SoftRaid 5.8.2 - Mac won't boot after install & driver update

My Extensions folders.

I have some terminal commands for you to run in "recovery" mode. I do not want to post them on the forum, they are too complex.
So send an email to support at softraid.

Lets see if this works.

If the driver is loading (per the kextcache command above, then there is another issue, perhaps a directory problem. You need to send us a SoftRAID tech support file to support at softraid.

When we see that, it will be easier to diagnose the problem.

Tech support file sent.

My Extensions folders.

I have some terminal commands for you to run in "recovery" mode. I do not want to post them on the forum, they are too complex.
So send an email to support at softraid.

Lets see if this works.

Can you take a video for us on the system that does not boot?

First, you need to set verbose mode, by starting up in internet recovery mode and enabing verbose boot. Type this into the terminal.app after starting with "command r".

sudo nvram boot-args=“-v”

Then you will then need to reboot.

Can you set up your phone to take a video of booting?

We are especially interested in the text at the bottom left of the screen as it scrolls by. We would like to see what the last message is that appears, especially if the boot process hangs at some point. (if the system hangs, but leaves the text on the screen, take a photo in focus of the last couple lines of text)

You can either leave verbose boot on, if you like seeing it, or you can remove the verbose booting setting with the following command in Terminal:

sudo nvram boot-args=

You will need to reboot after entering this command.

Let us know if you create this video and we can arrange to receive it.

So I updated to 5.8.2 had the boot problem and saw the discussion here. I restored back to before doing the driver update and things are working fine on 5.8.1. If I follow the steps in the linked PDF during the first install of the driver, will that avoid the issue I and other folks had with getting stuck at boot?

Good question, as I do not know yet.

Can you use Disk Utility to create a new volume inside your boot disk container?
(view all devices, select the boot device, Partition, add a partition and make it a volume, not a container)

When you install Catalina inside that, you have a second startup volume. (for recovery and diagnosis)

We are in the process of writing this bug up to Apple, as there is no way a volume should be made non bootable by updating a driver. We think it is a bug in the new recommended way Apple wants developers to reset the startup extensions cache, but are not sure yet.

Do you mind helping out here?

Why is 5.8.2 still live? Surely you would pull it until you’ve resolved these issues

This is a Catalina bug. And we cannot "go back" to the old Developer Identifier for Notorization, there is no way back.

My theory is the Mac Pro issue can happen when Secure Boot is not disabled and the 5.8.2 driver is installed. There is some issue in Catalina that causes the system not to startup. Catalina can be reinstalled to fix this.

Since all the issues are on the Apple end of things, we have no way to address them directly. We want to put in a Secure Boot detector if possible, but there is no known way to detect the state of Secure Boot from the command line.

Sorry for all these issues. Apple did not even make the decision to enforce a base Secure Boot extensions cache for all bundled driver versions, until after the final beta on Catalina. Its an infinite loop.

so ... do you recommend updating SoftRAID to the latest version?

Should i wait?

I cannot see clear instructions on the support of your website on how I update my version of softRAID. Is there any guide to do this? where?

I would be very grateful if you could explain to me where to find this update guide

Thanks in advance and best wishes

_____________________________________________
I have version 5.8.1 of SoftRAID, the application and the driver installed.
ThunderBay 4 Thunderbolt 3 RAID5> 4 X Toshiba 10 Tb MG06ACA series ...
MacBook Pro 16 '' Catalina 10.15.3

Most of the time, just update the driver. (and pay attention to any Security alerts to "Allow" this developer in System Preferences.)

If your volume is not mounting after the update:

The mounting problem is the SoftRAID driver is prevented from loading by OS X security. You need to approve OWC as an "Identified Developer".

We created a PDF with instructions to help you resolve this problem:

https://www.softraid.com/pages/support/5.8_Volumes_Not_Mounting.pdf

I’m stuck on boot as well. Safe mode doesn’t work either. Is there any way to resolve this without reinstalling OSX?
I’ve been unable to work all afternoon because of this. Not impressed.

I think I understand the root cause of this now.
Your Mac Pro does not have Secure Boot disabled. It must be disabled to run SoftRAID.

Mac OS will override your version of the SoftRAID driver installed when Secure Boot is enabled, as of Catalina. This is a bug/issue we are in discussions with Apple for a resolution, as clearly forcing users to disable Secure Boot is not what Apple management intended when adding this feature at the last minute.

It appears there is a bug in Catalina (likely only with the Mac Pro 2019) that causes this:
When Secure Boot is "on" and a "Secure Driver" (SoftRAID 5.6.8) is being replaced by a newer version (5.8.2 in this case), this apparently causes the extensions cache to be invalid, hanging the computer at restart.

Disable Secure Boot by booting in internet Recovery mode:
https://srforums.wpengine.com/pages/support/faq/faq_imacpro_secureboot.html

Its possible you can boot normally after doing so, else you need to start in internet recovery mode again and "Install mac OS". this will not wipe your data, but will replace the system files, enabling you to startup again.

That worked. Thanks!!

I just bought a Thunderbay 4 from OWC. I just got through certifying the disks that were inside of it using SoftRAID XT - I believe the latest version.

This morning, I initialized the disks. Then I went to create a new volume. After I clicked the button to create the volume, I received an error message. I noticed that the name of the disk on the desktop wasn't what I named it.

I contacted OWC support. They sent me a PDF that explained what to do when Volumes are not mounting after SoftRAID update. The instructions told me go into Full Disk Access in my apple security and privacy settings to give permission to SoftRAID.

I did so, and the final step allowed the blocked system software from OWC to be installed. I allowed it. Then the system asked me to restart. That's when everything became a problem.

I restarted the computer, the status bar fully loaded, but got stuck at the end of the bar. Wouldn't go any further.

I tried to reboot in safe mode, it didn't work, same result with the bar stuck at the end.

I now have recovery mode open. I ran First Aid successfully, but computer still has same issues. Gets stuck at end of startup on Apple screen/status bar.

I need help doing two things.

1. I need to get my computer working again asap.

2. I need to get the SoftRaid XT software to work with my operating system so that nothing like this happens again and so that I can use my brand new RAID system.

I was thinking about reinstalling the OS, but if there's a conflict with the OWC system software, wouldn't that still prevent the computer from starting up?

Seems like this thread indicates that there are known issues and conflicts with Catalina. Would like to know the solutions to getting this working ASAP.

Here is the info for the computer:

iMac Late 2014
27" with Retina 5k Display
Serial #C02NT1B4FY14
iMac 15,1
512 GB Flash Storage
4.0 GHZ quad core intel core i7

Mac OS Catalina 10.15.4

Was running the latest version of SoftRAID XT.

Thanks - I also sent in a support ticket, but haven't heard anything back from anyone.

All support tickets should be up to date. (I might be helping already this is too similar to another case!)

You probably need to reinstall Catalina with internet recover mode. I do not think this will re-occur.