Pegasus1 R6 on 2011 Mac Mini with macOS 15

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Matt Wolanski posted this 3 weeks ago

TL;DR - Pegasus1 R6 latest firmware with macOS 15.2 via OCLP on 2011 Mac Mini is not seen by the Utility. 

A bit of an odd one perhaps. Background - I had a Pegasus R6 gen1 connected to a 2011 Mac MIni Server running macOS X 10.5 for a lot of years and it was just about out of space. I had a 2012 Mac Mini that was no longer being used - so I did some upgrades on it and bought a used Pegauss R6 gen1 with double the size drives (and had to update its firmware). The highest supported macOS I could get that Mini to run is 10.15.7.

On to the 2011 I used Open Core Legacy Patcher to upgrade to macOS 15.2 - and I got the Pegasus to mount by applying some updates. However, I cannot get any verison of the Utiltiy to see the array. I have tried versions from 4.0.something all the way through 24.5.7 and the newer Utility versions just don't see it - and the old ones lock up and have to be forced off. 

I was able to get it recognized by the Utility 24.5.7 while running macOS 12.7.4 after running the driver 6.2.17-3. 

The computer runs well enough on 15.2 that I'd prefer to do that - but if my only option is to run an older OS in order to use all the functionality of my Pegasus1 R6 - then I will ahve to do that. 

I do have two internal drives in that system - so I may also try macOS 13 and 14 to see what the higest level macOS I can get to cooperate.

It seems odd that the newest softwre runs and can see the array on the older OS - but not the newer one. So I am not sure if the ocmbinaton of OS and Utility and Driver are the issue - or if the use of Open Core Legacy Patcher is part of the issue.

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R P posted this 3 weeks ago

Hi Matt,

You can download the Promise Utility for macOS as old as 10.13.

This is the Pegasus32 download page, most of there Utilities are backwards compatible with the Pegasus1. The latest version (v4.06.0000.04) is not fully compatible, it won't update Pegasus1 or Pegasus2 firmware.

As for the driver, that's a bit more complicated. You can check for a driver by opening a terminal and entering the following command. You can also find this in the system report.

promise@promises-Mac-mini ~ % kextstat | grep promise
Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil showloaded
No variant specified, falling back to release
  262    0 0                  0x2e71     0x2e71     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.17) 69FB7EB9-DAAD-33B7-B348-8149A47F4B64 <253 65 5 4 3>
  263    0 0                  0x179a8    0x179a8    com.promise.SANLink-FC (3.0.5) 5785AFF5-0D52-32AC-8AA9-9DB13B49048A <253 65 5 4 3 1>
promise@promises-Mac-mini ~ %

Here there are 2 promise drivers loaded, but the STEX driver is the Pegasus driver.

If no driver is loaded there will be nothing for the Promise Utility to see.

Basically, you can use any driver from the Pegasus2 or the Pegasus3 downloads page that supports your OS version.

After installing these drivers the installer will request to reboot the OS.

I'm not clear which macOS you have installed currently, so I can't make any recommendations.

Matt Wolanski posted this 3 weeks ago

Here is what I have a tthe moment: 

 

Combinations that I have currently working:

 

System 1

macOS Monterey 12.7.4 on Mac Mini 2011

Firmware level 5.04.00000.61 – Thunderbolt

  139    0 0xffffff7f824ab000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.9) A98F7D05-34D3-3B2B-9EE4-C5AC7494B2A8 <138 16 7 6 3>

Utility 4.06.000004 (C04)

Utility 24.5.7

 

 

System 2

MacOS 10.15.7 on Mac Mini 2012

Firmware level 5.04.00000.61 – Thunderbolt

   82    0 0xffffff7f80d9a000 0x16000    0x16000    com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.13) AE253556-66D8-38D2-B9D1-179B78F29153 <81 13 6 5 3>

Utility 24.5.7

Utility 4.04.0000.48

 

 

 

Combinations that I have NOT currently working:

 

System 1 – same system as above – different boot drive

macOS Sequoia 15.2 Mac Mini 2011

  174    0 0xffffff7f824d7000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.9) A98F7D05-34D3-3B2B-9EE4-C5AC7494B2A8 <173 18 7 6 3>

Utility 24.5.7 – no arrays found

Utility 4.06.0000.04 – Application Not Responding

 

 

So perhaps my issue is driver 6.2.9 - but I am having some dificulty finding 6.2.13 (or 6.2.17 I mentioned above - edit I have 6.2.17 installer - but cannot find 6.2.13 since 6.2.17 will not install) to download and install. So far I have basically just been walking through every download to see what works and what doesn't. 

