Box Drive's system extension failed to load
Message:
Box Drive's system extension failed to load. Please make sure it has been enabled in System Preferences > Security & Privacy and then restart your computer.
Followed instructions, still unable to run Box Drive
Platform: MacBook Pro, macOS Big Sur, M1 Chip
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Kernel extensions are going away. Box should be looking to move to system extensions instead. On current systems running Big Sur, some kernel extensions will not load at all. Worth noting, if your device is a MDM, you'll also need to make suer that the kernel extension is approved in the MDM and that you as a user have permissions to approve system policy kernel extensions.
Kernel extensions would need to be recompiled for M1 devices, but ideally you'd want to move away from them and switch to system extensions instead.
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Hello All - We have updated the pinned comment with the following on our M1 device Beta:
UPDATE (03/12/2021): Thank you to the Enterprise customers who enrolled in the Private Beta for Drive on M1 devices. We are no longer accepting new enrollments at this time as our teams prepare next steps to support further launch activities. Thanks for your patience as we worked to provide this support.
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Brent, is that update supposed to be helpful? Hey, our beta that most customers couldn't even use, because it's based on a security downgrade, is now complete. I'll give you no further relevant details on whether that is being solved, or what is next to come. I found the beta completely useless since our users and device management don't allow the downgrade, so here I am still waiting for any single useful bit of info out of Box on how much longer we're going to suffer, and I can't even get that.
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This extremely annoying. Close to cancelling our business subscription and move to another service. We are bringing one new Mac after another online and none of our new team member can access box.
The M1 chip did not exactly come out of the dark. Box had endless time to prepare for this. However their box drive app still runs on Rosetta, a very old outdated platform.
Not the kind of performance you expect from a business app!
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Have been advised this week by BOX - and I quote "I appreciate your frustration regarding the M1 Chip, Box was not forewarned by Apple, which is why the issue has occurred. Box is currently running a private Beta which, which we hope to open up to a public beta at the end of March. This Beta will allow you to use Box Drive again, but to be candid, there is more friction installing this. We plan to have a long term solution in place this year, but I have not been given any more details than that."
Not exactly very inspiring on any level. There appears to be no work-around and so now using dropbox and we will consider changing the company's account depending on the update, presumably to be issue in the next week regarding the public beta.
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13 years of being a customer. I must say I'm witnessing this with very highly raised eyebrows. Especially "the excuse" that Box was not 'forewarned' by Apple. If that is the case how do you then explain that in December they were already claiming that Box Tools was M1 compatible? At the end of the day honest communication gets you further....
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July 22, 2020:
Apple announces Mac transition to Apple siliconFrom the article: "Developers can start building apps today and first system ships by year’s end, beginning a two-year transition"
"To help developers get started with Apple silicon, Apple is also launching the Universal App Quick Start Program, which provides access to documentation, forums support, beta versions of macOS Big Sur and Xcode 12, and the limited use of a Developer Transition Kit (DTK), a Mac development system based on Apple’s A12Z Bionic System on a Chip (SoC).
Apple plans to ship the first Mac with Apple silicon by the end of the year and complete the transition in about two years. Apple will continue to support and release new versions of macOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come, and has exciting new Intel-based Macs in development. The transition to Apple silicon represents the biggest leap ever for the Mac."March 23, 2021:
"Box was not forewarned by Apple, which is why the issue has occurred." - BoxGotta love when a company gives the appearance of brushing off the paying customers and says things like, "We had no warning, it's not our fault!" -
Attempt 2 - since the initial post is still "pending review"
Box was not forewarned by Apple" to Box didn't watch the Keynote and didn't realise M1 was released in November.
" Box is currently running a private Beta" - The private beta that is now "closed" and one we couldn't access because account managers had no idea it was happening.
"public beta at the end of March" - by the time they evaluate the results of this, there will be a new OS and Apple will drop KEXT completely. Box will then run another private beta in 9 months with SysExtensions.
"but to be candid, there is more friction installing this" >> surprising this. Box asking users to lower security on their devices and installing Kext's on M1 which is not recommended by Apple - wonder why people would be opposed to this?
"We plan to have a long term solution in place this year" - Q4/Q1 2021/2022
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@Kyle, I expect the forewarning they referred to was the pulling of support for Kernel extensions which is happening soon on macOS Big Sur. Hence their current Apple Silicon implementation won't be viable long-term.
It would be good to get a technical explanation from Box why they haven't found other implementations like some of the other storage services. Is it something unique to Box architecture? At least we could understand the complexity of the issue rather than just having a feeling that this is not being taken seriously.
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@Benny - I doubt that, since Apple has been warning that they would pull support for Kernel extensions at WWDC 19. Specifically that System Extensions would be introduced in macOS Catalina, and Kernel Extensions would not be allowed in any future macOS versions after that. This is almost 2 years ago now. Nice to see that Box has remained current on their development requirements. NOT!
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@Benny, I think this shows the level of dedication that Box has to the Mac as a platform very well, which is sad, imho. We've just been telling users to use the browser, which has worked until now, but is a less than optimum solution (however, better than our previous system we used). Luckily, we haven't rolled out any M1 devices nor Big Sur yet, so I can approve the Kernel Extension via a MDM Profile for Catalina and before, but there's no way that I'll disable SIP without senior management approval to allow this on Big Sur. Box really needs to step it up, however, I'm not convinced they will.
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This is a long thread with some great comments. Buried deep in it are reports that Box Sync is a good workaround, at least for those using Big Sur on an Intel Mac. I have not tested it on an M1 Mac.
It does place a full copy of each file on your computer, rather than just a pointer like Box Drive. I actually prefer that because if I am in a location without Internet access, I can still access the company files. This may require an impossible amount of local storage for many of you, but if not, I just wanted to remind the community it is another alternative. I hope they don't disable access to Box Sync!
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Box sync DOES work on the M1. I've been using it for a couple of months at least. I tried Cloud Mounter and had some sync issues and lost some files so I'm back to Box Sync. Fortunately, I upgraded my memory size so i can have all the files on my computer less archive files. You can decide what to sync and new folders created by another user requires you go into the web portal and mark as sync. But overall it is working well on my M1 and it is fairly fast. Not as convenient as Box Drive but good enough for me...for now.
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