Windows OS
--
Questions
--
Followers
Top Experts
NT 4.0 Disk Administrator, breaking a RAID 1 mirror problems
Hi,
I have a NT Raid 1 mirror set on NT Server 4.0.
The primary partitions (C:. D:, and F:) are on an IDE drive. The corresponding mirrors are on a SCSI drive (long story).
The SCSI (mirror) drive has failed and will not spin up. I need to replace it with a new IDE disk, and recreate the mirrors.
Problem #1) All the descriptions of how to break and recreate a mirror set describe the loss of the PRIMARY partitions. I have yet to find a problem description of how to recover a MIRROR partition.
Problem #2) When I open up Disk Administrator, it only shows Disk 0, the primary hard drive. Disk 1 (the mirror) does not show up. However, it still insists that the primary partitions are part of a mirror set.
When I try to use the Break Mirror command, it deletes the drive letter that was pointing to the primary, and sets the partition type to Unknown.
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
Is there another way to do this?
Thanks,
Dan
I have a NT Raid 1 mirror set on NT Server 4.0.
The primary partitions (C:. D:, and F:) are on an IDE drive. The corresponding mirrors are on a SCSI drive (long story).
The SCSI (mirror) drive has failed and will not spin up. I need to replace it with a new IDE disk, and recreate the mirrors.
Problem #1) All the descriptions of how to break and recreate a mirror set describe the loss of the PRIMARY partitions. I have yet to find a problem description of how to recover a MIRROR partition.
Problem #2) When I open up Disk Administrator, it only shows Disk 0, the primary hard drive. Disk 1 (the mirror) does not show up. However, it still insists that the primary partitions are part of a mirror set.
When I try to use the Break Mirror command, it deletes the drive letter that was pointing to the primary, and sets the partition type to Unknown.
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
Is there another way to do this?
Thanks,
Dan
Zero AI Policy
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
I would not even bother, since it can still boot up.
what I would do.
1) Backup all partitions before installing the replacement IDE drive.
2) install the new IDE drive and remove the SCSI drive and controller !
3) Hopefully, yo should then be able to re-mirror the drive.
4) Upgrade to a newer OS !!!!
I hope this helps !
what I would do.
1) Backup all partitions before installing the replacement IDE drive.
2) install the new IDE drive and remove the SCSI drive and controller !
3) Hopefully, yo should then be able to re-mirror the drive.
4) Upgrade to a newer OS !!!!
I hope this helps !
Hi,
Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
The only backup method I have available is Ghost 8.x.
And Ghost 8.x does not support RAID. See:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/1999010613522725?Open&docid=1998082411252125&nsf=ghost.nsf&view=pfdocs
So I'm afraid that the order of operations is:
1) Beat Disk Administrator over the head and tell it that the RAID set no longer exists.
2) THEN backup the drive
3) THEN open the case and put in the new IDE drive
4) THEN reestablish the mirror.
Gee, if it were so simple as you described, you think I would have made it a 500 point question?
So... the question that I asked, and the question that needs to be answered in order to get the points, is:
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
But thanks anyway...
Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
The only backup method I have available is Ghost 8.x.
And Ghost 8.x does not support RAID. See:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/1999010613522725?Open&docid=1998082411252125&nsf=ghost.nsf&view=pfdocs
So I'm afraid that the order of operations is:
1) Beat Disk Administrator over the head and tell it that the RAID set no longer exists.
2) THEN backup the drive
3) THEN open the case and put in the new IDE drive
4) THEN reestablish the mirror.
Gee, if it were so simple as you described, you think I would have made it a 500 point question?
So... the question that I asked, and the question that needs to be answered in order to get the points, is:
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
But thanks anyway...
  You should see rescan option under disk management in a broken mirror issue.
EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE.
Earn free swag for participating on the platform.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
I think you are referring to the Windows 2000 Disk Management MMC snap in.
The diskpart utility in XP also has a rescan option: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415
However, in Windows NT 4.0 Disk Administrator, there is no "rescan" option.
Thanks for your reply.
I think you are referring to the Windows 2000 Disk Management MMC snap in.
The diskpart utility in XP also has a rescan option: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415
However, in Windows NT 4.0 Disk Administrator, there is no "rescan" option.
If the IDE drive is presently working, and it is a single drive, I would remove it fromt he server, put it as a slave in a desktop, and then boot using Ghost 8 , and it should be able to backup the drive.
I would do a test restore just to make sure.
In addition, see if there are any tools in the NT 4 resource kit that may help.
Some of the tools in the Win2k resource kit may also run on NT 4.
I hope this helps !
I would do a test restore just to make sure.
In addition, see if there are any tools in the NT 4 resource kit that may help.
Some of the tools in the Win2k resource kit may also run on NT 4.
I hope this helps !
Again, thank you for your reply, but it doesn't answer my question.
I will not under any circumstances open the case and remove the drive from the server until a backup is done. What happens if I should drop the drive? I'm screwed.
And like I said before, the only backup I have available, Ghost 8.x, does not work with RAID.
So I have to convince Disk Administrator that the mirror set no longer exists first. THEN do the backup, THEN open the case to put the new drive in. In that order.
(Obviously I will do a disk configuration Save operation in Disk Administrator before doing anything).
So... the question that I asked, and the question that needs to be answered in order to get the points, is:
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
Thanks anyway.
