Can't Boot After Installing Extension

[tensixturtle]

Hello,
Recently I messed up when I installed the DriveDX software on my Mac. It is a 2015 iMac booting running Monterey w/ OCLP from an external USB SSD. I wanted to run diagnostics on external USB drives, but it told me I had to install the SAT SMART Driver, so I did. Now it won't boot unless I use Safe Mode. In Safe Mode I looked under Login Items as well as Extensions but I was unable to find anything out of the ordinary. I uninstalled DriveDX but the Mac still won't boot. What other steps should I take for troubleshooting?
Thanks in advance.

Tl;dr Mac only boots in Safe Mode and I am unsure about next troubleshooting steps to take

 

[BrianBaughn]

You might try the uninstall instructions found down the page here:

DriveDx - external USB and FireWire drive diagnostics support

binaryfruit.com

 

[tensixturtle]

@BrianBaughn Thank you, that was a good suggestion. Alas, it still refuses to boot; it goes on a boot loop with an occasional KP. I am worried I'll have to do a complete OS reinstall, which is fine because I have a Time Machine backup, but nevertheless inconvenient.

 

[bogdanw]

After deleting the kext (/Library/Extensions/SATSMARTDriver.kext), rebuild kext caches
universal (old) command:

sudo kextcache -i /

Monterey (new) command

sudo kmutil install --volume-root / --check-rebuild

 

[tensixturtle]

@bogdanw thank you for the suggestion, I just tried that but it still doesn't work.

 

[bogdanw]

You can try from Recovery:

kmutil trigger-panic-medic --volume-root /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/

From the kmutil manual: “trigger-panic-medic Delete and disable loading of third party kexts in order to safely boot into a target volume. (can only be triggered in Recovery mode) eg usage: `kmutil trigger-panic-medic --volume-root /Volumes/<VolumeName>`"

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

I don't know if this advice will help.
But it will cost you nothing to try it.

Boot into safe mode so you can get running and get to the finder.

You need "EasyFind".
Download it from here:

DEVONtechnologies | Needful Things

A little collection of free utilities for the Mac to make your life easier.

www.devontechnologies.com

It's small and free.

Open EasyFind.
I suggest you set it up (on the left) like this:
Search for -- files and folders
Operator -- all words
Comparison -- ignore case
Invisible files & folder -- checked.

On the right, there's a popup menu that lets you select WHERE you can search.
I'd set it for the entire internal drive.
This will take a little longer, but "covers all locations" where a file might be hiding.

Now, you're going to search for the driver and related "login files".
I would start searching with terms like
"smart"
"sat smart"
etc.
... to see what you can find.
Several attempts may be needed.

If you DO find something, you can then click on it in the "list below", and see if it can be deleted quickly.

Some files can be deleted this way.
Others will... "resist".
In that case, RIGHT CLICK or CONTROL-CLICK on the file that won't delete and choose "reveal in finder". You can also just

click on the file to select it and then type "command-R".
Locate the file in the finder window and NOW try dragging it to the trash.
It will probably present you with a dialog asking for your password.
ENTER IT.
Will the file delete this way?
If so, GOOD.

When done, quit EasyFind, reboot, and try a "normal login" again.

Good luck.​

 

[Mike Boreham]

OP:

I don't know if this advice will help.
But it will cost you nothing to try it.

Boot into safe mode so you can get running and get to the finder.

You need "EasyFind".
Download it from here:

DEVONtechnologies | Needful Things

A little collection of free utilities for the Mac to make your life easier.

www.devontechnologies.com

It's small and free.

Open EasyFind.
I suggest you set it up (on the left) like this:
Search for -- files and folders
Operator -- all words
Comparison -- ignore case
Invisible files & folder -- checked.

On the right, there's a popup menu that lets you select WHERE you can search.
I'd set it for the entire internal drive.
This will take a little longer, but "covers all locations" where a file might be hiding.

Now, you're going to search for the driver and related "login files".
I would start searching with terms like
"smart"
"sat smart"
etc.
... to see what you can find.
Several attempts may be needed.

If you DO find something, you can then click on it in the "list below", and see if it can be deleted quickly.

Some files can be deleted this way.
Others will... "resist".
In that case, RIGHT CLICK or CONTROL-CLICK on the file that won't delete and choose "reveal in finder". You can also just

click on the file to select it and then type "command-R".
Locate the file in the finder window and NOW try dragging it to the trash.
It will probably present you with a dialog asking for your password.
ENTER IT.
Will the file delete this way?
If so, GOOD.

When done, quit EasyFind, reboot, and try a "normal login" again.

Good luck.​

...or you could skip the search phase above and go straight to /Library/Extensions/SATSMARTDriver.kext which is where mine installed.

EDIT I see @bogdanw had already given the location earlier, and the means of deleting.

 

[tensixturtle]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions; your input is very much appreciated. I tried using EasyFind but strangely enough it looked like the kext for the SATSMARTDriver was not there anymore. I must have deleted it with @BrianBaughn 's suggestion. The only one was in the StagedExtensions folder and it was there from 2 years ago, so that was not the issue. (It also refused to be deleted, even in terminal with -f)

So then I tried @bogdanw 's suggestion in Recovery Mode and that worked! I guess it must have been some other extension that was left over from all of this. Thank you for the solution; it saved me a lot of trouble doing a clean install and restoring from a backup, etc.

And again thank you to everyone for your helpful input in this. I appreciate your time and help; I couldn't have done it myself.

 

[bogdanw]

The only one was in the StagedExtensions folder and it was there from 2 years ago, so that was not the issue. (It also refused to be deleted, even in terminal with -f)

Glad you solved the problem.
For anyone else encountering similar issues, there is another command for StagedExtensions:

sudo kextcache --clear-staging

or

sudo kmutil clear-staging

 

[cocoua]

I got similar problem with DriveDX in Ventura, one of the external drives had this problem where it was ejected after hugging the system, First Aid was unable to fix it and said "wrong partition map", so I plugged in into a secondary mac (free of DriveDX installation), the drive worked, run First Aid something was wrong after the DriveDX intallation in the main mac, but the main mac still didnt recognized the drive, then I found this thread
I followed the steps here to solve the problem in the main Mac, uninstalling and unstacking Extensions SATSMARTDriver.kext and SATSMARTLib.plugin in order to the main mac recognized the drive! now I can use the drive again. So thanks to ALL! this is only 2 months old, I'm very lucky having another mac and having found this. 💌

It is 4TB of data and I'm still shaking

So big alert with DriveDX . Be careful

 

[Olob]

You can try from Recovery:

kmutil trigger-panic-medic --volume-root /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/

From the kmutil manual: “trigger-panic-medic Delete and disable loading of third party kexts in order to safely boot into a target volume. (can only be triggered in Recovery mode) eg usage: `kmutil trigger-panic-medic --volume-root /Volumes/<VolumeName>`"

Thanks to bogdanw, I had the exact same issue and this is the only solution that resolved my problem. I will concur to use DriveDX very carefully, and maybe to avoid trying to use it with external drives.

Again thanks to bogdanw!