strange RAID problem after updating to Sequoia 15.3.2

[whwang]

Hi,

I just finished updating to 15.3.2, and immediately have a problem. Machine is iMac Pro.

I have three external volumes. One is a WD external disk as a time machine backup drive. This one does not have problem. The problems are with the other two. Both are TB3 external enclosures configured for RADI0 (created using Disk Utility), called "DATA" and "Archive."

The two RAID0 volumes worked quite fine previously. After 15.3.2, only either one can be mounted. There were four reboots after the 15.3.2 update. One reboot is associated with the OS update, then three more attempting to resolve the mounting issue. The volume DATA was automatically mounted after two reboots, while the volume Archive was automatically mounted after the other two reboots. I went into Disk Utility to try to mount the unmounted one, DU refused to mount it and told me that "An internal state error occurred." (Please see the screenshots.)

So it seems the Mac can mount any one of the two RAID0 volumes, but not both at the same time. After each reboot, it alternated between the two volumes. This was not the case before the 15.3.2 update. Previously both can be mounted without any problems.

Anyone has an idea what's going on? What does "An internal state error occurred" mean exactly? How can I resolve this?

 

[JSRinUK]

I have two Crucial X9 Pro as RAID 1 (not really needed, I was just trying it out), and I’ve just checked them after reading your post and having updated Sequoia last night.

For some reason, one of the SSDs is “rebuilding”. I don’t know if that is normal, or related to your issue, but it seems odd.

I’m not writing much to those SSDs - I mostly have my LLM models on there, and I just set up RAID1 because I don’t want to have to download them again (I’ll probably just put them on a single drive and do a regular backup to my HDD in the future).

 

[whwang]

Not only this problem, Photoshop tells me that my graphic card is not supported after the OS upgrade.

Is there anyway to go back to 15.3.1?

 

[JUMA55]

Hi,

I just finished updating to 15.3.2, and immediately have a problem. Machine is iMac Pro.

I have three external volumes. One is a WD external disk as a time machine backup drive. This one does not have problem. The problems are with the other two. Both are TB3 external enclosures configured for RADI0 (created using Disk Utility), called "DATA" and "Archive."

The two RAID0 volumes worked quite fine previously. After 15.3.2, only either one can be mounted. There were four reboots after the 15.3.2 update. One reboot is associated with the OS update, then three more attempting to resolve the mounting issue. The volume DATA was automatically mounted after two reboots, while the volume Archive was automatically mounted after the other two reboots. I went into Disk Utility to try to mount the unmounted one, DU refused to mount it and told me that "An internal state error occurred." (Please see the screenshots.)

So it seems the Mac can mount any one of the two RAID0 volumes, but not both at the same time. After each reboot, it alternated between the two volumes. This was not the case before the 15.3.2 update. Previously both can be mounted without any problems.

Anyone has an idea what's going on? What does "An internal state error occurred" mean exactly? How can I resolve this?

Interesting. I have three RAID drives connected to my iMac M4 and all work fine. However, the RAID5 unit does require a special driver. The other two--RAID0 and RAID1--just mount like any other drive. Also all of them show as external drives in Disk Utility. None show as RAID Sets like yours.

 

[whwang]

Do you use SoftRAID? I use Apple's own RAID. Maybe that's what causes the difference.

 

[JUMA55]

Do you use SoftRAID? I use Apple's own RAID. Maybe that's what causes the difference.

No. I didn't even know Apple had a RAID. 🤪 I used the program LaCie supplies with its drives. I set all of them up several years ago. The RAID 0 and 1 drives just run when plugged in. I could change them, I guess. The RAID5 is the only one that needs a driver.

I thought about SoftRAID once, as it didn't seem LaCie was ever going to get around to updating its software. At the time, their software would work. It would just give you an error message once a month that you needed to update. But finally the company did update RAID Manager, and I've had no issues since.

 

[whwang]

I see. Then the issue I have should not occur to you.

 

[whwang]

I tried to use the recovery mode to boot and use a time machine backup to downgrade to a previous backup. However, after I selected a previous backup point (from a list of backup time and OS version), it ended by telling me that I can only use migration assistant to transfer data. It did not seem to allow me to use these previous backup to roll back to the previous version of OS.

So I am stuck here. I can't use time machine to recover the system to a previous time. The recovery mode does allow me to re-install Sequoia, but I suppose it will be the same 15.3.2. Is re-installation generally useful for this?

BTW, in addition to the external drive problem, all a sudden Photoshop also does not recognize the video card in iMac Pro. (The system still recognizes it.) So there are two problems I am having after the 15.3.2 upgrade. I really want to go back to the previous point, but don't know how. I appreciate any help here.

 

[JUMA55]

I tried to use the recovery mode to boot and use a time machine backup to downgrade to a previous backup. However, after I selected a previous backup point (from a list of backup time and OS version), it ended by telling me that I can only use migration assistant to transfer data. It did not seem to allow me to use these previous backup to roll back to the previous version of OS.

So I am stuck here. I can't use time machine to recover the system to a previous time. The recovery mode does allow me to re-install Sequoia, but I suppose it will be the same 15.3.2. Is re-installation generally useful for this?

BTW, in addition to the external drive problem, all a sudden Photoshop also does not recognize the video card in iMac Pro. (The system still recognizes it.) So there are two problems I am having after the 15.3.2 upgrade. I really want to go back to the previous point, but don't know how. I appreciate any help here.

You can get prior versions of Sequoia here:

macOS Sequoia Full Installer Database. Download Directly from Apple!

