Interpreting Raid 1 error (Intel Matrix Storage Mgr)

[aamann]

Hello, appreciate the good advice throughout this forum. Have not found my problem listed on another post, so describing it here...

I have a Dell XPS 410 running Raid 1, under Intel Matrix Storage Manager option ROM v6.0.0.1022 ICH8R (appears I am a few versions out-of-date). When I boot I get the following message:

Raid volumes:
ID:0 Name Volume0 Level: Raid1(Mirror) Strip: N/A Size: 465.8GB Status: Failed Bootable: No

Physical Disks:
Port Drive Model Serial # Size Type/Status (Vol ID)
0 ST3500630AS 465.8GB Offline Member
1 WDC WD5000AAKS-7 465.8Gb Error Occurred (0)

No boot device available...

I've run diagnostics on the disks and they "appear" fine (meaning no errors reported) and I don't get any of the "clicking" sounds which usually mean really bad news. My extended service plan means that Dell is sending me replacement drives for both, but I'm unclear on which I should replace first to maximize my chance of saving the data and having the RAID rebuild. Any guidance? I've searched high-and-low online but come up empty...

I am leaning towards replacing the first drive (ST....) since I interpret the error status message on the drive in Port 1 to refer to the drive in Port 0...

Any guidance or experience from those of you with so much more experience than me is much appreciated!

 

[sub mesa]

Your RAID failed and you're getting new disks anyway. So all you want is recover the data on the RAID right? So do that and setup the RAID again.

You may want to use Ubuntu to recover your RAID.

 

[aamann]

You're right - that's all I want to do - recover the data. I tried using System Rescue CD (http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page) and it did not recognize the drives. I believe it is similar to Ubuntu - a linux-based boot disk. Do I need to do something in the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software first to make the drive available?

 

[sub mesa]

No, you should use the Ubuntu method. Please read from here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/252965-14-transfer-raid-array#t1781278

Ubuntu should have incorporated the md driver, which is the software RAID driver that creates you RAID volume out of your two drives. The Intel drivers only work on Windows.

 

[aamann]

Thanks, appreciate that guidance.

 

[sub mesa]

If you need any more help please post in that topic, so others can learn from your experiences too.

 

[aamann]

I was able to fix this with sub mesa's guidance. As requested, posted my experience in the other topic. Cross-listing here...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/252965-14-transfer-raid-array#t1798137