Setting Up a Local Network for File Transfer

[Ari]

Need some help, I couldn't get this to work after following online instructions.

I have an old Mac Mini running OS X Leopard, which also runs my scanner.
I'd like to set up a local network so I can transfer scans over to the M1 Mini, which runs Monterey.

Maybe it's not working because the two OSs are incompatible in some way?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[xkaes]

I'm not a MAC guy, but I know that using two versions of Windows on different computers -- and expecting them to talk together easily -- is a mistake.
There are ways to do it, but it's not straightforward.
I'd suggest you join a MAC forum.

[Ari]

Seems like it should be straightforward, even if I'm using different OS.
File transfers take place over wi-fi, and both computers use the same File Sharing app.
Could just be a setting on File Sharing that needs to be applied/disabled?
I've read on this forum that some people use this method, instead of plugging and unplugging a hard drive, so I know it exists.

[sharktooth]

If you're trying to do this wirelessly, then the old Mac Mini probably doesn't have the latest security protocols to allow it to communicate with the M1. If so, try to connect the two computers via ethernet.

[djdister]

There's no issue with multiple OSes talking to each other, so long as they can each talk to your network. Assuming your machines can talk to a local network, then your easiest solution is a wired network. If the old Mac and new Mac are in proximity to each other, then just buy a network hub or switch and connect each machine to the hub or switch via Ethernet cable, enable networking and file sharing with other computers on the same network, and you're pretty much done. You could connect a Windows machine, printers and anything else to that hub or switch and transferring files is easy, once you enable each computer to talk to other computers on the same network.

[fiddle]

Under system preferences, should be able to go to sharing/turn on file sharing.
Once thats on, the other pc should be able to see it under the finder, locations dropdown. Need to log in to connect with the shared pc's credentials.

[sharktooth]

If your old Mac Mini can get an internet connection through wifi, then it must be able to connect to your wireless router. If it connects to your router, then it should be able to connect with the Mi through the router as well. If your Mac Mini can't connect to the internet through wifi, then the problem is the wifi hardware in the old Mac Mini. In that case, you'll need to use ethernet.

[Graham Patterson]

It's an authentication issue, assuming the two computers can see each other, and the one where you want to put the files has sharing turned on. Leopard is probably running on a Mac that won't do a later 64-bit OS? There was a bump in the authentication method after Leopard.

I'd try connecting from the newer system to the old one (which shares a folder for anyone as read-only). If that works, put the files into the shared folder and pull them to the new system. This assumes the afp: file protocol.

We still have a Leopard system in the house, but it is dedicated to music software and not normally on the network, so I have not needed to connect it to my wife's main Mac. Or my Windows and Linux systems, come to that.

If the machines are close enough, and you have a cable, I'd use ethernet. Modern systems can handle a standard cable on a direct link, and it is going to be much quicker.

[Ari]

Both Minis connect to wi-fi, so I'll keep trying that. Failing that, a wired connection would be the ticket.
The two computers are only 4 feet apart.
Thanks, fellas.

[Ari]

Thanks for including the steps, Graham. I'll try that.
I don't have an ethernet cable handy, so I'll keep plugging away at wireless today.

[sharktooth]

It looks like Monterey can't share it's own files via AFP, since it's only using the new APFS file format.

See this link: https://www.macworld.com/article/234926/using-afp-to-share-a-mac-drive-its-time-to-change.html

It's not clear if Monterey can see files from your old Mac Mini via AFP, since the article above is only up to Big Sur. It states that Big Sur can still see AFP shares from other computers, but this may or may not still be the case in Monterey.

What all this means is that the old Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is problematic with the latest Mac computers. Your old Mini will be sharing using AFP, but there's no way it can see any file or drive being shared by the M1. It still might be possible for the M1 to see the drives or files being shared from the old Mac Mini. You'll have to try it. Turn on file sharing in your old Mac Mini, and make sure you've also enabled sharing for the drive you want to share in your old Mac Mini. In your M1 check if the drive from your old Mac Mini shows up in the network.

