marcleonti

Okay. I've been messing with this thing ALL day. I've got some things working, but some things still aren't working. I'm frustrated & ready to smash something. Let's take it from the top. Here's what I'm working with and my dilemma:

Computer #1: Mac Power PC G4 Quicksilver 2002 running OS X 10.5.8

Computer #2: Dell "old piece of crap" running Windows XP Version 2002 Service Pack 3

Router: Linksys WRT54G V8 router running DD-WRT v24 (05/24/08) micro - build 9526, restored to factory defaults

Modem: Motorola Surfboard SB4200 flashed with Sigma v1.5b

Printer: Lexmark P4350 color inkjet USB printer, connected to the Mac

Both computers and an Xbox 360 are connected to the router via Cat 5e ethernet cable.

Lastly, I have a Wii connects to this router wirelessly.

The Wii & Xbox work fine, and there are no problems there. My Mac is in the house, and is my main computer. My old Dell is in the garage & I only have it to read service manuals, look up part numbers over the internet & a few other work related things. (I run a small motorcycle repair operation out of my garage.) The Dell is old & slow, but it serves it's purpose & I don't mind if it gets greasy or even ruined. Problem is, I have many manuals & files that I store on my Mac that I would like to access from the garage. I also keep customers' invoices on my Mac, but I would like to be able to update them from the garage. Also, if I'm looking at or working on something on the Dell, I would like to be able to hit the print button and simply walk in the house & grab it off the printer. Finally, if I'm somewhere away from my house, I need to be able to access the files on my Mac via the internet. Before I bought the router, I could use any windows machine, open Internet Explorer and type "ftp://c-75-66-220-210.hsd1.tn.Comcast.net/" and a new window would open. I could log in to my computer using my regular name & password, then have access to my files. I could drag & drop files between the Mac & whatever computer I was sitting at.

Now, plugging everything in allowed both computers & both video games to access the internet, but I couldn't accomplish any of the other things I desired. I started by assigning my Mac a static IP address of 192.168.1.10 in the Network panel under System Preferences (DCHP with manual address). Then, I enabled all the sharing options under the Sharing panel of System Preferences (File Sharing, Printer Sharing, Web Sharing, etc.)

On the Dell, I opened my network connection and manually assigned it the static IP address 192.168.1.11, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and gateway 192.168.1.1, which allowed me to FTP my Mac at "ftp://192.168.1.10", but I lost my internet connection. I had to manually enter my primary & secondary DNS, so I used the DNS 1 and DNS 2 listed on the router's DD-WRT configuration page (68.87.68.166 & 68.87.74.166). Now I can FTP my Mac from the Dell, and access the internet from both computers, although I think I might should have set the DNS on the Dell to 192.168.1.1

On the WRT54G, the only settings I changed is I changed the login & password, assigned static ip leases to the mac addresses associated with my Mac & Dell, enabled Wake-On-Lan for each, and I unchecked the box "Block Anonymous WAN Requests (ping)"

I still can't access the Dell from the Mac. This isn't a big deal, because there really isn't anything on the Dell that I'd need to access from the Mac, but it just seems that it should work both ways. This may be related to the face that the Mac OS has a built in ftp server, not an ftp client, and the Windows OS is the opposite with a built in ftp client, but no ftp server.

I found an article on using a Mac's usb printer from a remote Windows PC on a home network ( http://www.macosxhin...021101062604548 ) and followed the instructions exactly, but it doesn't work. I don't get any error messages when I try to print from my Dell. It just doesn't work. Nothing prints, and the print queue on both computers remains empty.

Finally, I need to be able to access my Mac's files from locations outside my network. I don't know if this works at present or not because I haven't got any idea what to type in Internet Explorer's address bar from a remote computer. If I do it the way I used to, only substituting the new IP address where the old one was, I get my router's configuration page. I imagine I might have to forward a port, or something like that, but I know very little about this process and I still wouldn't know what to type in the remote computer's address bar.

Here are my questions:

1. What settings must I change to access my Mac's files remotely?

2. What do I type in the remote computer's address bar to access my Mac?

3. How can I print from my Dell to the printer that is connected to my Mac via usb?

4. Can I access the Dell's files from the Mac?

I just bought a pre-modded Linksys DD-WRT WRT54g from TheoryShare.com but I have no idea what to do with it.

http://www.theorysha...rt54g-router-13

I've gotten past the obvious things, like plug it into the wall, run ethernet cables from modem to router & from router to computer & Xbox360. I'm not using it as a wireless router just yet, but I will in the near future. Computer connects to the internet as it should (I'm using it to post this) and Xbox connects to Xbox Live as it should. Everything works fine. The problem is this router appears to have a ton of cool features, but unfortunately I have NO idea what any of them are. I can access the router's control panel, & there are a million different options. I'm afraid to touch anything for fear the router might stop working. I'm not afraid to spend a week reading up on all this stuff, but I don't know where to get any documentation. For some reason, TheoryShare isn't answering my e-mails or answering their phone. Ill I need is someone to point me in the right direction to learn more about the capabilities of this seemingly well equipped router. Please help!

Excited to be a part of this forum! Been playing with computers since I was 14 (back in 1991), but I'm fairly new to *this* game, & trying to learn more about modified modems, routers, and hacking in general. (not illegal type hacking - getting more out of my computer type hacking!) I'm open to unsolicited advice, so feel free to offer!