@Jandalf I recently had to reset my System Integrity Protection settings (csrutil clear
) and once again ran into this issue, where my Razer device was not recognized.
I have upgraded to macOS Big Sur 11.1, and I can confirm that the solutions by @avaddon and @rdabban, which had worked for me on 11.0, no longer work.
Manually loading the kernel extension (the kextload
command) will display the error code 27 "Extension with identifiers com.razer.common.razerhid not approved to load. Please approve using System Preferences.
", but no pop-up or "Allow" option would appear anywhere on the System Preferences.
Adding the Razer TeamID with the /usr/sbin/spctl kext-consent add R2H967U7J8
command showed me a pop-up, but with no "Allow" option, and no option to allow the kernel extension would appear in the System Preferences, so no good.
I finally managed to make it work by temporarily disabling System Integrity Protection (SIP), as follows:
- Boot into Recovery Mode. This can be done by restarting your computer and holding
Cmd+R
on boot until a loading bar shows up. - Once in Recovery Mode, sign in with your account and open a terminal. You can find it in the top menu under Utilities > Terminal.
- Disable SIP by running the following command:
csrutil disable
. - Close the terminal and reboot (normal reboot, not into Recovery Mode).
- Open a terminal and load the extension with the following command:
sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/RazerHid.kext
. - Reboot (normal reboot, not into Recovery Mode) and confirm that your Razer device is now correctly detected.
- Now we must reenable SIP to maintain system security. This should not break your device. Boot once more into Recovery Mode, open a terminal, run
csrutil enable
, close the terminal and reboot.
You should now be able to load your Razer device AND have SIP enabled.
Good luck y'all!
Thanks @CodeBlazer for summarizing all of this information. I had found most, but not all, of this information my self in various locations, but could not get it to work again after having to reinstall macOS due to another problem. The permissions to allow did not come up automatically--I only got one Razer item per each of the three fields (Accessibility, Input & Disk Access). I had manually added all three Razer items to each field. That stopped the "Please plug in a Razer device" message on Synapse, but instead just left the Synapse window just completely blank.
Finding the right combination of permissions solved that, and Synapse was finally able to recognize my beloved Naga Epic.
However, not all is well.
My key substitutions work well. However, my macros do nothing.
I have some buttons subbed to F8 or Del or L or something like that. No problems.
However, I have other keys mapped to macros that still might be as simple as spelling a word: "line", for example. If I trigger that, absolutely nothing happens.
The macros are still there in Synapse. I have tried copying existing macros and existing profiles. No change. I have tried creating new macros and new profiles. No change.
Any ideas?
Assuming I can get this fixed, there are two other issues I've been having with my Naga. I doubt there is a fix for these, but it's amazing sometimes what varied expertise can be found out in internetland.
Problem #1, RzDeviceEngine is very unstable. I will quite often have the entire computer crash out to the black screen of death (to borrow a phrase from the Windows world), and the error report almost always points the finger at RzDeviceEngine. Is there anything to be done about this?
Problem #2, Any time Synapse opens, closes, or otherwise tickles the mouse, or at random moments at other times, the system mouse sensitivity will drop to minimum. So this happens a couple of times on boot up. Opening synapse, closing synapse, selecting a different profile and once in a while randomly apropos of nothing. Not the end of the world, but annoying. Especially, because if you leave the System Preferences open, it won't register the change. It apparently only updates the sensitivity setting upon opening the Preferences.
Lastly, I know that Razer is abandoning Macs. I have personally had words with them myself on several occasions about this. I have incorporated my Naga into my workflow as an engineer and draftsman. The Naga really gives you a lot of tools to increase productivity: Different profiles for different programs, each profile can set up many different keymaps, and then all the macro possibilities.
I know some people are switching to Karabiner Elements from Synapse and are able to control the button mapping on their Razer mouse. Does that give the same multiple layers of functionality with bunches of profiles and their associated keymaps?
Then same question applied to alternative mice such as the Logitech G600? I'm getting the impression that it has a keymap, and then a modifier key that shifts to a second keymap. Is that it? Only two keymaps? That so limiting. I need at least 3 keymaps just associated with AutoCAD. Am I wrong in this? What other mice offer the same depth of customization as the Naga? The Corsair Scimitar seems like a viable contender.
At least the G600 is Mac-compatible. That is proving to be a more difficult question to answer than I would have expected. Some alternatives, I'm finding, expect you to have a Windows machine lying around just to set up your mouse so that you can then take it back to your macOS machine to use it. Not practical here. The only Windows machine around is almost 20 years old, still running XP, and therefore won't communicate with most places on the web (such as for downloading the mouse config programs). Some don't acknowledge the existence of Macs whatsoever. If I have to buy a replacement for my Naga, I don't want to put myself right back in the same boat with no support.