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Watchdog kernel panics - only with RAID'd SSDs

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(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
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I put this here under Big Sur because I'm becoming almost certain that this is an OS issue.  However, I'd appreciate any advice.

I have been chasing watchdog kernel panics for about 6 months with my Mac Pro.  This has put me through such a ringer that Apple has replaced my original Mac Pro entirely with a brand new Mac Pro.  So I am now experiencing the exact same issues but on a virgin new-out-of-box Mac Pro running 11.4.  Thus I am fairly confident this isn't an Apple hardware problem.

Any time I RAID my Sonnet m.2 4x4 running 4 x 970 Evo Plus (correct firmware), the Mac Pro kernel panics.  Sonnet recommended I try softRAID as opposed to just Disk Utility, but the problem was exactly the same (frankly, the Mac kernel panicked even faster).

The machine runs fine, RAID works great... until I walk away and the machine is idle for periods of time.  Then it crashes with a watchdog kernel panic.  HOWEVER, it does not crash as long as the four SSDs are not in RAID.  If they are simply initialized and appear as four separate disks, the Mac seems stable.

I'd happily upload a kernel panic log but this website is not accepting my plain text file, rich text file, or pdf...

 

 
Posted : 18/07/2021 3:54 pm
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
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If the file is truly .txt it should accept it.

Most of the watchdog panics are at shutdown, It appears this is not the case with yours. If you set the computer "not to sleep" and uncheck "put drives to sleep", do the panics go away?

 
Posted : 18/07/2021 8:10 pm
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
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@softraid-support Those settings have made no difference.  Setting not to sleep and keeping the drives from sleeping make no difference.

 
Posted : 18/07/2021 8:46 pm
(@jupeman)
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@softraid-support I have pasted all my kernel panics into TextEdit files which default to rich text.  I've converted one in TextEdit using "Make Plain text" and saved that, which is a .txt file, and it does not upload here.  I have opened these TextEdit files in Pages and exported as plain text files.  They do not upload, either ("wrong file type").

This post was modified 3 years ago by Jupeman
 
Posted : 18/07/2021 9:36 pm
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
Member Admin
 

This is a text file, attached.

Make sure you first "change to plain text, then save it, and it should show the file type as Unicode utf-8 by default.

Of you can get BBEdit (now free for non advanced editing) and use that.

 
Posted : 18/07/2021 10:47 pm
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
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I download your text file, then immediately try to upload it, I still receive "test.txt - Error:  Filetype not allowed"

I'm on Safari 14.1.1 with no extensions...

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 6:40 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
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@jupeman

Strange, it worked for me. Let me ask the forum tech administrator about this.

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 9:48 am
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
Active Member
Topic starter
 
Posted by: @softraid-support

@jupeman

Strange, it worked for me. Let me ask the forum tech administrator about this.

@softraid-support Thank you, I can simply cut/paste here but I've seen the requests NOT to do that before.  Thank you for your help!!

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 9:57 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
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@jupeman

The Web admin said a plug in had expired. Can you try again?

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 1:25 pm
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
Active Member
Topic starter
 

@softraid-support Persistence!  Thank you for following-up, the plug in appears to have been the issue.  Now that one issue is down, any insights into this strange kernel panic situation?  I can share many kernel panic logs that look basically identical to this one.  For review:  Mac Pro 7,1 running 11.4, new out of box, no external kexts other than SoftRaid.  Sonnet m.2 4x4 card with four 970 Evo Plus SSDs (running correct firmware).  The system throws this kernel panic when the machine sits for periods of time without human activity (can range from an hour to several hours) and the four SSDs are in a RAID configuration (either disk utility or SoftRAID).  The system does not kernel panic when the SSDs are not in RAID (each appearing as their own disk drive).  I have tried setting the RAID0 as both APFS and HFS+, same result with both.

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 1:59 pm
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
Member Admin
 

@jupeman

Two questions: does this happen if you disable Sleep, or is it only after waking from sleep?

Does this happen with the latest beta of 6.1 (b3)?

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 4:54 pm
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
Active Member
Topic starter
 

@softraid-support  I "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off", do not "put hard disks to sleep when possible", and do not "enable power nap".  All my kernel panics recently tested (last ~9 days) have been with these settings.  

The computer dies on its own when I am away from it, triggered by no user activity (with or without the monitors/displays on or off).  I have not observed a KP, I only ever return to a machine that is shut off and upon restarting it am told of the kernel panic.

I have not tried beta 6.1.

 
Posted : 19/07/2021 4:59 pm
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
Member Admin
 

@jupeman

Let me know with 6.1. Does this happen every night?

 
Posted : 20/07/2021 12:40 am
(@jupeman)
Posts: 16
Active Member
Topic starter
 
Posted by: @softraid-support

@jupeman

Let me know with 6.1. Does this happen every night?

@softraid-support How do I get 6.1?  When these four SSDs are RAID'd, the Mac dies with inactivity, not necessarily at night.  Just periods of inactivity of varying, inconsistent degrees.  Note that I have left these SSDs as standalone disks connected to the one Sonnet card and the Mac has not KP'd in days now.  But I will try 6.1 if you can point me to a link for the beta.

 
Posted : 20/07/2021 6:59 am
(@softraid-support)
Posts: 8006
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@jupeman

 

http://www.softraid.com/sr_beta

 
Posted : 20/07/2021 9:24 am
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