Is there an easy way to transfer files from PC A to PC B on the same network?

[Clarity]

...I haven't done anything - yet.

I'm a bit slow at times so forgive me if my requests seem redundant. I am assuming the following occurred prior to/or during your PM to me. Correct me where I am wrong in my assumptions

• You wired the PC running SAMBA to your router

• The lights, indicating each sees the other, are on

• On this PC, you opened a terminal and collected the "ip address'" result and sent that to me via PM

• At some point you also ran the SSM and presented that pic of it you posted

Could I also assume you used this PC to connect to the internet to post that picture of the SSM, above?

If these are correct, this PC will be ready for LAN exchanges to anything on your home network connected via a wire to your router. This will be 'live' as soon as you click the Apply button and the other BIG button turns green. This assumes your XP PC is also wired to the same router.

Physically your network should look similar to this:

PC2PC-router.jpg (11.11 KiB) Viewed 1120 times

If so, let go to work to ensure your XP can connect to exchange data in your SAMBA folder.

P.S. This terminal command ensures you that your SAMBA is setup and running

Code: Select all

smbclient -U% -L localhost

. Post results .

[Chelsea80]

@Clarity

You asked:

You wired the PC running SAMBA to your router

Yes, (this PC being the Puppy Laptop connected to Eth 1)

The lights, indicating each sees the other, are on

Yes, if you mean the lights on the router show Eth 1 (Puppy) and Eth 2 (Win XP) are both on

On this PC, you opened a terminal and collected the "ip address'" result and sent that to me via PM

Yes (this PC being the Puppy Laptop)

At some point you also ran the SSM and presented that pic of it you posted

Yes (this PC being the Puppy Laptop)
.
My configuration is now, without the printer, the same as your PC2PC-router.jpg.
.
Turned Samba on screnshot below.

SAMBA On.jpg (56.78 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

.
Screnshot below of request to enter smbclient -U% -L localhost in the terminal

smbclient.jpg (39.48 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

.
Screenshot below of Test (Cick to check your new settings without applying)

Test.jpg (52.23 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

.
On the Win XP, which is at the desktop:

The Supervisor Password Enabled for accessing items in BIOS Setup.

This means the password is required for the Win XP to continue to the desktop.

Would this account for the map to guest = Bad Password being shown in the above screenshot?

Hope all this helps

Thanks

[Clarity]

Yes.

LAPTOP
Your SAMBA Laptop is seemingly completed for any/ALL files or folders you place in the /mnt/Home folder on your laptop. This means that when your XP connects, it can read/write to that folder same as you can read/write to it. (i'm sure you understand that, so sorry if I am seeking in an elementary manner).

There is one last step: You need to tell your Linux PC that a Windows user will be allowed to connect to this laptop. I dont know what your XP login is but, the command to tell the laptop is as follows (let's assume the Windows user name is 'joe'. the teerminal commands are:

Code: Select all

useradd joe  # This adds Joe to Linux
passwd joe  # This tell Linux the password that Joe uses
smbpasswd joe  # This tells SAMBA the password that Joe uses

You are done! Joe, the user, can connect to your Laptop with his ID when he want to use the SAMBA folder you are sharing. BTW: I am sure you have figured out that you can use the SSM utility to share other folders you have on your laptop.

XP PC
OK, the next step is to turn on smb client services in XP. Its been 2 decades since I did anything with XP, so we'll have to rely on Google and youtubes to navigate that Windows.

REQUEST to PUPPY MEMBERS! ANYONE remember how to turn-on windows to see the LAN for Windows servers? PLEASE HELP!

[Jasper]

From memory you have to choose Add Network Location using File Explorer and then browse to the Puppy OS $Home directory.

[Chelsea80]

@Clarity

OK, this is what I have been able to find out so far, which to me looks complicated.

I haven’t tried it yet. Really need to understand everything involved first. Could all end in tears.

The one thing I really don’t want to do is brick the Puppy and/or Win XP.

The ‘start from scratch’ on either/both does not appeal to me.

So folks, leave it with me for a (long) while as I try to get my head around all of this.

In the meantime my thanks to @Clarity for picking up and running with this for me. With the given help I am much closer to the finish line than I was. Just a few more steps, hopefully.

