Mounting G Speed RAID to Mac Studio Sonoma

Similar problem. Updated my M1 16in Macbook Pro from macOS Monterey to Sonoma. G-Speed Raid Drive, connected via TB2- TB3 adapter would not mount after update.

Installing the drivers from Western Digital website worked to get the raid drive to finally show up, but resulted in a system crash every single time I plugged it in, only moments after mounting (cursor froze, then computer crashed a moment later). Downloaded the latest G-Speed Studio Software Utility but app would not launch.

In my case, following the instructions from this video finally solved the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjZjDDqT3TI. Basically, I installed the Pegasus32 /3 Series DEXT Driver for Apple-Silicon Macs from the Promise website

G-Speed Raid now mounts correctly, without causing a system crash and the G-Speed Studio Software Utility open normally.

Why did installing a driver from Promise solve an issue with a G-Tech raid drive, I don't know...

[Edited by Moderator]

Some older devices may not be compatible with Apple Silicon Macs. I know this was the case when the Apple Silicon Macs were first released in 2020, but I've seen this reported less often these days, so either a macOS update later resolved most of those issues or people have upgraded their devices once purchasing the new Macs.

I have seen other people report issues with the G-RAID on this forum, but don't recall the specific details at the moment.

What file system is on the G RAID? Does the G RAID drive require any of the manufacturer's proprietary software to access the data on the G RAID drive?

A quick search revealed this post on this forum:

G-RAID Shuttle 4 Does not Work with Mac S… - Apple Community

Another post by a respected forum contributor made a suggestion as well if a user is having trouble with the manufacturer's proprietary software:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254765106?answerId=259432311022#259432311022

You probably need to open a support ticket with WD.

FYI, it is best to use devices that don't require the use of the manufacturer's proprietary software to minimize problems. Or utilize devices from companies with a long history of providing product support for macOS such as OWC.

Your 2013 Mac Pro is able to run macOS 10.13 - 12.x if you mean the desktop "trashcan" model. Even a 2013 laptop can run macOS 10.13 - 10.15 or 11.x depending on the model.

If you don't want to disrupt an older OS on the internal drive of that 2013 Mac, then just install macOS 10.13+ to an external USB3 drive. Just make sure to have a good backup of the 2013 Mac first just to be completely safe. The later macOS 10.13+ installer will update the system firmware, but otherwise there should theoretically be no impact to the currently installed older OS on the internal drive. Boot the 2013 Mac from the macOS 10.13+ external drive and access your data so you can transfer it to another external drive.

You can find links & instructions for downloading various versions of macOS using this Apple article:

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

FYI, you may first need to install macOS 10.13 to the external drive before being able to use later versions of macOS. Keep this in mind if you have trouble installing a later version of macOS first. You can also perform an online search for the system requirements for whatever version of macOS you want to try to install to the external drive. For example: macos catalina system requirements

While you should be able to install macOS by running the installer while booted from the internal SSD containing the older OS, you may want to consider creating & using a bootable macOS USB installer:

Create a bootable installer - Apple Support

Just make sure you first use Disk Utility to erase the external drive as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled) so it is ready to have macOS installed on it. Give it a unique name....maybe "Catalina HD" if you are installing macOS 10.15 Catalina to the external drive. Plus make sure to select the external drive as the destination for the macOS installation when you run the installer whether from the bootable USB stick or while booted to the older OS on the internal drive.

While you can use a hard drive for the external boot drive, it will run slowly compared to a USB3 SSD. This may be Ok since this is a temporary situation so you can transfer your files to the APFS external drive.

hperezmtz wrote:

Why did installing a driver from Promise solve an issue with a G-Tech raid drive, I don't know...

Because WD is not properly supporting that drive on M-series Macs. That is a question you should be directing at WD.

It is possible Apple has removed a driver that used to be included in macOS and WD and even Promise were relying on them (Apple has been doing this a lot recently to declutter the macOS internals). Regardless, it is up to the individual device manufacturers to provide the necessary support if they claim their drives are compatible with a particular version of macOS and Apple hardware such as an M-series Mac.

Personally I never trust an external drive that requires any special drivers since the manufacturer could drop support at any time by not providing driver updates. There should be absolutely no need for them, but many device manufacturers are just plain cheap & lazy.

Yes.