Weird error, emergency help needed!!!

T

TheDarkTao

Gawd
Joined
Feb 5, 2005
Messages
800
Hey [H]ard gurus....


If any of you recall I had a nightmare with raid before, but fixed it after about 2 months work. So I have been nervious about raid...


Well, here is the new situation. I built a new computer, new everything. I just got a great error.... Windows (vista 64) says that my harddrive is reporting errors, and I should back up all data and not use the system.

I am making a backup as I type. But the quick question.... I have several of the same 500gb WD drives... I do not think the drive is dying, but it may well be, so I wanted to set up a raid one array. I am running a p35-ds3r and I wanted to set up raid 1. Is there a way to do that on a drive that already has OS/software installed? I know how to do it on a Nvidia system... what about an intel p35?


Thanks for the help guys, as always, mucho appreciated! :D
 
Thats a gigabyte board right? I would check with their support.
 
its the ICH9R


Is there any way to tell what is causing the errors on the HDD? Or why it says its failing?
 
BTW, would it be a better idea to just do a backup vs doing a raid 1 array? Could I just backup the drive and turn on raid 1 (I doubt it, but thought I would ask...)
 
TheDarkTao said:
BTW, would it be a better idea to just do a backup vs doing a raid 1 array? Could I just backup the drive and turn on raid 1 (I doubt it, but thought I would ask...)
Click to expand...

Yes. Do a backup instead of a RAID1. RAID isnt backup.
 
OK, did a backup. Does anyone know how to set up raid one on an existing drive, and a blank one (obviously the same type).
 
You will have to dig into the docs of the Raid controller to see if the building of a Raid 1 is data destructive. I know when I converted my NAS box from spanned 1 TB to 500 gig Raid 1 it was data destructive. But if you already have a backup, then you are set. Just build the Raid and copy over the data.

You also need to go to the WD web site and get their drive diagnostic tools and test the drives. It may be reporting a SMART error which is a good indicator of near future drive death.

Get the CD rom version, and boot the CD with just the drive you want to test hooked up. In theory it works with multiple drives hooked up, but I have gotten some strange results in the past, so I only test 1 at a time now.

If it has errors, you can check the warranty status and get RMA instructions on their web site also.

Don
Don
 
How do you restore from the backup?

Does anyone know what a Re-allocated Sector Count error is? Mine says 139 with the threshold being 140... I am just curious what that means... That is what WD diagnostics says.
 
How do you restore from the backup?
Click to expand...

What kind of backup did you do? If it was a simple disk copy, you simply copy back. If you used a specific backup utility, there is usually a restore function in the utility to allow you to restore specific files or the whole backup.

If you are talking about restoring a Raid 1 after a disk failure, you just install the new disk, add the disk to the array in the Raid bios, and it will rebuild itself.

Does anyone know what a Re-allocated Sector Count error is? Mine says 139 with the threshold being 140... I am just curious what that means... That is what WD diagnostics says.
Click to expand...
When you ran the short diagnostics, did it come back and say it was good, or bad? If it is bad, RMA the drive. If it is good, but appears to be on the verge of failure, RMA the drive and just tell them you are getting SMART error messages in Windows.

A quick search on the NET gave me this LINK.

Don
 
I used windows PC backup. I have no idea how to restore it... So hooking up a drive in raid one will make it take on the data of the new drive? And not destroy the old drive?
 
I used windows PC backup. I have no idea how to restore it..
Click to expand...

Me neither. That would make a nice Country song, don't you think?

I use Syncback. They have a restore option. I would assume that Winblows would....

So hooking up a drive in raid one will make it take on the data of the new drive? And not destroy the old drive?
Click to expand...

That's to restore data in an existing Raid1 setup. If you are creating a new Raid 1 setup, you must consult the manual for your specific controller.

Don
 
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