In the not too distant future I will endeavour to report back on the success or otherwise.

Enable Samba On Windows XP

To enable Samba on a Windows XP machine, follow these steps:

Open the Control Panel and go to Add or Remove Programs.

Click on Add/Remove Windows Components.

In the Windows Components Wizard, scroll down and select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Click Next to install the required components.

Once the installation is complete, open the Samba configuration file
Usually located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\smb.conf.

In the [global] section, make the following changes:

Set security = user

Set encrypt passwords = yes

Set workgroup = WORKGROUP (or the name of your workgroup)

Uncomment and set netbios name = XPCOMPUTER (replace with the actual NetBIOS name of your XP machine)

Save the changes to the smb.conf file.

Open the Services control panel and start the Server service.

After completing these steps, your Windows XP machine should be able to act as a Samba server and share files with other computers on the network.

How To Check If Samba Is Enabled On Windows XP

To check if Samba is enabled on a Windows XP machine, follow these steps:

Open the Control Panel and go to Administrative Tools.

Look for the Services application and open it.

In the Services window, scroll down and look for the Server service.

Check the status of the Server service:

If the status is Started, then Samba is enabled on your Windows XP machine.

If the status is Stopped, then Samba is not enabled.

You can also check the Samba configuration file
Usually located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\smb.conf to see if it has been properly configured.

One last question:

Should I mark this thread as Solved or Closed or leave it open?

[rcrsn51]

@Chelsea80 : In all of this discussion, many of the key questions have never been addressed.

1. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
2. What kind of files are you transferring?
3. In what direction - Puppy to XP or XP to Puppy?
4. Why are you transferring them?
5. Is this an occasional or regular exercise?
6. Where on the source machine are the files located? Where are you putting them?
7. What is the function of the isolated XP machine?

These questions need to be answered before you can pick the best tool for the job.

In the end, using a USB drive may still be the simplest solution.

[wizard]

@Chelsea80

Should I mark this thread as Solved or Closed or leave it open?

Only mark it solved if you have it fully working.

Thanks
wizard

[Clarity]

Hello @rcrsn51

@Chelsea80 : In all of this discussion, many of the key questions have never been addressed...

These are some good question for a 'postion paper', but it is not what I have been helping with.

The progress here is to have a LAN facility on his BKWP64 PC where files can be transfer to-from his XP PC and others he 'may' have in the future.

So to do so, He has enabled the buitl-in facility in BKWP64 opening the door on his LAN for file movement. BKWP64 is setup, opened and ready to allow file-transfer needs.

Now, he is looking at what built-in stuff that comes with WinXP and how to setup that so that he can see his BKWP64 PC.

I dont remember XP and it has been years since I last booted one.

So if you could help I am sure he would appreciate your help or help from anyone current on the NORMAL steps for Windows.

All efforts has been on using what comes with the OSes he has on his 2 current PCs. No new software, nothing beyond the steps to enable the built-in facilities on each of his PCs.

Please.

[Clarity]

@Chelsea80

I going to help. This, again, is rather easy, as I remember. So we are going to tell XP to use his services and show BookwormPUP. I'm working from memory (but I'm old). Its really a 1-2-3 clicks...that's all! IIRC.

1. Click the Start menu

   

   XP Network_1.jpg (19.52 KiB) Viewed 710 times

2. Click 'Computers'

   

   XP Network_2.jpg (13.6 KiB) Viewed 710 times

3. You should see BookwornPUP's sharing

   

   XP Network_3.jpg (44.53 KiB) Viewed 710 times

Let us know.

[wizard]

@Clarity

I do these things constantly, every day with multiple computers.

The questions @rcrsn51 ask are absolutely pertinent. Without that information you may double your work and just confuse a beginner. Let's take these simple cases:

Computer A= XP
Computer B=Puppy

Case 1:
Goal= use B to move files back and forth to A
Required configuration;
-create a file share on A
-use YASSM on computer B to mount the share on A

Now the reverse:

Case 2:
Goal= use A to move files back and forth to B
Required configuration:
-create a file share on B using Samba Simple Management
-use File Explorer on computer A to mount the share on B

My experience is when you have just one user, it's one or the other case, but not both.

