Section 32. Activate AppleTalk

32. Activate AppleTalk

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

29 Configure Networking Automatically (with DHCP or BootP)

SEE ALSO

35 Share Another Mac's Files

37 Allow Others to Share Your Files

AppleTalk is Apple's own networking protocol, designed for file-sharing and printing over local-area networks before TCP/IP became popular for home or business computing. Most TCP/IP networks in use today no longer explicitly support AppleTalk, which means AppleTalk generally can't be routed from one network (or "zone") to another. Within a LAN, however, AppleTalk operates over just about any networking protocol, and you can still use it to connect to other Macs. Some Mac-based networks are still in use in various places, such as universities, where you can browse different zones and connect to computers across the network using nothing but AppleTalk.

KEY TERM

AppleTalk Apple's own networking protocol. AppleTalk allows Macs and printers on a LAN to connect directly to one another without any configuration beyond simply turning on the protocol.

32. Activate AppleTalk

AppleTalk is not active by default; you can easily turn it on, but it can be active for only a single network device at a time. Turning on AppleTalk enables your Mac to access disks on other Macs and for other Macs to access your disks; it also means unwanted visitors might end up browsing your computer, so it's generally a good idea not to activate AppleTalkor any other sharing mechanism, such as Windows Sharing ( 38 Allow Windows Users to Share Your Files) unless you really have to.

1.	Select Network Device On the Network Preferences pane of the System Preferences application, select Network Status from the Show menu. Double-click the network device you want to configure. Alternatively, select the device from the Show drop-down menu.
2.	Open AppleTalk Settings Click the AppleTalk tab to open the screen where you can configure the device's AppleTalk settings. NOTE Not all devices support AppleTalk, and therefore the AppleTalk tab might not be present for some devices (such as the Internal Modem).
3.	Make AppleTalk Active Select the check box to activate AppleTalk. Note that AppleTalk can be active for only one network device at a time; if AppleTalk is already active on another port, a sheet appears informing you of this and asking whether you want to switch AppleTalk to the current device. Click OK if you want to do this. Click Apply Now to activate AppleTalk.
4.	Select an AppleTalk Zone If Mac OS X detects any AppleTalk zones on the network, a list of them appears in the AppleTalk Zone drop-down menu. Select which zone you want your Mac to appear in. If there aren't any zones on the network, the AppleTalk Zone menu remains disabled.