Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I set up smb file sharing on my MacBook so that an iPad app could browse my computer, but the iPad app is not showing a directory listing. I am not sure if this is just not working/configured properly, like if my computer has a port that is closed somehow.

I am using OplayerHD on the iPad and cannot get my MacBook's files to be seen. I used to test that samba is working with another PC on the same network but such resources aren't available to me right now.

How can I verify that samba is working without a PC?

share|improve this question
Perhaps you should also email the app developer and ask for their help? And post their solution as an answer here? – Abhi Beckert Apr 8 '12 at 23:17
1  
Huh? AFAIK an iPad does not natively understand SMB, so you'd need to install some kind of SMB client app on it if you wanted to talk to an SMB server. I would think either installing some kind of media server, like Majestic (if you'll share movies, audio, etc), or using a WebDAV server (if you have generic files), would make more sense. – username Sep 24 '12 at 3:41

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote

I think your best bet is to install a different samba app on your iPad, and try that.

Is there any particular reason you want to use SMB? It's a bit of a security risk to enable SMB file sharing, since it has very weak authentication compared to other file sharing protocols. Perhaps you can find a better iPad app that doesn't use SMB? SFTP ("Remote Login" in System Preferences -> Sharing) is the most secure, especially if you have a decent password.

It looks like Oplayer HD also supports FTP, which you can enable on your mac using:

sudo -s launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist

Beware, in some ways FTP is even less secure than SMB.

share|improve this answer
its my network, my devices, and I can rely on the encryption this wireless network provides for the kind of data I am sending. the app supports samba and ftp, if I can just stream over samba (instead of download via ftp) that would be ideal – CQM Apr 9 '12 at 0:56
1  
Your login password for your mac is encrypted on your mac's hard drive. Any third party app you install on your mac is able to read the encrypted password, but the encryption is quite strong. Because of how samba works, your mac has to store a second copy of your login password using significantly weaker encryption, allowing any third party app you run on your mac to crack your login password. Since your login password is often also used to encrypt your keychain, that is quite dangerous. It's something to be aware of, if you're enabling samba. – Abhi Beckert Apr 9 '12 at 6:02

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.