I have just run KnockKnock and it says that I have a kext named Promise.STEX installed at
/Library/Extensions/PromiseSTEX.kext/Contents/MacOS/PromiseSTEX
Does anyone know what this is related to? A search seems to point towards some sort of 3rd party external drive or cloud service? I am not aware that I have installed either of these.
Thanks.
Mac Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), null
As others have stated, this is a driver for Promise Technology RAID storage solutions. It is installed by macOS, presumably as a convenience should you ever plug one in. If you look in that folder, you'll see drivers for other RAID solutions as well. If one is not detected by the Mac, it is not loaded by the system. So, it's literally doing nothing, and safe to leave alone.
Conversely, because it's doing nothing, it's also just as safe to delete. It's the moral-equivalent of removing drivers for an old printer you don't have anymore.
Speaking purely for myself, I prefer to delete them, merely to have a nice clean system. Which also makes it easier to spot if something were to get inadvertently installed (i.e. malware, perhaps? Which of course is why you might've used [immensely useful] KnockKnock in the first place; to look for software that doesn't belong). Of course, Apple likes to periodically reinstall these drivers (after a major install / OS upgrade), so it requires checking / cleaning that folder after new updates.
As others have stated, this is a driver for Promise Technology RAID storage solutions. It is installed by macOS, presumably as a convenience should you ever plug one in. If you look in that folder, you'll see drivers for other RAID solutions as well. If one is not detected by the Mac, it is not loaded by the system. So, it's literally doing nothing, and safe to leave alone.
Conversely, because it's doing nothing, it's also just as safe to delete. It's the moral-equivalent of removing drivers for an old printer you don't have anymore.
Speaking purely for myself, I prefer to delete them, merely to have a nice clean system. Which also makes it easier to spot if something were to get inadvertently installed (i.e. malware, perhaps? Which of course is why you might've used [immensely useful] KnockKnock in the first place; to look for software that doesn't belong). Of course, Apple likes to periodically reinstall these drivers (after a major install / OS upgrade), so it requires checking / cleaning that folder after new updates.
As CT just posted it is part of OS X. Do not delete it. It doesn't do anything by being there.
It's part of driver software used by a Promise Technology storage device.
It appears to be part of the standard OS installation. Consider trashing KnockKnock.
Thanks for that. I don't have one of these connected so could I delete the kext? Not sure how the kext became installed in the first place.
OK, many thanks.
I think CT at least deserves a Helped award for providing his part of the solution. 😀
Whoops, sorry CT. Sorted now. :-)
😀
Does anyone know what Promise.STEX is for?
