data recovery - raid-0 failing, restore array on intel matrix controller, mark as a spare drive

21
2014-02
  • Pavel

    I have asus p3k-35 (or something like that) and it comes with a raid controller on board. I set it up with raid0 2x500G drives and one is failing now. At first WinXP BSODed and then after restart it happened withing a few minutes. When I started to check what was wrong it went dead and wouldn't even recognize the drive in bios. Next day I tried to boot the PC and it booted ok, i tried to check the SMART status of the drive (using smartctl) and it showed as if the drive was OK. Within a few minutes the OS went dead again.

    I put the drive in the freezer (or tried to cool it down with liquid air from a gas duster can) and after that I was able to boot the OS and copy a few gigs of files before it wend BSOD again. The thing is that I use that PC work work and I have my setup with all stuff that I need and I did some work on that pc and I really would like to do something so that I would be able to use that same setup; in other words, I'd like to replace that failing drive with a new one and continue to use that raid-0 setup.

    I have 2x500gb raid0, 1x500gb and 1x1000gb, I moved all data from that single 500gb drive and I would like to replace the failing drive with this one. I used intel matrix console (windows gui app) and from different places people mention that a failing raid-0 can be fixed by intel matrix console by marking a "spare" drive. I did just that. I made the single drive completely disappear from windows explorer and intel matrix storage manager shows it as a spare drive. But I have no clue what exactly that means! Matrix storage manager shows the failing drive as if it was OK, so how can I tell it to mirror it? Or is it making raid5 out of that failing drive under the cover?

    SO, can anybody tell me what that mark as a spare drive means and if it's something that could help me?

    PS. When copying data from the failing raid0 array I was able to copy large files fast, but copying folders with lots of small files is insanely slow. Transfer data rate drops significantly with small files (big wtf with windows), so if there was a way to simply copy the failing drive fast without using OS functions (something like image a drive), but that solution could probably only help we save data and not restore the array.

    UPDATE: Intel matrix storage allows raid0 to raid5 conversion on the fly. Basically, from windows gui app you can tell it to use one extra drive to be added to the new raid5 array. So, I did just this. It started to create raid 5 array. After some time (around 20 minutes) progress was 1% and the system wen BSOD. So, I put the drive into freezer again, after it's cooled down I plug it back in, start the os and... here's the big WTF. Retarded matrix storage starts reconstructing the array. I have no clue, but I suspect that now this retarded matrix storage BS thinks that the array was raid5 and the newly added drive is the replacement. And it tried to rebuild it. Not sure what and how exactly it does, but I have suspicion that it could use that new drive (that was empty) and try to rebuild array with it's contents which obviously will destroy the data... I have no clue, at this point data isn't accessible at all and the array is in unknown state and even if it finishes rebuilding I'm not sure what the result of that stupidity of the controller could be. I suspect that it has flawed logic and if raid5 conversion isn't completed then after reboot it will do some bad ass stuff to corrupt the data. Anybody have nay ideas?

  • Answers
    Know someone who can answer? Share a link to this question via email, Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

    Related Question

    data recovery - Recover RAID 5 array from failed motherboard
  • Questioner

    It appears my motherboard has died. I have an Abit IP35 Pro LGA775.

    Abit IP35 Pro Motherboard Specification

    I have 6 hard drives.

    1 independent hard drive used for my Operating System.

    5 other hard drives in a RAID 5 array formation.

    My RAID controller is onboard (on the motherboard).

    It is: Intel ICH9R / Intel Matrix Storage Tech(AHCI & RAID0/1/5/10)

    How can I recover my data?

    Consider that I may not be able to get the exact same motherboard, I may have to settle for something different. A friend of mine suggested it would be wise to get another board with the same RAID controller which I will. But I am still unsure of how to recover the data from that point...

    Also is there anyway possible to recovery my Operating System (Windows XP Professional) without having to do a fresh install?


  • Related Answers
  • Matt

    Your friend is probably getting correct about getting a board with the same type of RAID adapter. The metadata that forms the array is probably stored on the drives themselves so just plugging in the drives, making sure the raid settings in the BIOS are set to enable ought to do the trick.

    As far as recovering the OS, it should be fine if all that died was the Motherboard. Though, if you have files to recover, I would boot it up in data mode (with the OS on yet another drive) as just get the files you need. If you get a new Motherboard, that copy of XP may not handle it too well.

  • Loren Pechtel

    I have moved an array from one board with the ICHR9 to another board with the ICHR9 and it came up fine. Admittedly it was Raid 1 but since the new board recognized that immediately I suspect it would work with other levels.