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Add mirror fails windows 2003

I have a server running Windows 2003 with two sets of raid 1 disks. One set has the OS on it and seems fine. The second has lots of data and programs on it, including websites. I recently noticed that one of the drives in the second mirror had been displaying bad clusters. I replaced it with another new one. But now, when I try to add mirror to the good drive, it fails with a message in event log describing bad clusters. I run the chkdsk e: /f and it runs and fixes a different problem each time. So I try adding a volume and again it fails. Is there anything to do about this, or should I just back up the older drive and recreate the raid completely from the backup?

x534n

If the disk that contains the bad block is a small computer system interface (SCSI) disk drive, back up the data from the affected disk, and then perform a low-level format of the affected disk. To do this, use a utility supplied by the disk manufacturer, or use the disk controller itself, to mark those sectors "bad" at the hardware level. Then, re-create the volume and try to establish the dynamic mirror. If the mirroring is successful, restore your data to the now mirrored volume. If the disk that contains bad blocks is an integrated device electronics (IDE) disk, you must back up the data and then replace the disk with a new IDE disk before you establish the mirror

more info here

noxcho

Are building mirror of e drive? If yes then run chkdsk e:/r on it. /f command does not fix bad sectors.

ReclaiMe

The "fixes a different problem each time" suggests there's more to it than just a bad sector.

consider a possibility that,
1. some other part of the server is faulty (RAM; controller; controllers' RAM, if any)
2. wrong drive was replaced

starting actions might be
1. do a RAM test on the server
2. check to see if there are other drives in a server indicating a problem, review the Event Log.
3. do a non-destructive test on the drive removed from the server to check if the drive is indeed bad
4. do a CHKDSK /F /R on the drive currently in the server

Jonathan Kaplan

ASKER

I tried the chkdsk e: /r and it worked OK, but then when I try to regenerate the mirror, LDM keeps failing with the following message Event ID 29:

dmio: Harddisk3 read error at block 418959: status 0xc000009c

At least it's now consistent. Is this disk toast and why would both old drive exhibit the same issues? I though the idea behind a mirror was to avoid this?

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noxcho

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Jonathan Kaplan

ASKER

I finally replac ed the disk in the mirror set only to have the second one fail after the re-syncing I'm going to replace that one too. Thank goodness they didn't fail at the same time!