If you can't see your old Mac Mini drive in the M1 network, the next option is to use SMB instead of AFP. You'll have to change from AFP to SMB sharing in the option settings for sharing in your old Mac Mini. Your M1 should be able to see SMB shares, since that's what Apple now uses now too.

[Ari]

Thanks, Sharky, will try everything tonight!

[Peter Mounier]

Ari
See if this works …
On the computer running Monterey, click on file sharing in the preferences and note the access address.
Then go to the computer running Leopard and while in the Finder click go - connect to server
Then input the access address for the computer running Monterey and click connect. Fill in your password and see if it connects.

[Ari]

Thank you, Peter. I'll try that.

[Old_Dick]

Does a Mac Mini run"ftp"? That is what I use between Macbook and a Solaris SPARC.

[Ari]

Monterey only seems to run SMB, I don't see any other option.
So far, nothing I've done has worked. I got close, then I got a message that I could not connect to the other Mac.
I managed to connect them through Bluetooth, but transfer speeds were abysmal.
I'll keep trying and will order an ethernet cable as well.
Thanks for everyone's help, greatly appreciated!

[sharktooth]

It definitely seems like it's the file sharing protocol incompatibility that's the issue. In that case, using an ethernet cable probably won't help.

Your best hope is that you can enable file sharing via SMB on your old Mac Mini. I know that's an option in Snow Leopard, but I don't know if it's available in Leopard. In Snow Leopard there's an option button in the "Sharing" setup. Click on that, and you get an option to use file sharing by SMB.

I've also read on another site that Monterey does see other AFP servers, so you should be able to connect to the old Mac Mini from the M1 Mac as long as the old Mac Mini has file sharing enabled and is acting as the server. Sharing the files or drives in your M1 Mac (M1 acting as the file server) probably won't work, since it's using a newer sharing protocol that the old Mac Mini can't interpret.

Another option, If your wireless router has a USB port, is to hook up a USB drive to your router's USB port, and use it for backups and file sharing with any computer that can connect to your router.

[Ari]

Thanks, I'll try that again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I tried all three options on the old Mini and none could connect.
This may require a call to Apple if the cable is a no-go.

[sharktooth]

Here's some good file sharing instructions for Leopard.

https://www.macworld.com/article/189258/mobilemac2503-2.html

Set up file sharing on your old Mac Mini with Leopard using the instructions in the link. Once that file sharing is up and running, you should be able to see it when you click on the "Go" menu in your M1 mac and select Connect to Server.

[sharktooth]

I get the sense you're new to this file sharing stuff, so maybe I'll try to briefly outline how it works. Forgive me if I'm insulting your intelligence.

With file sharing you're really just letting one computer gain access to another one. The computer that's allowing itself to be accessed is the server. When you enable file sharing on a computer it becomes a server, since it is allowing access to it's files. Any other "client" computer can connect to that server as long as it has the appropriate user and password. This means you only need to have file sharing enabled on one computer, not both.

In your case, the older Mac Mini is using a very old Leopard operating system. If you enable file sharing on this old Mac, there's a far greater chance that the newer Mac can connect to it. On the other hand, the older Mac Mini with Leopard probably can't connect to the M1 Mac if the M1 Mac is set as the server, since Leopard doesn't have the newer protocols it needs to communicate.

1) Enable file sharing on the old Mac Mini with Leopard. Your old Mac Mini is now a file server.
2) Use your M1 Mac with Monterey to connect to your old Mac Mini server. In the finder, click on the "Go" menu, then select "Connect to Server". You should see a list with the drives or folders you shared from your old Mac Mini.

[Ari]

Thanks, Shark. I tried everything in that article, and the net result was a failure to connect.
I suspect these two Minis are not able to talk to each other this way.
And yes, I'm not an expert or even that knowledgeable about setting this up, so I appreciate the bare-bones explanation. No, you did not insult my intelligence by explaining something clearly.
I do get all that, but the M1 fails to connect each time. I hope that using a cable will remedy the problem.
Thanks for your help.

