RAIDO and Raptors

Butcher · 09-04-2005, 07:03 PM

Hello Everybody: last week my OSZ PC3700 memory went out and crashed my RAIDO setup. I had two 36gb on the intel chip and two on the Promise. I did have Acronis backups.
Anyway when I went to rebuild the intel array, it grabbed all four 36gb raptors and made a RAIDO array. I probably did somthing wrong to help this.
I went forward anyway, partitioned, reinstalled, etc. Now I have a sort of cold boot problem, ie when after the computer has been off for some time, it does not post until I hit the restart.
I downloaded both of Western Digital's latest diagnostic tests. The DOS test shows nothing wrong, but detects only two drives, both 74 GB.
The windows diag test shows one IDE and is not consistent ie a few times it comes back with this error: Cable Test: Read Diagnostic Error.
Then at other times it show a 9 gb IDE and the test goes through with no error.
Another factor is my S.M.A.R.T. is not operative. In the bios it is set for "auto"
So, should I set the S.M.A.R.T. in bios to "enable" and see what happens?
Should I redo the RAID Array with only two HDDs and use the Promise for the other two, and if so how do I prevent the Intel RAID activation from grabbing the second two HDDs? Disconnect them?
Thanks for you opinons, suggestions and help.

B.

P4C800E Dlx
1gb Mushkin 3200
Plextor RW CD/DVD
Samsung CD RW
four 36gb Raptors
p4 2.8
not overclocked

Dan-Baer · 09-24-2005, 08:41 PM

I do not have an answer for you, sorry.
Your thread title is also applicable for my problem with RAID 0 and Raptors. I posted the following in the Intel chipset thread. I also need help.

I fear I have just had a major failure.

I was in the process of doing my monthly key file back ups to DVD when I has a spontanious reboot. When re booting I get a raid failure notice. When rebooting and going to the BIOS I am told that there has been a repairable raid failure detected and that my RAID Vol 1, 64kb stripe has failed.

I am then told that the missing disks have been found and I am asked if the listed drives are part of the raid volume. It says thyat the raid volume has failed but that the two Raptors are normal. It then says that one of the disks is bootable but the raid O array is not. I can then tell it that the two disks are part of my raid ) array.

I then get the options as follows
1. Create RAID volume
2. Delete Raid volume
3. Reset disks to non raid
4. Exit

If I choose 1. Create RAID volume I get the notice "Not enough non-raid disks available to create a volume.

I am stumped and reaching a state of panic as I have many client projects that I am in the middle of. I do have much of my data backed up on my external deata drive.

HELP!! I am over my head on this one.

Butcher · 09-25-2005, 12:13 AM

I cannot help you too, sorry to say. In my case I trusted the WD diagnostic program that I downloaded from WD website. It said not problems with my Raptors, so I continued to pursue other causes.
Eventually, I found that for some reason or another the power connector from the PS to motherboard was not making a good connection and each boot gave the message that system failed due to cpu failure. After I pressed and pulled on the PS connector on the MB, it now boots with no problem.
I would recommend that you try testing your Raptors with the WD diagnostic program that can be downloaded from the WD website.
I don't understand why you get the message that the RAID array is repairable then no option to repair it. I take it you pressed the Control I during the bios boot in order to get into the RAID setup area.

Dan-Baer · 09-25-2005, 12:33 AM

Yup, and when I try to repair it it shows one of the Raptors not readable. I tested for power Etc. I can not use any diagnostic program as the computer will not boot without a main C: volume. I am really starting to suspect that I have a bad drive. If that is the case I am totally suprised as Raptors are mede to very high specs.

Butcher · 09-25-2005, 12:59 AM

Believe me, I know your concern about such a situation. However, you say you need to get into the c drive. That is not necessarily the case. WD has a diagnostic program that loads from a floppy before any other thing, such as windows, boots. You just put the floppy containing the diagnostic program in and it sets up a program that checks your disks. In my case I had two in one array, so it showed up as Volume 1. While my system wasn't booting into windows on the first attempt I thought something was wrong. When I used this diagnostic program, it tested the raid array as if it was one big HDD and concluded all was all right.
If you have access to another machine, try going to www.wdc.com, under support you can find WD Raptors, click on it and several programs will appear to the right, some setup and other are diagnostic.
I recommend you first determine whether you raptors are all right or not. My are nearly two years old and still going strong.
Good luck,
b.

