Rapid Storage Technology
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Raid5 drives missing but listed out of array

WUpto
Beginner
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Hi guys,

I recently performed the double whammy of updating my BIOS and reinstalling windows 10, and in the process my Raid5 array seems to have collapsed. It's currently listed as failed, the Intel Rapid Storage Technology program shows that only two of the four drives are present, the other two are 'missing' port 'unknown'.

I've attached a screenshot showing the problem I have, the two disks that are apparently missing are in fact still attached, they have the same serial number (Though the raid versions now have a : 0 appended to the end of them) and are fully functioning. I've not formatted them or anything like that, so I would like to think that if i can somehow get the controller to realise that they are part of the array, it should pick up and all be fine. I just don't know how to do this! In the Ctrl+I bootup screen, the two drives are listed as not non-RAID disks, but the only options I see are to create, delete or reset the disks to non-raid. The recovery volume options and acceleration options are both greyed out.

Is there any way to save the array in a situation like this? I've tried restrating the PC several times, including from a cold start.

Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 mobo ( LGA 1150)

Windows 10 pro x64

If there's any more info I can provide I'll be happy to add it. Thanks in advance!

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IUman
Honored Contributor II
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Hello Iviv,

Thank you for joining the Intel communities.

I apologize if maybe I'm not understanding your situation, but what I understand is that you reinstalled Windows 10 with a RAID 5 created and when there was an operating system already installed in your raid configuration, is that correct?

Do you have your BIOS set as RAID after you did the BIOS update?

If you see in Ctrl-I the RAIDs as non-RAID disks, somehow they were pulled out of the RAID and they are not part of the RAID anymore. First make sure the SATA mode is set as RAID in the BIOS and try to rebuild your system from the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology.

Best regards,

Ivan

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WUpto
Beginner
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Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Sorry if I wasn't clear, there is and has never been an OS install on the RAID array. I've attached a photo showing the Ctrl-I screen I have. Two drives are still in the RAID, but the two drives above that are shown as non-RAID should be part of the RAID. Unfortunately, the 'Recovery volume options' and 'Acceleration options' are both greyed out, the only options I can select from that menu are the ones to create a RAID volume, delete a RAID volume and to reset the disks to non-RAID.

The BIOS is set to RAID (After fleshing it had reverted back to AHCI, but I immediately reverted it back to RAID again. I've also included a screenshot of what I'm seeing in both Windows Explorer and the Disk Management. When opening Disk Management, it attempts to initialize Disk 3 before the Logical Disk Manager can access it. Additionally, the Disk 1 (G:/) has the serial number Z1F2A1R5 so is one of the drives that should be in the RAID array. The other drive doesn't appear in the list. Could this mean that the other drive has died? Though if this is the case, shouldn't the remaining working drive still be part of the RAID?

If you need more info then I'll be glad to add anything else!

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IUman
Honored Contributor II
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In this case, please bear in mind that regardless of how many drives are in use, a RAID 5 array only allows for recovery in the event that just one disk at a time fails.

If two disks in a RAID5 array fail then a hot spare won't help, because a hot spare replaces one of the failed disks and rebuilds the array without any intervention, and a rebuild isn't possible if more than one disk fails.

For now, I am sorry to say that your options for recovering this data are going to involve restoring a backup and to create a new RAID configuration.

When you see this status as failed unfortunately we will not be able to recover the configuration.

If you don't have a back up it's possible, though very expensive and not guaranteed, that a professional recovery service will be able to recover your data.

In short RAID 5 can survive one disk failure, but not two or more.

Best regards,

Ivan

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WUpto
Beginner
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Hi Ivan,

Thanks again for the reply

It would be a shame if that was the case, however doesn't the fact that the drives are all showing up fine in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology program, as well as the ctrl+I screen show that the drives themselves are fine and they have simply been knocked out of the array some how? The fact that one isn't showing in the disk management leads me to believe that maybe one of the drives died, but even then shouldn't the dead drive still be listed as part of the array, even if it isn't functioning?

Will

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IUman
Honored Contributor II
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The drives are probably still ok and you can format them and create a new RAID, the other drive that you're not able to see listed maybe has failed too bad and is not recognized anymore but I can't guarantee that.

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