[sharktooth]

Monterey only seems to run SMB, I don't see any other option.
So far, nothing I've done has worked. I got close, then I got a message that I could not connect to the other Mac.
I managed to connect them through Bluetooth, but transfer speeds were abysmal.
I'll keep trying and will order an ethernet cable as well.A
Thanks for everyone's help, greatly appreciated!

If you connected through Bluetooth, then it should also be possible through ethernet or wifi. The file sharing protocol is exactly the same, it's only the hardware that's different. Are you sure you can get an internet connection through wifi on your old Mac Mini? In other words, can you browse this largeformatphotography forum on your old Mac Mini? I ask this since you're router is handling the wifi connections between the old Mac Mini and your new M1 Mac. If either one of them isn't able to communicate properly with the router the system won't work. Your internet connection is managed through the router, so if you can browse this site on your old Mac Mini, then you know the old Mini is working well with the router.

[David Schaller]

I know this is sub-optimal, but I get my scans from the scanner plus old iMac in my basement darkroom to my new Mac mini on the second floor using Google Drive. A large scan of an 8x10 raw file takes a while to transfer, but it works.

[Ari]

If you connected through Bluetooth, then it should also be possible through ethernet or wifi. The file sharing protocol is exactly the same, it's only the hardware that's different. Are you sure you can get an internet connection through wifi on your old Mac Mini? In other words, can you browse this largeformatphotography forum on your old Mac Mini? I ask this since you're router is handling the wifi connections between the old Mac Mini and your new M1 Mac. If either one of them isn't able to communicate properly with the router the system won't work. Your internet connection is managed through the router, so if you can browse this site on your old Mac Mini, then you know the old Mini is working well with the router.

Damn, you're right. I can't get internet on the old Mini. I had no reason at all to think there wasn't an active, working internet connection.
I have all the bars showing, it's connected and the Mini says the internet is working, but I can't open this website. I can get Google search.
It was working fine when I installed Leopard.
This is the likely problem, you're right.

[sharktooth]

At this point the easiest and fastest solution is to use an ethernet cable between the two Macs. In the old days you used to need a crossover cable to directly connect two computers, but I think anything made in the 2000's will have an autosensing ethernet port, so any ethernet cable should work.

[Ari]

Thanks, David, for your Google suggestion. An option I hadn't considered.
Shark, the cable arrives tomorrow, but in the meantime I checked to see if any updates were available, lo and behold, Safari, AirPort and File Sharing all had an update waiting.
I never intended to use this computer for anything but scanning, so while I need to stay with Leopard OSX 10.5.8, hopefully these software updates will get the internet going.
Thanks

[sharktooth]

Actually, the internet problem may be related to https. The really old internet browsers don't have the capability to provide the security protocols required to access https sites. Since most sites are https now, the old browsers are basically useless. The Safari update might get you to a version that supports https, but it will still be very old and outdated. Most modern browsers won't work on anything older than El Capitan. Apple have become the scum sucking ewaste producers of the new millenium, with their insane program of forced obsolescence. ... but that's a rant for another place.

[Ari]

Yup, you're right, nothing I do will get the internet working on Leopard.
Fingers crossed that the cable works.
Otherwise, I'll try David's Google idea, or, worst-case, keep switching my portable SSD between computers.
Thanks for all your help.

[sharktooth]

Google Drive won't work since it needs at least High Sierra to run. Leopard is about 10 years older than High Sierra. See Google Drive system requirements https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375082?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop

Does your router have a USB port? If so, hook up your portable SSD to that to see if you can transfer files to it from both Macs. If you can, then you can hook up any old USB drive to your router and leave it there. It can be used for system backups, file backups, and transferring files. That's what I used to do before I got a Time Capsule, which is a router with a built in hard drive. Note: You'll have to follow the instructions for the router on how to enable the USB drive.

