[SOLVED] Icybox Two Drive - discs seen by pc but not reading them

[SimonJaye]

Hi all

I have a two bay Icy Box (Model IB-RD3620SU3) with two identical 2TB drives (WD Green WD20EZRX) set up from the outset as RAID1. It has been in use and operating fine for quite some time. The PC runs Windows 10.

Due to a problem with different single drive I removed the two drives from the Icy Box and carefully put them to one side. I changed Icy Box setting to single disc and did work on the single drive. So far so simple.

I removed the single disc as I needed to access some data on one of the original pair. I thought I could just put one of them in and read it, but it did not seem to like it. So I set the Icy Box back to RAID1 and put the two identical drives back in. But although the PC could see the drives are there they are not recognised. Not a problem I thought - I need to re-assign a drive letter. So I went to disc management where sure enough the drive is there. But is says disc unknown, NOT INITIALISED. (even though they have been in use many years). It offers to Initialise it but I think this will lose access to all the data. I was expecting some button or other just to assign a drive letter.

Does anyone have an ideas please ? At this stage I'd take being able to access one drive and getting the most important data off it although ideally I'd like to have them back to where I started.

Thanks all.

SJ

 

[USAFRet]

1. WD Green are the absolute worst to use in a RAID array, of any type.
2. Where was the actual backup of this data?
3. If the IcyBox and Windows says the array needs to be reinitialized, you are probably out of luck.

I would try this:
Connect one of them internally, and use a Linux LiveCD/USB to try to access the data on it.

 

[SimonJaye]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

I though the second of the discs was the back up - being a mirror. I'm new to this and don;t really know a lot. But I am starting to think that what i thought was a safe system to keep a spare copy of the data always up to date doesn't on reflection seem to be 🙁

When you say connect internally is this into the spare sata port ?

Ta.

 

[USAFRet]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

I though the second of the discs was the back up - being a mirror. I'm new to this and don;t really know a lot. But I am starting to think that what i thought was a safe system to keep a spare copy of the data always up to date doesn't on reflection seem to be 🙁

When you say connect internally is this into the spare sata port ?

Ta.

A common misconception regarding "RAID 1".
No, a RAID 1 is not a "backup", or a second copy. It is mirrored...the same data on both drives.
It is only for protection against physical drive fail, and only if you actually need 24/7 uninterrupted ops.

It does nothing for all the other forms of data loss.
Yes, rethink your data protection routine.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

Yes, connect internally means on a SATA data port on the motherboard.

 

[SimonJaye]

I appear to have been labouring under a misconception. Marvellous. I will follow up on the advice on the procedures.

Has my data really gone though. Is the data really not on the discs now. It's not like the are dropped or broken ?

 

[USAFRet]

I appear to have been labouring under a misconception. Marvellous. I will follow up on the advice on the procedures.

Has my data really gone though. Is the data really not on the discs now. It's not like the are dropped or broken ?

My linked procedure above may seem over the top, but could easily be done with the IcyBox and drives you already have.
Just differently than how you were doing it.

The data is probably still "there", but just inaccessible. Windows and IcyBox are wanting to reinitialize the RAID array. Which would lead to loss of all data.
Hence my suggestion of trying to access it via a Linux OS. It's worth a try.

 

[SimonJaye]

Hi, that's useful info going forward. I did a quick search for Linux LiveCD/USB but I have to say it looks like I'd be out of my depth 🙁

 

[fzabkar]

If you are not comfortable with Linux, you can still use Windows to access your drive via SATA -- just don't allow it to initialise your drive or write anything to it. You can then use a tool such as DMDE to access the file system, if it is still there.

https://dmde.com/

DMDE can also rebuild a RAID, if necessary. Can you show us DMDE's Partitions window?

BTW, if Windows can't mount the file system, then it won't write to the drive.

Enable or Disable Automount of New Disks and Drives in Windows:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/117336-enable-disable-automount-new-disks-drives-windows.html

 

[SimonJaye]

Thanks for these suggestions. I'm going to have a look now....

 

[SimonJaye]

Hi. So I have downloaded the dmde, unpacked it and run it and it brings up a screen with info. It's a small table with a partition kind of list (although I don't know how to interpret it). There is a hint to c;ick to next step if the patition is recognised or run full scan if it isn't. I don't low if it is or not but I'm running the scan. I took a screen print but it asks for an http address to post it which I don;t understand. I'm an amteur at this to say the least.....

 

[USAFRet]

To post an image, upload it to imgur.com, and post the BBCode link here.

 

[SimonJaye]

Well, I am not sure where the last month went and I am sorry not to have responded sooner. Work has been very mad.

I have now set up the imgur thing up first. So I have done that and the link is :

https://imgur.com/a/VPKccIA

View: https://imgur.com/a/VPKccIA


I pressed some button or other in the dmde dashboard, and it showed me a kind of index to the folders on the drive which I thought was quite positive. Although clicking on the folders did not actually open any files so that must be some visual representation only.

Are you able to advise if this table indicates anything useful and where I go from ehre ?

Best,
SJ.

 

[fzabkar]

If you double-click the IcyBox partition and expand the Root, do you see your file/folder structure?

