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Reader John Dennis had a question about connecting to Macs with an Ethernet cable to make a simple network for transferring files.

He wrote:

“I am able to boot into OS 9 just fine. I have an iMac rev B and a WallsTreet. I guess since these are old machines I will need the crossover cable. I know how to connect them, but will one machine show the hard drive of the other machine so I can copy the data over? I am just wondering how this works or where I can get this information on the Internet.”

OK, here goes. John will need a crossover cable to connect his middle-aged Macs. However, Recent Macs (from about late 2000 on) have autosensing PHY interface IC/Auto-MDIX Ethernet ports that will switch from straight to crossover when plugged into another Mac likewise equipped. You can use a regular Ethernet cable to connect one Mac to another with no need for a crossover cable. However, if you want to connect one of these machines to an older Mac, or two older Macs to each other, a crossover cable is still needed. autosensing 10/100 Base-T, PHY interface IC/Auto-MDIX Ethernet port that will switch from straight to crossover when it is plugged into another Mac likewise equipped. To connect with older Macs, a crossover cable will still be required.

1 - Plug the crossover cable into the two Macs.

2 - On the Mac that the files you want to transfer are located, start up AppleTalk if it’s not already enabled. You can do this in the Chooser, by opening the AppleTalk Control Panel, or from the Control Strip. However, you might as well use the AppleTalk Control Panel (Apple Menu > Control Panels > AppleTalk), because you will need to check its little pull down menu to ensure that Ethernet is selected as the networking mode anyway.

3. - Open the File Sharing Control Panel (Apple Menu > Control Panels > File Sharing) and first give the Mac a name in the Network Identity field that will appear in the Chooser of the other Mac (see Step 7). For simple, 2-Mac connections, I strongly recommend leaving the Owner Password field blank, and if you own both machines and make sure that the Owner Name is the same and has identical syntax in both setups. If a password has already been entered by the Mac OS Setup Assistant when you first configured your Mac, delete it.

4 - Start File Sharing by clicking the Start button in the File Sharing Control Panel. This can take a minute or two to ramp up. It is up and running when the message says “File Sharing On.”

5 - On the Mac to which the files are to be transferred:

Open the AppleTalk Control Panel to make sure that Ethernet is selected, and that AppleTalk is turned on.

6 - Open the File Sharing Control Panel on the second Mac and type in the same Owner Name that was used on the first Mac, if they are not already the same. Close the window (you do not have to start up File Sharing on this Mac).

7 - Open the Chooser (in the Apple Menu) and select AppleShare from the left field of the window. The name of the first Mac should appear in the right field. Click on the name to highlight it and click OK. A dialog box should appear showing the volume or volumes of the other Mac. Select one(s) that you want to access, click the OK button, and the volumes should now appear on your desktop. (Note, normally, just highlight the desired volumes, but don’t check the little check boxes, or your Mac will waste time looking for them at startup when the network is not connected.)

8 - You will now be able to drag files back and forth between volumes on the remote Mac and host Mac.

9 - When you are finished swapping files, I recommend that you turn off AppleTalk and File Sharing, as they slow down Finder performance when they are not needed. When you turn off AppleTalk, a dialog will appear asking you to confirm that AppleTalk network has been disconnected. Actually, there is no need to do anything about this and other than to click the OK button. I leave my two Macs physically connected via the Ethernet crossover cable all the time, and just turn AppleTalk off.

1 - On the OS 8/9 computer, open the File Sharing Control Panel and note the owner name and the computer name in the network identity field. I suggest leaving the owner password box blank, but you if you insist on a password, note it as well.

2 - Start up File Sharing, and make sure that the “Enable file sharing clients to connect over TCP/IP” box is checked. Make sure Ethernet is selected in the AppleTalk control panel.

3 - On the OS X machine, pill down the Go menu in the Finder, and select Connect to Server.

4 - When the dialog box opens, check on AppleTalk in the left-field, and the name of your Classic OS computer should show up in the right field. Click on the name to highlight it.

5 - Click Connect. A dialog box will appear asking for your identity. Type the owner name the you entered in the OS 9 computer’s File Sharing Control Panel, and the password if necessary. Another dialog box will appear showing the hard-drive and/or other volumes and partitions of the Classic OS machine. Select the volumes of you want to access, and click OK.

S6 - Icons for the selected volumes should appear on the OS X computer’s Desktop, where you can use them as normal mounted volume folders.

1 - Open System Preferences in the OS X machine, and click the Sharing icon. The Sharing panel will appear. In the computer name field, type a computer game. Again, don’t bother with a password.

2 - Click on the Start button to turn on file sharing. If you are accessing from a machine running a pre-OS 8.5 version of the Mac operating system, click on the AppleTalk tab and select “make AppleTalk active.”

3 - on the Classic OS machine, open the Chooser from the Apple Menu., and click on the AppleShare icon. The OS X machine should show up in the right hand box. Double click on the OS X computer’s name, and the “Connect As” box should appear. Type in the owner name and a password if necessary, and click Connect.

4 - You should now get a dialog box showing the volume(s) of the OS X machine. Double-click on the volume(s) you want to access, and you should be in.

That’s really all there is to setting up a simple, 2-Mac, Ethernet network. However, networking can be a lot more complicated once security issues enter the picture. But that’s beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Charles W. Moore