Running 2012 with ML. There was the gray status bar running across on reboot, indicating some firmware is updating. I don't recall seeing it in Software Update, nor can I find any record of it afterward. Any idea what it could have been?
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Some firmware released today?
- Thread starter monkeybagel
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That does sound like a firmware update, but there have not been any release real recently. Could you have downloaded it when it came out and just never restarted so it could install?
I am very attentive when it comes to firmware updates and usually hide them when they appear in software update unless they address a specific issue I am having. I don't like the fact they can't be rolled back if they cause a regression. The only ones that appeared in the past are for the Apple Cinema Display, and I ignored it. It is still offering it if I unhide it, so I don't think it was it.
The only thing I can think of is that I installed Windows 7 on a partition and it stuck in a reboot loop after I installed Boot Camp drivers because of a software raid in OS X. Perhaps all that rebooting set a dirty shutdown flag and it was doing a fsck.
You are correct.
Whenever fsck is ran, a progress bar is displayed to let the user know that "something is happening" (rather then stalling the boot process for what could be several minutes). This is the same progress bar (graphically) that the EFI updates use, so it's easy to get the two mixed up.
Bootcamp includes drivers to read HFS+ partitions, so it is likely that Windows 7 managed to mount the volume right before it crashed, marking the volume as dirty.
-SC
On a different note, how do you like the Apple RAID card that you have listed in your signature?
I love it, because it never bothers me.
I'm told that Areca or Highpoint offer cheaper cards that run faster, but this requires all sorts of hardware hacks with interposer boards and custom carriers, plus the foolery with various firmware versions for the card (depending on what you want to do) and kernel extensions under OS X.
The Apple card stays out of my way, and that's what I value.
The only other thing is that the card isn't supported under Bootcamp at all. This used to be a bit of a niggle for me, but these days Windows 8 boots off a USB drive just fine so it doesn't really matter anymore (the RAID controller is recognized under Windows as an unknown device and sits idle).
-SC
Will a Windows partition continue to function fine if it is not part of the array, or does it cause problems on other non-array disks?
The RAID controller goes into a specialized PCI-e slot at the top of the logic board (slot 4).
When the RAID controller is present, all four drive bays are automatically connected to the RAID controller through the PCI-e slot (similar to a Zero Channel RAID controller, or ZCR). There are no options to configure this, it just happens automatically.
In other words, if you're going to install a RAID card, you will lose the ability to use any of your 4 drive bays under Bootcamp, irregardless of what is on those disk drives. You will need to either install your Bootcamp drive in one of the optical bays (if you don't have two Superdrives installed), or use an external USB drive to boot Windows 8 instead.
-SC
When the RAID controller is present, all four drive bays are automatically connected to the RAID controller through the PCI-e slot (similar to a Zero Channel RAID controller, or ZCR). There are no options to configure this, it just happens automatically.
In other words, if you're going to install a RAID card, you will lose the ability to use any of your 4 drive bays under Bootcamp, irregardless of what is on those disk drives. You will need to either install your Bootcamp drive in one of the optical bays (if you don't have two Superdrives installed), or use an external USB drive to boot Windows 8 instead.
-SC
Quality Areca cards are definitely not cheaper than the Apple RAID card, but they are in every way better (faster, more reliable, more options). As with using it, you can get a customized sled with angled miniSAS-to-SATA fan out cables.
I got my sleds and cable from MaxUpgrades.com