I've been trying to get assistance from Apple support online but they seem
to be using underqualified people using set scripts. I've been through 2 support bods but they don't seem to know what a RAID drive is and took me through 'Start in safe mode' followed by re-install the OS.

So I thought I'd try here in case someone's come across similar.

I bought a Mac Mini M4 to replace my ancient one which I can't upgrade
past Mojave if I want to keep some of my other gear going. I have a USB
RAID drive. When connected to the new Mini it is seen as two separate
drives rather than one. No problem with the old Mini. Any ideas?

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On 28/12/2024 18:41, Frederick wrote:

I've been trying to get assistance from Apple support online but they seem
to be using underqualified people using set scripts. I've been through 2 support bods but they don't seem to know what a RAID drive is and took me through 'Start in safe mode' followed by re-install the OS.

So I thought I'd try here in case someone's come across similar.

I bought a Mac Mini M4 to replace my ancient one which I can't upgrade
past Mojave if I want to keep some of my other gear going. I have a USB
RAID drive. When connected to the new Mini it is seen as two separate
drives rather than one. No problem with the old Mini. Any ideas?

My guess would be that you are missing a USB driver that was either
present by default in MacOS in the past and has now been deprecated, or
was supplied by the drive manufacturer and you'll need to get an updated version.

If you tell us the manufacturer and model number someone might know more?

What I will say is that any attempt to join the two back together into a
RAID on the new machine runs a high risk of losing the data: either accidentally or necessarily as part of the setup. So I suggest that you
make a backup now while the older machine is still available.

In the interim, you could share the RAID over the network from the older machine. And if you only have wifi and it's too slow then you could
always use a direct cable-to-cable connection between the two machines -
either ethernet or firewire.

Regards,
--
Bruce Horrocks
Hampshire, England

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On 28/12/2024 22:39, Bruce wrote:

either ethernet or firewire.

D'oh. Thunderbolt not firewire
--
Bruce Horrocks
Hampshire, England

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In message <f1539f5a-763d-4bd0-a8c2-9dfba01aa8b6@scorecrow.com>
Bruce <07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

On 28/12/2024 18:41, Frederick wrote:

I've been trying to get assistance from Apple support online but they
seem to be using underqualified people using set scripts. I've been
through 2 support bods but they don't seem to know what a RAID drive
is and took me through 'Start in safe mode' followed by re-install the
OS.

So I thought I'd try here in case someone's come across similar.

I bought a Mac Mini M4 to replace my ancient one which I can't upgrade
past Mojave if I want to keep some of my other gear going. I have a
USB RAID drive. When connected to the new Mini it is seen as two
separate drives rather than one. No problem with the old Mini. Any
ideas?

My guess would be that you are missing a USB driver that was either
present by default in MacOS in the past and has now been deprecated, or
was supplied by the drive manufacturer and you'll need to get an updated version.

No driver. It's a StarTech RAID enclosure with drives installed by me.

If you tell us the manufacturer and model number someone might know
more?

What I will say is that any attempt to join the two back together into a
RAID on the new machine runs a high risk of losing the data: either accidentally or necessarily as part of the setup. So I suggest that you
make a backup now while the older machine is still available.

They're not actually separated, it's just the way the new Mini sees them. Plugging into the old Mini, it's still a single drive. The Drive hasn't
been used on the new machine. Just plugged in so the data is intact.

In the interim, you could share the RAID over the network from the older machine. And if you only have wifi and it's too slow then you could
always use a direct cable-to-cable connection between the two machines - either ethernet or firewire.

The data isn't too precious once I have confidence in the new machine. The drive is used for weekly SuperDuper! backups so gets replaced anyway.

Thanks for your response. Now to respond to Apple's request to comment on
their help :->

--
Fred

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Frederick <fred@ypical.demon.invalid> wrote:

In message <f1539f5a-763d-4bd0-a8c2-9dfba01aa8b6@scorecrow.com>
Bruce <07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

No driver. It's a StarTech RAID enclosure with drives installed by me.

If you tell us the manufacturer and model number someone might know
more?

What I will say is that any attempt to join the two back together into a RAID on the new machine runs a high risk of losing the data: either accidentally or necessarily as part of the setup. So I suggest that you make a backup now while the older machine is still available.

They're not actually separated, it's just the way the new Mini sees them. Plugging into the old Mini, it's still a single drive. The Drive hasn't
been used on the new machine. Just plugged in so the data is intact.

If it's something like this:
https://www.startech.com/en-gb/hdd/s352bu33rer

I'd be asking Startech not Apple. The box has different modes for
hardware RAID and somehow must be deciding between RAID and JBOD. Maybe there's something different about the connection/OS compared with your old system. Some of their RAIDs have a hardware switch on the back for mirror / stripe / JBOD but that one doesn't - it must store somewhere how to present itself?

