[SOLVED] Is it possible to reconstruct RAID configuration?

[lemonade_29]

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI
BIOS Version: F22e
RAID System: Intel RST
Drives: (4) Intel 540s Series 2.5" 1TB SSD

I was momentarily taken over by the big dumb and reset my BIOS settings while using a RAID 5 setup. This predictably wiped the RAID configuration on the disks and turned the RAID volume into Failed status. From the original array of 4 disks, 2 disks are now showing as non-RAID disks, while 2 disks stayed in the array.
I know that normally this is a death sentence for RAID 5, but I believe in my case it's not as bad. My hypothesis is that only the RAID configuration got messed up in the 2 non-RAID disks. The question then becomes: Is the a way to manually recreate RAID configuration on disks so the BIOS recognizes them as member disks again? And if so, do I need to see a data recovery professional for this? I suppose there's always the option to try to copy everything out, but that data recovery process is expensive for a RAID setup so I'd explore this easier option first, if it is possible at all.

 

[USAFRet]

Never used these (never needed to), but these show up in a google search:

https://www.reclaime.com/library/how-to-recover-raid.aspx
https://www.easeus.com/resource/raid-recovery-software.htm


And as always, having a good backup circumvents any future issues like this.

 

[rforce]

Don't waste your time with anything easeus.

Best practice for data recovery is to get a full sector-by-sector clone/image of each drive and then work with the copies in whatever data recovery programs you choose to use. Most data recovery programs have some level of ability to work with RAID recoveries. Here are my recommendations:

1. Reclaime (auto feature is stupid slow, but helpful for those who don't have a clue what they are doing)
2. UFS Explorer (very powerful and fast for experienced data recovery professionals)
3. R-Studio (probably the most popular program used by data recovery professionals)

 

[lemonade_29]

Thanks for the replies, I have looked into the Reclaime path and it does look promising. I performed a scan, which ended with full confidence bar which is good news. However, while I was looking into Reclaime, I discovered TestDisk. Many threads in the TestDisk forum (like those below) indicate people have been able to repair the array in place by reconstructing the RAID metadata on the disks. I will copy things out first and then try the TestDisk option.

https://forum.cgsecurity.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5947
https://forum.cgsecurity.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5831

 

[lemonade_29]

TestDisk was not able to restore the RAID configuration so I used Reclaime to salvage what I can. Thanks again for the pointers. I have also learned my lesson this time regarding backups and started to use cloud storage and local backups.

 

[fzabkar]

If you would like to try for a more complete recovery (?), you could assemble a virtual RAID using DMDE and then recover your data from this virtual RAID.

DMDE can autodetect the RAID parameters. I could step through the procedure with you, if necessary.

https://dmde.com/

 

[Maxxify]

I've recovered RAID volumes before using RStudio, but there are other options.

 

[seagate_surfer]

While it's not a Seagate software, one recommendation that comes up sometimes for situations like this is UFS Explorer RAID Recovery, could be worth a shot.