University Computer Help Desk

Unable to open a file from or save a file to Datastore using an application on Mac OS X

After you map network drives to Datastore, you are unable to use Microsoft Word to open a file from or save a file to your network share in Mac OS X.

Before You Begin

This problem involves network shares on Datastore, including your personal share on Datastore and the STV250 share on Datastore. After mapping network drives to a network share on Datastore, you are unable to use an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit to save or open files directly to or from Datastore.

To reproduce this problem, open an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit on Mac OS X. Then click File > Open or File > Save as... and browse to your Datastore share. You will see only the pub folder. You will be unable to access the folder where you'd like to open or save a file.

To resolve this problem, modify your Finder preferences so that you can access the network share on Datastore.

Modify Finder Preferences

To resolve this issue, do the following:

  1. Click Finder > Preferences....
  2. Click the Sidebar tab.
  3. Under Devices, put a check mark next to the name of your computer.
  4. Close the Finder Preferences window.

You can now open files from Datastore and save files to Datastore using an application like Microsoft Word.

Open a File from Datastore

To open a file from Datastore using an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit, do the following:

  1. Map network drives to either your personal share or to the STV250 share on Datastore.
  2. Launch an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit.
  3. Within the application, click File > Open.
  4. Under Devices on the left, click on the name of your computer.
  5. In the middle section of the window, click the network share on Datastore.
    • If this is your personal share on Datastore, it will use the same name as your ULID.
    • If this is the STV250 share on Datastore, it will be named stv250.
  6. In the section on the right, browse to the folder that contains the file you want to open.
  7. Select the file you want to open. Then click Open.

Save a File to Datastore

To use Save as... to save a file to Datastore using an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit, do the following:

  1. Map network drives to either your personal share or to the STV250 share on Datastore.
  2. Launch an application like Microsoft Word or TextEdit.
  3. Write your document.
  4. When you are ready to save the document to Datastore, click File > Save as.... 
  5. Under Devices on the left, click on the name of your computer.
    • If you don't see the Devices section, you may need to click the small blue arrow button. This will allow you to browse to a specific folder for purposes of saving a file.
  6. In the middle section of the window, click the network share on Datastore.
    • If this is your personal share on Datastore, it will use the same name as your ULID.
    • If this is the STV250 share on Datastore, it will be named stv250.
  7. In the section on the right, browse to the folder to which you would like to save the file.
  8. Type a name for the file in the Save As: field.
  9. Click the Save button.