Re: Paul and Old Man: Cannot fix RAID5 failure ...


"Paul" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:nospam-2304061156530001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <e2fp9t$glv$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "John7" <NoSp@xxxxxx>
wrote:

Data recovery
==========
Now I need to concentrate on raid array or data recovery (if still
possible).
I removed the drive reported in error, no boot or rebuild.
Then re-inserted this drive, still no boot or rebuild.
Can I force the Intel Matrix Storage ROM (or Windows Storage Manager
utility) to rebuild?

I tried Universal Boot Disc (UBCD) but it won't load the RAID driver
finaly
(used F6 key).
I was considering a parallel WinXP installation on a 4th disk, install
Intel
RAID driver and
run Create RAID From Existing Hard Drive in Intel's Matrix storage
Console.
If this fails, I can always consider Runtimes' RAIDreconstructor.


Any thoughts?


TIA,
John7

In my first post, I stated my first priority would be copying the
remaining good disks, to identical sized disks. If you need the
services of professional data recovery, you will want the
original disks in pristine condition, so they can be recovered.

In terms of the process I would go through, I like your idea of
installing the OS on a separate standalone disk drive, boot
and install Intel RAID drivers, then reconnect whatever disks
you want to attempt recovery with. Maybe whatever code Intel has
for Windows (Matrix Storage Manager) will do a better job than
the BIOS RAID module.

It was not neccessary to do a parallel WinXP + RAIDdriver install.
I managed to recue a data using Norton System Works 2005 Premier rescue CD.
As Norton did not recognize the LAN controller nor USB stisck, I was forced
to
transfer data by SD-card (nearly finished at time of writing).

Suddenly the Intel Matrix Storage ROM showed status Rebuild (dunno why now).
It finished while I backupped the data.
When trying to boot tho, there is some activity while the screen goes black,
then the system
resets. This continues forever, grrrr....
Should I disconnected the disk initially in error, then reconnect to trigger
another rebuild ?


In Googling

raid "parity calculation"

I was surprised to find several claims, that a three disk RAID5
with one missing member would not boot (not for a P5LD2,
just RAID5 in general). It is supposed to! Based on those
reports, I think from now on, when someone suggests RAID5,
I'll suggest trying with four drives and not three. So far
I haven't found an explanation for why this would be.

Maybe like in my case, actually 2 drives failed, while the RAID bios ROM
reports RAID status Failed and just 1 drive in error.
If these claims are true that would be a shame for the implementers.
RAID5 ought to be recoverable in single drive failures.


When you are finished this exercise, I would configure the
machine permanently, to using a separate disk for the boot
disk. Certainly, you should be able to convince your
customer, that putting everything on that RAID5 is not
the right answer. If the boot disk is just used for booting,
and doesn't contain gobs of newly added stuff, you might
even prep a replacement boot drive for the day that it
fails :-)

Nice idea but hard to sell.


Paul


.

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