Areca DEXT Driver
Areca is now offering three new drivers for macOS; two of them are new so-called DEXT drivers (DriverKit Extension Drivers)
The ArcNVMeUserspaceDriver-Dext and the ArcMSRUserSpaceDriver-Dext
In addition, there is the ArcNVMe-KEXT driver (Kernel Extension), which is designed for older Intel Macs.
These drivers will replace the old ArcMSRu 1.4.9 Big Sur driver in the future.
On this download page, you’ll find the latest drivers for your device: https://www.areca.com.tw/support/downloads.html
macOS System Requirements:
All drivers require at least macOS Sequoia 15.3 – that is, macOS Sequoia (15.0) with the necessary updates up to 15.3.
-> The reason is that Apple introduced and implemented Thunderbolt 5 in macOS with the Sequoia 15.3 update.
The new driver is primarily designed for newer Macs with Silicon processors, but it can also be installed on Intel Macs as long as macOS Sequoia 15.3 is installed.
A major advantage is that “cumbersome” driver activation via the Mac’s pre-boot settings is no longer necessary.
In general, regarding the selection process, you can proceed as outlined below.
After unpacking the ArcUserSpaceDriver.pkg file
Unzip the downloaded .zip file
-> This will give you the ArcNVMeUserSpaceDriverdext-20260421.pkg file for installation
On Silicon Macs, you must also install Apple's “Rosetta” feature.
-> Install it now by clicking “Install”
Click “Continue”
Click “Continue”
Click “Continue”
Click “Accept”
Select “Install for all users of this computer”
-> Then click “Continue”
Keep the default path or select your own path
-> and continue by clicking “Install”
Enter the password for the logged-in admin user
-> and click “Install Software”
Areca DEXT Driver Installation & Activation (ArcNVMeUserSpaceDriverLoader)
Once the ArcNVMeUserSpaceDriverLoader has been successfully installed from the downloaded .zip and .pkg files, you can now run it.
To do this, go to “Go” > “Applications,” locate the ArcNVMeUserSpaceDriverLoader in the list, and double-click it to run it.
Select the ArcNVMe User Space Driver from Applications and then run it.
After the first launch, the following message appears: "...Driver is in an unknown state (No driver available)
Please install and activate it“ -> Click ”Install and Activate Dext"
A prompt for system settings will then appear
-> Confirm by clicking “Open System Settings”
In the Driver Extensions overview, click the “Activate” button next to the gray slider for ArcNVMeUserSpaceDriverLoader.
A System Extension Modification window will then open
-> Confirm this by entering the user's password
The slider for driver extensions is then enabled and set in macOS
-> Now confirm by clicking “Done”
Check the Areca DEXT ArcNVMe Driver Installation Path
Below are the steps to check whether the DEXT driver has been successfully installed.
Go to the Desktop
-> Click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner and select “About This Mac.”
In the device data overview:
-> Click “More Info...”
In the System Preferences, under the System Overview for your Mac model:
-> Then click “System Report...”
Now, in the System Report Overview
-> On the left side of the overview, select the “Software / Extensions” section by clicking on it
-> Then, on the right side, look for the entry: “Areca RAID Host Adapter Driver”
The same steps apply to the “Areca NVMe Host Adapter Driver” entry
PDF on Installing Areca Drivers
Areca DEXT Driver Installation Guide for ArcNVMe:
Installing Areca Dext driver on Apple Silicon & Intel CPU Macs.pdf
Here you'll learn how to install ArcNVMe KEXT drivers (kernel extension drivers) designed for older Intel Macs.
Areca is now offering three new drivers for macOS; two of them are new so-called DEXT drivers. Here is the MSR version.
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