[Graham Patterson]

I'm beginning to think a smallish USB key drive formatted for FAT32 (older Windows format) might be the simplest method. Not ExFAT, NTFS, or AFS formats. Then just sneaker-net it between machines. Finding a small USB drive might be the hardest bit these days. Leopard ought to be able to handle FAT32, and that format has no user authentication to trip things up.

[Ari]

Thanks, Graham. I already use a 32Gb SSD that I swap between computers.
I used to have a thumb drive, also 32Gb, but it was slow. The SSD is very quick to copy files.
The main drawback to the system, besides the extra cables, is that I have to point the scanner to put the scans in the SSD each time I plug it back in.
Not a huge deal, I'm happy to continue that way if nothing else works, but maybe the ethernet cable will makes things a little smoother.
It can be tucked out of sight behind my desk, and I would have to plug/unplug constantly.

[Jim Michael]

I usually use scp to transfer files between unix type systems. A permission may need to be set. Assuming the systems are on the local network and you are a CLI user.

[sharktooth]

I've been experimenting with some of my old Macs to see how well they network with newer systems. I've got an old Power Mac G4 Powerbook running Tiger that connects nicely with High Sierra over wifi. Tiger is a generation older than Leopard, and the powerpc chips predate the changeover to Intel, so any Mac running Leopard should have no problem either.

I did find another old Powerbook G4 that had a Leopard partition, so I booted from Leopard to get a better feel for that OS. Leopard is a little more advanced than Tiger in terms of file sharing, and again I had no trouble connecting to it from a High Sierra Mac over wifi. Unfortunately, I don't have a Mac with Monterey, but connecting to a server appears to be almost identical from what I've read.

I made a little web site to publish the steps for setting up file sharing in Leopard. It also shows how you can access the Leopard Mac from another computer using High Sierra. It should also work the same way with Monterey.

Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/view/leopard-file-sharing/home

[Ari]

Thanks, Shark. I'll give it a try.
I have the feeling that Apple is attempting a significant break with the new M1 chip and Monterey, making anything older less and less compatible, in a shorter amount of time than in the past.
While I love the speed and capability of the new Mini, it's a bit apart from what came before.
So what you describe may work seamlessly for everything before Monterey, but there'll be glitches once you switch over to Monterey.

[sharktooth]

If Monterey can't connect to file shares with older Macs there would have been a lot more complaints on the internet by now. I don't really see anyone having this kind of problem with the new M1 Macs. I strongly suspect it's something in your setup that's causing problems. Mac file sharing hasn't really changed that much over the years, so if there was a dramatic change in Monterey we'd know all about it by now.

[Ari]

Got it, it worked! Thank you Sharktooth!
The answer, as is usually the case with me, came down to a silly oversight on my part.
The new Mini automatically applied my user ID from the new Mac to the network from the old Mac.
Once I made both user IDs the same, it kicked in.
Thanks to everyone who contributed, it all helped in the end.

[sharktooth]

Yay, glad it finally worked. If you connect with an ethernet cable now, it should significantly improve transfer speed compared to wireless.

[Ari]

I will compare speeds tomorrow when I have the cable.
I tested some smaller files (10Mb) and they transferred almost instantly.
I now have a Drop Box mounted to the sidebar in each computer, so sending and receiving will be easy.
And I set the scanner to always scan to the Drop Box, and I won't have to reset that each time I transfer files.
Thanks again!

[sharktooth]

It would be interesting to see if file sharing works in the opposite direction. In other words, turn on file sharing on the M1 Mac so it acts as the server, then see if the old Mac Mini can connect to it.

If the old Mac Mini can connect to the M1 Mac, then the advantage would be that you could save the scan files from your scanner software directly to the shared folder on the M1 Mac. This would save a step, since you wouldn't have to save the scan file to the old Mac Mini first before copying it over to the M1 Mac.

[Ari]

That's how I already arranged things, but I didn't need to set up the M1 Mini as server.
I scan on the old Mini, all scans go directly to old Mini's DropBox.
New Mini picks up the DropBox items from old Mini.
So the net effect is that when I scan, the scanned image appears on my M1 Mini's DropBox, ready to use.
Great system, fast, and no cables. I can't say thanks enough times!

