Built-in RAID migration

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SpaceHog

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Mar 30, 2005
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Last night my computer froze-up and would not come back to life. I peeked around this aftenoon and it looks like it is dead for good. Anyhow the rig is kinda old so I figure a new setup is in order.

The only issue is that I have a RAID 0+1 using the on-board NV MediaShield controler. What are my chances to recover the RAID if I move to a board that has a MediaShield controler?

My current board is an ASUS M2N-E. Any recommendations for a new board that has this feature?

Thanks in advance!

Edit:

I should add that I am indifferent about CPU and MB brand. I am not looking for anything cutting edge but rather for a solid, proven board that won't set me back too much.
 
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That motherboard has a Nvidia chipset and therefore Nvidia raid. They're not making motherboard chipsets anymore so there's no up to date motherboards available that supports your raid.
BUT I've been in similar situations myself, and I've been able to backup the raid partition to a different drive with the help of a Linux live boot cd that read the raid array directly through software. I've only done this with raid 0. Not a more complicated raid 0+1 array but it should still work in theory.

When you get a new computer up and running you can give that a try unless you've sorted it out in some other way.
 
Pandur said:
That motherboard has a Nvidia chipset and therefore Nvidia raid. They're not making motherboard chipsets anymore so there's no up to date motherboards available that supports your raid.
BUT I've been in similar situations myself, and I've been able to backup the raid partition to a different drive with the help of a Linux live boot cd that read the raid array directly through software. I've only done this with raid 0. Not a more complicated raid 0+1 array but it should still work in theory.

When you get a new computer up and running you can give that a try unless you've sorted it out in some other way.
Click to expand...

You should be able to temporarily rebuild the array to copy files off of it, however a few variables do exist.

If it is a 0+1 array you may only need to rebuild one half of the array, some linux distributions may be able to do this for you automatically, if not, then you may need to do the rebuild manually, which is more complicated as you need to know which drives are which array members, as well as the stripe size used. Ubuntu may be able to do it automagically out of the box for you, failing that you may want to try Parted Magic (www.partedmagic.com). Please bear in mind that using the incorrect values for the above may lead to loss of data at worst case if precautions are not taken.

If I had to do it manually, I would probably use mdadm with the --build flag to do it.
 
Thanks for the replies guys! Sounds like I'm up for a super happy fun time recovering my data :D Fortunately my photos are all backed up! And I thought RAID was a good way to keep my data safe... didn't think of that possibility.

I'm still looking at resuscitating the mobo. I took it out of the case and tried to fire it up without any cards but it won't. Even the PSU fan will not turn on. I tested the PSU beforehand by shorting the green pin to ground so I know it works.

Any troubleshooting tips?
 
there may be hope... I was able to turn it on using a jumper to short the power on pins so it appears at first as the power switch is at fault.

However it is more complicated. I placed everything back in its place and it would no longer turn on. After a process of trial and error I am able to turn it on only when :
1. the video card power cable is not plugged in the card;
2. an active usb extension cable (to which several devices are connected) is disconnected.

I played around with the video card power cable and had odd results. The PSU is a modular one (Enermax ELT400AWT) so I can connect the video card power cable to two ports. Here are the results:

PSU port 1 to video card --> No
PSU port 2 to video card --> No
PSU port 1 to unplugged --> Yes
PSU port 2 to unplugged --> No
PSU unplugged to unplugged -> No

Appears obvious the PSU is the problem. When I can turn it on the computer posts and shows a warning message about the video card power cable not being plugged in which makes me confident the mobo is fine.

Anyone else think likewise? Any other ideas?
 
Sounds to me like something is not okay with either the video card or the power supply at this point. You may want to try swapping one out just to see which it may be. Unfortunately the symptoms themselves do not really indicate which it is.

It could be the power supply not being able to supply the power the video card is drawing, or it could be the video card having issues beyond extremely basic power checking functionality, though a new power supply would probably be a good place to start (unless you have a working video card just laying around, especially one that does not require extra power)
 
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