Unable to mount public folder

Two things I'd do...

Get Applejack...
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19596

After installing, Reboot holding down CMD+s, then when the prompt shows, type in...

applejack AUTO

Then let it do all 5 of it's things.

At least if it doesn't fix it, it'll eliminate a few questions. 🙂
Besides, once you really, really need it... you can't install it!

Second, get Sharepoints...
http://www.hornware.com/sharepoints/

Makes it much easier to set up exactly what you want to share... doesn't have to be just the drop box or Shared folders.

Back to your question... Are both of you setup as Users on both Macs? Are both Admins?

You double-checked your Sharing preferences? Turned off firewall during the troubleshooting?
Restart both macs and try again?
Did you use Sharepoints http://www.hornware.com to configure permissions, or just GetInfo?

The public folder has different attributes than I think you're used to.
Your user's 'public' folder is not always a default shared folder. The most basic thing you do in Sharing...is to share out the folder you want to make available and give it proper permissions.

So...
go into your Mac account settings, and make your wife a user on your mac.
Go on back into Sharepoints, create a new "normal" share, browse to find that /users/{yourName}/Public folder.
Share both AFS, and SMB, then Show FileSystem Properties and make owner, Group and Everyone able to r/w in that folder.
Set the group option with your wife's name.
Be sure to click UpdateShare button.
Yoou've missed something when you "(+even when I try to give it its own 'sharepoint'."+

I am doing this from a mac and sharing to a Windows network, and I log in using same credentials on all machines (username/password). My /Users/rick/Public folder did NOT show up on the network until I followed the steps above.

"We" are missing something very basic...

You're right, it is very basic... and I overlooked it for HOURS while trying to fix it on my computer (Yes, my dad and I were having the same problems). This is what solved it for us. Hope this helps you.



Problem: You want to use someone's drop box via the network but it doesn't mount. You go to the Network tab and select the user, log in as guest, but when it asks you what to mount nothing appears.

Enjoy

Resolution: The computer you are trying to log into has their permissions wrong on their home folder and the computer cannot detect it. To fix this have the user right click (cntrl+click for those using trackpad) on the users home folder in the left Finder column. Click Get Info. Under "Ownerships and Permissions" make sure it reads as follows!

Ownership & Permissions:
You can: Read & Write
Details:
Owner: "user" (users short name i.e. "johndoe")
Access: Read & Write

Group: admin
Access: Write only (Drop Box)

Others: Write only (Drop Box)

Once the permissions are correct, anyone can log on to your computer as a guest via the network and be able to use your drop box. Also, don't forget to to this to the user that it is affecting. If she tries to connect to you and your disk doesn't show up, you have to do this to YOUR COMPUTER and not hers. If you are connecting and nothing of hers shows itself she needs to do this to HER COMPUTER and not yours.

P.S. Make sure you drop box permissions are set that people can only write also. You don't want people to be able to read or write in it.

Also, if this alone doesn't fix the problem, then you have two problems (one of which you just fixed with the permissions.) The second thing you have to do if the previously stated doesn't help is fix an I.D.

To do this, you go to Finder>Applications>Utilities Folder>NetInfo Manager. Once in the application you will see three columns. In the middle column select the users menu. In the farthest right column now select the user (i.e. "johndoe"). Below, click the lock and verify it to make changes. Where you see "sharedDir", across from that it should say "Public". If it does, then the fix the first time should have fixed all your problems and I have no idea what to tell you. BUT if it doesn't say Public or doesn't say anything at all, click the empty or errored field and type Public (capital P, lowercase ublic) and click the lock to apply your change.

All should be fixed but if not, try restarting your personal file sharing in system preferences. If after all of that all is lost and nothing worked, call Applecare and tell them there is a problem with your machine and they need to fix it and if they can't, they need to send you a new computer.

I really, really, really hope this fixes all of your problems for you. If I had hair I could put my fingers on I would have torn it out due to the aggravation of not being able to use the drop-box feature and then having to figure out how to fix it.

Good luck! If you need anything, more help or better descriptions of what to do, just respond back.