[sharktooth]

Dropbox is a cloud service, so your file has to go up to the internet to be stored in the cloud, and then comes back from the internet to go into your M1 Mac. That's a complicated and unnecessary route just to transfer some files. If the files are large, that could cause some additional slowdown as well. It also means that using an ethernet cable between the two Macs won't speed anything up, since your internet connection via the router is still through wifi.

[Ari]

Sorry, I didn't mean DropBox, the cloud service.
The folder that Mac creates in this process is called Drop Box. Just a folder.
I don't use the cloud at all, and certainly wouldn't want to add an extra step to this.

[sharktooth]

That's very interesting. I didn't know that Drop Box in the Public folder is different from the Dropbox cloud service. The reading I've done so far indicated that the Drop Box is for clients such as your M1 Mac to install files to, but only the sharing Mac can see them. In other words, everyone connected to the sharing Mac can write to this folder, but they can't open the folder or take anything from it.

From your description, it sounds like the scan files you put in the Drop Box folder of your old Mac Mini automatically get transferred to the Drop Box folder in your new M1 Mac. Is that correct? If so, that would indeed be very useful. I'll have to look into this further.

[Ari]

From your description, it sounds like the scan files you put in the Drop Box folder of your old Mac Mini automatically get transferred to the Drop Box folder in your new M1 Mac. Is that correct? If so, that would indeed be very useful. I'll have to look into this further.

Correct, and indeed very useful.
I can access all old Mini files, and the hard drive, from the new Mini.

[sharktooth]

Here's my guess on what's happening. If you have the same user id for both Macs, and the Drop Box is specific to the user, then it's essentially the same drop box as far as the network is concerned. It seems weird, but I'll have to see if I can duplicate it on my own system. I haven't found anything yet on the web that describes it this way, so maybe you've discovered a new feature, Ari!

It's normal that you can access all the old Mini files and hard drive from the new Mini, since that's the intent of file sharing. What's so unusual is that files can be transferred automatically to the new Mini via the Drop Box folder. I'm excited to try it, but it'll probably have to wait till later today.

[Ari]

Here's my guess on what's happening. If you have the same user id for both Macs, and the Drop Box is specific to the user, then it's essentially the same drop box as far as the network is concerned. It seems weird, but I'll have to see if I can duplicate it on my own system. I haven't found anything yet on the web that describes it this way, so maybe you've discovered a new feature, Ari!

It's normal that you can access all the old Mini files and hard drive from the new Mini, since that's the intent of file sharing. What's so unusual is that files can be transferred automatically to the new Mini via the Drop Box folder. I'm excited to try it, but it'll probably have to wait till later today.

Stumbled on to, not discovered. :)
The user names are slightly different.

Anyway, I thought this was the intent of Mac's File Sharing app.
Designate a computer as server, designate a folder to be shared, and from another computer, you can access/download the contents of the shared folder.
That's all I'm doing.

[sharktooth]

Anyway, I thought this was the intent of Mac's File Sharing app.
Designate a computer as server, designate a folder to be shared, and from another computer, you can access/download the contents of the shared folder.
That's all I'm doing.

Yes, it's normal that others on the network can access designated folders on the sharing computer. Designating a folder as shared simply gives others on the network acceAss to it. You probably wouldn't want to share the whole computer or entire drives, for security reasons, so that's why you have to specify what folders or drives you are willing to share. Other users on the network still have to go into those folders to do anything with them.

Oh, maybe I've misunderstood what you're doing. Are you just opening the scanned files in the Drop Box of your old Mac Mini with your new M1 Mac? That's certainly possible. If you do that, the original scanned file still exists only on the old Mac Mini. If you turn off the old Mac Mini, that file will no longer be available to the new M1 Mac. Opening a networked file probably isn't a good practice. You're better off moving the file to the computer that's going to use it, and then opening it there. You're M1 Mac will have a faster hard drive, and faster everything than your old Mac Mini.

