[Sticky] Important notes regarding Big Sur and SoftRAID

@softraid-support  I tried it and it hasn't worked.  Note I can't disconnect all devices at the very least my Thunderbolt monitor and usb mouse and keyboard need to be connected to my MacPro.  Didn't get the dialog to allow the extension but in System Information I do see the SoftRAID extension 6.0.1.b42 listed as Notarized=YES and Loaded=No obtained from Identified Developer.   

So it looks like for some reason it's not loading even though Gatekeeper should allow it to load if I'm understanding this correctly.

Also note I was thinking of installing and reinstalling, but the option in the Volume menu is greyed out.

If you know of another way to install the extension let me know and I can try that

Thanks again! 

Here is a way around the driver mess. Disable SIP, uninstall/reinstall SoftRAID, then reenable SIP.

internet recovery boot (command r)

Open terminal and enter:

csrutil disable

restart and run SoftRAID. Uninstall SoftRAID from utilities menu. Restart adn run SoftRAID and let it install the driver.

Also have System Preferences open. "Allow" developer OWC if requested. Open Security/privacy and drop SoftRAID into the Full Disk access folder.

restart into internet recovery mode and use this command:

csrutil enable

See if that works. Its "brute force"

Looking at the past several OS X upgrades, I would never upgrade to the .0 release of any Mac OS version. Wait until .1 or .2 for the worst bugs to get fixed. There is already a .1 in beta, so we all know Apple is aware of issues, but shipped from time constraints, rather than quality considerations.

Having written that, the 6.0 driver is OK, there are still a couple Big Sur issues we are trying to get fixed on Apple's end.

But the Full Disk access issue and "allow" developer are part of the problems with Apple's Security measures and are not going away any time soon.

@softraid-support Also I removed the KEXT and re-booted.  The system recognized the extension needed to be re-installed and the boot cache rebuilt.  That appeared to complete successfully, and I wasn't asked to allow the extension to be loaded.   However the situation remains the same, it sees the disks in the array but will not mount it.

Very bad idea to mess with disk drivers like that. If you want to uninstall SoftRAID's driver, use the volumes menu on your startup volume.

Watch the SoftRAID volume tile. Does it have a BSD number (like disk5), which means teh directory is what is damaged, or a "-", which means the driver is blocked from OS X. If the latter, then follow these instructions.

https://srforums.wpengine.com/pages/support/5.8_Volumes_Not_Mounting.pdf

If the former, do you have access to Disk warrior? It is the best at rebuilding damaged directories on volumes.

@softraid-support

Thanks for this.  I really appreciate the help.

I followed the "brute force" instructions, twice, and still in the same place where I started.

Here are the details reported on the extension. Do you see anything that looks to be incorrect, other than the extension for some reason isn't loading?

SoftRAID:

  Version: 6.0.1 b42

  Last Modified: 11/13/20, 2:49 PM

  Bundle ID: com.softraid.driver.SoftRAID

  Notarized: Yes

  Loaded: No

  Get Info String: SoftRAID version 6.0.1 b42, Copyright © 2002-19 Other World Computing, Inc.  All rights reserved.

  Obtained from: Identified Developer

  Kind: Universal

  Architectures: arm64e, x86_64

  64-Bit (Intel): Yes

  Location: /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext

  Kext Version: 6.0.1b42

  Loadable: Yes

  Dependencies: Satisfied

  Signed by: Developer ID Application: Other World Computing (Q9P8K45M5C), Developer ID Certification Authority, Apple Root CA

@sterno

Its almost like it is quarantined, but that is no longer being used. One more thing is download a fresh copy of the beta directly from your machine, not across the network. (Makes sure the ownerships are correct). Try once more.

@softraid-support 

tried again, this time with a fresh downloaded copy of the dmg, and same results.   At least it's consistent, but nothing I've done so far has resulted in the extension loading.  Any other ideas?  Would any diagnostics help?  Otherwise I'll just wait for the next round of updates and see if that fixed things. 

I actually have .1 waiting for me on my 2018 Mac mini. I'm not enrolled in any betas.

Try this:

disconnect your SoftRAID disks. Restart. Connect the disks after startup. Does that help?

I know, but its too soon for me. I want the marketplace to find the nastier bugs, not me! Clearly this is an urgent bug fix release to be on the same "day" as the official release. But it is up to you.

@softraid-support What does "OK" mean?! And how do you get the 6.0 driver? Does it ship with Big Sur? Why are we getting personal opinions about point releases in here? This is all remarkably unprofessional. 

What is the official state of SoftRAID in regards to this major operating system release? Can I use my expensive array of hard drives with the currently shipping OS or not?

The SoftRAID driver passed Apple QA tests, we have tested it a ton, we think it is solid, and a 6.0 driver version is bundled with Big Sur.

Yes, you can use your hardware with Big Sur. The SoftRAID driver is reliable. The SoftRAID 6.0 application will be in beta for quite a while, likely into next year.

As for Big Sur:

Go back 5 years. Every major OS X upgrade X.0 has had significant issues (Catalina probably the worst), and took several incremental updates for the OS to settle down. This comment had nothing to do with SoftRAID, it is about Apple QA and the rush to meet an October deadline every year.

Its my personal recommendation not to update to a major upgrade like Bit Sur until the market tests it out. Not to mention some of your mission critical applications may no longer work, or have problems in Big Sur. There is no need to rush into Big Sur, until you are satisfied you are not going to spend your busy time tracking down issues that are fixed later.

In our experience, users of SoftRAID tend to be "prosumers" or often server admins, are generally slower to dive into new MacOS updates, until they can get a grip on new issues introduced by the OS. Keep up with sites like Macintouch to find advice from seasoned administrators for guidance. Then take the plunge.

Posted by: @softraid-support

Its my personal recommendation not to update to a major upgrade like Bit Sur until the market tests it out. Not to mention some of your mission critical applications may no longer work, or have problems in Big Sur. There is no need to rush into Big Sur, until you are satisfied you are not going to spend your busy time tracking down issues that are fixed later.

In our experience, users of SoftRAID tend to be "prosumers" or often server admins, are generally slower to dive into new MacOS updates, until they can get a grip on new issues introduced by the OS. Keep up with sites like Macintouch to find advice from seasoned administrators for guidance. Then take the plunge.

This is all true, and I'm well aware of it. But there are also plenty of other factors in play that *may* require a customer to "rush" into a new operating system (like say buying a new computer that has it pre-installed) and we expect something as crucial as our data storage stack provider to have very explicit guidance and explanation of exactly what does and doesn't work with the software and hardware provided by them.

I'm not looking for opinions from my hard drive array manufacturer, I'm looking for detailed, timely, and factual explanations to very frequently asked questions.

I can only be specific to SoftRAID, or public information about Big Sur.

The SoftRAID driver is stable. no issues that we are aware of.

Sorry if I am confusing you, I am trying to separate SoftRAID specific issues, vs. the fact that Big Sur is a new OS, which will have significant bugs that will be ironed out over the next month or two. NOT SoftRAID bugs.  Issues like one I saw reported yesterday, where computers hung at restart because the Apple notarization certificate servers could not be reached.

We could not have a bundled driver built into Big Sur if it were not solid. Apple would have rejected it.

What is actually "beta" is the SoftRAID Application, which has a long way to go before it fully supports APFS, and other features.