Up to this point you have helped @Chelsea80 set up a file share on B (Puppy) and now working on creating a file share on A (XP) This is the "both" case that may not be necessary at all.

You should determine if the OP only needs case 1 or 2. If both, I'd recommend completing one before startng on the other. This will help the user understand which requirements apply to each case.

And last, if it's a one time thing or infrequent, sneaker net is the best choice.

Thanks
wizard

[Clarity]

Hello @wizard and thanks for your interest to help.

... Up to this point you have helped @Chelsea80 set up a file share on B (Puppy) and now working on creating a file share on A (XP) This is the "both" case that may not be necessary at all. ...

Did you see my last post to clarify what I was asking community help on; before I decided to share what I remembered to finalize the XP setup to use the PUP folder.

There is NO request for XP to create/manage a share. No sure why you detailed that.

ITs Puppy managing and creating the folder that the LAN users will use...DONE! (namely PC B in this thread's title)
AND now, its XP to use the Puppy folder Puppy shares. (my prior post) ... (namely PC A in this thread's title)

HOW, (PLEASE EXPLAIN) did you derive the conclusion "that is both"? You can post here or PM me.

And please everyone, if you have a better method or offering for his XP PC to access his PUP (without installing anything, of course), please offer it. So far, there is NO software being installed here.

[wizard]

@Clarity

Reading the OP's post, the Puppy computer is the "daily driver" and logically would be used as the "client" that could copy back and forth to the XP computer. The current configuration is the opposite where the XP computer is the client and transfers have to be done from it. In order to make Puppy the client, you will wind up with "both". This is where answers to @rcrsn51 questions would help with choosing the solution.

Hopefully the OP is currently able to transfer files.

Thanks
wizard

[Clarity]

... Reading the OP's post, the Puppy computer is the "daily driver" ..

See my update, above, that I "thought" was obvious of the mission. Setup his PUP (PC B), that you are calling his daily driver, to allow XP (PC A) to send files. Also, when this is complete he realizes he can send and receive files to the location his PUP presents, as well.

All of this without installing ANY software anywhere on his network.

BTW: You did see he took your advice on using the ethernet cable approach...Y/N?

Again, any help explaining this for @Chelsea80 and other users is useful.

[Clarity]

@Chelsea80

Question
Did your XP PC show your Puppy PC when you clicked the "Network" icon on XP?

[Chelsea80]

@Clarity

Update:

Both Puppy and Win XP connected to router through their own Ethernet cables.

Samba On (Puppy).

When I click on the Win XP start my screen gives this. So I can not correlate this with your screenshots.

start.JPG (215.32 KiB) Viewed 483 times

.

So I clicked on My Computer and the result was this:

My Computer.JPG (95.95 KiB) Viewed 483 times

No sign of BionicPup 32
.

I have come to the conclusion that this is a failed exercise on my part.

Help by way of advice and guidance given by, mainly, @Clarity and others is greatly appreciated.

I am going to try one last go at this by means of a dual boot on the Win XP.

I have not invoked the Internet Connection Wizard or the E-Mail Connection Wizard on the Win XP so my logic says no connection to the internet on the Win XP has been established.

My understanding is that a dual boot with Puppy means that Puppy works entirely independently from Win XP. Meaning that the internet is not made available to Win XP.

With this method I can use Puppy off line to access Win XP and achieve file transfer from Puppy to Win XP.

I will give it a few days for any further comments that may be posted and then I will mark this as CLOSED.

Thanks all

[rcrsn51]

@Chelsea80: Dual booting the XP machine will introduce a new set of problems, like how will you safely insert the downloaded files into the XP filesystem without corrupting it.

You never answered my set of questions above.

[Pikaxhu]

Hi @Chelsea80

In addition to this:

viewtopic.php?p=118590#p118590

All you have to do is:

In BB32

Go to the folder you want to share.

Open terminal here

type pwd to confirm you are in the right place

Now type
python3 -m http.server 8080

done

Now you are able to test from your phone or XP by typing:

http://BB.IP.inYour.Lan:8080
done

You are ready to upload or download files, as in any website.

