OWC Raid 5, after using a Raid5 volume in Windows 11, now back in Mac, MacOS says it cannot read the drive.

@danrdz10103 

this is nothing to do with the Windows connection. Deleting the volume really won't help either, as this is just a driver loading scenario.

the "last resort" would be a clean install of macOS.

Here is my next attempt. Lets remove all parts of SoftRAID from the system:

If there are some "file not found" don't worry, just go to the next step.

How to manually Remove/uninstall the SoftRAID driver and components:

Paste each command line below into the terminal application. You will need your normal admin password for some steps.

Delete the SoftRAID driver:
sudo rm -r /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext
sudo touch /Library/Extensions
sudo kextcache -fu /

Now, Restart your computer

Remove the daemon and SoftRAID Monitor:
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.softraid.softraidd.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.softraid.SoftRAIDMonitor.plist

Remove the SoftRAID application support directory:
sudo rm -r /Library/Application\ Support/SoftRAID

Remove all the SoftRAID preferences:
defaults delete com.softraid.SoftRAID

Remove preference files
sudo rm -r com.softraid.com

reset the extensions caches:
sudo kmutil clear-staging
sudo kextcache -i /

Restart the Mac. SoftRAID volumes will no longer mount on the desktop, but that is temporary, until you reinstall the driver.

When you run SoftRAID to install the driver, do not immediately restart. wait until the dialog box pops up to go to System Preferences/Security. "Allow" OWC as an Identified developer, now restart later when you quit System Preference, go to SoftRAID and restart.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@danrdz10103 

this is nothing to do with the Windows connection. Deleting the volume really won't help either, as this is just a driver loading scenario.

the "last resort" would be a clean install of macOS.

Here is my next attempt. Lets remove all parts of SoftRAID from the system:

If there are some "file not found" don't worry, just go to the next step.

How to manually Remove/uninstall the SoftRAID driver and components:

Paste each command line below into the terminal application. You will need your normal admin password for some steps.

Delete the SoftRAID driver:
sudo rm -r /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext
sudo touch /Library/Extensions
sudo kextcache -fu /

Now, Restart your computer

Remove the daemon and SoftRAID Monitor:
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.softraid.softraidd.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.softraid.SoftRAIDMonitor.plist

Remove the SoftRAID application support directory:
sudo rm -r /Library/Application\ Support/SoftRAID

Remove all the SoftRAID preferences:
defaults delete com.softraid.SoftRAID

Remove preference files
sudo rm -r com.softraid.com

reset the extensions caches:
sudo kmutil clear-staging
sudo kextcache -i /

Restart the Mac. SoftRAID volumes will no longer mount on the desktop, but that is temporary, until you reinstall the driver.

When you run SoftRAID to install the driver, do not immediately restart. wait until the dialog box pops up to go to System Preferences/Security. "Allow" OWC as an Identified developer, now restart later when you quit System Preference, go to SoftRAID and restart.

 

 

Many thanks. will try and report back. I am just concerned that at any reboot the MacOS will quarantine it again. does apple have a centralized list of software to be quarantined? I think I have a spare M1-Macbook Pro (all this has been on an Intel Mac), would it help if I try in the M1 Mac or being other platform (non Intel) would only complicate things?

Posted by: @softraid-support

@danrdz10103 

this is nothing to do with the Windows connection. Deleting the volume really won't help either, as this is just a driver loading scenario.

the "last resort" would be a clean install of macOS.

Here is my next attempt. Lets remove all parts of SoftRAID from the system:

If there are some "file not found" don't worry, just go to the next step.

How to manually Remove/uninstall the SoftRAID driver and components:

Paste each command line below into the terminal application. You will need your normal admin password for some steps.

Delete the SoftRAID driver:
sudo rm -r /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext
sudo touch /Library/Extensions
sudo kextcache -fu /

Now, Restart your computer

Remove the daemon and SoftRAID Monitor:
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.softraid.softraidd.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.softraid.SoftRAIDMonitor.plist

Remove the SoftRAID application support directory:
sudo rm -r /Library/Application\ Support/SoftRAID

Remove all the SoftRAID preferences:
defaults delete com.softraid.SoftRAID

Remove preference files
sudo rm -r com.softraid.com

reset the extensions caches:
sudo kmutil clear-staging
sudo kextcache -i /

Restart the Mac. SoftRAID volumes will no longer mount on the desktop, but that is temporary, until you reinstall the driver.

When you run SoftRAID to install the driver, do not immediately restart. wait until the dialog box pops up to go to System Preferences/Security. "Allow" OWC as an Identified developer, now restart later when you quit System Preference, go to SoftRAID and restart.

 

 

sorry to report, after this work, I still go the "disk you attached was not readable by this computer" and if I type.. I get the quarantine again...

... and to make things slightly more interesting, now that I tried again in Windows to get my files out, now it says that it is encrypted with Bitlocker from a newer version of Windows (and I am in the latest windows 11 release).

josedrodriguezdelgado@Joses-iMac ~ % sudo xattr /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext                           

Password:

com.apple.quarantine

Just curious, have you or your team contacted Apple to get the software out of their quarantine list?

Now I am worried, that even after investing the time in a MacOS reset, it will come down to the same thing. 

@danrdz10103 

The quarantine is not something Apple does as a list. It is a "security" mechanism that triggers based on unavailable information. Mostly when a DMG or application is copied from another computer and attempts to install any components.

Here is the next step:

We will disable System Security, install the driver, then enable it again.

Run SoftRAID and Uninstall all components

Startup without the drives connected, and hold command r

go to terminal and type

csrutil disable

restart

Run SoftRAID and install the driver.restart

Connect your volume. It should mount.

