Buffalo Forums

   OK so I have a Linkstation.  I want to be able to connect it to the back of my iMac through LAN, and I know this works because I've done it before.  I'm not sure whatthe problem is.  The Drive does not show up under Shares in the Finder and when I try to connect to the server it tells me to access the files locally.  I've done research else where and I think the problem is that my Mac has a different IP address than the router, but even when I give the ethernet its own static address in the same range as my Mac I get the same error.  Help Please!

   

Not sure of your mac hardware, but will ask...

 

When connected can you access the Web Gui using the IP Address of the device in Safari or Internet Explorer?

 

If not, are you using a crossover LAN cable?

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   I have an iMac.  And no i cannont access the web GUI.

   ok. What's the IP address and subnet mask of your linkstation, and the ipaddress and subnet mask of your iMac? Make sure the IP address is of your 'wired' Network Card, Not any wireless Network cards. You're using a x-over (crossover) LAN cable, correct? What does the iMAc show your Network Card (NIC) connection status as? Have you disabled any/all wireless Network cards when trying this? ---

   

Ok Here is the Linkstation:

IP: 169.254.195.170

Subnet: 255.255.0.0

 

Here is the wireless internet:

IP: 152.35.168.251

Subnet: 255.255.0.0

 

I dont have a wired internet connection because iMacs only have one ethernet plug.

My network connection for the internet is fine.  And If I dissable the wireless network i cant get internet

   

Gotcha. 

What I'm suggesting is to disable your internet connection (Wireless), set your iMac's Ip to a Static 169.254.195.169

subnet mask should match the linkstation's.

No gateway necessary.

 

(again this should be the IP address set on the Physical NIC, Not the Wireless settings, make sure the wireless Network settings remain constant).

 

Then, while the internet will be disabled, try communicating with the Linkstation.

 

If it works, problem is in your iMac's routing to the Linkstation.

If it doesn't work, problem is either on your NIC connection or on the Linkstation side.

 

After performing the test, you should be able to revert all the settings and jump back on your wireless internet connection.

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   I'm sorry but your instructions make no sense to me on my mac.  Can you explain it more simpler? Sorry

   

Sure, we can try an easier alternative if possible :smileyhappy:

 

So to understand your setup..

 

You have an iMac w/ Wireless + Wired network connections.

You use the wireless connection to get on to the internet and the Wired connection is unused (but you're trying to plug the Linkstation into it).

 

Your wireless connection from your iMac is connecting wirelessly to some sort of Wireless Router, Wireless Access Point, or some sort of Wireless Modem/router combination device.

 

What model wireless router/access point are you using?

 

If you can provide a brief overview of your configuration the option to plug into your Network and access the Linkstation that way (instead of on the iMac port). 

If/when that is working you can either keep it that way or reconfigure it to work on your other Network port (on the iMac directly).

 

Let me know your setup/config as requested above and will follow-up with a simple way to get this going.

 

   

Thanks!  Ok so im on a college campus so i don't know what the router model is sorry.

  But Right now I have these settings,

AirPort:

IP address - 152.35.168.251

Subnet Mask - 255.255.248.0

Router - 152.35.168.1

 

Ethernet:

IP Address -152.35.168.252

Subnet Mask - 255.255.248.0

Router - Blank

DNS Server - blank

Search Domains - Blank

 

Thanks

 

   

Ahhh ok well this changes a few things then :)

 

Configure your Ethernet port (not your airport) to be:

IP Address: 169.254.195.165  (assuming from your prev post your linkstation is 169.254.195.170).

Set the subnet mask to match, and then connect to your NIC.

 

Can you ping 169.254.195.165?

Can you ping 169.254.195.170?

 

If no to either, disable your wireless, then try pinging again.

If it works, you should be back in business.

 

If yes, then you should be ok to start accessing the storage on the Linkstation.

 

   That first IP was just the IP address My Mac gave the link station.  But I tried what you said and neither worked :/

   

So when connecting the Linkstation and trying to ping, you could neither ping yourself (.165) nor the linkstation (.170)?  Or you could ping yourself (.165) but just not the linkstation?

 

Also, where are you finding the Ip address your system is assigning to the Linkstation...?

   I pinged 152.35.168.251 and 152.35.168.252 because those are the IP addresses I found in my Network Settings.  If I change the first one to what you said i will not be able to connect to the internet

   Understood, but changing would be a temporary situation to validate whether or not it's what is blocking your linkstation access or not...Then you should revert back as required.

   Ok so I tried the change the IP addresses and that did not work. But when I truned AirPort completely off, I was able to connect to the hard drive again.  So I have to either have the internet or the Linkstation.  :/  at least thats better than nothing at all.  Any sugestions on how to get both up and running?

   

Woohoo!  So the issue is your iMac is not allowing 2 routes through different NICs, that's good news believe it or not. 

 

Going to find an answer for you tonight, stay tuned....

 

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Ok a few things to try:

 

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8078101&#8078101

http://forums.dealnews.com/read.php?4,2651456

 

I will also note, looks like the folks at princeton have found that trying to 'make the linkstation available to the outside world' (i.e. network bridging + NATing) can cause problems at schools... (kind of a bummer, so you can't use this option apparently...)

http://www.net.princeton.edu/mac/internet-sharing-x/

 

 

Finally, it's a bit more detailed, but it's a very applicable explanation...

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=188884

 

Hope this helps.  1 thing I've heard is some iMACs will actually disable an 'alternate' NIC connection so I'm hoping this isn't the situation in your case and that it's just a routing issue (as shown above).

 

Keep us posted.