Intel ICHxR RAID Data Recovery 101

[FISKER_Q]

There is another way to restore your RAID array if a disk dropped out. If you have a hardware failure on one of your disks, this way won't work, otherwise it should be fine. It worked for me three times. Note that this way also won't work if your windows install is on the raid array you're trying to recover, because then your pc won't boot.

*I am not responsible for any data loss blablabla, I'm just giving you a possible sollution; from my experience it tends to work*
1) Enter the Ctrl-I configuration utility. Write your raid level, array size, stripe size and everything else that can be configured on a piece of paper, you'll need this info later.
2) Delete the Raid-array. Yup, that's right, just throw it away.
3) Reboot and create a new array just like your old one. If you do not use the full disk for your array, make the array slightly (0.5GB or so) larger than the old one, so you're sure the old one fits on the new one.
4) Reboot. Don't enter the drive system manger panel in windows. Download and install testdisk. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
5) Start testdisk. The program ask you whether or not it should create a log file. It doesn't matter for all I know, so choose whatever you like. Select your brand new raid array. Select 'Intel partition' if you have a regular
Windows partition. Next choose 'Analyse', then 'Quick search'. If your old array doesn't show up, try 'Deeper search'. Now your partition should show. Select the old partition and press Enter, then 'Write'. Testdisk now
writes the old partition table on your new array.
6) Close the program, reboot and everything should be fine.

This is how I always do it, might be worth a try.

So i just updated my bios and for some reason that made the Intel Raid think my second member drive had the serial number D.... instead of WD....

I tried this method but after rebooting the drive still isn't recognized by Windows which suggests i should load the correct filesystem driver for it.

I don't know if this error was there the first time, but when i get to the drive and it lists the current partition it writes:
"Error: size boot_sector 3518814208 > partition 4294967295"

I can access the partition just fine, but unfortunately i have no drive to put the data on, so that doesn't do much good, any thoughts on what to do from here?

Edit: Managed to save it could get myself some spare harddrives for the backup.

[PiP]

Thank you for posting this Fugger, it proved useful for me over the last 24 hours.

I start with drive1 and drive2 in AID0. This works fine for many years, I decide during an upgrade to add drive3 and migrate to RAID5 since the 1st 2 disks are quite old.

When I powered it on with the new drive I had not fully seated the power connector for drive1, so it saw drive2 and a non raid drive and marked the array as failed. After this no combination of drives would get the array back online and there's sod all interface to fix it. Srsly Intel, WTF!

RAID Reconstructor and GetDataBack for NTFS did the trick in the end though, had to go out and rush buy a 1TB external drive to have enough storage to do the recovery.

So thank you Fugger, and screw you Intel, My day job is developing storage controllers, ours would never get in a tangle like this. Even a redundant RAID level would be balked by this problem.

[Znod]

I'd like to add info on recovering a RAID 0 (and at least some other RAID types too) painlessly. To be able to accomplish the painless part, one needs to be proactive when it comes the various RAID disasters that may occur--just as one ought to be fearful about losing data that are not backed up. I hope my thoughts are closely enough related to the sticky to be useful to others. They seem to fit pretty well in the context of the things already discussed above. I don't mean to be pedantic on the proactive part. But, being prepared for a RAID disaster makes recovery much more palatable.

I've used Acronis True Image for years for disaster recovery. My RAID 0 has been pushed almost to extinction several times, but my True Image disk images always have saved me from hours of reinstallation, etc. Here, I am not concerned about data recovery since I back my data up regularly sans True Image. Still, what I am talking about can prevent the loss of data in a RAID disaster--except for unbacked up data.

My current True Image disk image came in very handy two times recently after building the setup in my sig. First, my image was made from the RAID 0 installation on a different, but still capable, computer. Anyway, the current version of True Image claims to be able to do a good job of recovery even from dissimilar computers--with RAID or not. I decided to give it a try. And, it worked. That is, having set my SATA drives to RAID, in my ASUS BIOS, I was able to recover my installation perfectly to the new rig using my (true) image. The "perfectly" part took a tad of fussing around with Device Manager, but, whoa, what a break. I didn't have to reinstall 7 and all my apps.

