RAID-1 Member Failed: What to do ??

[websquad]

My system has two RAID-1 arrays: Drive C is a pair of WD Raptor X's (150GB each) for the OS + programs (Win 7/Pro, 64-bit) and Drive D is a pair of WD Caviar 500GB for data.

A week after I successfully upgraded from XP/Pro to Win 7/Pro, when I booted this morning I got an usual message while the BIOS was loading:

So I went into the BIOS to see what it had to say:

All for drives (the two for the system array and the two for the data array) were enabled. I next tried to see if I could rebuild the array, but then I didn't know which of the two system drives were bad, so I loaded Macrium Reflect, and image copy/restore utility, and saw this:

It is interesting to note that with this utility you normally see two drives: (C) and (D) ... in this case, you see (C), you see Disk 2 with the disk specs in gray rather than black, and then you see (D). So I immediately made an image copy of the "good" (C) drive, and then tried to make an image copy of what I suppose is the "bad" (C) drive ... and got this screen:

Opps! An error message! "MFT corrupt - Error code = 6. Please run 'chkdisk /f' ... also got a window that said "An error has occurred. Please see the history log for more details." Thus, the history log:

My subsequent research indicates that one should never use scandisk or chkdsk on RAID arrays, and that when there is a hardware error with one of the members, I should not just try to rebuild the array.

Suggestions?

NOTE: Never could get all the screen shots to display, so I created a web page for them: [b]www.WebSquad.com/BadDisk[/b]

 

[treefrog07]

Your links are broken - I did get a 403 message (forbidden) on one page. If you are using an Intel chip (ICH9R or ICHR10R), you can rebuild the volume by removing the bad HDD and replacing it with an identical HDD, then powering-on, execute POST (don't re-do the RAID volume, it will show a missing HDD), load the OS, and use Intel Matrix Storage Manager (advanced view) to rebuild the volume from the original HDD to the new one you just installed.

 

[Guest]

Rebuild the raid array?

Or restore files from damaged raid if there were files lost. http://www.icare-recovery.com/ This one works with raid.

 

[websquad]

A couple of weeks ago I had occasion to rebuild my system from a XP/Pro system to Win 7/Pro. At the time, my system (C drive RAID was busted, so I reloaded XP on A0, then rejoined A1 to the RAID and it has been working fine. Until, it appears, I had a hardware error on A1. Therefore, why do I need to shell out $70 for some special software that is built in to my BIOS?

 

[websquad]

Conclusion: the second "C" drive in the RAID array was broken. Just got a free replacement today from Western Digital. (for what it is worth, excellent customer service and support). We'll see how it goes.

 

[websquad]

... We'll see how it goes.

Took out all four drives (the two "C" drives and the two "D" drives). Added back the one good "C" drive. Changed BIOS to show that there were no RAID arrays. Successfully booted Windows 7. Then added the new "C" drive Western Digital sent under warranty (very quick response from Western Digital ... thanks!), and noted in the BIOS that "C" was a mirror array. Booted. Nothing happened. Then I remembered that this BIOS requires a reboot for the array to be rebuild automatically. So I rebooted and after Win 7 was loaded the disk activity light was on solid. A couple of hours later it went off. Rebooted. Noticed that I had a healthy array for drive "C".

Then the fun begins. First, I had backed up everything from the data array ("D") to off-line USB disk. Earlier in this experience I tried to pair one of the "D" drives (500GB) with the good "C" drive (150GB). The array worked, but it reduced the size of the 500GB drive to match the smaller system drive. So, I reformatted the 500GB drive to reclaim all the space, wired in the other 500GB drive, paired the two as mirrors in the BIOS, booted, and then rebooted -- at which time the rebuild started. When it was done I restored to "D" the data from the USB drive.

My system is now restored.