Mac Pro and G4 won't talk via ethernet

Question

Hi, I know this is child's play for many of you, but I'm at a dead end. I'm trying to network my new Mac Pro with my G4 MDD /dual 1.25/ V.10.2.8. I made sure that file sharing is on in both Macs, that the ethernet ports are active, and that I have a good quality cable. When I try and access the G4 from the mac pro, from Go>connect to server,I get a connection failure window. And from connect to server>browse>network, the G4 shows up but the MPro locks up when I try and connect.
When I try and access the MPro from the G4,via go>connect to internet, I get an error-36 message. And in both cases I'm using either the computer name .local or the ip address.
The macs see each other but won't connect. Any thoughts or experience with this problem?
And finally, I'm really not sure if I'm going about this the right way. My goal is to use the G4 to drive SCSI devices I use for work, and as a file server.
And since the G4 has multiple drives, I don't know if I'll be able to access/see them all via direct ethernet. To see all of the G4 drives from the mac pro, is a direct connect sufficient or do I need a different approach?
Thanks in advance,
KKnographer

Answer 1

Thanks for the tip on applejack. Disc Warrior has been good to me but I thought I'd give AJ a try. I downloaded and ran it in the G4 to clear any potential issues. Afterward, I still could not connect with the G4, via either the IP or the computer name.local.
So I went back to the computer store and picked up a crossover cable. Same price as the patch cable I was using, and I'm aware that it's not technically required, but I figured "why not?" So I installed the crossover cable and I still couldn't connect at first, via Go>connect to server>IP address or name.
Then I tried Go>connect to server>browse>network and I could see the G4 as before. Previously, when I went this route and hit "connect" to see shares, the MPro locked up. This time I held my breath, hit "connect", had to log in as registered, Icould see my HD's in the G4, selected and opened. TaaDaaa! Saints be praised!
As a test to finalize this thread and help out any other poor soul in my position, I dragged the volume icons to the trash restarted the G4 after switching back to the original patch cable. No connection was possible via any route including the network browser. Then I reconnected the crossover cable and it works fine so long as I go in through the network browser and log in.
So the fundamental problem seems to have been the cable. Whether the original patch cable is bad, or whether or not I really need the crossover I don't know, but the crossover works for me and the patch didn't.
Thank you all for your assistance!
KKnographer