Just completed a fresh install of Big Sur on my early 2015 MacBook Air, and am now trying to use my CAC card to access DoD websites as I did previously. No bueno. I've loaded the DoD certificates, but the CAC hasn't paired, and I don't know how to kick off that process (it happened automatically in Catalina). Open for suggestions or insight. Thanks.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.0
Got it working! I had Thursby PKard installed from awhile back. Had to uninstall it. Then went through and removed all SCM drivers from Identiv. It was a process since there was no uninstall app - had to search them out in all system folders and delete. Emptied trash and rebooted. Works great after that with the native drivers. I am using the SCR3310v2. I tried the 3500 (foldable) but for some reason it wouldn't read the card... I found that SCR to be rather finicky on any device
Got it working! I had Thursby PKard installed from awhile back. Had to uninstall it. Then went through and removed all SCM drivers from Identiv. It was a process since there was no uninstall app - had to search them out in all system folders and delete. Emptied trash and rebooted. Works great after that with the native drivers. I am using the SCR3310v2. I tried the 3500 (foldable) but for some reason it wouldn't read the card... I found that SCR to be rather finicky on any device
Having been down this road with the CAC reader, I can say that it can/does work. But you may be correct in that you may need to update the firmware. I don't see which CAC reader you are using (there are several). I'm using an SCR 3310 v2, and it needed a firmware update. I used the driver at https://militarycac.com/usbreaders.htm where it says "Mac Friendly [10.5 - 10.15.6] Mac driver (most likely NOT needed) - I followed the blue driver link in this line. As you can see from my System Report screen shot, the "Version" is nothing like the 6.02 recommended (and it never changed once I ran the driver package) but the CAC was recognized and usable afterward.
CAC would not work on my Mac after upgrading to Big Sur. Tried using a login other than my primary admin login on the computer and that worked! In addition to not being able to use the CAC, I had trouble logging in to iCloud, Messenger and Facetime using my primary login. 3 chat sessions, a phone call and a screen sharing session with Apple Support and all was fixed. I had to get to supervisor level and he had me remove a bunch of entries (IDS tokens?) in Keychain Access and delete some files associated with the local login. Can't remember everything I did...things were moving pretty fast. Bottomline: after fixing my inability to login to iCloud, Messages and Facetime, the CAC reading was fixed as well. I was using the SCR3310 v2.0 with the 6.01 firmware. That now works as does my HP Skylab USB Smartcard Keyboard.
@stonefingers, I also did the "I used the driver at https://militarycac.com/usbreaders.htm where it says "Mac Friendly [10.5 - 10.15.6] Mac driver (most likely NOT needed) " per your guidance and now it works. So weird that is what it took. It also didn't change anything about my CAC reader my computer just needed the reader. I have found that the system still screws up here and there and what I have learned is to clear the browser history, close it, delete the webmail keychain and that fixes it.
Thank you for the suggestion! No idea why I didn't just try Safari, it worked, I'm in my .mil emails. Thanks!
Military websites don’t like safari that much. I’ve downloaded edge for Mac. And everything works fine now. So when I need to do work stuff I use edge. Personal I use safari...
In keychain there needs to be the 50 million DOD roots to access websites, it’s really only like 50 lol. But those have to be installed for the computer and each one marked as always allow.
I am able to get into my webmail on my Mac. I use Chrome and select the first certificate that pops up. Not the email one. Hope this helps you.
Same issue - card reader not recognized. Using SCR3310v2 USB-C. Works on Big Sur / Intel but not Big Sur / M1. LED never lights. Likewise never get the "pairing" request when inserting the CAC as I did in Catalina.
Have gone back and forth with both Identiv (reader manufacturer) and MilitaryCaC - no bueno. Installed latest driver from Identiv - no help. Reader appears in "System Report" - "USB" but does not appear in "System Report" - "Smart Cards".
I still occasionally see a "Safari Cannot Open..." error message, and as silly as this is going to sound, I'll do a Cmd-R on that page, and then it opens. YMMV. Also, I always start at "web.mail.mil" vice the shortcut to the specific mail server (web-something02.mail.mil); the shortcut will fail more often than not.
That's about the last bit of insight/help I can offer. Since you're getting into the other sites, the card reader and CAC are apparently working. Best of luck.
I had the exact same thing happen to me and found https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-configurator-2/revive-or-restore-a-mac-with-apple-silicon-apdd5f3c75ad/mac and this took care of my issue. Not sure if you have another Mac available but I am very happy to say this took care of my issue. I am able to now log into sites that require CAC authentication. Hope this helps.
It should be noted that when I said fresh install, I mean I completely wiped the previous OS and did a complete, new install, not an upgrade, so whatever settings might have existed prior (i.e., CAC pairing), those were not carried forward.
So my problem is specifically about a new, non-upgraded instance of Big Sur. I too am curious if Apple has anything that addresses Big Sur compatibility, or if anyone else has upgraded to Big Sur (and if CAC pairing carried forward). I have an iMac that I can still access necessary DoD sites with, and like you, I'm now very hesitant to upgrade that machine. My card reader is an SCR 3310 v2 (compatible and working with Catalina 10.15.7 with the most recent supplemental and Safari updates).
Have you gotten a fix? Big Sur was recognizing my cac early november but now won’t even prompt for my pin? I have the snap identiv fold open cac reader and I’m contemplating buying a different one. Any help would be great.
Good call resqdoc - I didn't even realize until your post that there were two applicable elements in system report - USB and Smartcards. I'm in the same situation - my SCR is listed in the hardware profile (USB) and Software profile (Smartcards), but the Smartcard itself is not recognized or listed in Smartcards when inserted in the SCR. I've even gone back to Catalina (that was a bit of a process) thinking it would be recognized then I'd do an update instead of a clean install, but it still isn't recognized. So, until I can get it working again here (Catalina), I won't be "upgrading". I just can't figure out why the exact same hardware works on one machine and not the other (reader and card are recognized on my iMac, but not my MBA). Thanks for the note.
Thanks for the tip. I didn't even know Edge was available for Mac until this post, but added it to both of my Macs and you're right, it's pretty slick from the PKI/CAC perspective. It didn't resolve my problem here, but it works great on my iMac! Cheers!
Common Access Card (CAC) pairing in Big Sur
