how to connect two Jaunty computers for file sharing

[tomcloyd]

I want to do something very simple, and after an hour of searching I can find nothing related to accomplishing this task.

I have a desktop and a laptop. Both are dual boot Jaunty 9.04 / WinXP boxes. I'm only interested in the Jaunty OSs. I want to connect one to the other via an ethernet cable, and move files around, basically copying from the remote to the local.

Surely there's a simple way to do this that doesn't involve addition hardware or some crazy CLI stuff that looks like I'm setting up for a moon launch...I hope.

Can anyone help me out - or point me to a tutorial, or....anything?

Thanks for any help offered.

Tom

[Snowhog]

Both are Jaunty PCs. System Settings > Sharing

[dibl]

Maybe help here:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3106487.0

[tomcloyd]

Both are Jaunty PCs. System Settings > Sharing


I really don't get it. This isn't enough. I provide a username and password, click 'apply'...then...nothing. What's the point? Exploring what's visible in Dolphin reveals nothing new at all. The side panel shows no new "places". The network "place" is still utter garble to me. I need some more detailed instructions, which I cannot seem to find.

I have this so far:

1. connect the two computers with and ethernet cable.
2. provide username and password to System Settings > Sharing.

Then...?

Sorry to be so ignorant, but I've not done this before, and most of the terms I keep encountering are new to me. (and most of what I can find to read seems utterly irrelevant, when it's not incomprehensible) I can do this easily with WinXP, but here most of the signposts seem to be missing.

Can you point me to the next step?

[tomcloyd]

Maybe help here:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3106487.0



'Cross-over cables'??? Serial ports??? "NIC"s (huh)??? Moon launch stuff. This simply CANNOT be a serial port operation. My laptop has no such thing, for one thing.

I have an ethernet cable which connects both computers. What I don't have is knowledge of the software part of the connection. Nothing I can find seems to relate to my simple problem. I must be missing something...

[Snowhog]

From the link dibl provided:


Laptop:
The easiest way is to put them on the same router (wireless or otherwise) and then use Systemsettings-->Sharing.


So are your PCs connected to a router? We have all assumed (yeah, I know what that means ;)) this to be so, as you are dealing with multiple PCs, and these days, most who do use a router. Sorry if this assumption is incorrect.

[vinnywright]

A bit of a moon landing but once setup it's great.

http://mostlylinux.wordpress.com/network/nfshowto/

both boxes must be on a router and have IP's ..........you can not even in windows just plug a cat5 from NIC to NIC and have it work............it can but the cat5 has to be made as a crosover cable...and a lot more setup.

if your allreadey on a router the sugjeshtons you'v allreadey got should work.

VINNY

[tomcloyd]

From the link dibl provided:


Laptop:
The easiest way is to put them on the same router (wireless or otherwise) and then use Systemsettings-->Sharing.


So are your PCs connected to a router? We have all assumed (yeah, I know what that means ;)) this to be so, as you are dealing with multiple PCs, and these days, most who do use a router. Sorry if this assumption is incorrect.


Man, communication between two people isn't any easier than two computers. How much plainer can I be?

Desktop + ethernet cable + laptop.

Nothing more. As I said, with WinXP this is easy. (With no added equipment.) Routers are for sharing a server or ISP or whatever, I think. I have on a slight idea what a router even is...and I don't want to know. I retain a fervent faith that what I have is enough (see above). I cannot see why it wouldn't be. Except, I don't know how to get it to work...

[tomcloyd]

A bit of a moon landing but once setup it's great.

http://mostlylinux.wordpress.com/network/nfshowto/

both boxes must be on a router and have IP's ..........you can not even in windows just plug a cat5 from NIC to NIC and have it work............it can but the cat5 has to be made as a crosover cable...and a lot more setup.

if your allreadey on a router the sugjeshtons you'v allreadey got should work.

VINNY


OK, I understand crossover cables. Got one. Just not useful, as have no serial port. Looks like I need to acquire a router. Grrrrr. Not happy. But, hey, it's not a hard drive crash!

[Telengard]

Actually it is possible to make an ethernet crossover cable. I know because I used one to turn a Windows 2000 machine into a makeshift router. Such a cable acts pretty much the same as a passive hub with only two ports. It makes for a very small network with only two hosts.

If you must connect the two PCs using ethernet without buying a hub, switch, or router, then your only option is to make or buy an ethernet crossover cable. You can also buy adapters to turn a standard ethernet cable into a crossover ethernet cable (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270243&cm_re=ethernet_crossover-_-12-270-243-_-Product).

Having said that, the easiest thing to do is to purchase a cheap hub, switch, or router and connect both PCs to it with regular ethernet cables.

Here are some articles you may find helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable
http://www.makeitsimple.com/how-to/dyi_crossover.htm
http://www.conniq.com/WinXPNetworking_Ethernet_direct_connection.htm (Talks about Windows, but the hardware and networking concepts are the same.)
http://google.com/search?q=ethernet+crossover+cable

[tomcloyd]

Thank you. This appears to be what I didn't know, but needed to! Will check into a cheap solution tomorrow. I see a solution in sight....

t.

