Question Odd problem with RocketRaid 2320

[wolfrogers]

I've e-mailed Highpoint regarding this issue, and am apparently being hung out to dry. Have had five 250Gb HDDs in a RAID5 on this controller for years and years. Recently, it began showing up as 'critical' due to a single failing drive. I added in a new spare, and started the rebuild process...long process...went to bed. Woke up the next day and the computer had gone to sleep, which it's set not to do. Upon waking it, I refreshed the WebGUI management software, and am shown my original array, the new spare as well as two of the other five devices listed as 'missing' - and there is now a second array showing. This new one I didn't create is identical in size to the original, and the three drives missing from the original are supposedly part of this new array. Same picture when I load up the RocketRaid BIOS management. I disbanded the new array, re-added the spare HDD to the original array and rebooted. The spare and one of the other two are now showing up as they should in the original array, but one of them refuses to rejoin. Without it being part of the group, I can only see the original array as disabled, and do not have an option to rebuild again. Someone -PLEASE- tell me there's a solution to this...I'm a grown-ass man and all, but if that data is dust in the wind, I'm gonna cry.

 

[kanewolf]

I've e-mailed Highpoint regarding this issue, and am apparently being hung out to dry. Have had five 250Gb HDDs in a RAID5 on this controller for years and years. Recently, it began showing up as 'critical' due to a single failing drive. I added in a new spare, and started the rebuild process...long process...went to bed. Woke up the next day and the computer had gone to sleep, which it's set not to do. Upon waking it, I refreshed the WebGUI management software, and am shown my original array, the new spare as well as two of the other five devices listed as 'missing' - and there is now a second array showing. This new one I didn't create is identical in size to the original, and the three drives missing from the original are supposedly part of this new array. Same picture when I load up the RocketRaid BIOS management. I disbanded the new array, re-added the spare HDD to the original array and rebooted. The spare and one of the other two are now showing up as they should in the original array, but one of them refuses to rejoin. Without it being part of the group, I can only see the original array as disabled, and do not have an option to rebuild again. Someone -PLEASE- tell me there's a solution to this...I'm a grown-ass man and all, but if that data is dust in the wind, I'm gonna cry.

This is why RAID is not discussed here as a data security implementation. It is an up-time implementation. You should have had an independent backup routine. You had less than 1 TB of data, that is a trivial backup size.
Rebuilding a RAID is always a risky process. The remaining disks (and if they are 250GB, they are very old) are accessed heavily to perform the rebuild. That constant access could cause a second drive to fail.

 

[wolfrogers]

In today's standards, yes, the size is a bit trivial. However, not all of us work on the same budget. The RR controller is a unit I've hung onto from better days gone by. These days, I had to scrimp and got lucky enough to have just upgraded to an AMD FX-8320, 32Gb RAM, and a 2TB storage device. I was just hoping that somebody more knowledgeable than myself could offer some ideas/insight into any possible remedies, as its not how much data is on the line, but -what- data...the most important stuff is not replaceable. As for the age of the HDDs, yes...I bought them as well as the controller in 2006 for somewhere around $1800USD.

 

[USAFRet]

as its not how much data is on the line, but -what- data...the most important stuff is not replaceable.

And this is where the requirement for a real backup comes in.
RAID or no RAID.

 

[USAFRet]

Possibly this:
http://www.freeraidrecovery.com/
https://www.reclaime.com/

But it WILL need to see at least 4 of the 5 drives.

And if that initial 'rebuild' did not complete, you are almost certainly out of luck.

 

[wolfrogers]

Possibly this:
http://www.freeraidrecovery.com/
https://www.reclaime.com/

But it WILL need to see at least 4 of the 5 drives.

And if that initial 'rebuild' did not complete, you are almost certainly out of luck.

I was rebuilding before anything truly failed. As of now, the RR controller management software can see all of the drives. In BIOS, looking at the array, four out of five list as 'normal', and where number five should be, 'missing'. Looking at the devices themselves, those 4 are 'configured'. The final is 'initialized' and will only show 'configured' if I put it as a spare. For the moment, I have removed the spare I had added to rebuild with out of the equation. When I bring up the WebGUI, all 5 drives show up as well. The four that show as part of the array show 249.98Gb with 0Gb max space available. The problem unit shows the 249.98Gb, but also shows that 249.98Gb for max space available... The health status of all 5 is 'normal'. Thanks for the program link...I should have guessed there would be recovery software specifically for RAID. However, despite the RR controller seeing all the drives, unless I can get it to switch away from being 'disabled', nothing beyond the RR management software is seeing any of the drives. Do I need to take note of the array specs(cluster size...etc) and then plug those drives into the mobo directly to attempt recovery maybe? I know this is long-winded, but the devil is in the details.

 

[USAFRet]

The array rebuild only counts if it completes 100%.
Anything less than that, and the data may be gone.