Download macOS Sequoia full installer with one click straight from Apple! Every version of Sequoia Beta & Final available all in one place!!

mrmacintosh.com

This program will allow you to take the package and make a bootable version of the OS on a USB drive using this:

Make a Bootable USB macOS Installer Download the update for Big Sur compatibility -

What’s needed for a clean install on a Mac A backup of the disk before it’s erased. Two options are to use Duplicate (a free utility which can copy and paste an entire bootable volume), or Mac Backup Guru (a paid, fully featured backup utility with unique incremental backups capability) for...

macdaddy.io

If you are using an Intel Mac, then you can reboot while holding down the option key (if your keyboard is wireless plug it in) and boot into recovery from the USB drive, reformat the internal disk and install whatever version you put on the the USB drive.

After the OS installs you can restore via Time Machine, but I don't know what happens when you try to restore something created with 15.3.2 after you installed, let's say, 15.3. But assuming you got everything running to satisfaction with 15.3, Apple at some point is going to update you to 15.3.2 or what comes next whether you want them to or not. There's a thread around here on how to delay this for 90 days.

Or if you don't want to restore via Time Machine and decide to reinstall all of your programs, you can still grab data off individual backups on the Time Machine drive.

If you are using Apple Silicon then I'm not sure how you boot to an external installer nor if you can bypass the OS in the Options part you get to by holding down the off/on switch after you power down the system. I can look over the weekend and let you know. I just don't have time right now.

I'm a big fan of when Apple changes OSs in the fall one should do complete reinstall of everything. But that's another story.

 

[whwang]

You can get prior versions of Sequoia here:

macOS Sequoia Full Installer Database. Download Directly from Apple!

Download macOS Sequoia full installer with one click straight from Apple! Every version of Sequoia Beta & Final available all in one place!!

mrmacintosh.com

This program will allow you to take the package and make a bootable version of the OS on a USB drive using this:

Make a Bootable USB macOS Installer Download the update for Big Sur compatibility -

What’s needed for a clean install on a Mac A backup of the disk before it’s erased. Two options are to use Duplicate (a free utility which can copy and paste an entire bootable volume), or Mac Backup Guru (a paid, fully featured backup utility with unique incremental backups capability) for...

macdaddy.io

Thanks.

I tried re-installing 15.3.2. Doesn't help to resolve the Photoshop problem. Then I tried the method you suggested to downgrade to 15.3.1. No matter how I do it (directly launching the above Sequoia installer as an application, boot with recovery mode or with the bootable USB created with the above method), the system always prevents me from installation at the last step. If I directly launch the installer as an application, it tells me that my system cannot be downgraded. With recovery mode or the USB drive, it just refuses to install (by offering a go-back option, or by showing an error message that no google results reveal exactly what it means).

So I did the last thing I can think of, boot with the USB, erase the system drive completely, and then install 15.3.1. This time it installs. Then in this essentially cleanly installed 15.3.1, I used the migration assistant to put back the applications and user data. The Photoshop problem is gone. Photoshop can now correctly recognize iMacPro's GPU. So something was indeed wrong with the previous 15.3.2 upgrade. On the other hand, the issue that the two RAID drives cannot coexist persists. So the 15.3.2 upgrade is not the one to blame. I still need to find out what causes this.

 

[JUMA55]

Thanks.

I tried re-installing 15.3.2. Doesn't help to resolve the Photoshop problem. Then I tried the method you suggested to downgrade to 15.3.1. No matter how I do it (directly launching the above Sequoia installer as an application, boot with recovery mode or with the bootable USB created with the above method), the system always prevents me from installation at the last step. If I directly launch the installer as an application, it tells me that my system cannot be downgraded. With recovery mode or the USB drive, it just refuses to install (by offering a go-back option, or by showing an error message that no google results reveal exactly what it means).

So I did the last thing I can think of, boot with the USB, erase the system drive completely, and then install 15.3.1. This time it installs. Then in this essentially cleanly installed 15.3.1, I used the migration assistant to put back the applications and user data. The Photoshop problem is gone. Photoshop can now correctly recognize iMacPro's GPU. So something was indeed wrong with the previous 15.3.2 upgrade. On the other hand, the issue that the two RAID drives cannot coexist persists. So the 15.3.2 upgrade is not the one to blame. I still need to find out what causes this.

I'm a bit confused. Are you on 15.3.2 or are you on 15.3.1? I've never had it happen to me since I'm always the dunce who updates first, but as I understand it if you don't update to the latest version, Apple will at some point do it it for you. So it's just about impossible to say, "I like this version. I think I'll stay here."

 

[whwang]

I'm a bit confused. Are you on 15.3.2 or are you on 15.3.1? I've never had it happen to me since I'm always the dunce who updates first, but as I understand it if you don't update to the latest version, Apple will at some point do it it for you. So it's just about impossible to say, "I like this version. I think I'll stay here."

I was on 15.3.1. After updating to 15.3.2, at least two problems appeared. Then I struggled to go back to 15.3.1. When I finally successfully went bak to 15.3.2, one of the two problems disappeared, while the other one remains.

I hope this clears the confusion.

 

[JUMA55]

I was on 15.3.1. After updating to 15.3.2, at least two problems appeared. Then I struggled to go back to 15.3.1. When I finally successfully went bak to 15.3.2, one of the two problems disappeared, while the other one remains.

I hope this clears the confusion.

Got it. Contrary to lots of folks around here, I think Sequoia is a dog. I've been through 17 versions of MacOS back to Tiger, and I don't recall any major issues for me until Sequoia. And while I didn't have problems, Apple did go backwards with some things like pulling the art out of songs in Music. I hope you get your problem worked out soon.