Helpdesk FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I connect to the shared network drive (SMC, also referred to as the P: drive) from my macOS computer?

These instructions are for faculty and staff that use a College-provided computer with macOS.

If you have not already done so, please complete the steps for connecting to fs1 (your personal network drive) before connecting to the SMC shared network drive.

Once you have completed these steps, you should not need to repeat them.

What is the SMC shared network drive?

Checking the operating system version on your Mac

Connecting to the SMC shared network drive from your College-owned Mac

If you encounter problems connecting to the SMC shared network drive

What is the SMC shared network drive?

Students, faculty, and staff at Saint Mary's College are given access to various shared network drives, depending on their department and materials needed. The file server for shared network drives is mavis.

Shared network drives are accessible from any networked computer on campus. All students, faculty, and staff have access to the shared network drive named SMC (also known as the P: drive). Several folders will be visible when you open the SMC network drive:

Courses - course-specific items
Departments - departments that have shared accounts
Software Distribution - includes software that Saint Mary's has licensed for campus-wide use, such as the College-provided virus protection software
Student Groups - student groups that have shared accounts

For each department/group that has an account on SMC, a folder will be visible. All members of the Saint Mary's community will be able to see the listing of folders for departments/groups. The contents of the folders in SMC will be visible only to the individuals with permission to view them.

Department/group accounts may have a subfolder named Public that will be accessible to all members of the Saint Mary's community. The decision to offer items in a Public folder is up to each individual department/group.

Checking the operating system version on your Mac

Go to the Apple menu (in the upper left corner) and select About This Mac.

Under the Apple logo, it will indicate the version of the operating system you are running.

Please follow the instructions for connecting to the SMC drive for your computer's operating system:

10.12 (Sierra),
10.14 (Mojave),*
and 10.15 (Catalina)*:

No College-owned computers were imaged with 10.13 High Sierra.

Connecting to the SMC drive - Instructions for computers running Mac OS X/macOS 10.12 (Sierra),
10.14 (Mojave),*
and 10.15 (Catalina)*:

No College-owned computers were imaged with 10.13 High Sierra.

While in the Finder (you know you're in the Finder if you look up at the menu bar and it says Finder next to the Apple Menu - if you're not in the Finder, click on the desktop), go to the Finder menu and select Preferences

In the area below Show these items on the Desktop: check the box next to Connected servers.

Close the Finder Preferences window.

While in the Finder, go to the Go menu and select Connect to Server...

Next to Address: or Server Address: type in smb://mavis.saintmarys.edu/SMC and click Connect.

Note: if you wanted to mount a specific folder on the SMC shared network drive, you can do so. For example, if you wanted to mount the Public folder inside the Infotech folder, which is in the Departments folder on the SMC shared drive, you would type in smb://mavis.saintmarys.edu/SMC/Departments/Infotech/Public - if a folder has a space in the name, please include that space in the path name.

You will be prompted for a username and password to connect to the server. Type in your user name and your password and then click Connect. (This is the same user name and password you use to check your Saint Mary's e-mail.)

The network drive icon will appear on your desktop. A window will open to display the contents of your network drive.

To easily remount a network drive:
1. Select the drive by clicking on its icon (on the desktop) once to highlight it.
2. Click down once on the icon of the drive and drag it to the right side of the dock at the bottom of the screen. You should see icons in the dock moving around to make room for the new icon to appear.
3. Let go of the mouse button to "drop" the icon in the dock.
4. When you shut down or log off your computer, it will disconnect from any mounted network drives. To reconnect to the shared network drive when you turn your Mac back on, click once on the icon in the dock of the shared network drive. You will then be prompted for your Saint Mary's login and password and the volume will mount.

If you encounter problems connecting to the SMC shared network drive

Faculty and staff can contact the Helpdesk at 574-284-4715 or helpdesk@saintmarys.edu.

Last Modified August 2, 2020