Lost ... how to set up a network (solved)

[xtal_01]

OK, I had two computers and an epson printer/scanner hooked into a infinity (comcast) router/cable model/wifi unit.

Both computer were running Windows 7

More or less, the network set itself up. All I had to do is share my drives and we could see each other, the printer/scanner/ modem ....

Then I changed my computer to Linux.

It did detect a wired connection but I can not get the computers to see each other.

When I click on network, I also don't see the printer/scanner .... and iscan is not working (printer seems to be working but not the scanner).

So, remembering I know almost nothing about networks and maybe even less about linux, what do I need to do to get the network up and running?

The second computer will have to stay windows as it is my wife's unit from work.

Thanks so much ...... Mike

[altair4]

I would make two recommendations:

** Make sure samba/smb is working by connecting to one another by ip address. On Linux open a terminal and use:

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nemo smb://192.168.0.100

When the user doesn't mention what desktop enviroment he is using I always assume it's Cinnamon so if you get an error message about "nemo" that's why.

And on the Windows box:

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\\192.168.0.101

Use the real ip addresses please.

** If that all works - and I doubt I will be able to help you with the printer issue - then it sounds like a problem with name resolution. For that I would suggest this HowTo: Samba Browsing Problems Checklist

[xtal_01]

Hmmmm ....

So, I looked up my IP address, and typed the line into the terminal box:

"Could not display "smb://50. ......."
"Error: Failed to retrieve share list from server: Connection timed out Please select another viewer and try again."

So, I am guessing, what ever samba/smb (what ever this is) is not working.

What is my next step?

Probably a dumb question but is it ok to show my ip address? I didn't know is this like showing your password.

Just FYI .... I didn't know where to find my IP on Linux (oh yes, Linux Mint 17.3) so I just typed it into firefox and it came up with the address

Thanks so very much ....... Mike

[altair4]

Probably a dumb question but is it ok to show my ip address? I didn't know is this like showing your password.

Normally it would be since all these ip addresses within a network are private and inaccessible from the outside world but in your case I think there is a problem:

"Could not display "smb://50. ......."

If it started with 192... or 10... then it would be a private ip address. But yours starts with 50. That's a public ip address. We need to use the one that's been given to each machine from your router:

In Linux:

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nm-tool

In Windows:

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ipconfig

[xtal_01]

I should add one complication. My wife's work has some kind of protection from work. She can see my computer but I could not see hers. The is OK since I use my computer as a kind of server with all our pictures, videos and such on it. She keeps all her personal work on my computer.

Anyway ....

Forgot to say when I got her IP address (super long compared to mine ... 2601:18b. ......) I got an error saying "file name, directory name or volume label syntax is incorrect"

So, I did the cm-tool on my linux unit ... wow, lots of info! What information am I looking for .... HW Address: 00:1D:09.... or IPv4 Settings address, prefix, gateway, DNS (two of them) .... IPv6 (three addresses, prefixes and gateways here plus two DNS).

When I did the ipconfig on my wife's machine, I got things like: connection-specific DNS suffix hds1.vt.comcast.net .... IPv6 address ... IPv4 address .... Subnet mask and Default gateway.

Home this all means something to you .... I'm lost ... but I am married so I am good at following directions!

Thanks again ..... Mike

[altair4]

So which is it? Is it this:

It did detect a wired connection but I can not get the computers to see each other.

Or is it this:

My wife's work has some kind of protection from work. She can see my computer but I could not see hers.

Can the Windows machine see the Linux machine or not?

Anywhoo...

When you run nm-tool in Linux look for the subsection called "IPv4 Settings" like this:

IPv4 Settings:
Address: 192.168.0.100
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 192.168.0.1

In this example 192.168.0.100 is the ip address.

[xtal_01]

Sorry, I should explain things better.

On the Linux computer, when I hit Preferences>Network Connections> I get "Ethernet" .... Wired connection 1

If I hit "edit", I get a "device MAC address: ...... 00:1D: ....", Nothing in Clone MAC address. MTU: automatic

On my wife's computer running Windows 7, I never could see her files. She works for a college and brings home her laptop. It must have some kind of protection because I can not see her files. It asks for a password that I don't have ... only college administrators.

