SoftRAID fails after MacOS Clean and install (erase and install) MacOS 12.3

I was able to solve my problem by booting into a SoftRAID earlier version 6.2.0 on Big Sur. There the same disks mount and dismount, also the rebuild process completed instantaneously. So I conclude that you guys have a problem with 6.2.1 in Monterey 12.3. Also the issue of mounting in DU is no longer possible likewise the issue of mounting at startup with 6.2.1 is no longer possible. When I was testing the issue in earlier versions of Monterey, I didn't see it fail to mount with 6.2.1 so that's why I feel it's some combo of conditions where that occurs.

I will try to roll back to an earlier version to see if it can coexist in Monterey 12.3. 

Also, please fix moderation in your forum, of this thread if you see it, plus allow the upload of png files. Neither of these are allowed here. 

Now, after backing down the driver to 6.2.0, I'm seeing the drive cannot be written to any longer and there are missing files on the drive comparing with the current files on the drive (I can read from it and see the directory). 

Given that the driver in 6.2.1 is messed up what is the way forward to recover? Do I need to reformat the entire Array? I am running a validation (5HR) step which hasn't produced any errors so far. 

@henry-in-florida 

What do you mean by fix moderation? Make user posts show up immediately? Never going to happen as there are dozens of spam posts a day, I don't want them to ever be public.

I can look into pgn. I think it is relatively safe. Forums have become hot spot attack points for hackers/exploiters, so we keep things pretty tight.

There are no specific issues with 12.3 or 6.2.1 that I have seen, outside of some quarantine issues, which are security update triggered not so much 12.3. Driver installation with macOS certainly has some problems, however.

There was a change to APFS, I wonder if it had any side effects.

If your volume mounts, but is read only (I have not seen that error with APFS before), it means restore from backup, or backup and restore.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@henry-in-florida 

What do you mean by fix moderation? Make user posts show up immediately? Never going to happen as there are dozens of spam posts a day, I don't want them to ever be public.

I can look into pgn. I think it is relatively safe. Forums have become hot spot attack points for hackers/exploiters, so we keep things pretty tight.

There are no specific issues with 12.3 or 6.2.1 that I have seen, outside of some quarantine issues, which are security update triggered not so much 12.3. Driver installation with macOS certainly has some problems, however.

There was a change to APFS, I wonder if it had any side effects.

If your volume mounts, but is read only (I have not seen that error with APFS before), it means restore from backup, or backup and restore.

 

Well. I have BOTH those issues reported. I will need to make the Array blank and writable. Will also need to use the version which allows mount/dismount of the array. What do you recommend?

What I meant by moderation is, how do I reach someone quicker than the time needed for moderation. That would be very supportive. Did you get the log files and support docs, BTW? Any clues there for you?

Henry

@softraid-support 

Will Validation yield any clues? It's gone almost all the way through without any faults. I guess, without further recommendations from you, the best alternative is as you said, to format the array and start over copying everything from the last good backup, once the array is writable again. Can you at least point me to the correct document to reformat the array (RAID4 @ 500GB x6 partitions, with parity disk). 

@henry-in-florida 

All you need to do is delete the volume and create it again.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@henry-in-florida 

All you need to do is delete the volume and create it again.

@softraid-support

Should I reformat the disks to APFS or not?

@henry-in-florida 

We try to respond timely to cases in the forum, yes I received your attachments.

However remember SoftRAID is a disk driver, the driver is like a traffic cop, that does not know the identity of people passing by, just points them in the right direction. SoftRAID does not write to files, just raw bits.

Similarly a "validate" does not validate files, it reads the raw data and updates parity bits. RAID does not protect against data corruption, directory issues, etc. it cannot. So the logs and support file do not show anything out of the ordinary.

@softraid-support 

Very well, then that was a waste of time. Still no understanding of why 6.2.1 fails to unmount or mount the array, while 6.2.0 has no trouble. Wouldn't that have shown up as an issue? I don't know how to prove to you it happens otherwise. 

Posted by: @softraid-support

@henry-in-florida 

We try to respond timely to cases in the forum, yes I received your attachments.

However remember SoftRAID is a disk driver, the driver is like a traffic cop, that does not know the identity of people passing by, just points them in the right direction. SoftRAID does not write to files, just raw bits.

Similarly a "validate" does not validate files, it reads the raw data and updates parity bits. RAID does not protect against data corruption, directory issues, etc. it cannot. So the logs and support file do not show anything out of the ordinary.

OK thanks. I may as well let it continue for 20-30min left for the validation. Then delete the volume and recreate. So the remaining question is should I remain with GUID Disk or go to APFS? 

@henry-in-florida 

File system is up to you.

Flash media performs OK in APFS. HFS is faster. (APFS on HDDs can get pretty slow)
Time Machine must be APFS, but this is not a Time Machine volume.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@henry-in-florida 

All you need to do is delete the volume and create it again.

So, just note which disks are involved and reuse the same. Without erasing/formating them, unless there is some advantage with APFS now with the newer software that makes it possible. If you recall it was not always so... 

Posted by: @softraid-support

@henry-in-florida 

File system is up to you.

Flash media performs OK in APFS. HFS is faster. (APFS on HDDs can get pretty slow)
Time Machine must be APFS, but this is not a Time Machine volume.

These are ALL SSD's. Not the fastest mind you, but all SSD and similar styles. EVO Samsung's.

@henry-in-florida 

Its not to say there can be no issue, but it is not 6.2.1. It could be the driver not loading, quarantine, for example.

I am only stating there is no compatibility issues that we know of, with 12.3 and certainly none in 6.2.1 specifically. So if there is a problem, lets figure it out.

You can do a driver quarantine check with this terminal command. Paste it in and hit enter. See if anything comes out. It should be no response.

xattr /Library/Extensions/SoftRAID.kext