Functionality Issues - SoftRAID Forum

SoftRAID 6 upgrade of SoftRAID 0 Array?

Henry-In-Florida — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 19:45:27 +0000

My existing RAID 0 array might be a candidate SoftRAID 6 but wondering about the potential loss of speed and reliability of the RAID 0/1 arrangement. Also the speed compromise using APFS encrypted formatting.

Any advice or experience?

Details in my signature.

APFS vs. HFS+ for a RAID 6 HDD backup volume?

THolland — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 04:23:49 +0000

Hello, and apologies if this is the wrong subforum - I’m new here. Posting under SoftRAID 9 since that’s the version I’m running, but perhaps this belongs elsewhere, and happy to move it if so.

I’m trying to decide between APFS and HFS+ for a new backup array:

Software: SoftRAID 9, macOS 27
Hardware: ThunderBay 4, 4 × 12 TB Toshiba enterprise HDDs
Configuration: RAID 6
Use case: Backup destination for a ~9 TB photo library and a Mac’s internal SSD, using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC), each with its own APFS volume and snapshot history

I understand that OWC recommends HFS+ over APFS for spinning disks, primarily due to fragmentation and performance degradation over time.

However, CCC strongly favors APFS for its snapshot-based version history, which is appealing for recovering accidentally deleted or modified files. That’s particularly relevant to my photo library, where deletions aren’t uncommon.

I’m curious how significant the APFS performance penalty is in practice, particularly for a RAID 6 array used primarily for incremental backups rather than active workloads. Is this something that becomes problematic after months or years, or is it less concerning for a relatively light backup workload? One additional consideration is that I’m using two APFS volumes within the same container, allowing the photo and Mac backups to maintain independent snapshot histories while sharing available capacity. Moving to HFS+ would mean giving up that flexibility or using fixed partitions.

Alternatively, has anyone found a backup solution they like that provides comparable version history on HFS+, ideally without relying on a proprietary backup format?

Would appreciate any thoughts or firsthand experience. Thanks!

SoftRaid v9 Volumes stuck in Validating

klaswah — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 11:20:56 +0000

Hi
I have a SoftRAID 9.0.2, macOS 15.8.1, OWC ThunderBay 4 mini med 4 × WDC WDS200T1R0A, RAID 5 med Safeguard.
I suddenly have a problem that my Raid disc dont show up as a disc on my computer, so I cant use it. I have tried to Validate and mount it. But it seems to get stuck in the validate. It shows the same validate offset 182 452 224. So that means I can not mount the disc,

Nothing seems to be problem with the discs them self. I cant use disk utility from my mac.
So what can the problem be?
Down is a supt file

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Got Kernel panic after updating from beta 9 version to the stable one

shizuon — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 07:24:47 +0000

Hi
no idea why i got kernel panic after updating my softraid... I didnt do anything on the raid drive too
Here is the log

panic(cpu 6 caller 0xfffffe00572798d0): Kernel data abort. at pc 0xfffffe0056469528, lr 0xfffffe0056469520 (saved state: 0xfffffe84b678b6b0)

I am aware that on the Apple forums, they encourage posting full panic logs. We do not, as it adds clutter and makes the post unreadable.

Please post a SoftRAID tech support file, instead. (Utililties menu). It will contain the panic log and have far more information.

And what triggers these panics, assuming you are getting more than one?

thanks!

SoftRaid9 and NVe RAID 4 on macOS Golden Gate 27.0 vs previous versions

Henry-In-Florida — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 14:21:07 +0000

Comparing previous results on the same computer with previous versions of SR

(older OS), Write speed is way slower. Thoughts?

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RAID Created in Windows not opening in macOS Golden Gate

marcelodaros — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 19:54:01 +0000

Hi,

I created a RAID5 in Windows and I'm trying to open the RAID in macOS Golden Gate.

It shows me the RAID in the SoftRAID app, but it can't mount the volume.

Sending here a print from the app and the report.

Best,

Marcelo

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3272

Logs

sultan1966 — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 22:59:16 +0000

Is anyone else seeing things in their SoftRAID logs but not experiencing it on the latest version?

My logs are filling up with "encountered an error (E00002C1)" when Launching application: SoftRAID version 9.0.2 - A program attempted to read or write to a volume which was not open. Apparently it is a macOS issue according to tech support.

Just wanted to see if others are seeing the same or other things that may be causing SoftRAID logs to balloon, yet they aren't experiencing them.

I did have a OWC 500GB NVMe rma'd that passed with flying colors there even though it issues according to logs and kept disconnecting.

It is on its way back to me as I trust technicians/testing even more now vs logs.