She comes home and "docks" this computer, it links into network and she can use the home internet connection, printer, and see the files on my computer.

When I am in Windows (I have a dual boot computer ... trying to get myself off windows and onto Linux) she can see my computer. When I boot into Linux, she can not see my Linux computer.

I again ran nm-tool on my linux computer.

Under the IPv4 settings:

Address: 10.x.x.xx
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 10.x.x.x

When I go into firefox while I am in Linux, I type in "what is my IP address". I get: Your IPv4 Address Is: 50.13x.xxx.xxx

I don't know why I would have two different IP addresses.

Thanks again ....... Mike

[xtal_01]

Just FYI ....

I have found a couple of articles on setting up a network in Linux Mint.

I think I have done nothing but confuse myself.

One is telling me to that samba is installed by default but I need to install the part of the program that makes it accessible through the menu.

A second article talks about installing ssh .... I don't even know what this is.

Sorry .... I'm lost .... need help!

Thanks ..... Mike

[Laurent85]

Under the IPv4 settings:

Address: 10.x.x.xx
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 10.x.x.x

When I go into firefox while I am in Linux, I type in "what is my IP address". I get: Your IPv4 Address Is: 50.13x.xxx.xxx

I don't know why I would have two different IP addresses.

10.x.x.x is your private ip address, 50.13x.xxx.xxx is your public ip address.

Basically 10.x.x.x is used within your local network. When browsing the Internet your router remaps your private ip into your public ip. That's the mechanism to share a single IPv4 public ip address (accessible by anyone on the Internet). Your private local ip 10.x.x.x can't directly communicate with a host public ip address.

You may install avahi-discover to browse your local network:

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apt install avahi-discover

Then launch Avahi Zeronconf Browser.

[altair4]

Based on all of your comments about your wife's computer I think we should focus on having her access your computer.

You stated this twice in one form or another:

She comes home and "docks" this computer, it links into network and she can use the home internet connection, printer, and see the files on my computer.

So what is the problem? She can see the files but cannot access them? If that is the case please run the following commands and post the output:

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testparm -s

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net usershare info --long

Note: Once you run these commands in a terminal simply copy and paste the results in your next post.

I regret starting down the path of ip addresses but in my defence I thought your wife couldn't see the files on your computer. But since we are here let's talk about your router.

Your router is a bridge between two networks. One network is comprised of both your machines and whatever else is connected to your router in your home. The other network is the internet itself.

When you turn on your machine your router will assign you an ip address ( 10.x.x.x ) that is used only within your home. This is a private ip address. When you run nm-tool what you will see is the ip address that the router assigns you - your private ip address.

When you turn on your router your ISP provider will assign that router an ip address that is accessible by the internet ( 50.13.x.x) - a public ip address. This is an ip address for the router not the machines connected to the router in your home. When you run "what is my ip address" in Firefox what you will see is the public ip address of the router not the private ip address of your computer.

[xtal_01]

Actually, she can not see my computer or files on her network right now.

I had her got to a command prompt and try the commands ....

On the first one she got: not recognized as an internal or external command, program or batch file

On the second she got: the syntax of this line is: NET [account, computer, ........]

So, I am guessing no of this makes any sense.

Just FYI, she said that when she wants to print or see my computer (with both of us in windows 7), she has to log out of her VPN from work but does not have to log into our home network. In fact, if she tries to print when logged into her VPN, nothing happens but as soon as she logs out of the VPN, the jobs go right to he printer without her doing anything.

Sorry this is getting so complicated.

I just want to make sure I can get my computers to all talk together and my scanner working (it is a network scanner and is still having a problem ... no one has answered that post yet ... after reading it may even be a problem with 17.3) before I commit to switching everything over to Linux.

Thanks so very much ..... If it helps, you guys are teaching me a lot!

Mike

[altair4]

I had her got to a command prompt and try the commands ....
On the first one she got: not recognized as an internal or external command, program or batch file
On the second she got: the syntax of this line is: NET [account, computer, ........]