The second time True Image saved me recently has to do with the ASUS optimized BIOS defaults. I have RMA'd a number things related to my new system. And, several times I have had to rebuild from the mobo up--which implies the existence of a new BIOS with optimized defaults. Not thinking about the fact that these defaults do not include SATA RAID as a default on my board, I lost my RAID 0 the first time I rebuilt. True image to the rescue again. I got to the BIOS, set my RAID 0 array up freshly and, then, recovered my (true) image to the RAID setup. While it takes 30 or so minutes to recover in this fashion, my wait was a small price to pay for not having to reinstall everything or to deal with lost data.

I learned pretty quickly not to plug in my SATA array drives too soon during a rebuild. That is, now, I don't plug them in until after getting into the BIOS and choosing the SATA RAID option if using a mobo with BIOS defaults similar to mine.

Obviously, the uses of True Image RAID disk images (or those from a similar program) can be applied to many cases of RAID failure/disaster. But, the proactive part of the equation needs to be satisfied in order to recover relatively painlessly.

[zoson]

There is another way to restore your RAID array if a disk dropped out. If you have a hardware failure on one of your disks, this way won't work, otherwise it should be fine. It worked for me three times. Note that this way also won't work if your windows install is on the raid array you're trying to recover, because then your pc won't boot.

*I am not responsible for any data loss blablabla, I'm just giving you a possible sollution; from my experience it tends to work*
1) Enter the Ctrl-I configuration utility. Write your raid level, array size, stripe size and everything else that can be configured on a piece of paper, you'll need this info later.
2) Delete the Raid-array. Yup, that's right, just throw it away.
3) Reboot and create a new array just like your old one. If you do not use the full disk for your array, make the array slightly (0.5GB or so) larger than the old one, so you're sure the old one fits on the new one.
4) Reboot. Don't enter the drive system manger panel in windows. Download and install testdisk. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
5) Start testdisk. The program ask you whether or not it should create a log file. It doesn't matter for all I know, so choose whatever you like. Select your brand new raid array. Select 'Intel partition' if you have a regular
Windows partition. Next choose 'Analyse', then 'Quick search'. If your old array doesn't show up, try 'Deeper search'. Now your partition should show. Select the old partition and press Enter, then 'Write'. Testdisk now
writes the old partition table on your new array.
6) Close the program, reboot and everything should be fine.

This is how I always do it, might be worth a try.

There is an error in these steps.
For Step 2. You do NOT delete the array. You reset each disk individually to non-raid members. This clears the raid metadata, without harming the partition table or data on the disks.

This method also requires that your disks be plugged into the ORIGINAL ports that you BUILT the array on. So say you had your array originally plugged into ports 3,4, and 5, but then later moved them to ports 0,1, and 2. You MUST disconnect your drives and plug them in so that they are in the EXACT sockets that they were plugged into during the building of the array.

If you attempt this method without doing the above, your partition will be partially readable, or appear corrupt. If this happens... ALL IS NOT LOST. Repeat steps 1-3 but plug your drives in correctly. If you don't know what ports you were plugged into... TRY EVERY COMBINATION and repeat until you can fully read your partition.

Everything else here is exactly right. I've used this method several times to recover both raid0 and raid5 arrays.

[jojo_dancer]

I read the Intel RAID 101 but not sure how to fix my issue.

Intel has apparently a pretty crappy RAID implementation on even good MB's.

I have a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UDR3R.

I have a RAID 1 for a boot drive on the Gigabyte RAID controller for the OS. It works fine booting W7.

I have a RAID 5 array on the Intel Controller comprised of 6 2TB discs. I have a degraded array a few months ago, that reverted to a failed array when I replaced the drive. It has set that way since then. Mainly because I discovered how bad the RAID MB controllers are and was shopping for a dedicated RAID controller. I have one now and want to try and get some of the data off the failed RAID 5, move to another computer across the network, put in the new controller and build a new array.

The array is still configured in the Intel controller. How is the best way to get the data back off it. It shows failed, and the replacement disc is listed as a non-member with no way to fix the array apparently.

[Proximon]

This helped another lurker I was helping at TH, so I thought I would chime in and say thanks for him.