what you have and what you are looking for.

If you have the computer name you can ping it to get the ip address -

ping computername

If you have the ip address you can use the following to get the name -

ping -a ipaddress

or

nbtstat -A ipaddress

Improve this answer
1
  • I edited the question. Hopefully, it's more clear now.
    – Keith Bentrup
    Sep 21, 2011 at 15:49

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .