Why won't SiliconImage Raid0 and Windows talk?

[joshzstuff]

Hello,

I am hoping anyone familiar with the "SATARaid5Manager" from Silicon Image or RAID 0 discovery/initialization in Windows can point me in the right direction.

I'm going to make this as short and sweet as I can, let me know if I left out any critical information . . .

I have been running a 3 disk RAID0 (3X 750GB = >2TB volume) in my Venus T5 - 5 disk external enclosure flawlessly for months in Vista Ultimate 64
(using Silicon image 3132 PCIe card + SATARaid5Manager utility)

Step 1) A driver loading mishap forced me to reload Vista on a new HD to access my files

Step 2) once inside new Vista install, I reload Silicon image drivers/ Raid manager
a) Device manager is happy with drivers
b) Raid manager is working fine, and shows 3 striped drives all healthy (see Pic)





c) *PROBLEM* Windows cannot see the array (in My Computer as before) and wants to initialize the volume.
Although I probably shouldn't have tried it, the initialization always fails with GPT or MBR.
(seen as a single volume but not recognized) (See "Disk Manager" Pic)



My most recent data has NOT been backed up
(didn't expect a driver upgrade to cause all of this ...) so I need to regain access to my files.

Corrective Steps I've tried:

1) AMS tech support- A JOKE, the man did not have a clue and never heard of this problem before. When I asked if I could escalate to higher support he informed me that he was IT!

2) Silicon Image does not offer support to the end user but they have all of the documentation and latest drivers available for download. I have tried every combination of driver/ card bios version that I could . . .

NOTE: SI docs claim that you CAN move the array to other pc's even with 'similar' eSata cards installed & the Raid manager program, . . . (This is the EXACT setup with just an OS reset!) . . .(See step3)

3) I finally was able to reboot the old Vista install (that originally hosted the array) but it behaves exactly the SAME as my other Vista install.
NOTE: Although I don't believe the external enclosure was effected at all, the original OS mishap involved the installation of my SATA2 Gigabyte Mobo driver. (if that is relevant at all?)

4) I tried a test of the enclosure itself by installing a spare Drive into one of the empty bays as a "pass thru"
RESULT: the drive came online immediately and was recognized by Windows with me doing nothing at all!
NOTE: I realize this is not a RAID drive, so it's not completely apples to apples, but it shows the enclosure CAN be seen by windows.

5) Recovery Software:
I ran iRecover and was able to see the entire volume and it's contents!
Just as I expected, this is a perception issue!
Note: confirming my theory that I've done nothing to 'damage' the array, I was not able to access the volume as individual drives of a 'broken' array, but when I selected the whole volume as a single array the recovery software showed it could recover everything and there were no damaged sectors.


Obviously, the Recovery $oftware is my last option (well, ahead of taking it to be recovered)
because of the expense involved
(I don't have to tell you that purchase $price$ of recovery software is not friendly)

This seems to be a 'perception issue' with either Windows not seeing the volume, or the RAIDManager not "showing" it as it should.

The raid manager utility is fully functional, and I've been through every option but I don't see anything that looks useful except 1 option:

"Create/Delete RAID Group" is available, but I'm under the impression if I re-create this group, it will format and I'll loose my data.
Any SATARAID5 experts?

I would be deeply grateful to anyone who could even shed a little light on my problem!
Thank You for reading my post!

[joshzstuff]

UPDATE:
I have 2 free programs working right now on recovering the data on the external array:
1) iRecover is shareware, but it includes a free picture etc. recovery (not sure how extensive this feature will work so . . .)
2) DiskInternals Raid to Raid 1.0 is freeware and it is copying the image onto my internal array

While it will be great to get my data back, it is a LONG process just to transfer such large files (almost 4 hours @ 25% for iRecover)

So I really would like to find out what went wrong, especially since I intend to continue use of the enclosure.

I noticed something that might have been throwing off my diagnosis, notice this screen shot of my Disk Manager:


The Disk Manager requests to format Disk 5, which I assumed was my external. But I"m not so sure now because I was over looking the "Unallocated" Disk 3 (too many disks to keep track of I guess )

*Notice the difference in "Volumes" info.
so it appears that my problem is not that Windows can't see the volume, but that it's "unallocated"

It has been suggested that Windows Partition Wizard is a "Work Around" Here:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/158

Now I'm going to allow the recovery processes to save the data, just so I don't take any chances, but:

1) Is there a better way than this "Work Around"?
2) If not, would this be the way to go the next time I move my external? (without loosing the data)

3) Also, any idea why Windows decided to make an issue of Disk 5 or what it is?

[karateo]

Check FileScavenger
it's not free but i have tried it and was able to recover files from two different drives that used to be in raid-0 array using an ICH9R controller.

product link:
http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm