My Foray into Windows > OS9 Filesharing

[Floofies]

This is just to record my experience trying to get a Windows server to fileshare with an OS 9 client. Just in case someone makes the same google searches I did.

I'm running Windows 7 on the server, and Mac OS 9.2.2 on the Mac (G4 MDD). Some serverside software had to be run in an Ubuntu Virtual Machine.

Protocol - Host software : Client software = Result

NFS - FreeNFS : MacNFS3 = MacNFS Errors. MOUNTD/PCNFSD Not available/responding. Could see shared folder, but not mount it.

NFS - nfs-kernel-server (Ubuntu VM) : MacNFS3 = MacNFS Errors. Same as above. Could see shared folder, but not mount it.

SMB - (built-in) : Connectix Doubletalk = No functionality. (Requires server to be running WinNT 4).

AFP - Netatalk (Ubuntu VM) : AppleShare = Share mounts as read-only. No CIDR functionality.

I'm about to experiment further by running NT Server 4.0 in a VM. That should enable SMB filesharing with Connectix Doubletalk.

 

[gsteemso]

Wasn't NT4 one of the few Windowses that could support the optional "services for Mac OS" built-in AppleShare implementation? I know the last released version of that came with Win2k3 Server, but I'm also certain it existed prior to that release.

 

[olePigeon]

You should be OK with NT.  I'm pretty sure there's AFP support.  At least, I remember there being AFP support at a place I volunteered.  Had an NT server and we used it for video storage.

 

[rsolberg]

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/cc978143.aspx

Windows 2000 Server has always worked well for me with Services for Macintosh enabled. I vaguely recall sharing something from 2000 Workstation to a Mac OS 9.X client too.

 

[Unknown_K]

Win2k is the last version with native mac classic file sharing. What you can do on a newer Windows is run a virtual Win2k OS with Apple File Sharing enabled (what I had to do on my server when I upgraded to XP). You can share with OS 7/8 also with this method.

 

[NJRoadfan]

For Windows, PCMacLan was a far superior option to whatever Microsoft shipped. It supported sharing via the classic Appletalk protocol and TCP/IP. The software supports up to Windows XP if you have 9.0. I have used System 7 and an Apple IIgs running AppleShare as clients without a problem.

On the Mac side, Thurby's DAVE gave OS8-9 SMB sharing capabilities and integrated with the Chooser.

If you need an easy "free" solution, the A2SERVER VM runs both netatalk and samba preconfigured and automatically enables the same drive shares for each.

http://ivanx.com/a2server/

 

[Floofies]

Apparently there is a bug in Netatalk that makes VM shared folders behave all wonky, they don't recommend sharing VM shared folders... That would explain why it wouldn't mount correctly. So, that option is out if I'm going to run it in a VM. Other users trying to set up something similar have all reported the same bug!

I'm going to try Windows Server 2000 as a VM instead of NT, so I can try out Services for Macintosh. It only needs 256MB of RAM which is what I was using anyways, so that works for me. I'll also check out PCMacLan, thanks for the recommendation. :>

 

[CC_333]

Well, can the A2SERVER VM be somehow installed to a real machine?

c

 

[IPalindromeI]

Why bother, when you can run a hypervisor on the machine and allocate as much as you wish? It's not like you need to squeeze every last drop, and if you did, you'd probably be installing netatalk/Services for Macintosh yourself.

Seriously, virtualization and containers isn't just handy, it's also easy to deploy, manage, and secure. (Not terribly relevant, but the sheer ease of it makes it easy.)

 

[NJRoadfan]

Well, can the A2SERVER VM be somehow installed to a real machine?

c

Yes, a preconfigured RPi image is available or you can install it onto popular Linux distros. I haven't had a problem with the VM though. The machine I run it on has wired Ethernet, which may make a difference. I know some VMs have problems with virtual NICs and wireless adapters.

 

[PowerPup]

If you still have that Ubuntu VM, you can look at my wiki page and see if it helps get you read and write access for guests.

 

[Gorgonops]

Why bother, when you can run a hypervisor on the machine and allocate as much as you wish?

It's handy to install it onto a real machine if the machine in question is a gutless wonder of an old laptop that doesn't really do virtualization.

But in any case, as noted, if you're running a Debian-related linux it's relatively trivial to install it just by running a script. I had to manually tweak a grand total of *one* thing to get it going on a vanilla Debian install. (The default config for some reason didn't actually turn on the kernel Appletalk support so it came up only speaking Appletalk-over-IP.)

 

[Floofies]

So! The Windows 2000 Server works! I set up a test share and did a few read/write operations. It runs way smoother than Netatalk to boot, too.

The only problem is "re-sharing" the VirtualBox shared folder through Services For Macintosh... Windows 2000 sees the folder as a network drive, and you can't just share a network drive. I've tried symlinks/junctions to no avail. I could, of course, plop the actual folder into the VM itself, but then I'd have to boot up the VM every time I wanted to access files, even locally... Plus, I don't like the idea of porting over 8GB of stuff to a virtual drive! There has to be a solution here that works!

If you still have that Ubuntu VM, you can look at my wiki page and see if it helps get you read and write access for guests.

Thanks, but I'm using fully authenticated users with a group assigned just for accessing AFP shares. The issue is in Netatalk itself and pertains specifically to VirtualBox shared folders.

 

[rsolberg]

In this message, host=Win 7, guest=Win2k. No guarantees on success here, but I would try creating a VHD image/file from Win 2k's disk management utility, save it on the host machine in an accessible location. Mount it on the host. Mount the VHD (as a drive) on the guest. Once mounted, I think Win2k will treat the (remote) VHD as a local disk.

 

[Floofies]

In this message, host=Win 7, guest=Win2k. No guarantees on success here, but I would try creating a VHD image/file from Win 2k's disk management utility, save it on the host machine in an accessible location. Mount it on the host. Mount the VHD (as a drive) on the guest. Once mounted, I think Win2k will treat the (remote) VHD as a local disk.

Nice solution! It works like a charm, too.

There is only one technical drawback... the VHD cannot be attached to the host OS with the VM running. In order to even start the VM, the VHD must be detached from the host OS; and in order to access files locally, the VM must be shut down, and the VHD re-attached to the host OS.

I think I can overcome this limitation through some handy dandy scripting to automatically attach/detach the VHD from the host whenever the VM boots up/shuts down, but it's still kind of annoying.