If it does, restart, command r.

In terminal,

csrutil enable

That will put security back to normal.

Hopefully this will fix all this.

@danrdz10103 

"Many thanks. will try and report back. I am just concerned that at any reboot the MacOS will quarantine it again. does apple have a centralized list of software to be quarantined? I think I have a spare M1-Macbook Pro (all this has been on an Intel Mac), would it help if I try in the M1 Mac or being other platform (non Intel) would only complicate things?"

The SoftRAID driver is already installed on all intel systems and will "mount" with a limited driver on all installs.

the M1 has an additional layer of security, you need to do this first, then install the driver:

https://support.apple.com/en-lk/guide/mac-help/mchl768f7291/mac

See my next response for help. generally quarantine is done one time, at the time of first launching the app. Once cleared, it will stay cleared. I do not know why your system is re-quarantining each time you install the driver.

As far as I know, there is no user way to access this mechanism, as this is specifically designed to prevent "bypass" of the quarantine to minimize exploits.

the bitlocker thing is odd, I would have to ask our windows guys if this is still a problem.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@danrdz10103 

The quarantine is not something Apple does as a list. It is a "security" mechanism that triggers based on unavailable information. Mostly when a DMG or application is copied from another computer and attempts to install any components.

Here is the next step:

We will disable System Security, install the driver, then enable it again.

Run SoftRAID and Uninstall all components

Startup without the drives connected, and hold command r

go to terminal and type

csrutil disable

restart

Run SoftRAID and install the driver.restart

Connect your volume. It should mount.

If it does, restart, command r.

In terminal,

csrutil enable

That will put security back to normal.

 

Hopefully this will fix all this.

Many thanks. Will try this. if this fails, do you think there is a case to try a previous driver (6.1)?

On the M1 or Windows , don't worry too much, I don't plan to switch over anytime soon, so as long as we make the Intel iMac work, I will be happy. 

Posted by: @softraid-support

@danrdz10103 

The quarantine is not something Apple does as a list. It is a "security" mechanism that triggers based on unavailable information. Mostly when a DMG or application is copied from another computer and attempts to install any components.

Here is the next step:

We will disable System Security, install the driver, then enable it again.

Run SoftRAID and Uninstall all components

Startup without the drives connected, and hold command r

go to terminal and type

csrutil disable

restart

Run SoftRAID and install the driver.restart

Connect your volume. It should mount.

If it does, restart, command r.

In terminal,

csrutil enable

That will put security back to normal.

 

Hopefully this will fix all this.

sorry to report, even after the csrutil disable, I am still getting the "disk you attached was not readable" and SoftRAID.kext still shows quarantined by com.apple.quarantine.

is there a way to check the status of csrutil (to see if the disable) survived the reboot?

just to confirm, I ran csrutil status and it says disabled.

for kicks, while disabled I download SoftRAID 6.2 trial and the same. 

there is no impact of it being a trial, correct? I have the license but I have been lazy to enter the serial number after each of these attempts. 

I have some bad news. just to test, I grabbed a clean installation (MacOS reset) in a MacBook Pro M1 14. I went to the steps tp install SoftRaid, enable extensions, enable kernel extensions at boot, and after all that, I still got the "disk you attached was not readable by this computer". Attached. 

So as we stand, I cannot access the drive not even in MacOs Intel, MacOS M1 or Windows 11. I am losing hope the enclosure would ever work again. I think almost all the files inside I have a backup for, but would really want to keep using the Thunderbay (it was not cheap).

Any help greatly appreciated. and many thanks for all your patience so far. 

Just to add, in this M1 Mac, fresh macOS, fresh download, SoftRAID.kext gets quarantined again.            

@danrdz10103 

When csrutil is disabled, the Security is disabled, and I don't see how the driver can be quarantined.

Especially if you also try on a fresh macOS install.

On that install, did you migrate data, or was it truly a clean install?

To confirm, you took the clean install of macOS. Did not do a data migration

Downloaded a fresh 6.2

installed the driver with csrutil disabled.

And it quarantined it?

to clarify. the clean MacOs what I did was 1) took the laptop of a box (it was set to return to Apple so I had "erase all content and settings" a few days ago); 2) install SoftRaid from softrraid website (in this process prompted to add OWC, and that itself prompted for me to enable kernel extensions at boot; I followed the steps); 3) restarted; connected the drive; same error message; I then checked in terminal and the same file we have been checking was quarantined.

I did not do the csrutil disable in this new mac M1 14. 

Two issues then

1) happy to do it again in this M1 Macbook Pro 14 if you think it would make a difference (I am hesitant to do it in my main intel-iMac; as if it does not solve it, I would have lost a few hours of installing all the software I use); should I can start again with "erase all content and settings? in which steps I should do the csrutil disable and the rest?

2) you kindly explained that the quarantined is triggered when the system perceives the file is coming from other computer. just to confirm, this "other computer" could it be the Windows machine I used the drive on? does the Windows use of the drive modifies the drives? does it leave a flag/residue on the drives? I am just trying to think what could be happening; I am running out of ideas.

@danrdz10103 

The M1, you need to enable third party security. I am at a loss also. There are no files from windows  brought over. The partition map on the disk enables the OS to determine what driver to control it with. So there is no driver from Windows that macOS can detect.

Let me ask an engineer tomorrow, this is baffling to me also.

@danrdz10103 

I don't think the driver version will make a difference, no.

@softraid-support Thanks. Attached the service report. Looking forward to any advice from the engineering team (more than happy to send you the enclosure with drives if it helps; I cannot use it anyway :)).