[Ari]

Oh, maybe I've misunderstood what you're doing. Are you just opening the scanned files in the Drop Box of your old Mac Mini with your new M1 Mac? That's certainly possible. If you do that, the original scanned file still exists only on the old Mac Mini. If you turn off the old Mac Mini, that file will no longer be available to the new M1 Mac.

Yes, that's what's going on. This suits me fine, as the old Mini is only on when I scan. I can copy scans from its drop box to the new Mini, then shut down old Mini.
It may be routine to you, but this is a huge upgrade in efficiency for me. I nearly opened some bubbly to celebrate.
When I'll be dealing with large files (150+ Mb) , I'll test out transfer speeds with and without an ethernet cable.

[sharktooth]

I would recommend that you copy the scanned file from the old Mac Mini to the new M1 Mac, and then open that file on the new M1 Mac to do whatever in Photoshop or other software. You don't need to turn off the old Mac Mini, just don't try to open the files that are stored on the Mac Mini. Opening files stored on a networked drive, especially on a old and slow drive, negates any of the advantage of having a newer and faster computer.

[Ari]

It has to be that way, the old Mini has its basic OS and the scanning software.
If I open a photo on the ld Mini, it opens in Preview. The M1 is where the action happens.
So the photo gets scanned and automatically appears on the M1 (via old Mini drop box folder to M1 drop box folder).
When I'm done scanning, I copy everything to a different folder on my M1, then I turn off the scanner and old Mini.

[bmikiten]

Using TeamViewer is another option for short term connections but you should be able to use Remote Desktop as well as file sharing as others have mentioned. If you are good with terminal, you can ping both machines on the same network to be sure there isn't a conflict there.

Brian

[sharktooth]

It has to be that way, the old Mini has its basic OS and the scanning software.
If I open a photo on the ld Mini, it opens in Preview. The M1 is where the action happens.
So the photo gets scanned and automatically appears on the M1 (via old Mini drop box folder to M1 drop box folder).
When I'm done scanning, I copy everything to a different folder on my M1, then I turn off the scanner and old Mini.

Everything you're doing is perfectly fine, but this section in brackets is completely incorrect "(via old Mini drop box folder to M1 drop box folder)". The only way this statement "(via old Mini drop box folder to M1 drop box folder)" could possibly be true, is if you have file sharing turned on on both the old Mac Mini AND the M1 Mac. Even then, I think it's highly unlikely. One way to know for sure is to check the drop box folder in the M1 Mac. It's located in the M1's main hard drive, in a folder called Users, in the Users folder there's a folder with the user name, and within that folder there's a folder called Public. The Drop Box folder will be in that Public folder. Open that Drop Box folder on your M1 Mac, and I'm sure it will be empty. If not, I'll eat my chocolate shorts :)

You're misunderstanding how networking works, but you seem to be doing the right things anyway.

[Ari]

You're right, the M1 File Sharing is off, and M1 Drop Box folder is empty.
But when I turn on old Mini, the M1 will receive the file from that DB folder and mirror it.
As you said, everything's working, so I'm not too concerned with the "how", just glad that it runs so well.
The link you sent earlier helped a lot.

Brian, thanks but I am terrible with Terminal.

[mike rosenlof]

Using TeamViewer is another option for short term connections but you should be able to use Remote Desktop as well as file sharing as others have mentioned. If you are good with terminal, you can ping both machines on the same network to be sure there isn't a conflict there.

Brian

If you're good with the terminal, you can open your computer ( the M1) to ssh login and use scp for the file copies. Ya, I've seen Ari's note that he's not a terminal user, fair enough! Glad you've found a solution.

From a Linux using old fart...

[Ari]

Helpful comments always appreciated, thanks Mike.

[Graham Patterson]

Once you have a working solution, go back over everything and write it down. If you have to recreate it, it is nice to be able to look over your own shoulder (speaking as someone who used to manage computer/network systems for a living - and not entirely sorry to have stopped... 8-) ).

[Ari]

Thanks, Graham. I already did that, knowing my propensity to do something well once, but not twice.

