[SOLVED] OS Drive showing as offline in AMD RAID config

[Howski]

Hi guys,

I'm not sure how this happened but I think I've messed up. I was trying to add a new array in RAIDXpert2 and accidently made it striped not mirrored. Anyway there was no option to change it so I went to mark it as hidden so I could delete and recreate it. Somehow this made the OS disk (shown as a legacy RAID drive in the software) offline as the UI is pretty horrible.

I obviously cannot boot in to the OS to gain access to the RAID software there. I can see the HDD showing as offline in the array config util (the one you have access to before booting) but I cannot see the option to make it online in the array config util - how do I bring it back online?

If I go in to the BIOS and change the SATA MODE to be AHCI the OS boots so the HDD itself is fine but obviously all the array discs I need are gone if I do that and I still want to use RAID etc. I guess there must be somethng that tells it that its "offline" on the HDD itself but I cannot see a way of making it "online"


Thanks in advance

 

[DSzymborski]

What exactly is the purpose of this RAID? For 99% of consumers, it's pointless at best, dangerous at worst. And the OS drive typically shouldn't be in RAID even in the rare situation it is a good idea.

Hard to say more without knowing exactly what you did. The best solution would be to boot to install media, wipe the drives, and reinstall OS on the OS drive. And then evaluate if you have the very specific needs (storefront, server with primary use of large, sequential transfers) that would recommend a RAID as a solution.

 

[Howski]

Hi, Thanks for the reply.

The RAID arrays are mirrors to make sure if a hard drive fails I don't lose data. The system in question mostly gets used as a media server running plex but does have some other uses. The OS drive wasn't in a true RAID (it was a single drive on its own) but AMD's softare either makes it a 1 drive array or shows it as one.

Hardware wise, I'm very happy with the solution and not looking to change (other than a HDD failing but thats "normal" and why I have RAID). Same with the RAID as there are things like family Photos on the drive that I don't want exposed to data loss if a drive goes down. I just need a way to make this disk "online" and everything else I can handle but there doesn't seem to be an option

 

[DSzymborski]

RAID is not a backup solution. If you have a RAID for data availability (for those very specific needs), you would still need a separate backup solution.

RAID is for data availability, not data protection. Using RAID to "back up" your family photos greatly increases the probability of you losing them.

 

[USAFRet]

Agree 100% with the above.
RAID is not data protection.

You need a true backup solution.

Physical drive fail is not the only way to lose your data...not even the most common way.

Given the current state of the install (striped?) you'll need to start over completely.
And this 'starting over' points directly to having an actual backup. Undoing this striped mistake carries a significant risk of deleting/formatting the wrong thing.

 

[Howski]

Hi,

Not the install the OS drive (which is offline) isn't a stripped. For clarification:


The Layout is:


1 Non-raid SSD for OS (The one thats showing as offline)
1 Non-Raid SSD for temp storage
2x 4TB NAS Spin drives in Mirror
2x 4TB NAS Spin drives in striped (by accident, will be changed to mirrored)

While your right its not a full data backup solution, this is my own personal kit and RAID is "good enough" to protect against data loss due to a failing hard drive and for what I want/need for the media on there and the amount of money I have to spend that'll have to do. The smaller things I could not afford to lose are backed up to the cloud but I cannot afford to have a full backup solution for 8TB.

Either way, all I'm really after is a way to make the OS drive as "online" in the AMD RAID software

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Well after you have some Drive failures and data lost, you might come to realize that this wasn’t good enough

 

[DSzymborski]

If you have the drives for a RAID, you have the drives to do a proper backup instead of a RAID.

In any case, as I take a "do no harm" stance, I cannot ethically assist in rebuilding a RAID without a specific use case, but I wish you good fortune in resolving your issues to your satisfaction!

 

[Howski]

Look I really didn't want to get in to a whole debate about my backip policy because frankly its a question about how to do something within AMDs software - I'm not asking for a lecture on back up policy as I'm pretty happy with what I have and the comprimises I've mde due to budget but since you've got "ethical" concerns..............

I have a 2 teir system:

Essential stuff that cannot be lost: On one of these Mirrored RAID drives, USB Drive removed and seperate from this server and also cloud backed up to the cloud
Stuff that would be a pain to replace: On one of the Mirrored RAID drives.

This means short of a flood or something epic happening to my house/server the worse I'd face is whats happened this week. a drive files and I have to replace it, or in this instance the RAID array (taking the oppertunity to expand) And even if my house burnt down I'd still have the really important stuff.

Now if you ask me thats a pretty robust solution for a home user and is pretty much exactly the same (for the essetials) as what USAFRet put ............... but still the question is, and I fail to see how ethics come in to it, how I mark a drive as online within AMD's RAID software which is not effected at all by my choice of how I use RAID

 

[USAFRet]

I have a 2 teir system:

also cloud backed up to the cloud

Which is different than what was presented initially, the RAID 1 concept.


But I'm sorry, I do not know how to fix or undo what happened with your AMD RAID thing.
Except for deleting it and starting over.