Preparing Your Mac for SoftRAID Installation
SoftRAID 6 works with macOS 10.12 or later. Apple silicon Macs require
macOS 11.3 and later. SoftRAID XT is only for select OWC storage
solutions. For both OWC and third-party enclosure support, you will
need SoftRAID Pro or Lite.
There is no installer ...
Additional Installation Steps for Apple silicon Macs
If you are installing SoftRAID on an Apple silicon Mac, you will need
to take these additional steps before completing the installation of
SoftRAID:
1. Shut down the Mac by choosing Apple menu > Shut Down
2. Press and hold the power button until “Load...
Additional Installation Steps for Apple T2 Security Chip Macs
If you are installing SoftRAID on a T2 Mac, and are using macOS 10.15
“Catalina” or later, you will need to take these additional steps
before completing the installation of SoftRAID:
1. Boot into Recovery Mode
a. Restart your T2 Mac, press and hol...
Completing SoftRAID Installation
• If you are using an Intel Mac and purchased a solution
preconfigured with SoftRAID, double-click the drive icon and follow
the steps below:
• If you are using an Apple Silicon Mac, download the latest
version of SoftRAID [https://download.owc.com/soft...
System Requirements
SoftRAID version 6 requires a Mac running macOS 10.12 or later.
SoftRAID for Windows (v.3): PC: Windows 10 64-bit or later....
Using the 14-day evaluation
You can use SoftRAID on a trial basis for 14 days for free. At the end
of the 14 day period, your SoftRAID volumes will still mount and you
can use all the files on them but most SoftRAID features will be
disabled.
If you wish to continue using SoftRAID...
Installation of Windows
On the PC, once you’ve downloaded SoftRAID double-click the file,
and the installation will begin.
* On the install SoftRAID page, check the box labeled “I accept
the license terms” and then continue by clicking the “Install”
button.
* A “User Accou...
Creating a SoftRAID Volume
You can create a volume with SoftRAID by following these 3 easy steps:
STEP 1: INITIALIZE THE DISKS
[HTTPS://WWW.SOFTRAID.COM/DOCS/SOFTRAID-6-QUICK-START-GUIDE/CREATING-A-SOFTRAID-VOLUME/#STEP-1-INITIALIZE-THE-DISKS]
1. Launch the SoftRAID application ...
Best Practice: Watch the SoftRAID monitor
The SoftRAID Monitor is always watching for disk and volume errors.
When it sees one, it changes the color of the indicator in the menu
bar and puts up a dialog to get your attention. It also writes an
entry in the SoftRAID log file so you can go back lat...
Best Practice: Certify Disks Before Use
When you certify a disk with the SoftRAID application, you are writing
a pattern to every sector on the disk, reading the pattern
back, and checking it. It is only after certifying a disk with
SoftRAID before using it that you will know that the disk is t...
Best Practice: Replace predicted-to-fail disks
SoftRAID uses SMART data from each disk to determine if a disk is more
likely to fail. It interprets this SMART data based on the results of
a study performed by Google on consumer-grade disk drives. It checks
the number of reallocated sectors and the num...
Best Practice: Replace disks which fail SMART test
When a disk fails the SMART test, the disk has determined that some
part of its mechanical mechanism or electronic circuitry is not
working properly. By the time a disk fails the SMART test, it is
usually so broken that it will most likely fail completely...
Best Practice: Investigate all disk errors
Modern disks are very reliable. In our lab, we see most disks able to
handle over a billion read and write requests without encountering any
errors. This is the number of requests a typical disk gets in 3–5
years of use in a workstation or server.
If yo...
Best Practice: Use a UPS with RAID 4 or RAID 5
All modern RAID 4 and RAID 5 systems use a cache to improve write
performance. This is true of both software RAID systems, like SoftRAID
and hardware RAID controllers. The write cache allows the RAID systems
to combine many small writes into a single larg...
SoftRAID Feature: Accelerated Rebuilds
This version of SoftRAID includes an upgraded RAID architecture. At
its heart is a RAID engine, a software emulation of a RAID controller
which has allowed us to add RAID 4, RAID 5, and RAID 1+0 volumes to
SoftRAID version 6.
Unlike most RAID controller...