The "testparm -s" and "net usershare info --long" commands are to be done on Linux not Windows.

As for the VPN and whatever other security software that resides on your wife's machine I don't know if I can help you. My wife is a software developer working with ... let's just say it's with sensitive data. Her machine from the moment it's booted is impenetrable. At least that is what her head of security is betting his job on.

If your wife can see your Linux box when not in VPN great but that is most likely the only way she will be able to see it.

[xtal_01]

Sorry, I just put them into linux and have attached the screen shot.

Testparm got a result but the other didn't (it is on the bottom of the screen shot ... did them both on one picture).

I understand about security. I actually worked doing engineering for a factory making nuclear fuel about 10 years ago. We had contracts with US owned and foreign owned nuclear power plants (along with military contracts .... very hush hush). Talk about security on a network.

Plus then we got into a "liability" problem. We had engineers making changes to PLC's from home rather than come into the plant at night or on a weekend if there was a problem. Wow ... think about making changes to a machine when you are not even near it!

They literally closed down VPN privileges so no one could see machines or make changes unless there where right there in front of machine.

Anyway ... thanks again ..... Mike

[xtal_01]

Sorry .....

Didn't realize I had gotten an error message on file size so it didn't attach.

Here is the screen shot.

Thanks ..... Mike

[altair4]

[1] You didn't read through the checklist.

** Edit a file as root:

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gksu gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

** Find the section towards the top of the file where the line "workgroup = WORKGROUP" is listed.

** Right under that line add the following lines:

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netbios name = michael-530
name resolve order = bcast host lmhosts wins
force user = michael

** Then restart samba in this order:

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sudo service smbd restart

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sudo service nmbd restart

[2] You didn't share anything.

An easy - Windows like - way of doing this is to open Nemo ( your file manager ), right click a folder - let's make it your Public folder for this exercise, select Sharing Options, then check all the boxes and then select Create Share.

[xtal_01]

Sorry .... trying to get supper ready ... should concentrate on one thing at a time.

I will try all these things tonight and let you know how things go.

Thanks so much for all the help ..... Mike

[xtal_01]

Well, I am learning a lot about how to modify files and such.

So I added the lines of code and then shared a folder.

Now I have lots of things coming up under network. I took a screen shot to show you. I also ran the testparm and usershare again and took a screen shot of this.

Still for some reason, my wife's computer can't see mine.

Is there anything else I can try?

Also, under testparm, I see setting for the printer. Is there no settings for the scanner (which still is not working)?

Thanks .... Mike

[altair4]

*** Yep, that's it.

*** Your wife won't be able to do much with the Public share since you made it read only and don't allow guest access so she will have to provide credentials to gain access which you haven't set up. I would make the Public share look like this:

PublicShare.png

*** If your wife can't see your machine it's most likely because she is still in a VPN session.

*** The printer is a separate topic.

And there's one more thing. You are going to have to learn how to post the output of terminal commands because the screenshot you posted is barely visible.

Open a terminal
Right click anywhere within the terminal and make sure this is checked: Show Menubar
Now as an example run a command like:

Code: Select all

net usershare info --long

Now in the MenuBar select: Edit > Select All

The entire output is now highlighted.
Right click anywhere on the highlighted area and select: Copy

You can now paste that output when you post something to the forum.

[xtal_01]

WOW .... see, you can teach an old dog new tricks! I had to cut the size down because I kept getting error messages saying the screen shot was too big. Copy and paste was much easier anyway.

So, I changed the share properties. Still nothing.

I thing I noticed .... on her computer, the network seems to be called "homegroup" (this was assigned by windows). I think my computer has the name "workgroup". Could this be the problem?

Here is testparm after I changed the share .... I see the guest_ok now says Y instead of N.

Thanks ..... Mike


michael@michael-Inspiron-530 ~ $ net usershare info --long
[Public]
path=/home/michael/Public
comment=
usershare_acl=Everyone:F,
guest_ok=y

michael@michael-Inspiron-530 ~ $

[xtal_01]

Sorry, should have mentioned, I did have her log off the VPN and check if she could "see" my computer.

Thanks .... Mike