transferring files xp --> linux mint

[nathangibson]

i didnt think this would be very hard, but i have ran into some trouble. i have a few gigs of house episodes on my desktop computer. it is running windows xp. it does not have wireless networking and is plugged straight into my router. i want to transfer these files to my laptop, which has wireless networking and, of course, runs linux mint. in the past when doing something like this linux ---> linux, i would use a great little program called "giver". since i am doing this transfer with xp, that isnt really an option. i tried the obvious and made the folder of house videos i want to transfer a 'share' and plugged my ethernet cable into both computers to no avail. im trying to avoid diving into any really complex methods as i am sure that im over looking something really simple. anyways, if anyone can help i would greatly appreciate it.

yayyy for first post!

[Aging Technogeek]

Try an Internet file sharing service such as "Dropbox" https://www.dropbox.com/. It is cross-platform so it works on Windows and Linux. Just download it to both computers, install it, and follow the instructions on the site to upload from Windows and download to Mint.

[nathangibson]

i really appreciate your advice, but i dont think that dropbox would be the most time efficient method to move 7+ gigs of tv shows, considering my network speed is about 200x quicker than my internet speed.

[xenopeek]

With both computers connected to the router (either plugged or wireless), they should be able to see each other on the same network. Trying pinging the one from the other to check this.

You can also share a folder on your Linux machine, and then use the Windows machine to copy files there. Follow this guide: https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/internet/C/networking-shares.html. Please scroll down to "Sharing folders via Nautilus" and use that, and the "Accessing shared folders via Windows" after it.

[nathangibson]

thanks, that post was very insightful. i would have never thought to do it like that. everything has went well, i can see the shared folder in my network places on my xp machine, the only problem is that i get this error: http://i54.tinypic.com/29l0kfn.jpg

[xenopeek]

Make sure you have allowed guest user access on the share, or connect to the share with your Linux username + password.

[gaztelugatxe]

As said above, if you are using a router, both computers should get addresses like 192.168.x.x and be able to see each other (ping Mint from XP to check it. You could also ping XP from Mint, but XP SP2-SP3 by default doesn't answer to pings).

If that is the case, you have several options:
* share a folder in Mint
* share a folder in XP
* install openssh-server in Mint and connect from XP via WinSCP or similar programs

Another possibilty involves connecting the two computers diretly, but using a crossover Ethernet cable instead of the regular one. After it, configure static IP addresses on the computers and use one of the above to transfer the files.

[altair4]

thanks, that post was very insightful. i would have never thought to do it like that. everything has went well, i can see the shared folder in my network places on my xp machine, the only problem is that i get this error: http://i54.tinypic.com/29l0kfn.jpg

Your error message is likely not a Samba error but a linux permissions error. This could be a very simple fix but we need to know the permissions on the target folder:

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ls -al /path/to/share/folder

Also, unfortunately we don't know what method of samba sharing you are using so we don't know how to answer your question. Please post the output of the following commands:

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testparm -s

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net usershare info --long

EDIT: The more I think about that error message the more convinced I'm getting that this is a Linux permissions error. If I'm right here is the fastest way out of this problem:

Edit smb.conf as root:

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gksu gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

Add the following line to the [global] section of smb.conf:

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force user = your-mint-login-user-name

Save smb.conf, exit gedit, and back in the terminal restart samba:

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sudo service smbd restart

Wait a few minutes for the network to settle down then try to access the share from Windows.

[nathangibson]

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nathan@nathan-MT6730 ~/Share $ testparm -s
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
[global]
   server string = %h server (Samba, LinuxMint)
   map to guest = Bad User
   obey pam restrictions = Yes
   pam password change = Yes
   passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
   passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
   unix password sync = Yes
   syslog = 0
   log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
   max log size = 1000
   dns proxy = No
   usershare allow guests = Yes
   panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
   force user = your-mint-login-user-name

[printers]
   comment = All Printers
   path = /var/spool/samba
   create mask = 0700
   printable = Yes
   browseable = No

[print$]
   comment = Printer Drivers
   path = /var/lib/samba/printers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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nathan@nathan-MT6730 ~/Share $ net usershare info --long
[share]
path=/home/nathan/Share
comment=
usershare_acl=S-1-1-0:F,
guest_ok=y

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@altair4, i tried your advice and edited the samba config file, but so far no luck. for good measure i have provided a copy of it as well, maybe it can
help to point out the culprit.