Regards

Pika

[wizard]

@Chelsea80

Using your current configuration, try this:

Puppy computer
-menu>Network>Simple Samba Management
-click the "Samba Off" button (turns samba on)
note the Puppy IP address

XP computer
-open File Manager
-in the address line type: \\Puppy IP address from above
(Those are back slashes in line above)
-press: Enter

You should see your Puppy share. Note: you must be using a save file/folder

I have this currently running on an XP laptop.

wizard

[Chelsea80]

I know Rome wasn’t built in a day but this is getting ridiculous now.

@rcrsn51

You asked
1. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

To be able to transfer files directly from laptop A to laptop B without having to use a USB stick.
To do this without having to involve the Internet in any way.

2. What kind of files are you transferring?

Documents, Spreadsheets, et al.

3. In what direction - Puppy to XP or XP to Puppy?

BionicPup32 laptop to Win XP laptop.

4. Why are you transferring them?

No answer needs to be given.

5. Is this an occasional or regular exercise?

According to amount of work to be carried out.

6. Where on the source machine are the files located? Where are you putting them?

Source BionicPup32 laptop: In a folder called Transfer To. Destination Win XP laptop: in a folder called Transferred From.

7. What is the function of the isolated XP machine?

No answer needs to be given.

These questions need to be answered before you can pick the best tool for the job.

In the end, using a USB drive may still be the simplest solution.

Agreed.

You said
Dual booting the XP machine will introduce a new set of problems, like how will you safely insert the downloaded files into the XP filesystem without corrupting it.

Specifics please.

@Pikaxhu
Thanks for your offer, unfortunately this didn’t work.

Python.jpg (35.35 KiB) Viewed 352 times

@wizard

wizard said
Puppy computer
-menu>Network>Simple Samba Management
-click the "Samba Off" button (turns samba on)
note the Puppy IP address

Then I get:

SAMBA On.jpg (56.87 KiB) Viewed 352 times

So is The default is puppypc21407 the Puppy IP address?

XP computer
-open File Manager
-in the address line type: \\Puppy IP address from above
(Those are back slashes in line above)
-press: Enter

The File Manager on my Win XP is called Windows Explorer.

There is no Address tool bar, so I went > View > Toolbars > Address Bar (tick)

And nothing happens. Perhaps because there is no Internet connection enabled.

Summary:

I’m frustrated that what has been offered does not work.

All of you must be frustrated that I keep coming back with a negative report each time.

I really think it’s time to call it a day.

The USB stick method works, so I should keep to that and just suck it up.

[rcrsn51]

No answer needs to be given.

With all due respect, it does. Are you simply using the XP machine as a "secure" place to backup important files? If so, I would recommend against this. If/when this old machine eventually dies, you lose everything. If XP won't boot, you have no access to the files.

Or is there some other reason that you want to have the files in XP?

Specifics please.

Suppose you boot the XP machine using, for example, a Puppy USB drive. You make a connection between the two machines and transfer some files. You must then mount the XP hard drive using the Linux NTFS driver, locate the destination folder and copy the files in. There are inherent risks in messing with XP's file system from outside of XP. If the hard drive gets corrupted, then XP won't boot and you lose everything. Or the XP drive can only be mounted in read mode so you can't write new files to it.

[Chelsea80]

@rcrsn51

You said

With all due respect, it does. Are you simply using the XP machine as a "secure" place to backup important files? If so, I would recommend against this. If/when this old machine eventually dies, you lose everything. If XP won't boot, you have no access to the files

I understand your logic. A crisis plan is in place for such an eventuality.

You said

Suppose you boot the XP machine using, for example, a Puppy USB drive. You make a connection between the two machines and transfer some files. You must then mount the XP hard drive using the Linux NTFS driver, locate the destination folder and copy the files in. There are inherent risks in messing with XP's file system from outside of XP. If the hard drive gets corrupted, then XP won't boot and you lose everything.

That is why I know think, although inconvenient, that the USB stick method will be kept.

Thanks

[rcrsn51]

I understand your logic. A crisis plan is in place for such an eventuality.

Then why mess with XP at all if you aren't using it for anything but secure backup of Puppy files. Remove the XP hard drive and convert it into an external USB drive.

[Chelsea80]

@rcrsn51

You said
Then why mess with XP at all if you aren't using it for anything but secure backup of Puppy files.

