Question Pre-existing RAID detected but not accessible ?

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orion_supernova

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Dec 27, 2018
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OS: Windows 10 64 bit (Using a Windows 7 Home Premium Product Key)
CPU: AMD FX-6100
MOBO: Sabertooth 990FX
GFX Card: 8800GTX
RAM: 2x 8gb DDR3 1333
Raid 5: 5x WD 4TB HDD + 1x Hotspare
OS Drive: 1x 128GB SSD

Hi All,

I've been running the same RAID now for many years and recently needed to upgrade my CPU/MOBO.

As my RAID was running direct off the mobo i have decided to run the original system as a media server next to the new PC.

I migrated across my original OS drive to the new machine and that is running fine, but when i reinstalled windows 10 on a separate SSD for the original machine i have lost the ability to read the RAID.

The raid is reading as functional in the BIOS, and RaidXpert is showing the same; all drives healthy and functional with the RAID showing as intact.

Windows Computer Management (Disk Management) is showing the disk as available, but keeps asking me to initialize it.
When i cancel the option to initialize the disk, it still shows as a healthy partition.
https://imgur.com/5B3jnpY
View: https://i.imgur.com/5B3jnpY.png


Windows file explorer shows the drive as well, but when i select it, i am prompted to format it.

This leads me to believe Windows is missing a driver.

I have downloaded and installed the driver: "amd-nvme-raid-chipset-drivers_0830" but this has not solved the problem.
https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx

From the above website i also downloaded the "Sata Raid Windows Driver_9_2_0_70", but when opening the folder, i could not find any application to run.

I was hoping that i could get some help with the next step in the process.
 
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Nothing has changed for the RAID machaine except for a new gfx card and OS drive.

All original drives that make up the RAID have remained in the same case, connected to the same motherboard, with the same CPU, have not been in any way unplugged, and not been moved or touched in any way.

Im not sure where the idea came from that i'd tried transferring the raid to a new mainboard, but that is incorrect, the raid/mainboard setup has not in any way been modified, changed, moved, or touched.
I simply replaced the OS drive, as i wanted the original OS drive for the new machine because it is larger, i'm very sorry if i made this unclear.


The only changes that have been made to the RAID machine are:
  1. New Graphics card has been installed to the mobo. (Can't see that this would make any difference, but i'm just as being precise, specific, and thorough with my explanations as possible to avoid confusion.
  2. New SSD has been installed, separate and independent to the RAID.
- On this SSD i have installed a fresh and authenticated install of Windows 10.


To reiterate my problem:
  • The BIOS is detecting and showing that the raid is intact and functioning as normal.
  • RAIDXpert is showing the raid is intact and functioning as normal.
  • Windows is showing the raid is detected, but has determined that the drive is not formatted.
  • Disk Management can detect the raid, shows it as a healthy partition of the correct size, but is asking me to initialize it.

I believe the issue is the fresh install of windows does not have the correct drivers installed needed to read the RAID.
I have downloaded what i believe are the drivers needed (see original post), but i do not understand how to use or apply them.

I was hoping to get some advice on how to utilize these drivers.
 
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well your wording with upgrading mobo and cpu somehow ended up with ours reply like that

990fx doesnt have windows 10 drivers for raid 5, only for raid 0,1 and 10 (and thats for sata and nvme only), previous OS was win 10 aswell?
before doing any changes, ssd drive was there when it was working?

you could try win8 drivers https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx
 
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orion_supernova said:
Im not sure where the idea came from that i'd tried transferring the raid to a new mainboard, but that is incorrect, the raid/mainboard setup has not in any way been modified, changed, moved, or touched.
I simply replaced the OS drive, as i wanted the original OS drive for the new machine because it is larger, i'm very sorry if i made this unclear.
Click to expand...
You reinstalled windows.
This is essentially the same as moving windows storage pool drives to a different pc.
 
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kerberos_20 said:
990fx doesnt have windows 10 drivers for raid 5, only for raid 0,1 and 10 (and thats for sata and nvme only), previous OS was win 10 aswell?
Click to expand...

Yes, previous OS install was a win 10, it is possible that this was an upgrade from an existing windows 7 install.


kerberos_20 said:
before doing any changes, ssd drive was there when it was working?
Click to expand...

The SSD with the new OS installed was in the machine when everything was working, it was a game drive.
Before installing new OS on this drive, i did a full reformat of it.
 
