My new mac is unable to find my old mac via the wireless network. Any ideas how to get these two connected?

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My new mac is unable to find my old mac via the wireless network. Any ideas how to get these two connected?

I have an old-ish MacBook Pro and a new one with touchbar, and am trying to transfer information across from one to the other. Unfortunately, because Apple have decided to do away with any USB ports I can only do it through Wifi. However, when I try this the new laptop can't find the old one on the network, in spite of them being connected to the same wireless network.

Can anyone help!?

Thank you!

macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), None

Posted on Mar 2, 2018 3:03 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Mar 2, 2018 3:44 PM in response to Stodgeuk

How to move your content to a new Mac

How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac

Be sure you have marked each computer as Shared using Get Info. Note the checked box labeled, "Shared folder."

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Answer 2

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Mar 3, 2018 10:10 AM in response to Stodgeuk

Checking that box alone is not all you need to do. You need to open Sharing preferences and configure it to access the shared drive. On the other computer, you should find a new listing in the Finder's sidebar for Servers. Under that heading should be listed the name of your other computer. If you double-click on it you should get prompted to log in to an account. Use the account of the other computer and its password. This will give you access. You should check that:

You have set the drive for the old computer to be shared.

On the old computer, you have turned on Sharing.

You have configured the Sharing panel.

On the new computer, you have a shared computer in the Finder's sidebar.

Double-click on the server should show a login dialog.

You log into your Admin account on the old computer.

The old computer's drive icon should appear on the new computer's Desktop.

Here are some links that may help:

macOS Sierra- Connect to shared computers and file servers on a network

Share files between two computers with target disk mode

macosxhints.com - Share any folder or volume via Filesharing

How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac

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Answer 3

Stodgeuk Author

Level 1

19 points

Mar 3, 2018 1:06 AM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy and thank you for your help!

I looked at your solution and the shared folder was indeed turned off. Unfortunately when I turned the shared folder on it still didn't connect. I tried restarting and the shared folder had turned itself off again which is unusual.

Any other thoughts? Thank you.

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Answer 4

Stodgeuk Author

Level 1

19 points

Mar 4, 2018 6:30 AM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy,

Apologies for not being clear. I had configured the shared drive in System Preferences when I switched on the folder sharing in 'Get Info'. This all now looks correct.

Unfortunately, since I'm looking to connect a new MacBook Pro to my old one, I am unable to go into the finder sidebar without setting up the new computer independently of my old one (so not 'transferring info' as part of the setup process). Should I go down this route, or is there something else I could try to have my old computer show up during the installation?

Thanks

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Answer 5

Stodgeuk Author

Level 1

19 points

Mar 5, 2018 3:24 PM in response to majortom1967

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

I was able to make the old machine connect as a 'Time Machine backup drive' but no other way unfortunately, so looks like I will have to load it as a fresh PC and then install things again. Not such a big deal but without the CD drive installing those old Adobe applications is going to be ****! :-)

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Mar 5, 2018 3:42 PM in response to majortom1967

They don't work any differently. What is different is with DHCP you can't configure a fixed IP to avoid issues with IP renewals. IP Renewals aren't very common making a fixed IP out of one that isn't fixed. I've had the same IP for years, and it isn't fixed. But if you know the IP given to you by your provider then you can setup a manual configuration using that IP, thus making it act like a fixed IP.

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,709 points

Mar 3, 2018 10:12 AM in response to Kappy

Oh, one more thing. In the Finder's Help menu enter, "sharing." A menu of results should appear, one of which is how to use File Sharing.

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Answer 8

Mar 4, 2018 8:25 AM in response to Stodgeuk

Fixed IP's work better than DHCP.

Simon

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My new mac is unable to find my old mac via the wireless network. Any ideas how to get these two connected?

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