09-04-2005, 07:03 PM	#1
Butcher chop, chop, yummy, yum Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Columbia, Maryland Posts: 1,217	RAIDO and Raptors Hello Everybody: last week my OSZ PC3700 memory went out and crashed my RAIDO setup. I had two 36gb on the intel chip and two on the Promise. I did have Acronis backups. Anyway when I went to rebuild the intel array, it grabbed all four 36gb raptors and made a RAIDO array. I probably did somthing wrong to help this. I went forward anyway, partitioned, reinstalled, etc. Now I have a sort of cold boot problem, ie when after the computer has been off for some time, it does not post until I hit the restart. I downloaded both of Western Digital's latest diagnostic tests. The DOS test shows nothing wrong, but detects only two drives, both 74 GB. The windows diag test shows one IDE and is not consistent ie a few times it comes back with this error: Cable Test: Read Diagnostic Error. Then at other times it show a 9 gb IDE and the test goes through with no error. Another factor is my S.M.A.R.T. is not operative. In the bios it is set for "auto" So, should I set the S.M.A.R.T. in bios to "enable" and see what happens? Should I redo the RAID Array with only two HDDs and use the Promise for the other two, and if so how do I prevent the Intel RAID activation from grabbing the second two HDDs? Disconnect them? Thanks for you opinons, suggestions and help. B. P4C800E Dlx 1gb Mushkin 3200 Plextor RW CD/DVD Samsung CD RW four 36gb Raptors p4 2.8 not overclocked __________________ Building, maintaining, and fighting with computers are fun, but expensive, things to do. Last edited by Butcher : 09-05-2005 at 06:03 PM. Reason: no response yet
(Offline)

09-24-2005, 08:41 PM	#2
Dan-Baer Ancient Teckie Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 731	I do not have an answer for you, sorry. Your thread title is also applicable for my problem with RAID 0 and Raptors. I posted the following in the Intel chipset thread. I also need help. I fear I have just had a major failure. I was in the process of doing my monthly key file back ups to DVD when I has a spontanious reboot. When re booting I get a raid failure notice. When rebooting and going to the BIOS I am told that there has been a repairable raid failure detected and that my RAID Vol 1, 64kb stripe has failed. I am then told that the missing disks have been found and I am asked if the listed drives are part of the raid volume. It says thyat the raid volume has failed but that the two Raptors are normal. It then says that one of the disks is bootable but the raid O array is not. I can then tell it that the two disks are part of my raid ) array. I then get the options as follows 1. Create RAID volume 2. Delete Raid volume 3. Reset disks to non raid 4. Exit If I choose 1. Create RAID volume I get the notice "Not enough non-raid disks available to create a volume. I am stumped and reaching a state of panic as I have many client projects that I am in the middle of. I do have much of my data backed up on my external deata drive. HELP!! I am over my head on this one. __________________ New Rig; Asus Commando, QX6700 @ 2.93, 4 Gb Corsair (PC2-8500 Dominator), Zalman 7500, BFG 1 KW PSU, BFG 8800GTX OC, 2 Raptors in RAID 0 (OS and Apps) 2 Raptors in non raid for files and client data. WD 7500AAKS for main storage, X-Fi Fatal1ty, Normal optical drives Etc. 2 Ea Samsung 24" 244t's Thanks to everyone here for all the help
(Offline)

09-25-2005, 12:13 AM	#3
Butcher chop, chop, yummy, yum Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Columbia, Maryland Posts: 1,217	I cannot help you too, sorry to say. In my case I trusted the WD diagnostic program that I downloaded from WD website. It said not problems with my Raptors, so I continued to pursue other causes. Eventually, I found that for some reason or another the power connector from the PS to motherboard was not making a good connection and each boot gave the message that system failed due to cpu failure. After I pressed and pulled on the PS connector on the MB, it now boots with no problem. I would recommend that you try testing your Raptors with the WD diagnostic program that can be downloaded from the WD website. I don't understand why you get the message that the RAID array is repairable then no option to repair it. I take it you pressed the Control I during the bios boot in order to get into the RAID setup area. __________________ Building, maintaining, and fighting with computers are fun, but expensive, things to do.
(Offline)

09-25-2005, 12:33 AM	#4
Dan-Baer Ancient Teckie Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: California Posts: 731	Yup, and when I try to repair it it shows one of the Raptors not readable. I tested for power Etc. I can not use any diagnostic program as the computer will not boot without a main C: volume. I am really starting to suspect that I have a bad drive. If that is the case I am totally suprised as Raptors are mede to very high specs. __________________ New Rig; Asus Commando, QX6700 @ 2.93, 4 Gb Corsair (PC2-8500 Dominator), Zalman 7500, BFG 1 KW PSU, BFG 8800GTX OC, 2 Raptors in RAID 0 (OS and Apps) 2 Raptors in non raid for files and client data. WD 7500AAKS for main storage, X-Fi Fatal1ty, Normal optical drives Etc. 2 Ea Samsung 24" 244t's Thanks to everyone here for all the help
(Offline)

09-25-2005, 12:59 AM	#5
Butcher chop, chop, yummy, yum Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Columbia, Maryland Posts: 1,217	Believe me, I know your concern about such a situation. However, you say you need to get into the c drive. That is not necessarily the case. WD has a diagnostic program that loads from a floppy before any other thing, such as windows, boots. You just put the floppy containing the diagnostic program in and it sets up a program that checks your disks. In my case I had two in one array, so it showed up as Volume 1. While my system wasn't booting into windows on the first attempt I thought something was wrong. When I used this diagnostic program, it tested the raid array as if it was one big HDD and concluded all was all right. If you have access to another machine, try going to www.wdc.com, under support you can find WD Raptors, click on it and several programs will appear to the right, some setup and other are diagnostic. I recommend you first determine whether you raptors are all right or not. My are nearly two years old and still going strong. Good luck, b. __________________ Building, maintaining, and fighting with computers are fun, but expensive, things to do.
(Offline)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode