More RAID Woes.... again....

[angelkiller]

Ok, I'm back. My Raid 0 array won't boot. I have a DS3 and was using the JMicron RAID controller. Everything was setup and functioning perfectly. Ok, good. Now, I had left some extra space on my Raid array (~10GB) to install Ubuntu (Linux) on at a later date. Today is that later date.

I dl and make the Live CD. I was using the 32bit 7.04 version. I go to install, and realize that Ubuntu does not see my RAID array. (It sees the individual disks) NP. I google "Ubuntu" "raid" and got this page.

It said I had to dl and install dmraid. When I installed it, dmraid had an post-something error. However, the Synaptic Package Manager showed dmraid as installed. I go back to install, and saw nothing has changed. I say forget it and shut down Ubuntu to go back to Windows to dl Gentoo. I boot up, the raid status screen shows one of my disks as "non-raid", and the array as failed. It tries to boot. Error. :x

Then I go back into the RAID setup and delete the RAID array. I make a new one identical to my original. No boot. I then set the disks to non-raid, still no boot.

I think my mistake was deleting the RAID array. I think I should have set the disks to non-Raid first, and then created an identical array. Anyways, I don't see how the any of my data could be tampered with. So I believe that if I can get my original Raid settings back, I can boot back into Windows.

Am I right? Can I somehow get the disks configured correctly to boot? Or were some files changed and/or corrupted? Nothing mission critical was on the array, but reinstalling windows and my games and programs is a pain in the ass. But if I have no choice, what else can I do but to reinstall? I want this to be my last option.

Thanks for reading! ANY help is greatly appreciated.

My system: PD 945, DS3, 2GB Corsair DDR2-675 running at 800, X1950pro, (2) 80GB Seagate 7200.9.

EDIT: After thinkin about it some more, I think that dmraid was saved to one of the HDD's. I wonder if I could boot into ubuntu and remove dmraid :?:

 

[angelkiller]

Aw, nobody responded. This is my main computer guys, Can I get a little assistance please?

I'd start messing around with it, but I don't want to aggravate the problem. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

-Thanks

 

[Guest]

if you can set everything up the way it was originally you should be able to see your drives again.

 

[valis]

lol, retard.

if you setup your boot partition on a RAID 0 then you pretty much deserve whatever it is you get IMHO.

i'm done giving advice in this arena as it's never followed.

Valis

 

[SuperFly03]

Why don't you just try a repair install of windows?

 

[angelkiller]

Thanks for the responses, (except for Valis's).

f you can set everything up the way it was originally you should be able to see your drives again.

I tried this but it didn't work. I can't seem to remember the array's name. Will that make a difference? I'll try it again when I get home. The only problem is that I think I installed something to one of the Hard Drives. So there's a random file on the drive somewhere. (probably where the boot section is.

Why don't you just try a repair install of windows?

Good idea. Didn't think of that. I'll try that if restoring the settings doesn't work. What does this do? Just reinstall the boot info?

 

[valis]

Thanks for the responses, (except for Valis's).

f you can set everything up the way it was originally you should be able to see your drives again.

I tried this but it didn't work. I can't seem to remember the array's name. Will that make a difference? I'll try it again when I get home. The only problem is that I think I installed something to one of the Hard Drives. So there's a random file on the drive somewhere. (probably where the boot section is.

Why don't you just try a repair install of windows?

Good idea. Didn't think of that. I'll try that if restoring the settings doesn't work. What does this do? Just reinstall the boot info?

the lovely thing about raid 0 is that if something messes up one drive, the whole raid is fubar. THAT is why it's used for speed, and not for security if you've put a file on one drive using something else when the drives weren't in raid, you've screwed the whole thing. raid 0 works by striping files across the hard drives, one file can be in a hundred pieces, half of them on one drive, half on the other.

yer hosed.

Valis

 

[Brawly44]

I have an ABIT AB9 mobo with the JMICRON JMB36X raid controller. You should know up front that the jmicron controller is buggy. I had been in contact with a bios engineer in japan (via email) regarding the various issue's with the controller (after lodging a complaint). The last conversation ended with jmicron working with ABIT on a beta that was currently being tested - to date I have heard nothing from either JMICRON or ABIT (no bios updates). The controller had caused my raid array to crash, it had caused my optical drives DMA modes to default to PIO, it continually created problems for my Vista OS. I would imagine someone with high technical system expertise could probably get the jmicron controller to work effectively and stable, unfortunately that's not me. I would tell you to use that controller at your own risk. I eventually stopped using it, and configured my HDD's away from a raid setup and began using the INTEL controller. At least now everything seems to work OK.

 

[SuperFly03]

Why don't you just try a repair install of windows?

Good idea. Didn't think of that. I'll try that if restoring the settings doesn't work. What does this do? Just reinstall the boot info?

It basically just recopies the base OS and repairs the boot information and alot of other minor low level crap. I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but it does have its place in the repair process overall.

The absolute worst that could happen is it doesn't help, or it best case it fixes it for whatever reason. No real loss to be had by trying which is why I suggested it.

 

[angelkiller]

the lovely thing about raid 0 is that if something messes up one drive, the whole raid is fubar. THAT is why it's used for speed, and not for security Wink if you've put a file on one drive using something else when the drives weren't in raid, you've screwed the whole thing. raid 0 works by striping files across the hard drives, one file can be in a hundred pieces, half of them on one drive, half on the other.

Now, isn't that more helpful than your first post?

For the record, I went back into Ubuntu to try to uninstall dmraid. Wasn't there.

Ok, How do you get to the repair install thing? I've got my XP CD, but there is no "repair" option. However, there is a "Recovery Console". But that goes into a command line based program. I tried the command "fixmbr" and it worked, but when I try to boot I get "missing NTLDR". No clue how to work the recovery console. Before I reinstall, I just want to try everything.

Thanks and please bear with me!

 

[SuperFly03]

the lovely thing about raid 0 is that if something messes up one drive, the whole raid is fubar. THAT is why it's used for speed, and not for security Wink if you've put a file on one drive using something else when the drives weren't in raid, you've screwed the whole thing. raid 0 works by striping files across the hard drives, one file can be in a hundred pieces, half of them on one drive, half on the other.

Now, isn't that more helpful than your first post?

For the record, I went back into Ubuntu to try to uninstall dmraid. Wasn't there.

Ok, How do you get to the repair install thing? I've got my XP CD, but there is no "repair" option. However, there is a "Recovery Console". But that goes into a command line based program. I tried the command "fixmbr" and it worked, but when I try to boot I get "missing NTLDR". No clue how to work the recovery console. Before I reinstall, I just want to try everything.

Thanks and please bear with me!

You load it like you would a normal install, make sure to install your RAID drivers with F6 as usual. Then you will hit enter to install a copy of windows XP, then the disc should look for previous installations on your disks and find the old install. If it does, you will hit "R" for a repair install and the installation will continue from there without formatting anything.

If, on the other hand, it does not detect your previous XP install... I am afraid your install is gone for good most likely unless the boot sector can be repaired via the command line you found. I can't remember the exact command, but it is like "/fixboot" or something to that effect. use "/?" for a list of commands, you can find the exact command that way.

No worries, I like to help.

 

[angelkiller]

Oh, I didn't load the RAID drivers. (I don't have a FDD, so I have to boot up a old Dell, make the disk, take the FDD out, open my computer, and put the FDD there. And when I'm done, I have to take it out and put it back in the original system. Big hassle for a $5 drive.) Gimme a few minutes, and lemme try that. Thanks!

 

[SuperFly03]

Oh, I didn't load the RAID drivers. (I don't have a FDD, so I have to boot up a old Dell, make the disk, take the FDD out, open my computer, and put the FDD there. And when I'm done, I have to take it out and put it back in the original system. Big hassle for a $5 drive.) Gimme a few minutes, and lemme try that. Thanks!

you're welcome. That is basically what I have to do with floppies these days........ SOOOOOOOO useless lol.

 

[rwpritchett]

Here's a program that I've heard a lot of people say works wonders for broken RAIDs. I don't know if the 30-day trial will do everything you need, but its worth a shot:

RAID Reconstructor

 

[angelkiller]

Actually it's gonna be a while before I get to try all this out. (Studying for exams) If not later tonight, then probably tomorrow. Sorry.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Whatever dmraid did, and whatever you did by deleting and re-creating the array probably hosed it. The RAID headers and partition headers that were on the RAID are probably gone.

Best chance for recovery at this point is to run RAID Reconstructor, make an image on another hard drive, then run GetDataBack on the image and recover the files.

Assuming successful recovery, then put the drives back in, recreate the RAID, format, and reinstall Windows & applications, then copy files back.

 

[SuperFly03]

Actually it's gonna be a while before I get to try all this out. (Studying for exams) If not later tonight, then probably tomorrow. Sorry.

Not a problem, I feel ya on the exams. 2 Finals next week. 8O

 

[Casper42]

I dont mean to come off rude but you screwed yourself.

You deleted the RAID and then re-created it? Never a good idea.

If your gonna mess with stuff ike this, and like Valis said, setup a RAID0 for boot, you need to "back that thang up" before you start messing with it. This is what Ghost and a Cheap 500GB drive are for.

PS: I googled DMRAID (knowing nothing about Linux) and it says its for SOFTWARE raid. Your talking about the jMicron RAID Controller though which means your using a Hardware RAID. Something in there screwed you. You should have been looking for a Linux JMicron driver, not a raid config program.

 

[angelkiller]

Sorry for the late response. Finished exams and really needed a break.

Ok, anyways, I dl'ed BartPE, and the RAID Reconstructor and GETDATABACK. Everything works fine. I don't load any drivers, and I deleted the array that I had recreated in a earlier post. (It would recognize the drives in RAID not individually. So I go to Raid Reconstructor, and select my drives and raid type, I then analyzed it and found my settings. Then I needed to select a copy destination. So I pulled out a space 80GB Seagate, and hook it up. (restarting first) So I click copy and:

Reconstruction to a physical drive is not possible with the evaluation version!"

Okaaaaay. So I plug in my external HDD. Doesn't recognize it. (I guessing no USB driver) I then remebered my file server I recently built. Booted it up, but then realized that the DS3 uses a Marvell (I think) LAN controller. (Which needs Marvell drivers) So I get my DS3 CD and browse to the Marvell Networking directory. I don't see a .sys file, so I try to run the setup. It loads installshield, and then a blank error message comes up, I click OK and it closes.

I'm tryna figure out what the designers were thinkin. If there is no USB support, and you can't copy to a physical drive, where the F*** are you supposed to save it :?::?::?::?: Floppy?? So I'm dead out of ideas. If I could just get my "My documents" folder, I'd be OK. *sigh* Is that too much to ask for?

Any ideas? Thanks. (Getting drivers seems like the easiest solution)

 

[rwpritchett]

Pay for the full version if the data is worth it I guess. Evaluation software must have some limitations or they'd never make any money, right?

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

I feel your pain, bro; I really do.

I know that reinstalling the OS and other software is almost always a friggin' pain, but sometimes it's just better to do that rather than chase after an elusive solution.

This is especially true since you started your post on the 21st and it's now almost the 29th and you still haven't solved the problem! If you had reinstalled everything, you would have probably been done by now. :?

But like rwpritchett said, it might also be easier to just buy the full copy of that program you're using.

Good luck.

 

[nukemaster]

Just to all the whiners, it looks to me like the partition/mbr/files are messed. this is not RAID's(unless the array was re-made, seems like ubuntu saw the drives by them self and wrote data to it....there is the problem) fault. It's a mistake, they happen.

I wish i had a fix for you but the best option may be a reinstall.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

RAID Reconstructor needs local storage when running under BartPE.

You need to install the two drives that were in the RAID (2x 80GB) and a drive large enough to hold the entire image of the array (160GB absolute minimum, 200GB or more recommended) into the computer. All drives should be installed as plain Jane drives, don't place them in a hardware RAID configuration or anything.

After BartPE starts up with this configuration, RAID Reconstructor will take the data off the 2 drives that comprised your array and write it to a 160GB image file on the 200GB drive. This process is called destriping.

After that, shut down, remove the two drives that comprised the RAID, and install a 4th drive to recover your files on. Boot BartPE, run GetDataBack, and open the image file from the 200GB drive. It'll find all your files and then let you recover to the 4th drive.

I know obtaining the other drives and installing them locally will be a pain. Another way you could do it would be to install the two RAID drives on a computer (your server?) that already has the space, and then run RAID Reconstructor and GetDataBack from there. If you do that, then you don't have to mess with the BartPE environment - RAID Reconstructor and GetDataBack can run within Windows on the server.

A third way to do it is to re-make the BartPE CD-ROM with Runtime's HDHost plugin. This plugin runs in the BartPE environment and allows network access to the hard drives. Heres how it works: You have Computer A which has the two RAID drives in it that you need to recover data from, running BartPE with the HDHost plugin. Then, on Computer B, you run RAID Reconstructor and/or GetDataBack. Those programs then can connect to Computer A over the network and access the drives as if they were local to Computer B. You can then recover to storage that is local to Computer B.

 

[angelkiller]

Thank you SomeJoe7777 for your informative reply. (And others' too! )

Just to say, just reformatting is beginning to sound easier at this point. I have a backup from the end of March, but I still hate losing the stuff I did in between.

The first solution seems the easiest for me. However, the largest drive I have is a 160GB PATA, which is also unformatted. Do I have to format it first? If so what kind? (FAT32, NFTS, etc.) But my main concern was when I tried using an 80GB drive before (dunno what I was thinking) Raid Reconstructor said that "Reconstruction to a physical drive is not possible with the evaluation version". And there's no way I'm paying $100 for a month's worth of data. But if you say it works, I'll get the 160GB drive and try again.

My file server is an old P3 box running FreeNas with the 160GB drive mentioned above. No SATA ports. I had a spare computer and a spare drive and whipped that together. (Nothing impressive or exotic ) (And the 160GB drive is practically empty, so I don't mind formatting it)

One of my problems with BartPE was that I could not get networking capabilities working. (No driver, I assume. Same problem in Windows until I installed the driver)

 

[angelkiller]

Ok, I'm back.

Right now I'm in BartPE. I open Raid Reconstructor. I select my drives, it analyzes them. But, IT WONT LET ME SAVE THE IMAGE TO A PHYSICAL DRIVE IN THE EVALUATION VERSION!!

*sigh* Ok, that feels better. Two points. 1) How does Raid Reconstructor evaluation version work? You boot into it, but you can't save to a physical drive. How else are you supposed to reconstruct a RAID volume? :? 2) I'm have no choice. I'm reinstalling. NOW. I'm going to install Windows, find a Ubuntu compatible Raid driver, and then install Ubuntu. If I screw up, I didn't lose anything.

So I guess that's it. I still haven't learned my lesson though. :lol: O well. But thanks for everyone's help. Seriously. I'm glad there's people out there than can fix my screw-ups. Unfortunately, there's not much I can say. So, Thanks for everything!!