Can you show us the contents of sector 0 (in Mode -> Hexadecimal) ?

 

[SimonJaye]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me. The answers (sort of!) are:

If you double-click the IcyBox partition and expand the Root, do you see your file/folder structure? I do

Can you show us the contents of sector 0 (in Mode -> Hexadecimal) ? I don't understand this but I am presing various things near where it says Sector 0 to see if anything else pops up...but it doesn't ?

Best,
SJ

 

[fzabkar]

It sounds like your file system is intact.

If you select the physical drive and uncheck the "show partitions" box, you should then arrive at sector 0. Now select Mode -> Hexadecimal, if necessary, to see the sector's contents.

 

[SimonJaye]

Hi again.

Ok, so I have opened it up again to try this. It didn't go quite as above but I think this is the screen you are after ?

https://imgur.com/a/SRDrxAK

View: https://imgur.com/a/SRDrxAK


There are four tabs in the pic - the left says drive 0 (which I think is the main one inside the computer box), then ICYBOX 2TB which is the one I though I was interested in, then there are two that each say 'Drive 2 -2Tb which I am assuming is the two drives inside the IcyBox enclosure ? I can't see what else they could be. There is one more drive on the machine which is connected to the sata port on the motherboard (this is as advanced as I really get) but that has a name I gave it 'M6' so if that was one of these 'Drive 2's then I would expect it to say M6 on the tab. What I don't get is why there is no 5th tab with M6 on it and why the Icy Box has a total of three tabs!

Anyway, when I highlight the Drive2 tabs the mode button lights up and when I put it on hexadecimal what you then get is in the screen shot above. In the screen pic I have clikced on the right hand side of the two 'Drive2' tabs but whenI clikc on the other one the rows of green and black numbers don't change.

Does this tell you anything (other than that I have no idea what I am doing !)

Best
SJ

 

[fzabkar]

Sector 0 is empty, ie there is no information in the partition table. This is typically what happens when Windows "initialises" the drive.

To restore the missing partitions, r-click each of the Microsoft Reserved and IcyBox volumes, and select "Insert partition (Undelete)". You may need to apply or write the changes (from the menu) or in response to a prompt. You may also need to eject and reinsert the drive in the usual way in order for Windows to re-enumerate the drive.

Good luck.

 

[iamtryingtogetraidtowork]

I suggest you download STELLAR DATA RECOVERY programme if necessary. By the way, I have pretty much same situation to a degree, in that I have the same enclosure. It had 2 HD's in it working fine on Raid 1. I then replaced those with 2 X SSD's in cages that make them 3.5 inch size and put them in. The Box is not recognised now, nor when i put original HD's back in . Any ideas ?

 

[SimonJaye]

Sector 0 is empty, ie there is no information in the partition table. This is typically what happens when Windows "initialises" the drive.

To restore the missing partitions, r-click each of the Microsoft Reserved and IcyBox volumes, and select "Insert partition (Undelete)". You may need to apply or write the changes (from the menu) or in response to a prompt. You may also need to eject and reinsert the drive in the usual way in order for Windows to re-enumerate the drive.

Good luck.

Well, I was not sure if to do this with both drives in or not. So I tried with one but it gave rubbish feedback. Fearing the worst I put the second back in. I managed to do the Icybox partition and it lit up in black. I tried the microsoft reserved one but it didn't like that and said there was some sort of boot thing missing. Another couple of buttons more regardless got me a red x by the microsoft reserved words. I found an undo button. I decided to take the drives out and replace which you also mention. I have no idea why it didn't like me trying to redo the microsoft reserved part but

..........I GOT A LITTLE BELL GO OFF AND MY DRIVES ARE THERE !!!

Which includes my photos of my dad which are probably more important than the tax records.


I am so grateful. Thank you very much

SJ

 

[fzabkar]

The reason DMDE was unable to restore the Microsoft partition was that its boot sector was missing. DMDE needs the boot sector info (Boot Parameter Block) to rebuild the partition table. Sorry, I missed that. In any case the MS partition is not required for a data drive.

 

[fzabkar]

I suggest you download STELLAR DATA RECOVERY programme if necessary. By the way, I have pretty much same situation to a degree, in that I have the same enclosure. It had 2 HD's in it working fine on Raid 1. I then replaced those with 2 X SSD's in cages that make them 3.5 inch size and put them in. The Box is not recognised now, nor when i put original HD's back in . Any ideas ?

I suggest you forget Stellar and switch to DMDE. It is much more powerful (it's a disc editor as well as a data recovery tool) and costs a lot less - US$20. In the OP's case the free version was all that was required.

 

[SimonJaye]

The reason DMDE was unable to restore the Microsoft partition was that its boot sector was missing. DMDE needs the boot sector info (Boot Parameter Block) to rebuild the partition table. Sorry, I missed that. In any case the MS partition is not required for a data drive.

The reason DMDE was unable to restore the Microsoft partition was that its boot sector was missing. DMDE needs the boot sector info (Boot Parameter Block) to rebuild the partition table. Sorry, I missed that. In any case the MS partition is not required for a data drive.

Noted, for future reference. Thanks.

I have another question to post arising out of the same exercise ! Fingers crossed

SJ