Can ping from Windows to Mac but not from Mac to Windows

Question

Level 1

38 points

Can ping from Windows to Mac but not from Mac to Windows

Hi all!

New owner of a Mac Mini. Know nothing about it, so NewBie Alert!

Windows PC with two NIC's. One connected to the internet, one connected to the Mac by using a crossover cable. Internet Connection Sharing on the Windows PC and the Mac can go out to the internet so there is connectivity between the Mac and the Windows PC.

The problem: I cannot ping the Windows PC from the Mac. I can ping the Mac from the Windows PC, so my suspicion is that it has something to do with a firewall on the Mac, but as far as i know the firewall on the Mac is switched off. On the Windows PC the firewall is definitely switched off.

Who can help me getting this working?

Thanks,

Ton.

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.4.6), Dual Core

Posted on Apr 28, 2006 3:15 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

AV8ORS

Level 2

270 points

Apr 28, 2006 4:14 PM in response to Toontje

Well, if you can't ping the windows from the Mac, it is most likely is the firewall on the Windows.

Make sure you don't have things like Norton Antivirus or Zone alarm running.

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Answer 2

Mahesh

Level 2

205 points

Apr 29, 2006 12:33 AM in response to Toontje

To be able to access files on your Windows PC from a Mac you should do three things:

1) Share the folder (which contains files you want to use) on your PC.
2) Disable the firewall (or configure it as needed)
3) If you have entered an IP address for the network card, delete it and set to automatic IP.

Regards,
Mahesh.

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Answer 3

Mahesh

Level 2

205 points

Apr 29, 2006 12:38 AM in response to Toontje

Also check whether you have third-party firewalls eg, from Norton installed.

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Answer 4

Toontje Author

Level 1

38 points

May 1, 2006 7:15 AM in response to AV8ORS

Yes, this is definitely the problem. What p*sses me off is that i have this firewall switched off and it still bugs me. I wanted to connect to my Windows shares from the Mac, but because of the firewall it won't let me.
At the end i shared my Mac drive to Windows, that at least works.

Ton.

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Answer 5

May 1, 2006 8:25 AM in response to Toontje

Personally I would disable the Windows firewall and install something better, like the free version of ZoneAlarm. It allows you to treat the two TCP/IP stacks seperately via zones - i.e., you can lock down the NIC that goes to the internet as tight as you want, and keep the NIC on the local LAN wide open. You can open up access to individual programs, and to individual IP addresses, or ranges of addreses if you like.
This is how I have my home wired, where a Windows 2000 box acts as a firewall and proxy server with 2 NICs, and everything else in the house connects to the internet through it.

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Answer 6

tilman

Level 4

1,235 points

May 1, 2006 10:58 AM in response to Toontje

There can be multiple problems here:
- no ping service provided on the Windows PC
- ping traffic blocked by a firewall at either end
- pinging the wrong host: You have two NICs in your Windows PC, with two IP addresses, and two host names. Only one of the two will be visible from the Mac. Use "ipconfig" at a command prompt to get the two IP addresses, or look at the Properties of your Network connections.
- Name resolution problem: Try using the IP address with the ping command, not a host name.

Ping from the Windows PC to the MAC, and observe the reported IP address. Make sure the IP address you use to ping from the Mac is in the same subnet, i.e. the first three numbers must be the same, like
192.168.1.100 vs. 192.168.1.101

What is the result of the ping operation, i.e. "host not reachable", "unknown host", or "no response".

Tilman

Mac Mini PPC Mac OS X (10.4.6)

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