[Telengard]

Thank you. This appears to be what I didn't know, but needed to! Will check into a cheap solution tomorrow. I see a solution in sight....

t.


You are welcome.

Don't forget that you will need to ensure that both ethernet cards are assigned addresses on the same network, and that they must use common protocols. Assuming you will be doing TCP/IP networking (the most common kind on small ethernet networks), you may have to assign IP addresses and network masks by hand.

[tomcloyd]

Well, I'm in trouble already.

1. Assigning addresses? Where do I get them? Is it obvious where I put them?

2. Network masks? Never heard of this.

I'd go looking for material on this, but I already have. I'm many hours into this, and it's been remarkably fruitless. I don't know basic terms, and also don't know where to learn them. Most of what I find seems useless to me. Do you know of any decent general introduction to simple networking (online - I need it now)?

[Telengard]

The first thing to do is to plug in both of the computers and see if they can ping each other. Again, I am assuming you are doing TCP/IP networking (the most common kind on small ethernet networks.)

If the computers can ping each other, then you are ready to move on to the high level protocols you are already used to (eg Samba).

If the computers can not ping each other, then you need to check the IP configuration of each computer. On Kubuntu, I use the ifconfig command to view IP configuration information.

Everything I know about networking was learned in college and by reading. Unfortunately there is no way I can condense two years or so of college classes into a simple post. There are probably thousands of sites dedicated to networking, ranging from specialized to technical to basic. Google and Wikipedia are great places to start looking up unfamiliar terms.

[tomcloyd]

OK - that sounds feasible. Will dive into Wikip., which likely will teach me a lot. Tks for your help!

[Ole Juul]

Forgive me if this info was embedded above but I felt a need to clarify why crossover cables exist. Crossover cables can be anything, not just serial or cat5 for your lan.

One or more wires carries the information and if the cable is "straight" then the out will be connected to the out and the in connected to the in. See the problem? The solution is simply to cross the lines so that the out goes to the in. :)

The problem is as old as wires. BUT, most modern switches (such as built into routers) have automatic circuitry to do the switching as required. This way it doesn't matter if you use a straight through or a crossover cable. No OS can do this (XP included), because it's a hardware problem.

[Telengard]

Ole Juul, your comments are definitely on topic here.

The OP seems to be lacking much fundamental knowledge of networking which he will need to put his idea into action. There are a large number of possible solutions to the OP's original problem, but he seems very determined to do it with ethernet on CAT-5 (or maybe CAT-6 because we never discussed the difference). That is fine, and I think he will learn much in the process of getting it working.

[tomcloyd]

yeah - greater knowledge is my greatest need now, for sure. I was committed to a crossover cable 'cause it seemed like the easiest solution. I now see the error of my ways - I think. Is it safe to assume that had I a router I could plug things in and then 'see' the shared files on the other computer? Or do I still have to work my way through all that addressing and masking and other stuff that right now I simply have no time for?

Man, I really don't get it that I can plug in a flash drive and grab files, but I cannot plug into another computer (with appropriately configured file access) and do exactly the same thing. This seems plain dumb. (Of course, I'm what's dumb here - or rather ignorant, and that's the real problem...)

Thanks for all the help. I'll keep plugging away on it (pun intended).

[Ole Juul]

Man, I really don't get it that I can plug in a flash drive and grab files, but I cannot plug into another computer (with appropriately configured file access) and do exactly the same thing. . . .

A drive is quite different from a computer when it comes to access. You are also reading this message off a drive, but there is networking protocols in between.

Regarding your original desire:
I am also an amateur, but probably have a very different computing style than you do. :) The way I would do it is use a router. Plug both computers into the router. Install an FTP server using Adept or whatever. Type "ifconfig" on the server to get the number on the second line that looks like "192.168.1.2". Then type "ftp:// thatnumber" into the file browser (Konqueror?) on the other computer (client) and browse away! That's three steps. It's really very simple, but to be completely foolproof, you could probably use a couple of quick tips, which I will give you if you like. (When you're ready :) )

That's my style. This is NOT how many people do it. You may want something more modern, but that will involve installing some other protocol or clicking on stuff that I'm not familiar with. Others will have to help you with that.

[Telengard]

Tom, have you ever setup file shares with Samba or any other file server protocol? I ask this because it will help a lot if you already have some experience with it. If not, you will need to learn how to set it up. I suspect most people just use Samba because it is compatible with Windows networks.

The reason the router makes it easier is because most routers include a DHCP server (you can look that up on Wikipedia if you want.) The DHCP server makes network setup easy because it does all the addressing for you automatically. Your computer automatically gets its IP information filled in soon after you plug in into the router, so you don't have to do it by hand. The network almost sets itself up automatically.

[tomcloyd]

OK, you folks are definitely selling me on getting a router. I'm not a hardware person - I just want things to work. Do love programming, but not the circuitry stuff - and this networking business sounds about as much fun as setting up a serial connection in the bad old days. Don't ever want to go there again !

Thanks for your patience and and effort in explaining things. Very helpful!