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Servant-LeggieFlag for Australia

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Issue with RAID 1 on Windows 7 machine

Hi guys,

Just received an email from a thankfully astute client regarding issues with their current RAID 1 setup. This is what they said:

I have had two occasions when the mouse froze during the last week, and nothing could be activated. I turned the mouse on/off, changed the battery, but no difference.

When re-starting the computer, the start up screen showed

Member Disk (0)

Non-Raid Disk

From memory both disks are in green text and show the same information when operating normally.


After re-boot, the mouse is working but in the hidden icons, there is the warning:

Intel RST service is not running.


I said yes to the following:

Do you want to allow the following program to make changes

Program               IA StorUI Intel Corp

File                         Hard Drive


The next screen showed:

Current Status

Array-0000

Volume0: Degraded Rebuild to a another disk

Details: Fix any problems reported on the array disk, or rebuild the volume to a new disk

Disk on Port: Missing

Status:  Missing

Storage System View

1st Drive

Volume 0 Type: Raid 1 932 GB

2nd Drive

Status: Missing

Type:     Hard Disk

Usage: Array Disk

Port:      Unknown

Port Location:    Unknown

Serial No.:           ZID19P4J:0

Type

Size        0



At the moment the client seems to be able to do what they need to, but I'm concerned about this error message.

As a brief bit of history which may be helpful to know, this client had a Core windows issue recently which saw us have to backup the entire drive using Acronis True Image Home 2013 and restoring back to his RAID 1 array with Acronis True Image Professional 2014 (because the other version/s of True Image Home could only restore to a non-RAID drive.

However, I'm concerned as we restored that entire drive, not simply files and folders after rebuilding the OS with programs from scratch (the latter being preferable for stability).

Any ideas short of blowing it away and starting a fresh install?

For your info, the RAID is managed through the mobo (it's a gigabyte mobo) which is not more than a couple of year old (from recollection, I built their PC late 2012).
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Avatar of CompProbSolv
CompProbSolv
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ASKER

So, CompProbSolv and Kimputer, you guys think it's nothing more than a dud drive? If that's the case, then a swap-out should be easy. As both of you suggested, testing it in non-raid mode will point to any issues present.

On that last point of testing, what are your individual thoughts on testing a Seagate drive using Seagate's proprietary software? I only ask because I've always used chkdsk <drive> /r through Windows which seems to be OK, but have heard mixed results with proprietary testing tools like the one mentioned.
Avatar of Kimputer
Kimputer

Using the proprietary software is the way to go. You will get good error codes that will help a speedy support ticket (if the drive is in warranty)
I would agree with Kimputer on this.  I typically use the manufacturer's software to test a drive.
Thanks guys. I'll organise to swap the clients drive out this week and will keep you posted on results.

Regarding the proprietary software for hard drive testing, does that apply to all reputable and/ or common drive manufacturers (as I will typically only source Seagate, many clients still like (or are simply sold) WD, Hitachi or other known brands). From what you're saying, I'd understand that it's simply better to use the software intended to support that drive in question as you'd expect to get a more accurate result, yes?
Correct. But as the aren't that many big names anymore (many merged), you only need those 3 or 4 software downloads most of the time.
Cool, thanks for the update (yeah, Fujitsu and the like are well and truly gone)! Pity, as Samsung were only in the market for a while but were easily the most reliable drives I'd ever worked with (NEVER had an issue)! Perhaps that's why Seagate bought them out- they were just too good to compete with!
...and I'm not even a cynic!
Hi guys,

I'm heading to the client's house today and will be in touch either late today or tomorrow to update you on how things went. Here's hoping it's nothing more than a faulty drive!
Hi guys,

Success!

I installed the new drive and used the installed software in windows to add the drive to the RAID array. A couple of hours later, the RAID was 100% complete and a PC restart confirmed all working well.

Thanks for all of your help, both of you!