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I don't understand why the RAID is reporting less sectors than are actually present in 4 x 4TB drives. As far as I can tell, the total sectors should be 31256148672. RAIDXpert would grab some sectors for its RAID metadata, but the difference is about 6415040. That's about 3.28GB.

Can you show us the initial Partitions window, ie something like this:

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/DMDE/DMDE_Elements-8TB_Partitions.jpg

This is the first window that you see after selecting the drive from your list. It's the result of a quick scan for partitions at the most likely locations.
 
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orion_supernova said:
Is there any chance anyone could help me understand what i am supposed to do with the AMD RAID Driver (SATA RAID Only) drivers i have downloaded from the following site once selecting Windows 10 64-bit edition?
https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx

I cannot see any application to run inside the folder, and do not know what do do with these files.
Click to expand...
Supported RAID Levels RAID 0,1,10 for both NVMe and SATA RAID on the above listed AMD products.
also in release notes for win10 driver: Legacy Option ROM no longer supported, UEFI only
so you cant use that driver

for raid 5 you need that win8 driver
 
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Right, so apparently Windows 8 doesn't like my windows 7 product key.

Regardless of the raid type that the drivers support.

Could anyone please answer my original question which is:

Is there any chance anyone could help me understand what i am supposed to do with the AMD RAID Driver (SATA RAID Only) drivers i have downloaded from the following site once selecting Windows 10 64-bit edition?
https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx

I cannot see any application to run inside the folder, and do not know what do do with these files.
 
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I think the main lesson here is: Whenever you're moving a RAID set to another machine OR reinstalling OS - Create a backup.

The very negative nature of a raid set (*) is that the data is less secure than if stored on a single hdd.

* With several exeptions, if you know your way in Linux, many of the file systems today is made up such that in raid, they refer to the other disk/partition UUID and will therefore always find each other if moved to another machine (provided same generation OS kernel).


On topic

I didn't really get the overview on what RAID setup you actually did just by reading. Could it be that your original raid setup was done in either ways:
  • Windows (dynamic disk) raid + setting up HDD disk controller in raid-mode ?
  • Raid 5. This is supported by some Windows versions and not by other. You might have installed Windows on a license where Raid5 isn't supported ?
Disclaimer: It's long time since I tried to build a Raid5 setup on a Windows server (talking about 20'ish years ago) so I do not remember if the license says (not supporting) or if you're just prohibited to create raid5 volumes without proper license.
 
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The RAID is BIOS created and managed, and is a proper RAID 5, not a windows dynamic disk.

It was accessed originally via a Windows 7 home premium install.

Later on I upgraded my windows 7 to windows 10, and still had access to the raid.

Sadly the original windows 7 install CD has become so scratched it is no longer viable.
 
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orion_supernova said:
The RAID is BIOS created and managed, and is a proper RAID 5, not a windows dynamic disk.

It was accessed originally via a Windows 7 home premium install.

Later on I upgraded my windows 7 to windows 10, and still had access to the raid.

Sadly the original windows 7 install CD has become so scratched it is no longer viable.
Click to expand...

Ok, that is important to know.

Can you do this: Use your original motherboard and attach the HDD on the original raid controllers?
Important: Only attach those hdd AFTER OS installed AND proper drivers for raid controllers are installed.

If the answer is no, then you probably have to seek ways of restoring the data user proper tool or paying a company (depending on how important the data is for you).
 
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I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "Only attach those hdd AFTER OS installed AND proper drivers for raid controllers are installed."

Do you mean put the original OS drive back into the RAID machine?

Please be aware that nothing of the original RAID machine has changed other than having a new OS drive installed, and tge graphics card changed.
 
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orion_supernova said:
ould anyone please answer my original question which is:

Is there any chance anyone could help me understand what i am supposed to do with the AMD RAID Driver (SATA RAID Only) drivers i have downloaded from the following site once selecting Windows 10 64-bit edition?
https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx

I cannot see any application to run inside the folder, and do not know what do do with these files.
Click to expand...
its executable which extract files into c:\amd\amd sata raid... folder
inside is setup.exe
 
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Those files (if made for the windows version currently in use AND for the correct hardware) can be installed from the windows device manager. Find the device in device manager that represent the raid controller (look for a yellow exclamation sign), and manually browse for the folder of those files.
 
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