I wouldn't expect Apple to be able to advise about a third party product, unless you're using their software RAID, in which case it should show in
Disk Utility is two physical discs anyway?

That particular one seems to use the JMS562 controller chip, but I can't
seem to find anything about it appearing as multiple drives.

In the interim, you could share the RAID over the network from the older machine. And if you only have wifi and it's too slow then you could
always use a direct cable-to-cable connection between the two machines - either ethernet or firewire.

The data isn't too precious once I have confidence in the new machine. The drive is used for weekly SuperDuper! backups so gets replaced anyway.

A general caution is that data in hardware RAIDs is typically inaccessible
if you have to change controller, so don't use them for data where hardware failure would be a problem.

Theo

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In message <34s*uWf3z@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Frederick <fred@ypical.demon.invalid> wrote:

In message <f1539f5a-763d-4bd0-a8c2-9dfba01aa8b6@scorecrow.com>
Bruce <07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

No driver. It's a StarTech RAID enclosure with drives installed by me.

If you tell us the manufacturer and model number someone might know
more?

What I will say is that any attempt to join the two back together
into a RAID on the new machine runs a high risk of losing the data: either accidentally or necessarily as part of the setup. So I
suggest that you make a backup now while the older machine is still available.

They're not actually separated, it's just the way the new Mini sees
them. Plugging into the old Mini, it's still a single drive. The Drive hasn't been used on the new machine. Just plugged in so the data is
intact.

If it's something like this:
https://www.startech.com/en-gb/hdd/s352bu33rer

Nope. This is a 2.5" enclosure.

I'd be asking Startech not Apple. The box has different modes for
hardware RAID and somehow must be deciding between RAID and JBOD. Maybe there's something different about the connection/OS compared with your
old system. Some of their RAIDs have a hardware switch on the back for mirror / stripe / JBOD but that one doesn't - it must store somewhere
how to present itself?

There are two interior selector switches & an init button to select the different modes on the one I have.

[snip]

The data isn't too precious once I have confidence in the new machine.
The drive is used for weekly SuperDuper! backups so gets replaced
anyway.

A general caution is that data in hardware RAIDs is typically
inaccessible if you have to change controller, so don't use them for
data where hardware failure would be a problem.

I decided to just use an ssd instead which I bought today. Unfortunately, reading the Shirtpocket blog, it seems that SuperDuper! won't produce a bootable disc due to an issue introduce in macOS 15.2 but it's saved my
stuff so that's ok for now.

Upgrading is lots of fun, eh?

Fred

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On 30 Dec 2024, Frederick wrote
(in article<mpro.spa6uy00i264700nf.fred@ypical.demon.invalid>):

If it's something like this:
https://www.startech.com/en-gb/hdd/s352bu33rer

Nope. This is a 2.5" enclosure.

I'd be asking Startech not Apple. The box has different modes for
hardware RAID and somehow must be deciding between RAID and JBOD. Maybe there's something different about the connection/OS compared with your
old system. Some of their RAIDs have a hardware switch on the back for mirror / stripe / JBOD but that one doesn't - it must store somewhere
how to present itself?

I’m a bit late to the party, but Theo is right. This is one for StarTech, not Apple.

FWIW I’ve used lots of mid-price enclosures, and they’re all based on the same chip - which is unreliable. The one exception is the Terramaster which I use now. It has a different chip, and is much faster and more reliable.

MST

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On Dec 28, 2024, Frederick wrote
(in article<mpro.sp7vwv00de5wq00v1.fred@ypical.demon.invalid>):

I've been trying to get assistance from Apple support online but they seem
to be using underqualified people using set scripts. I've been through 2 support bods but they don't seem to know what a RAID drive is and took me through 'Start in safe mode' followed by re-install the OS.

So I thought I'd try here in case someone's come across similar.

I bought a Mac Mini M4 to replace my ancient one which I can't upgrade
past Mojave if I want to keep some of my other gear going. I have a USB
RAID drive. When connected to the new Mini it is seen as two separate
drives rather than one. No problem with the old Mini. Any ideas?

How was the drive formatted? HFS+, APFS, something else? What names showed up for the two drives? Was the drive set up as a bootable device? Is one or both of the volumes marked ‘Read Only’? If it is an APSF formatted bootable drive, and one volume is ‘drive name’ and the other is ‘drive name - data’ and ‘drive name’ is read only then this is an APFS issue. If not, then it is likely an issue with the RAID setup, usually the RAID firmware. Fixing the APSF issue is easy: back up, nuke and pave, restore. Fixing the firmware is likely to be more difficult.

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