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Topic starter
Created a RAID 5 volume on my MacStudio (Sonoma latest version) with SoftRAID 7.6.1 yesterday and copied all of my data across without issue at all (12TB volume, with about 6TB of data). This is a test run so I can make a purchase of SoftRAID in the next few days.
I rebooted the machine shortly after everything had completed, and noticed the volume didn't come back up. Nothing that I can find in the SoftRAID logs or console. The drives don't show any errors in SoftRAID, and pass a First Aid (each disk) in Disk Utility (not that I expected DU to do anything useful). What is interesting is that in SoftRAID my internal Mac SSD is also showing as "unmounted" however is actually mounted.
* Reboot doesn't resolve it
* I've removed all other external drives just to be sure
* I'm unable to run a validation of the RAID 5 volume, as it isn't mounted
* This is very disappointing within 24 hours of initial setup, makes me question the overall stability of the product
* 4 x 4TB NVMe SSD in Satechi USB4 Pro Enclosures, configured with RAID 5 with one main APFS volume, with another volume for TimeMachine within
I have the support file ready to go, just wasn't sure of the forum etiquette and also what it contains (ie privacy issues with uploading).
Here is a screen shot showing the SoftRAID GUI trying to mount the volume, when it starts it just says unmounted, this screen shot is after I right click the volume and choose mount. It also shows Disk Utility and all of the SoftRAID logs from today.
Posted : 07/02/2024 11:27 pm
I have seen issues with Crucial blades on MacOS, maybe that was this causing it. the directory is damaged is what happened.
You are going to have to copy the data back.
Did you "certify" the blades first? (for assurance your system is reliable)
ts also possible this is a TRIM issue with the Crucial blades. I do not have enough data to pin this down.
Please attach a support file, however.
Posted : 08/02/2024 12:22 am
@softraid-support This discussion brings up an interesting topic... do SSDs need to be certified? I was under the impression that it was only needed for HDDs because of the magnetic nature and construction of the medium. So I never thought that this would have any application to SSDs. Also, there is the concern of impacting the lifespan of the SSD by using up the write cycles for this purpose.
Please elaborate/clarify.
This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by smayer97
Posted : 08/02/2024 12:29 am
Topic starter
Thank you for the quick response. Here is the support file.
I did not certify the NVMe SSDs before use, as they were new.
I'll blow the volume away and start again, first certifying the 4 drives.
Posted : 08/02/2024 12:37 am
Topic starter
I logged into the machine to erase the volume and start again, it is magically working again (at the moment). So I grabbed a new support file and screen shot, hope that something within can help identify what is going wrong.
NVMe's are Crucial P3 Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD
Screenshot showing all working fine
PS - I'm now running a validation of the RAID 5 volume to see what it finds.
This post was modified 2 years ago by ozsmac
Posted : 08/02/2024 12:43 am
validate does not "find" anything. (unless a disk cannot be read) On flash media, there will always be many updated parity blocks. Only HDD's are parity blocks generally zero updated blocks, after the first validate.
Posted : 08/02/2024 2:02 am
I certify all flash media also. yes, they are set to reallocate many blocks constantly, but they can also ship with defects. for eample, just flexing a blade when installing it can cause permanet data corruption. A certify will not adversely impact its lifespan significantly. We have blades we have certified many times and they are still at 100% media life.
Since you are purchasing an "untested" device that holds your critical data, why not certify it for reliability. Certify will also help pick up a defective enclosure.
Posted : 08/02/2024 2:05 am
smayer97 reacted
Topic starter
Ok, will certify each of the SSDs. Thank you again for the guidance.
Posted : 08/02/2024 2:31 am
Sele3ct all 4, so they go at the same time. Plenty of bandiwdth on Thunderbolt for that.
Posted : 08/02/2024 11:54 am
Topic starter
Certification complete, no errors (after 15 hours of running, did all four at once).
setup raid 5 volume again, within 5 hours the volume wouldn’t mount again, no errors.
I've decided to move forward with four separate drives and a good backup strategy, 24 hours later and no issues with drive stability. Guess I’ll know for sure in the coming weeks if I have an SSD error, or if this is something odd with softraid and my system.
Posted : 10/02/2024 12:32 am
Good luck, it certainly is some hardware issue there. Volumes just do not go kaput so quickly
Posted : 10/02/2024 2:23 pm