I didn't say that, so I guess that's a rhetorical question.

[rcrsn51]

@rcrsn51

You said
Then why mess with XP at all if you aren't using it for anything but secure backup of Puppy files.

I didn't say that, so I guess that's a rhetorical question.

That's precisely why I wanted you to answer those questions. Until you explained how this XP machine was being used, any discussion about its function as a backup unit would be irrelevant.

[Chelsea80]

@rcrsn51

OK, so now you know that the Win XP laptop is used for working on files that have been transferred from the BionicPup32 laptop.

It is also used for other work.

In essence the Win XP laptop is used as a productive OS.

With that in mind do you still hold the opinion that

In the end, using a USB drive may still be the simplest solution.

If so, then that would be in line with my approach, having explored the other options given in previous posts.

[rcrsn51]

With that in mind do you still hold the opinion that

In the end, using a USB drive may still be the simplest solution.

Yes.

[Clarity]

Being respectful @wizard is the only respondent, here, other than myself who is making the attempt to help. Thanks @wizard

The question that I have posed is "How do we get XP to see the share that is set on BKWP64?"

The solution I provided is from a later version of Windows (probably Windows 7+ versions), and I dont remember the equivalent "clicks" in XP? I will try to find an XP to setup to jog my memory.

That what is needed simply. If we can focus on that we are helping @Chelsea80.

@Chelsea80 the path you are on is a 3 decades old solution. There is nothing really new in the path being followed. It has always been simple and that is why I am helping you. I do understand your uncomfortableness doing something you haven't done before, BUT for Linux and Windows ability to move files to/fro this way is nothing new.

Dont give up with the confusing questions. Understand this:

1. You have a BKWP64 on your router's LAN that is working and defined, properly, to share whatever is in the BKWP64 '/mnt/home' folder so that LAN devices can read and write to the folder.

2. We merely need to get your XP PC to see the folder where you will read/write to as you would any other folder on your XP PC. To do this, we just need to use the proper XP service to do this. @wizard offers a legitimate path too, requiring you to manually use the BKWP64 IP address to reach the PUP's "puppyshare" folder.

PC2PCviaRouter2.jpg (26.07 KiB) Viewed 255 times

Let's try to get XP to do so BEFORE you try using another PUP dual booted. (Although that solution will work same as what we are trying to do with XP. If that is easier for you EVERYONE here knows how to user the PUP distro's client to connect and many more members will aid to help. Almost everyone has done this using the Pup's client as well as knowing the PUP tools to diagnose, if needed.)

BTW: You dont need to do anything more that what you have already done on your BKWP64 PC. So dont do anymore on it. You have it all setup and ready for LAN connections and file transfers. DONE!

[Clarity]

@Chelsea80 I found these instructions on a Microsoft Site for XP.

If you also want to do this via forum distro like another PUP, let us know and we'll show you how to use PUP's Menu utility to connect to the BKWP64 'puppyshare'.

[wizard]

@Chelsea80

Keep in mind that I have this working here. Friendly-Bionic32 on computer A and Windows XP on computer B. My task is to give you better instructions you can follow, which I will do.

Don't give up just yet, if not for yourself, then for others who might have the same need. With your help I'll document this for future use.

Thanks for answering @rcrsn51 questions, it helps us find the right solution for you.

wizard

[wizard]

@Chelsea80

Revision 1

Using your current configuration, try this:

Puppy computer - you must be using a save file/folder
-menu>Network>Simple Samba Management
-click the "Samba Off" button (turns samba on)

Get the Puppy computers IP address
-open the terminal
-type: ifconfig
-press: Enter
The IP address is the number after the "inet addr" label, it will be something like: inet addr:192.168.1.104

XP computer
open the file manager
-right click the start button
-choose: Explore
-click View>Toolbars>Address Bar
-in the address line type: \\Puppy IP address from above
(Those are back slashes in line above)
-press: Enter

You should see your Puppy share, if not send me your smb.conf file, located at /etc/samba/smb.conf

Understand that your current configuration has Puppy as the "server" and XP is the "client". The client initiates and executes the transfers. Once we have this working we can do the reverse, making Puppy the client and
xp the server.

wizard