[Sticky] macOS 13 (Ventura) public beta

@syd 

Volumes will rebuild after a crash. Yes, technically you can use an older machine to manage (add disk) the volumes. Tech Support will not be available to help, however.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@syd 

Volumes will rebuild after a crash. Yes, technically you can use an older machine to manage (add disk) the volumes. Tech Support will not be available to help, however.

Good info. Thanks.

And we can continue to update to the latest driver without a subscription fee?

@syd

To update to the latest driver, you need the latest version of SoftRAID.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@syd

To update to the latest driver, you need the latest version of SoftRAID.

Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

So if we upgrade to Ventura, and have an enclosure that's older than 3 years, we won't be able to access the data without paying for an upgrade/subscription.

@syd 

If this is intel, the volume will mount automatically. We license a limited driver with MacOS.

Because of some limitations on M1 and licensing, we cannot bundle a driver on M1 computers. Maybe in the future.

Note, the problem with your hope, is the bundled driver cannot "Notify" the user of possible issues, you will have to bring it to your older machine on occasion to check its health, if a drive is starting to show failure symptoms, etc.

Posted by: @softraid-support

@syd 

If this is intel, the volume will mount automatically. We license a limited driver with MacOS.

Because of some limitations on M1 and licensing, we cannot bundle a driver on M1 computers. Maybe in the future....

We have M1/ARM Macs here. Keeping an Intel Mac for legacy, but main machines are ARM and need access.

I am hoping to upgrade my intel mac to MacOS Ventura.  I'm a bit hesitant to use a beta version of Softraid 7 because of the risk of data corruption.  If I upgrade to softraid 7 beta, but don't create or modify any volumes, would the read/write functionality to existing volumes be nearly as reliable as the non-beta versions of softraid?

Thanks

@syd I read this comment that another user posted and think you might find it relevant: 

It’s not uncommon to have to upgrade software periodically. Some upgrades (typically major versions) have a cost and some don’t. Perpetual licenses are pretty much non-expiring license to use the product in perpetuity, but they don’t necessarily include perpetual upgrades. That’s different from subscriptions, which lose some amount of functionality when the subscription runs out.

With SoftRAID you’re being given a choice: continue using version 6 in perpetuity, or upgrade for a fee for major new versions. That’s what Capture One and a number of other vendors do. Further, perpetual licenses don’t necessarily come with perpetual tech support. And it’s not unusual to have to upgrade complicated/critical software when an OS upgrade breaks something (which I’ve found Apple to do pretty regularly).

Reading OWC’s note, it looks like they’re offering you a way to upgrade + get tech support for a fee. I don’t see a requirement that you take advantage of the offer. It’s just an offer. They’re also offering you a more traditional way to buy an upgrade. So unless I’m missing something, they’ve actually done something that looks reasonable.

Your SR6 license is for perpetuity, but that doesn't mean perpetual upgrades. If you truly value your data, SR7 seems like a worthy upgrade to maintain all features.

Food for thought: you have multiple Apple Silicon Macs which likely cost a good amount. A license for a new software version that provides core functionality to your workflow/business/content is a significantly less cost. But also ensures that your solutions continue to work. Unlike some companies who have stopped supporting newer MacOS versions and essentially make your drives a paperweight...

@calbear88 

Yes, we are extremely close to final release, there are no driver changes between the current beta and the file release, which is any day now.

@softraid-support I usually buy an empty enclosure and supply my own drives and that has a 1 year warranty, not 3.  Perhaps they would consider providing soft raid support for 3 years on empty enclosures?

@kaijujoe66 

I can make this suggestion, but I am guessing it will be rejected. We make some profit on drives, which helps pay the support. We also certify the disks before selling (Takes up to a week), which improves the reliability of drive/enclosure combos' reducing support costs.

thanks for the suggestion.

@softraid-support  On MacOS 13.1 beta and SoftRaid 7.0 b18, I have been getting consistent kernel panics during startup if a softraid raid 5 is connected. After successful startup with the raid not connected, I can connect it and things run smoothly  except for once when there was a panic that seemed to be associated with the raid. 

Tech support report attached (for working system with raid after a startup without the raid). Apple panic report below. (Tried to include that as a file but forum system kept refusing media format  -- tried txt, rtf, pdf)

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xfffffe001880d2d8): "dart-apciec3 (0xfffffe20009ea000): DART(DART) error: SID 2 write protect exception on write of DVA 0x80075000 (SEG 0x40 PTE 0x1d) ERROR_STATUS 0xb0200010 TIME 0xbc60554fa TTE 0x3ff10171be001 AXI_ID 0" @AppleT8110DART.cpp:1755

@tomnash 

Thanks, we are escalating these to Apple, as it is pretty urgent.

The reason you cannot attach is you are naming the file .txt, but unless you use "Make plain text", in format window, Text edit still saves as .rtf, regardless of what name you give the file.

@softraid-support Thanks…I will be interested in how this resolves. I had this problem earlier in the betas, but it seemed to be ok for a while.  

Thought I did "Make plain text" and save at one point but maybe I gave up too quickly…

@tomnash 

thanks, I am very bothered by this, but it is hard to speed up things when the problem is at Apples end. Sorry about this.