how do I connect a pc to mac mini lion server?

Is it working with

//servername/share

or

//serveripaddress/share

? Or what do you mean by "connecting them to the server"?

Is the Server and the PC in the same workgroup?

You can also connect from the PC by going to Explorer, click on "Tools" and than "Map network drive". Select a letter for the drive and as the server address insert "\\" followed by the IP address from the Mac server, followed by a "\" and the share name. Like "\\192.168.1.10\data". Click on the settings below and insert the username and password from a user at your server.

Hi frustrated,

(I know what you mean...)

In any case, let me attempt to help you...

First of all, on the Lion Server machine (let's say this machine is named MyLionServer), open the Server app, click on File Sharing, and add the mount point you want to share. Let's call this mount point Drobo (just in case you have a Drobo attached to your Lion Server), but it could be any folder or disk attached to your Lion Server machine or on your local network. Edit the mount point share (highlight Drobo and click on pencil icon), and add the users (click + button and add the usernames) you wish to access the Drobo share, and how they access it (read only, read/write, etc.). Also make sure to check the "Share with Windows clients (SMB)" button. Click done and wait for the Server app to restart all of the file sharing servers.

Now for the Windows PC (I have just tested this myself on a PC running Windows XP Pro):

Click the "start" buttom, click "My Network Places". In the My Network Places panel, click on the "Add a network place" button. This brings up the "Add Network Place Wizard", highlight the "Choose another network location" and click "Next>". In the Internet or network address box, add the following: "\\MyLionServer\Drobo" (yes, I know the slashes are backwards from what you normally use in the MacOS - also, the name Windows wants may have only the first character capitalized, as in "\\Mylionserver\Drobo"), then click the "Next>" botton, then click the "Finish" button. The first time you perform this for the first share on your Lion Server, a window opens and asks for a username and password. Enter one of the usernames and passwords that you gave read/write access to in the File Sharing panel for the Drobo mount point on your Lion Server. This brings up a \\Mylionserver\Drobo window on your PC that is mounted to your Lion Server's Drobo.

Hope this helps,

Switon

P.S. As I said, I tried this out on my own PC as I was typing the instructions into this reply, and the above works for me. But I did it on Windows XP Pro on a 6 year old PC laptop, and all machines and Windows OSes are different, so it will probably require you to do something slightly different from what I described above unless you just happen to be using Windows XP also. Good luck.

Hi frustrated,

Yeah, I'm running Windows XP Pro on a six year old PC, and I try to avoid Windows as much as I can, but unfortunately I'm not always successful. I don't personally have a machine running Windows 7, (I do have Windows Vista though) so I can't be of much help there. Sorry.

The instructions that I listed above, as I mentioned, worked for me. It sounds like they almost worked for you. As I mentioned, I found that Windows has some atypical uppercase/lowercase requirements, in that the name I had to enter into the network address box only had the first letter capitalized while my DNS server specifies other caps. You might try experimenting with the capitalizations in your names. Also, why don't you turn off your firewall while attempting to do the connection, as the firewall may be restricting access. You can always then turn your firewall back on and open only the ports needed for the network connection.

Good luck,

Switon

Oh, I forgot to mention that you should also turn off the firewall on your Lion Server machine until you get this problem solved...

Switon