[sharktooth]

You're right, the M1 File Sharing is off, and M1 Drop Box folder is empty.
But when I turn on old Mini, the M1 will receive the file from that DB folder and mirror it.
As you said, everything's working, so I'm not too concerned with the "how", just glad that it runs so well.
The link you sent earlier helped a lot.


O.K., I've been thinking how to explain this, and decided to take a crack at it.

It seems like you're interpreting "sharing" as something similar to "syncing". That would be a reasonable assumption in this day and age, since syncing is everywhere, but file sharing has no syncing component at all.

File sharing is only about setting a protocol for transferring data from one device to another. These days, a lot of data transfer between different devices is with USB sticks. The USB stick allows you to "share" data between one device and another. A computer network is created by linking two or more computers together via wires and/or radio signals. That connection is really not much different than plugging some USB sticks into your computer using some very long USB extension cables. Each computer on the network acts much like a USB stick, and just like a USB stick those other networked computers can show up on your desktop as a separate device. Also like a USB stick, the data on the USB stick or the networked computer stays on that USB stick or Networked computer until it's actually copied to another device. It doesn't automatically transfer or "sync" in any way.

Now, here's the difference between a USB stick and a networked computer. The USB stick has no control over the data in the stick. When a USB stick is plugged into a computer, the computer user can do whatever they want with the data on the stick. When two or more computers are networked together, they may be able to see each other on the network, but that doesn't mean they're going to be willing to let another computer have access to their data. They get to determine what data they are going to be willing to "share". This is where the "sharing" comes from in file sharing. File sharing is really about setting controls and restrictions on how data is shared, rather than the wide open unrestricted data sharing from a USB stick.

Let's now look at your own setup with two Macs networked together via wifi and a wireless router. You can think of it as your old Mac Mini hard drive being plopped in a USB case and plugged into your new M1 Mac with a long USB cable. Your old Mac Mini hard drive would show up on the desktop of your new M1 mac just like any other USB external drive, except for one significant difference. The difference is that your old Mac Mini can choose what folders or data on the hard drive can be accessed. That access is controlled by the File Sharing settings in the old Mac Mini.

So, when you see the Drop Box folder under the "Shared" header in a finder window of your M1 Mac, you're really just seeing the old Mac Mini Drop Box folder that it gave the M1 Mac permission to access. The data in that Drop Box folder is still only on the old Mac Mini until you actually copy it to a location on the M1 Mac's hard drive. There is no automatic synching involved at all, just like any other basic USB drive you'd plug into your Mac. As soon as the network connection is broken (computer turned off, cable pulled, etc.) the Drop Box folder disappears from the Shared section of the finder window, just like pulling a USB stick out.

[Ari]

Thanks for a detailed explanation, it'll benefit quite a few people, I imagine.
But I do understand what's going on and what file sharing is about. I just need the File Sharing app to work for me as a substitute for the USB stick, i.e., the quick and wireless transfer of data to my main computer.
Others will have different uses for file sharing, but this is all I need, and I'm glad it works the way it does.
The ethernet cable arrived yesterday, but I don't want to disrupt what is a very smooth scanning workflow.
I'll keep the cable handy if something should go kaput.

[sharktooth]

Hi Ari, you're still missing some key points about file sharing, specifically relating to the use of the Drop Box folder. It's not causing you a problem, due to the way you've got both your computers configured, but this wouldn't work at all for most networks.

The confusion relates to the Dropbox application. It had me confused at first, too. The Drop Box folder has nothing to do with the Dropbox application, and has a completely different purpose and function. It's unfortunate that they have such similar names. Putting things in the Drop Box folder is actually a really bad thing to do. It doesn't do anything at all like what the Dropbox application does, and can actually prevent file sharing, rather than enable it.

