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[Sticky] Big Sur on M1 machines and SoftRAID issues

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(@joemikeb)
Posts: 93
Member
 

@softraid-support

When I ran kextcache -i / I got

joemikeb@Mikes-mini-2 ~ % sudo kextcache -i /

Password:

Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil install --volume-root / --check-rebuild

Not rebuilding KC for arch: 'arm64e'

kmutil done

______________

Make intentional errors —
Otherwise the Great Spirit
realizes you have fulfilled
your purpose on earth.

— Navajo saying

 
Posted : 02/04/2021 4:26 pm
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
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Topic starter
 

@joemikeb

I am not sure the cause, but I have seen the symptoms.

 

What if you Uninstall SoftRAID.

Then go to /Library/Extensions and /Library/StagedExtensions and delete teh SoftRAID kext.

Then restart and run SoftRAID to install the driver.

Does that fix this?

Make sure you allow OWC as an identified developer, sometimes on M1's the dialog box is not presented and you need to go to System Preferences/Security on your own.

 
Posted : 02/04/2021 4:39 pm
(@mountaincat)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

b53 + MacMini M1 + 11.3 beta 5 with Thunderbay 4 RAID here. I have received the "One or more of the disks for the volume is no longer usable" error now 4 times. It is happening 2x a day at least. Seems to be increasing in frequency. Previous to this whole situation with the beta etc, back when I had a solid system I could depend on, this error occurred once in six years. I have no problem paying for the upgrade to version 6, except that this period of the last few months since I got the M1 has been a really rough patch. I would like to know if this new issue is resolvable before continuing to invest in SoftRAID, because at this stage I cannot depend on this system for real work anymore. Attached is the log file. Thanks.

 

 
Posted : 03/04/2021 2:44 am
(@joemikeb)
Posts: 93
Member
 

@softraid-support

Voilá, it worked! The SoftRAID 6.0.1 driver is installed, the array is mounted in Finder, Time Machine is happily backing up to the array, the expiration message is gone, BUT the SoftRAID app still shows the array as unmounted, and the only operation it can perform on the array is to enable or disable safeguard. I am looking forward to that being corrected in an update in the near future.

Thanks to everyone at SoftRAID for their patience and help in getting this straightened out and running right. 

______________

Make intentional errors —
Otherwise the Great Spirit
realizes you have fulfilled
your purpose on earth.

— Navajo saying

 
Posted : 03/04/2021 9:22 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
Member Admin
Topic starter
 

@joemikeb

6.0.2 will add proper APFS support.  ;-)

 
Posted : 03/04/2021 10:36 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
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Topic starter
 

@mountaincat

First lets see if this is a SoftRAID Monitor bug, or a macOS kernel bug.

When you get this message, can you copy a small file to the volume, or is it write protected?

I will assume it is write protected. Which means macOS "reordered" the disks when waking from sleep. (changed their assigned bsd disk#)

Did you change anything in hardware? Are your drives connected through the dock you are using? If you direct connect them, do you still get the issue waking from sleep?

What if you use the dock,but remove the USB/FireWire drives as a test? Do you still get the problem waking from sleep?

 

 
Posted : 03/04/2021 10:55 am
(@alexthecat)
Posts: 1
New Member
 

Hi, I still don't understand if Softraid 6.0.1 works on M1 with Big Sur 11.2.3 or not.

Just uninstallend and reinstalled Softraid on my system, I can see the volumes but they remain unmounted.

What's wrong? Do we have to wait for Bi Sur 11.3? I don't want to install betas.

Thanks.

Alex

 

 
Posted : 04/04/2021 3:10 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
Member Admin
Topic starter
 

@alexthecat

the limitation is only on M1 computers, because of a bug in macOS on M1 computers, introduced in 11.2.

11.3 seems like it should have been released by now, 11.2.2 and 11.2.3 were released after only 1 or 2 beta's, but 11.3 has had 6 beta releases now.

 

This bug does not affect intel machines.

 
Posted : 04/04/2021 10:47 am
drives
(@drives)
Posts: 8
Active Member
 

Upgraded to SoftRaid 6.0.1 and now my drive is not mounting. Where can I find the download link for b53?

 
Posted : 05/04/2021 9:07 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
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Topic starter
 

@drives

Lets solve the problem. There was no driver change since mid beta.

Did you "Allow" OWC as an Identified Developer this time?

 
Posted : 05/04/2021 9:12 am
drives
(@drives)
Posts: 8
Active Member
 

@softraid-support that did the trick! Thanks!

 
Posted : 05/04/2021 10:32 am
(@mountaincat)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

@softraid-support

It happened yesterday, and I didn't notice it till now (sadly, I am unable to use the new Mac mini with the Thunderbay RAID because it is not reliable yet). In the finder, I clicked on all three volumes. Their directories all showed up except the Thunderbay's. I am able to see the Thunderbay as if it is mounted but clicking on it causes an endless beachball.

The thunderbay still appeared in the SoftRAID app with all the drives. 

The thunderbay is plugged into a genuine Apple Thunderbolt 3 > 2 converter and then using an OWC cable directly into the Thunderbay. When I started having this issue I unplugged the other drive that was plugged into the thunderbay's second port (incidentally, I live unplugged it and it crashed the Thunderbay (orange light), which never happened prior to Big Sur/M1).

What else can I do? This Thunderbay is the main RAID drive for which I bought this mac. If it locks up like this I just can't use the system. I don't understand why this is happening when it was so reliable prior to M1/Big Sur/Softraid 6. There must be a solution. Please help.

Thanks

 
Posted : 06/04/2021 11:32 pm
(@mountaincat)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

Here is one more clue: The Thunderbay had 4 5TB Toshiba MD04ACA drives as purchased from OWC. Recently, one of these 4 drives exhibited a reliability error in Softraid, which suggested replacement. I did so, with a brand new Toshiba MD04ACA 6TB (that's one extra, because that is what they now have) as per OWC recommendation. I ran certify on that drive, which took around the whole weekend. 0 errors. I then rebuilt the volume, which worked out beautifully.

I now believe, thinking back on it, that it was after this drive change and rebuild that the daily lockup errors started appearing. Does that help?

 
Posted : 07/04/2021 12:05 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8009
Member Admin
Topic starter
 

@mountaincat

I am not certain I understand the problem. is it the Finder? (Directory issue, causing accessing the volume to beachball?)

Did you (or do you have) try Disk Warrior to rebuild the directory? You can try Disk utility First Aid, it is not very good at rebuilding directories, but perhaps can indicate the issue is there or not, by what you see when you apply the first aid attempt

 
Posted : 07/04/2021 1:31 am
(@mountaincat)
Posts: 56
Trusted Member
 

@softraid-support

The problem is the same lockup issue that multiple people are reporting. The Softraid message comes up saying "One or more of the disks for the volume is no longer usable". It is happening every day. What I was referring to with the finder locking up is that you asked if I can copy a file to the volume after the lockup message. The answer is that I cannot even see any folders on the volume after the lockup message. The beachballing happens when I try to access the volume (which is still mounted) from the finder after seeing that message. There is no way to get any activity out of the drive unless I reboot.

 
Posted : 07/04/2021 10:22 am
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