I will not under any circumstances open the case and remove the drive from the server until a backup is done. What happens if I should drop the drive? I'm screwed.
And like I said before, the only backup I have available, Ghost 8.x, does not work with RAID.
So I have to convince Disk Administrator that the mirror set no longer exists first. THEN do the backup, THEN open the case to put the new drive in. In that order.
(Obviously I will do a disk configuration Save operation in Disk Administrator before doing anything).
So... the question that I asked, and the question that needs to be answered in order to get the points, is:
How do I tell Disk Administrator that the mirror no longer exists, and it should set the partition type of the partitions on the IDE disk back to ordinary (not mirrored) partitions?
Thanks anyway.
Get a FREE t-shirt when you ask your first question.
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
Actually, what you have is software RAID, and it is not even that, just SW mirrorong.
I would think that Ghost, any version can handle that since there is nothing special involved.
If nothing else, it will backup all the files so that anything can be recovered.
MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE A BETTER ANSWER !
I would also post in the Storage - Hard drive area ( TA ) where there are more experts.
Good luck !!
I would think that Ghost, any version can handle that since there is nothing special involved.
If nothing else, it will backup all the files so that anything can be recovered.
MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE A BETTER ANSWER !
I would also post in the Storage - Hard drive area ( TA ) where there are more experts.
Good luck !!
Well.... you would think that.... but you'd be wrong.
The article in the Symantec knowledgebase that I quoted above explicitly states that Ghost 8.x doesn't support either software or hardware raid.
The article in the Symantec knowledgebase that I quoted above explicitly states that Ghost 8.x doesn't support either software or hardware raid.
Ghost may not be able to image the entire disk, but I am almost positive that you can do each partition individually, so that all the data will be backed up.
I would try it since you have nothing to lose.
I would try it since you have nothing to lose.
EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE.
Earn free swag for participating on the platform.
OK, fine. I'll try the Ghost -NTIID switch:
     Â
"Ignores the partition's System ID and clones based on the underlying file system, instead of defaulting to a sector-by-sector Image All cloning.
The -NTIID switch enables the Windows NT volume set partitions to be intelligently cloned file by file, which allows resizing. However, using the -NTIID switch with volume and Stripe sets is not recommended."
But I'm still going to be left with a partition that Disk Administrator thinks is part of a mirror set, when it is really a standalone partition now and the mirror no longer exists. It's not going to allow me to reestablish the mirror again until it thinks the set is broken. You can't have 2 mirrors.
So how do I convince Disk Administrator that it's no longer a mirrored set? When I click on break, it removes the drive letter and sets the partition type to Unknown! Luckily it asks you if you want to save the disk configuration !!!
     Â
"Ignores the partition's System ID and clones based on the underlying file system, instead of defaulting to a sector-by-sector Image All cloning.
The -NTIID switch enables the Windows NT volume set partitions to be intelligently cloned file by file, which allows resizing. However, using the -NTIID switch with volume and Stripe sets is not recommended."
But I'm still going to be left with a partition that Disk Administrator thinks is part of a mirror set, when it is really a standalone partition now and the mirror no longer exists. It's not going to allow me to reestablish the mirror again until it thinks the set is broken. You can't have 2 mirrors.
So how do I convince Disk Administrator that it's no longer a mirrored set? When I click on break, it removes the drive letter and sets the partition type to Unknown! Luckily it asks you if you want to save the disk configuration !!!
Can I just take a time out here and mention NT backup, it  is already installed and providing no one is usig the machine it will give a decent backup, for a fall back soloution but you need a tape drive of course.
I do wonder why ghost is your only option some that will work with NT and possibly even some free ones ( or at least there were, its a while since I used any )
Â
I do wonder why ghost is your only option some that will work with NT and possibly even some free ones ( or at least there were, its a while since I used any )
Â
"but you need a tape drive of course" - well, yeah. minor problem.
NT does not have USB support, so that precludes an external hard drive. Believe me, as soon as I fix this mess, I'm going to upgrade to Windows 2000 (the application probably would not run on 2003), get a Belkin USB 2.0 card and hook up an external hard drive.
Ghost is able to do the backup via a mapped network drive, that's why I have it.
NT does not have USB support, so that precludes an external hard drive. Believe me, as soon as I fix this mess, I'm going to upgrade to Windows 2000 (the application probably would not run on 2003), get a Belkin USB 2.0 card and hook up an external hard drive.
Ghost is able to do the backup via a mapped network drive, that's why I have it.
Get a FREE t-shirt when you ask your first question.
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
Fair comment,
if I remember correctly you can also do a NT backup to a file which could be on a network drive.
Sorry i dont have a NT box to hand to provide directions. But it may be worth exploring.
David
if I remember correctly you can also do a NT backup to a file which could be on a network drive.
Sorry i dont have a NT box to hand to provide directions. But it may be worth exploring.
David
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
Log in or create a free account to see answer.
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
Minor correction:
Type C7 is "Windows NT corrupted NTFS volume/stripe set"
Got it right the 2nd time.
Type C7 is "Windows NT corrupted NTFS volume/stripe set"
Got it right the 2nd time.
Windows OS
--
Questions
--
Followers
Top Experts
This topic area includes legacy versions of Windows prior to Windows 2000: Windows 3/3.1, Windows 95 and Windows 98, plus any other Windows-related versions including Windows Mobile.