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#
# Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.
#
#
# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options most of which
# are not shown in this example
#
# Some options that are often worth tuning have been included as
# commented-out examples in this file.
#  - When such options are commented with ";", the proposed setting
#    differs from the default Samba behaviour
#  - When commented with "#", the proposed setting is the default
#    behaviour of Samba but the option is considered important
#    enough to be mentioned here
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
# "testparm" to check that you have not made any basic syntactic
# errors.
# A well-established practice is to name the original file
# "smb.conf.master" and create the "real" config file with
# testparm -s smb.conf.master >smb.conf
# This minimizes the size of the really used smb.conf file
# which, according to the Samba Team, impacts performance
# However, use this with caution if your smb.conf file contains nested
# "include" statements. See Debian bug #483187 for a case
# where using a master file is not a good idea.
#

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
   server string = %h server (Samba, LinuxMint)

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its WINS Server
#   wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
;   wins server = w.x.y.z

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
   dns proxy = no

# What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names
# to IP addresses
;   name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

#### Networking ####

# The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to
# This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;
# interface names are normally preferred
;   interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

# Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the
# 'interfaces' option above to use this.
# It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is
# not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself.  However, this
# option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.
;   bind interfaces only = yes



#### Debugging/Accounting ####

# This tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
   log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m

# Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).
   max log size = 1000

# If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following
# parameter to 'yes'.
#   syslog only = no

# We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything
# should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log
# through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.
   syslog = 0

# Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace
   panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d

 force user = your-mint-login-user-name


####### Authentication #######

# "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account
# in this server for every user accessing the server. See
# /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html
# in the samba-doc package for details.
#   security = user

# You may wish to use password encryption.  See the section on
# 'encrypt passwords' in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.
   encrypt passwords = true

# If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what
# password database type you are using. 
   passdb backend = tdbsam

   obey pam restrictions = yes

# This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix
# password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the
# passdb is changed.
   unix password sync = yes

# For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following
# parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <<kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> for
# sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).
   passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
   passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

# This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes
# when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
# 'passwd program'. The default is 'no'.
   pam password change = yes

# This option controls how unsuccessful authentication attempts are mapped
# to anonymous connections
   map to guest = bad user

########## Domains ###########

# Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC
# must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must
# change the 'domain master' setting to no
#
;   domain logons = yes
#
# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of the user's profile directory
# from the client point of view)
# The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the
# samba server (see below)
;   logon path = \\%N\profiles\%U
# Another common choice is storing the profile in the user's home directory
# (this is Samba's default)
#   logon path = \\%N\%U\profile

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of a user's home directory (from the client
# point of view)
;   logon drive = H:
#   logon home = \\%N\%U

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored
# in the [netlogon] share
# NOTE: Must be store in 'DOS' file format convention
;   logon script = logon.cmd

# This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe.  The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix
# password; please adapt to your needs
; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos "" %u

# This allows machine accounts to be created on the domain controller via the
# SAMR RPC pipe. 
# The following assumes a "machines" group exists on the system
; add machine script  = /usr/sbin/useradd -g machines -c "%u machine account" -d /var/lib/samba -s /bin/false %u

# This allows Unix groups to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe. 
; add group script = /usr/sbin/addgroup --force-badname %g

########## Printing ##########

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
#   load printers = yes

# lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the
# printcap file
;   printing = bsd
;   printcap name = /etc/printcap

# CUPS printing.  See also the cupsaddsmb(8) manpage in the
# cupsys-client package.
;   printing = cups
;   printcap name = cups

############ Misc ############

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
;   include = /home/samba/etc/smb.conf.%m

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html
# for details
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
#         SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
#   socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package
# installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are
# working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.
;   message command = /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s' &

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this
# machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you
# must set this to 'no'; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.
#   domain master = auto

# Some defaults for winbind (make sure you're not using the ranges
# for something else.)
;   idmap uid = 10000-20000
;   idmap gid = 10000-20000
;   template shell = /bin/bash

# The following was the default behaviour in sarge,
# but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce
# performance issues in large organizations.
# See Debian bug #368251 for some of the consequences of *not*
# having this setting and smb.conf(5) for details.
;   winbind enum groups = yes
;   winbind enum users = yes

# Setup usershare options to enable non-root users to share folders
# with the net usershare command.

# Maximum number of usershare. 0 (default) means that usershare is disabled.
;   usershare max shares = 100

# Allow users who've been granted usershare privileges to create
# public shares, not just authenticated ones
   usershare allow guests = yes

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

# Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)
# to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each
# user's home director as \\server\username
;[homes]
;   comment = Home Directories
;   browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the
# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.
;   read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
;   create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
;   directory mask = 0700

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server. Un-comment the following parameter
# to make sure that only "username" can connect to \\server\username
# The following parameter makes sure that only "username" can connect
#
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
;   valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
;   comment = Network Logon Service
;   path = /home/samba/netlogon
;   guest ok = yes
;   read only = yes

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
;   comment = Users profiles
;   path = /home/samba/profiles
;   guest ok = no
;   browseable = no
;   create mask = 0600
;   directory mask = 0700

[printers]
   comment = All Printers
   browseable = no
   path = /var/spool/samba
   printable = yes
   guest ok = no
   read only = yes
   create mask = 0700

# Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable
# printer drivers
[print$]
   comment = Printer Drivers
   path = /var/lib/samba/printers
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes
   guest ok = no
# Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.
# You may need to replace 'lpadmin' with the name of the group your
# admin users are members of.
# Please note that you also need to set appropriate Unix permissions
# to the drivers directory for these users to have write rights in it
;   write list = root, @lpadmin

# A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.
;[cdrom]
;   comment = Samba server's CD-ROM
;   read only = yes
;   locking = no
;   path = /cdrom
;   guest ok = yes

# The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the
#   cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain
#   an entry like this:
#
#       /dev/scd0   /cdrom  iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user   0 0
#
# The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the
#
# If you don't want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD
#   is mounted on /cdrom
#
;   preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
;   postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom


[altair4]

Well, you did exactly what I said to do not what I meant you to do.
This:

Add the following line to the [global] section of smb.conf:

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force user = your-mint-login-user-name

Was meant to mean this:

Add the following line to the [global] section of smb.conf:

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force user = nathan

My fault. Should have explained that better.

Change smb.conf to the above, restart smbd, and try it again.

[escherplex]

Another alternative is a utility called Dukto R4

URL: http://www.msec.it/blog/?page_id=11

This requires NO configurations and has both a tar.gz and a win installer exe.

For anyone, the only real technical requirements are:

1) in Linux, opening 'DuktoR4-Linux.tar.gz' and copying Dukto.svg and the executable module DuktoR4 to a program folder in the Linux /home folder of your choice and creating a desktop link to DuktoR4 from there.
2) having a working router and knowing what local networking IPs are (like 192.68.0.100)

I've been using this application for a couple of weeks and find it useful for transferring programming results from Linux over to applications in Windows in a home computer room configuration which consists of two PCs, 2 monitors, a shared/switched keyboard and mouse on a U-shaped desk. Note that the Dukto application does not remember the Destination folder when rerun so you will have to reset it if you don't want files stuck on your desktop

[altair4]

@ escherplex, I admit that Samba is my "thing" but I'll be honest - Dukto is a very slick little app.

Given the original post:

in the past when doing something like this linux ---> linux, i would use a great little program called "giver". since i am doing this transfer with xp, that isnt really an option.

It does exactly what Giver used to do except it doesn't have the avahi requirement so it's truly cross platform - Linux, Windows, OSX. I'd feel more comfortable recommending it I had some idea what the heck it was doing though

It appears to be using port 4644 TCP to transfer files and as you stated it's strictly to get a file from A to B. It doesn't have the security or the ability to restrict access by user, ip, hostname, etc.. that samba has but Giver didn't either.

BTW:

Note that the Dukto application does not remember the Destination folder when rerun so you will have to reset it if you don't want files stuck on your desktop

Since it's a stand alone app it saves by default to wherever it's located. If you extract it to say /home/altair/Dukto then the default save location is /home/altair/Dukto. But if you then copy the executable /home/altair/Dukto/DuktoR4 to your desktop then the default save location becomes /home/altair/Desktop.

[escherplex]

@Altair 4 v. IV: the final comment in the last post was essentially a mental note for users in that when firing-up 'Dukto' it's a good idea to change the 'Destination folder:' at the bottom to some consistent working directory for later access. I use /LinWin directories (easy to remember). Another side note is to ensure that your ethernet connection and router are on before starting up 'Dukto'. Sounds silly but 'Dukto' will need to be restarted after re-engaging the card or your machine won't be recognized by the network. And also I'd like to know how 'Dukto' does what it does as well!



This is a particularly nice utility within an at-home context for transferring formatted table files from Linux written programs to a 'Windows meta-appliance' application such as Wildfire 5 or data from a Windows-based Matlab or Mathematica over to Linux without having to resort to firing-up servers or constantly plugging in jump drives every 10 minutes. That gets old real quick



BTW which Altair 4? 'Tommyknockers', the song by 'Blind Guardian' or 'Forbidden Planet'?

[altair4]

BTW which Altair 4? 'Tommyknockers', the song by 'Blind Guardian' or 'Forbidden Planet'?

Neither, Altair 8800 reference. Long story

[arno]

You can also try "Transfer on LAN" (http://code.google.com/p/transfer-on-lan/downloads/list) to transfer files/folders on a LAN. It is cross-platform (it needs Java 6) and it works without configuration.