RAIDar "update" destroyed my functioning RAIDar installation
WTF???
I was happly using the RAIDar app with my ReadyNAS, when I got a message saying an update was available. So I downloaded the installation file (RAIDar.dmg), closed the already opened, older version of the app, and opened the downloaded file.
An installation window opened up.The window says "RAIDar_6.4.0, and in it, besides two configuration folders, the only thing resembling an app is a file called RAIDar.app. Since this appears to be an independent, already compiled app, I simply moved it to my Applications folder. Then I remembered that I have a special NETGEAR ReadyNAS folder under Applications, so I moved the file there. Because the NETGEAR folder already had a file with the same name, I chose to replace the old version with the new one. But when I clicked on the new one, a window popped up saying: "Netgear installer is preparing the install4j Wizard which will guide you through the rest of the setup process."
So, for the first time in the over 13 years that I've been using Macs, an installation .dmg file contained an .app file that itself is an installation file rather than a stand-alone app! In my experience, most .dmg files do the installation themselves, but when they contain an installation file it's always a .pkg file and not an .app.
So I deleted the RAIDar.app file and all associated files, and went back to the .dmg file. When it opened its window, I clicked on the RAIDar.app file, and the installer message reappeared. But this time, after a few seconds a second window popped up. It says:
No problem, I thought. I'll just download a new version of the install file and install from there. So I went to the Netgear site, and downloaded a copy of RAIDar_6.4.0.dmg. It opens a window that's identical to the one before. But unfortunately, it yields the same result as before: the same java.lang error message.
Again, I thought, no problem. I'll just download and install an older version and let it give me update messages so I can get up to date. So this time I downloaded RAIDar_macos_4_3_8.dmg. But when I click on it to do the reinstall, I get a window showing a single file: RAIDar Installer.app. At least this time it has "installer" in the name so it's not confused with the RAIDar.app itself. But when I click on it I get the following message:
"RAIDar Installer.app is damaged and can't be opened. You should eject the disk image."
The message has some more details about the .dmg file, but the above is the important part.
So now, thanks to these compounded errors, I've deleted my existing RAIDar installation and don't know how to RAIDar back.
PLEASE HELP!!!!
Model: ReadyNASRNDP2000|ReadyNAS Pro 2 Chassis only
RAIDar doesn't include Java anymore. You would need to install Java on your Mac if you haven't already to be able to use RAIDar 6.4.0.
As for the RAIDar 4.3.8 download not working you could try downloading it using a different web browser.
This Mac has had Java for a long time. The current version is 10.0.2. So the problem with RAIDar 6.4.0 is not lack of Java.
I have tried to download RAIDar 4.3.8 with three different web browsers: Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. In all three cases the file downloads without problem, but it does not open because it is corrupted. So the browse is not the problem.
This evidence strongly suggests the problems are on Netgear's end. Please fix them.
I have Java 8 installed and RAIDar 6.4.0 works fine for me.
I've seen issues with RAIDar being downloaded in the past and it's been at the end user end.
I just downloaded RAIDar 4.3.8 using Safari from the ReadyNAS Downloads page and that worked fine.
RAIDar was also working fine for me UNTIL I tried to install the latest update, mistook an "app" file for an app rather than an installation file, and in the process clobbered the working version. Since then neither 6.x or 4.x has worked. But I will address your points individually.
1. I have 6.4.0 installed on a MacBook laptop, which in turn has Java 8 version 181 installed. The laptop was able to download & install 6.4 using Safari. RAIDar works on the laptop.
2. I also tried downloading and installing 4.3.8 onto the laptop. The file downloads, and the .dmg file opens. But clicking on the installation app brings up an error window saying, "To open "RAIDar Installer.app" you need to install the legacy Java SE 6 runtime."
From these two observations I conclude that if indeed the problem is on the end user end, it's probably Java-related. But if a piece of software is designed to be downloaded but does not download cleanly due to configuration issues on the client computer's end, and if the instructions for downloading the software do not describe the necessary configuration for successfully downloading the software, and if there is no obvious help page explaining how to deal with such issues, I cannot leave the software's providers off the hook.
To make an analogy, if someone puts regular fuel into a car known to be diesel, and the manufacturer warns against this, then any problems are the end-user's fault; OTOH, if the manufacturer sells the car as one having a conventional engine and does not tell the buyer it's really a diesel that can use only diesel fuel, the manufacturer's at fault.
In any case, my iMac still can't run RAIDar. Knowing that 6.4 installs and runs successfully on systems running Java 8 does not help solve the problem of 6.4 not working on a system running Java 10. While the fact that 6.4 seems to work with Java 8 and the error message calling for a legacy version of Java seem to suggest the problem is Java-related, at this point this is still conjecture. But even if it isn't, I still don't know how to fix the problem.
Twice I have posted replies to mdgm's post, and twice when I have come back here my reply is gone. Why?
There's a lot of spam posted in the forum, so there is an automated spam filter that sometimes kicks in on legit posts. Mods are supposed to manually check for that periodically, but sometimes the amount of spam makes that impractical.
If you run into this again, you can PM a mod (or me), and we can release it for you.
Re: RAIDar "update" destroyed my functioning RAIDar installation
In any case, my iMac still can't run RAIDar. Knowing that 6.4 installs and runs successfully on systems running Java 8 does not help solve the problem of 6.4 not working on a system running Java 10. While the fact that 6.4 seems to work with Java 8 and the error message calling for a legacy version of Java seem to suggest the problem is Java-related, at this point this is still conjecture. But even if it isn't, I still don't know how to fix the problem.
Re: RAIDar "update" destroyed my functioning RAIDar installation
Thanks for the suggestion, Bedlam. I downloaded the installation file, but it won't install. It's for Version 8.181.13, and when I try to install it, it throws a message saying a newer version of Java, 10.0.2.0.13 is already installed (and therefore 8.181.13 can't be installed).