 

In my ideal end state I would have the latest versions of everything installed on all the systems. I have even been eye-balling some additional used gen1 - and beucase I have been very happy with your product for 10+ years, someday, when I can justify the cost and the capacity, I'd love to get an R12. In the mean-time I am contemplating trying some 8TB or 10TB NAS drives in one of the gen1s - though I did read in a note that is not supported due to firmware etc. I do enjoy breathing new life into old gear. 

 

Update - the 6.2.17 installer errors because the DEXT is already installed - so it seems I need to remove the 6.2.9 or 6.2.13 in order to get 6.2.17 installed - though I might still need an older version which doesn't seem to be available in any of the donwloads. 

Matt Wolanski posted this 3 weeks ago

I was able to get the 2011 Mac Mini running macOS 15.2 up to driver 6.2.13 with Utility 24.5.7 - and while the device is mounted - the Utility it still unable to see it. 

No variant specified, falling back to release

  177    0 0xffffff7f824d4000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.13) AE253556-66D8-38D2-B9D1-179B78F29153 <176 18 7 6 3>

The installer for 6.2.17 errors because the driver is already installed in /System/Library/Extensions.

 

 

R P posted this 3 weeks ago

Hi Matt,

System 1 – same system as above – different boot drive

macOS Sequoia 15.2 Mac Mini 2011

  174    0 0xffffff7f824d7000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.9) A98F7D05-34D3-3B2B-9EE4-C5AC7494B2A8 <173 18 7 6 3>

Utility 24.5.7 – no arrays found

Utility 4.06.0000.04 – Application Not Responding

 

Intel macOS Sequoia has a builtin STEX driver (6.2.13) in /System/Library/Extensions, you cannot delete it or make any changes, delete any drivers you have installed and reboot.

 

Somewhere around Big Sur Apple made changes to the driver model. If there is a driver in the /System folder, drivers in /Library/Extensions won't be used. 

 

Also, for the Pegasus1 or Pegasus 2, I would suggest using Promise Utility v4.06.0000.01.

 

 

 

Matt Wolanski posted this 3 weeks ago

I just updated to macOS Sequoia 15.3 on the Mac Mini 2011 and while the built in PromiseSTEX.kext version 6.2.13 is in the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder - the Array does not mount. After I install the 6.2.9 driver, which goes into the /Library/Extensions/ folder - then the Array mounts. 

The version 4.x Utility still just goes to Application Not Responding - and the 24.x Utility still does not show the Array. 

 

R P posted this 3 weeks ago

Hi Matt,

Please run kextstat and share the results.

kextstat | grep promise

 

Matt Wolanski posted this 3 weeks ago

When booted to macOS 15.3:

% kextstat | grep promise

Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil showloaded

No variant specified, falling back to release

  177    0 0xffffff7f824d4000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.13) AE253556-66D8-38D2-B9D1-179B78F29153 <176 18 7 6 3>

When booted to macOS 12.7.4:

% kextstat | grep promise

Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil showloaded

No variant specified, falling back to release

  174    0 0xffffff7f824ab000 0xb000     0xb000     com.promise.driver.stex (6.2.9) A98F7D05-34D3-3B2B-9EE4-C5AC7494B2A8 <173 16 7 6 3>

It is my intention to delete eveything on this array and reconfigure the RAID - which I can do either under macOS 12.7.4 or by conencting it to my other Mac Mini running macOS 10.15.7 - though I am not sure that would make any differnce. 

I can easily connect this array to the other Mac Mini for testing purposes and may have a couple other system I could connect it to - but ultimately it would prefereable to be able to fully manage the array from macOS 15.3. 

R P posted this 3 weeks ago

Hi Matt,

Everything looks good.

It is my intention to delete eveything on this array and reconfigure the RAID - which I can do either under macOS 12.7.4 or by conencting it to my other Mac Mini running macOS 10.15.7 - though I am not sure that would make any differnce.

It should not make any difference.

 

Matt Wolanski posted this 2 days ago

One small update on this -- while I still haven't been able to get the any verison of the Utility to see the R6 on the Mac Mini 2011 when booted using OCLP and macOS 15.x and it is working fine on macOS 14.7.x, I just picked up a USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter and plugged the R6 into my MacBook Pro 2019 running macOS 15.3 and Utiltiy Pro - and everything worked as expected. So it would seem that there is something missing in os 15 in regards to tunderbolt versions that OCLP is not pathcing. 

Thanks for all your assitance. 

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