For file sharing, Apple has created a default folder called "Public", which becomes visible to other computers on the network when file sharing is turned on. Within that "Public" folder is another folder called "Drop Box". This is all that's there to start with. If you want to make files on your computer available to other computers on the network, then all you need to do is put them in the "Public" folder. Once they're in the Public folder, anyone else can see them and use them. Why then, you may ask, is there also a "Drop Box" folder within the "Public" folder? It seems to be unnecessary. In fact, it is completely unnecessary for regular file sharing, but it still does have a specific purpose that may be useful in some cases. It's for cases where someone else on the network wants to put a file in your "Public" folder. Since the "Public" folder is read only (by default), in order to do that, they would put the file in the "Drop Box" folder. This is possible since the permissions for the "Drop Box" folder are write only for any user other than the user of the sharing computer. Any other user cannot open and see what's in that folder, but they can put files in it. It's like a ballot box, you can put stuff in, but you can't see what's inside unless you have the key to open it.

In your case, the M1 Mac should not have been able to open the Drop Box folder in your old Mac Mini if there were different user id's on both computers. That's probably why it wasn't working originally. If you really want to share files with other computers on the network, The Drop Box folder is the one place you definitely DON'T want to put them. The simplest way is just to put them in the "Public" folder.

An even better way to do it would have been to share the folder that you originally used to save your scanning file into. All you needed to do was to right click on the folder then select Get Info from the submenu, then click on the sharing box in order to activate file sharing for that folder.

[Ari]

Good advice, Shark, thank you.
I'll scan again next week and I'll re-configure as you suggest.
Like you said, it's working, which is good enough, but if there's a more kosher way of doing this, I'll listen to an expert.

[sharktooth]

I wanted to make sure that anyone else reading this thread doesn't start thinking that the Drop Box folder is somehow key to file sharing. It really shouldn't be used at all for basic file sharing between Macs, and I wanted to explain why. I also wanted to explain the difference between the Dropbox application (which is all about file sharing), and the Apple Drop Box folder (which is just a standard folder with write only permissions)

[sanking]

I wanted to make sure that anyone else reading this thread doesn't start thinking that the Drop Box folder is somehow key to file sharing. It really shouldn't be used at all for basic file sharing between Macs, and I wanted to explain why. I also wanted to explain the difference between the Dropbox application (which is all about file sharing), and the Apple Drop Box folder (which is just a standard folder with write only permissions)

Thanks for the information you have shared here. I have a Drop Box account and use it from time to time to share large files with friends. It works OK, but We Transfer seems somewhat less problematic to use.

I do a lot of high resolution digitizing of negatives, from 35mm to 20x24. I used scanners at one time but in the last several years have switched to high resolution digital cameras for digitizing film, such as the Sony a7r iv and Fuji GFX 100S which can be used in Pixel Shift mode to generate scans fo 240 mp to 400 mp. These files are quite large and in my own work flow I find it much easier to just save the files to card in the camera and then physically transfer the files to the main computer I need for processing rather than network through a second computer. I have found large transfer of digtial archives to be quite clumsy without a direct ethernet connection of devices, and even then more troublesome than direct transfer of the image files on card from the camera to the main computer. If the main computer is a laptop tethering is even more efficient.

Sandy

[sharktooth]

I have a Drop Box account and use it from time to time to share large files with friends.

In the statement above you say you have a Drop Box account, but what you actually have is a Dropbox account (no space between "drop" and "box") :). That's why it's so confusing. Dropbox is great for sharing files thru the internet or in the cloud, but it has nothing to do with the Drop Box folder inside the Public folder of every Mac.

[sanking]

In the statement above you say you have a Drop Box account, but what you actually have is a Dropbox account (no space between "drop" and "box") :). That's why it's so confusing. Dropbox is great for sharing files thru the internet or in the cloud, but it has nothing to do with the Drop Box folder inside the Public folder of every Mac.

Sorry for the confusion.

Correct, what I have is a Dropbox account that allows sharing of files through the internet.

And in fact, I have never used the Drop Box folder in the Public folder of MACs. Been using MACs since the mid-1980s, but that folder has eluded me until now. So color me confused about the meaning of the term. But always good to learn.

Sandy