JMB363 issue- Can't tell which HDD is Master, cuz they are identical

[jakazz1023]

I have an issue with JMB363...JMIcron RAID Controller

I had 2 hard drives with RAID on JMB363... Now one of the hard drive had a problem, and was corrupted, so the second hard drive boots fine, but first hard drive does not boot.

If I have both hard drive plugged in, then PC tries to boot off of first hard drive, broken, i think it just needs to be re-mirrored.

If I unplugg first hard drive SATA cable, then PC will boot from second drive, works fine, Windows XP boots fine. PC works.

I tried switching Sata cables, no change.

So, how can I re-establish RAID... If i plug in both HDD, and go to JMicron Controller, using CTRL-J, it asks me to do "solve mirror conflict",,, but both hard drives are identical, so i cannot tell which is good one and which is bad one, because they both have the same model name. So how do I choose the source, if i can't differentiate?

1) If i only have 2 HDD, how can I tell which HDD is HDD0 and HDD1? Can I tell by which it is plugged into which SATA port on motherboard?
How do I know which one to choose as source HDD?


My thoughts are, maybe I can tell by which HDD is plugged into which port? Or, is there a cr-ack i can use to change the hardrive Model name?

Please help.

Thank you
-Chris

 

[Paperdoc]

Examine the RAID utility screens very carefully, especially the ones that show you the status of the individual drives in the RAID array. (I must assume you have them in a RAID1 configuration.) Usually it will tell you some detail for each drive about its connection port, like SATA0 or SATA1, etc. Or it may just label them as things like Device No.1. Once you find this, shut down, disconnect one of the drives (say, the one you think is bad), reboot and go back to these RAID utilities. Examine which drive is still connected, and now you know how they are labelled. This should give you enough information to identify the (good) Source Drive in the array restoration tools. Finish booting to be sure the one still connected really is the good one.

 

[jakazz1023]

I tried that already...only indicator is "HDD0" and "HDD1"... and if I have only one HD plugged in, then it always shows HDD0, no matter which HD is plugged in...
If I plug in two...then it shows HDD0 and HDD1...but again, I can't tell which is which.

I was thinking that i can ASSUME that HDD0 would be the internal port, and HDD1 the external...but I have a 50/50 chance of screwing up.

 

[Paperdoc]

Within the software package for the JMicron RAID controller, there should be utilities (maybe all in one) that can test the two drives of the RAID array and tell you which is good, and which has a problem. Then you can use that info to tell it how to rebuild the array. In fact, sometimes the screens to do the actual rebuild will tell you which way it should do the job - that is, not just their default setting, but a clear indication which drive is known to be good, and which one is faulty.

If the software screens don't make this clear, try looking on the install CD for the mobo or JMicron controller for an instruction manual on all the RAID functions. Failing that, go to the JMicron website and look for it.

Other possibility would be to use a new HDD (internal or external) and "clone" the good drive to it, making it bootable. Boot from the clone and make sure it works. A cloning program should NOT try to reproduce a RAID1 array, but simply treat the array as if it were any single good drive. When it's working from the clone, use the RAID software to clean up and test both original drives used in the array, then re-create the array as if it were blank. Then clone back to the array, make sure it works, and remove the extra clone unit.