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[alexmd]

Getting Windows 2000 to connect to SMB share on Mac Mini:

I have a folder of documents on my Mac Mini (OS X.4) I wanted to share with another Mac G3 (OS 9) as well as a W2K machine on my home LAN. This folder was on separate partition (extended, journaled format) on the Mini's hard drive, which I created as I was installing Tiger on the main OS X partition. I figured having a distinct partition separate from the OS partition would make sharing over the network easier by simplifying permissions issues. It did ultimately, but still took hours to make it work. BTW, it was never a problem getting the Mini to connect to shared folders on the PC using SMB, but until I learned to use SharePoints, the opposite seemed impossible.

I used SharePoints to enable the shared documents folder as SMB as well as AFP share, enabled R/W admin group access, etc. and made sure (in Finder) the folder ownership was my usual OS X user = "userA" and all permissions were inherited by enclosed stuff. This all went fine, and logging in from the OS 9 Mac (Chooser or Network Browser) was effortless as long as I used the userA login ID and pwd. I could read and write to the folder from the G3 Mac almost transparently using aliases to subfolders on the Mini.

Connecting from the W2K PC to the Mini was an ordeal. My user name on the PC is not identical to the one (userA) on the Mini, so from the Map Network Drive panel, then Log in as Different User, I entered "userA" and its password. Windows would grind away for several minutes trying to connect, then sometimes display (in Explorer) the shared folder name and its enclosed folder names. Or sometimes it would just fail to connect at all. Even when I could see the folder names, if I tried to open a folder on the Mini, it would fail with permissions problem. Finally, after hours of trying different things, I did a "Get Info" on the partition with the shared folder on it and at the bottom of the little panel, put a check mark in the Ignore Ownership on this Volume box. Problem solved. Almost instantaneous connection from PC to Mini. I have to use the Map Network Drive command each time I want to connect since I don't trust W2K to do this on startup as it theoretically can -- already have enough hassles getting Windows to wake up properly. But for the few times a month I have to connect from the PC to the Mini share, it's not a big hassle.

Making a special partition for sharing may not be the solution for everyone, but if all else fails, it will work.