SoftRAID Feature: Labelling Disks
SoftRAID can attach a label to a disk. Just click on the tile for a
disk and select “Add Label” from the “Disk” menu. You can use
the “Blink Disk Light” feature (under the “Disk” menu) to make
sure you are selecting the correct disk.
You can even select...
SoftRAID Feature: Command Line Interface
MACOS
[HTTPS://WWW.SOFTRAID.COM/DOCS/SOFTRAID-QUICK-START-GUIDE/SOFTRAID-FEATURES-YOU-SHOULD-KNOW-ABOUT/COMMAND-LINE-INTERFACE/#MACOS]
In macOS, “softraidtool” is automatically installed the first time
you run the SoftRAID application and can be accessed...
SoftRAID Feature: Hours on Disk
_SoftRAID for Mac only_
SoftRAID reports the hours of use for all disks. For disks that
support SMART, this value is the actual number of hours the disk has
been turned on (either with the platters spinning or when they are
stopped). We recommend that y...
SoftRAID Feature: Validating volumes
Ever wonder if all the sectors of a volume are actually readable? Ever
wonder if each disk in a mirror or RAID volume contains exactly the
correct information? SoftRAID has the ability to validate volumes.
This function uses the RAID engine. It reads ever...
SoftRAID Feature: SoftRAID Log
SoftRAID logs all SoftRAID-specific events and errors to a log file
(macOS) or to the system event log (Windows). This gives you one place
to go when you want to know what is happening with SoftRAID.
TO ACCESS THE SOFTRAID LOG IN MACOS: Select “Show Sof...
SoftRAID Release Notes
You might want to read about the changes made since the last release
of SoftRAID. You can see what features have been added and which bugs
have been fixed. To read the Release Notes, open
the “DOCUMENTATION” folder and then double click on
the “RELEASE NO...
SoftRAID Resources
Changelog
[https://www.softraid.com/support/changelog/#toggle-id-1-closed]
Mac and Windows Compatibility Info
[https://www.softraid.com/support/compatibility_notes/]
SoftRAID Support Bulletins
[https://www.softraid.com/support/important-notices/]
So...
SoftRAID: macOS Hang, Kernel Panic (12+ Disks)
Recently the SoftRAID team identified and was able to reproduce a bug
on macOS (so far confirmed in 10.15.x) where if a customer has 12 or
more disks connected to the host — the number and type of volumes
doesn't appear to matter — the system will hang, a...
Enable SoftRAID to open support files
sudo echo "" -n >/Library/Application
Support/SoftRAID/TechSupportEnabled
sudo chown root /Library/Application
Support/SoftRAID/TechSupportEnabled
...
SoftRAID: Dual Enclosure Mount Issue
ISSUE
Customer is attempting to use two enclosures each with a SoftRAID
volume, but only one volume can mount at a time.
CAUSE
The disks in the volumes have identical UUID's, so whichever is first
recognized by the OS will mount and the other will not...
Technical Support via Email
Your purchase of SoftRAID 6.0 comes with one year of free technical
support via email. If you wish phone support, you can purchase it on
an incident-by-incident basis or for an entire year.
Most users, once they experience our prompt response to support...
Mac to Windows SoftRAID Volume Conversion
Many OWC products are sold and shipped with pre-installed drives
that contain a Mac RAID volume, most often one created in SoftRAID.
Windows users who purchase these select OWC products will need to
convert the Mac volume to a Windows SoftRAID volume. Ple...
Generating Report for Tech Support
TO GENERATE A SOFTRAID REPORT FOR TECH SUPPORT:
1. Launch SoftRAIDAccess the Utilities Menu and select Generate
Report for Tech Support.
2. Enter your contact information (name and email address)
3. Information will be collected for the report and a...
SoftRAID Download Notice Location
RELEVANT PART
NUMBERS: OWCMEQCTJB000, OWCTB3EX4M2, OWCTB3MPDU000J, OWCTB3F1U00000, OWCTB2IVKIT000, OWCTB3IVKIT000, OWCTB3QMJB000, OWCTB4MJB000, OWCTB38JBKIT0, OWCTB3TBV4TXX, OWCTB3F80C000, OWCSSDACL4M20GB, OWCSSDACL8M200T
Select OWC external drive assemb...