Topic 'RAID 0 and restore image' in forum 'Computer Hardware Help' - dslreports.com

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 04:55:59 EDT

norwegian posted : You should be able to drop back a bios or so.

Glad to hear the issue has disappeared too with the smaller hdd's.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 11:57:53 EDT

me posted : Finally received the 1TB hard drives and installed to the intel SATA ports.

Activated Raid in BIOS. Started the RAID setup and was able to create two arrays (one 64kb for windows, one 128kb for data). You just have to select a smaller drive size during the setup and you can use the remaining space to create the second array.

Used a Fat32 formatted USB drive (not sure it mattered) to install the Intel driver during windows setup. Windows gave me an error the first time I installed the driver then it worked the second time. I think its some sort of glitch.

I updated the BIOS to the latest beta first but I don't think that mattered. BIOS v17f is very glitchy during start-up. Hope they update it soon.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:12:14 EDT

me posted : Not looking forward to the frustration of plugging those ports :)

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:33:15 EDT

norwegian posted : Sorry I can not be more helpful, but this place helps keep me focused at times, and members always correct you to keep you honest if you get out of line. :)

Why the Z77 doesn't work and the Marvell ports do is strange, I would have thought it the other way around. I was even wondering if a bios/cmos factory reset may work to help with what I've been reading up on and that reference to the shadow RAM. Maybe one of the gurus here can see something that's been overlooked.

Look forward thpough to your work with the new hard drives to see if those Z77 ports do work - if you can be patient with those tight port locations and cables.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:14:30 EDT

me posted : "plug n play O/S" is enabled
I plugged in the stick after I started the windows install process.
During the add driver screen it will recognize cd or usb when they become active. Then you can start to navigate the directories.

I must say, the answer provided in that link leads to more questions than answers nothing.

I will wait a couple of days for newegg to send me the new drives and I will resume the testing.

Thank you for the interest and help norwegian. In the past I use to enjoy troubleshooting with people in these forums but I have been slacking off the past few years.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:18:19 EDT

norwegian posted : I've found this on the FAQ's page for your motherboard.

quote:
Q. Why can't I enable some RAID function?
A. Due to the limitation of PC structure, the capacity of shadow memory is fixed. If the shadow memory is not enough, some of the RAID controllers will be inactive.

»www.gigabyte.us/support-download···pid=4325

What is NV-RAM? - Nonvolatile Read Write Memory, also called Flash memory. It is also know as shadow RAM.

I'm wondering if there's a setting or restriction there causing you problems?

The USB stick isn't in the port at bootup?
Is "plug n play O/S" disabled in bios or enabled?
Have you tried with 1 stick of RAM to start the process?

Not sure why that error is logged for your motherboard as a faq. Maybe an email to them regarding this?
See: »www.electronics-project-design.c···ces.html

--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:47:32 EDT

me posted : I'm thinking about 2 x 1TB raid 0
and a 2TB hard drive for backup.

I will use something like synctoy or other app to keep backups and archives.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:18:00 EDT

norwegian posted :
I am wondering if size of the array - being larger than 3TB has anything to do with it?

Has anyone reading this used 2 x 2TB drives and it worked?

»knowledge.seagate.com/articles/e···218619en

If that is the case, the Marvell controllers may not be a good option and data loss possible. I've not used anything larger than 1 TB drives.

You could then use 1 x 2TB for the Bios's recovery drive for the array and the other for general data back ups/storage.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:45:10 EDT

me posted : I have version 1.0 and I have not had time to try a different USB yet. For now, I know the Marvell controller at least gets me installed. Bios update was done recently but I will try that.

At this point I came to realize that 2 2tb hard drives actually do make almost 4tb rather than 2tb in raid. I don't know why i thought it would create 2tb. I guess it has something to do with parity.

I;ve ordered 2 Western Digital Blue 1TB hard drives
For anyone looking
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···22236339
The seagate version with 32 rather than 64MB cache is also available for the same price. The seagate has 1 yr warrenty while the WD has 2yrs.
»www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···22148321

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:10:46 EDT

norwegian posted :
It shouldn't make any difference on the USB drive format, but might be worth a try.

To help here, which revision motherboard do you have?
I've not used Marvell before but the process shouldn't be any different. If troubleshooting shows the z77 isn't working a bios update or the minimum of a tech support ticket raised if it is under warranty maybe required.

When you created the array, did you make it bootable? I can't an option for a switch and it looks like it does it automatically. The recovery volume isn't an option either without a spare HDD.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:48:49 EDT

me posted : On Step 1. The options are RAID or AHCI. It did not provided an option for both.

On step2. I did install the Intel SATA Preinstall driver (For AHCI / RAID Mode). The USB drive was formated as NTFS so maybe I should use a FAT formated usb.

I currently have windows up and running with the Marvell controller but if the Intel one is that much better, I will retry the Intel z77 again (the forward facing SATA connectors make it very difficult disconnect and reconnect the cable, its a very tight space)

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:14:20 EDT

norwegian posted : First, stay off the Marvell and use the Intel sata ports.

Rev 1.0 motherboard:
»www.gigabyte.com.au/products/pro···=4144#dl
Rev 1.1 motherboard:
»www.gigabyte.com.au/products/pro···=4325#dl

Make sure you use the correct link for your motherboard.
1. Setup in bios the raid and size, select AHCI.
On that difference in size, there maybe 2 partitions - I've not played with that idea of 2 stripe sizes, someone else may want to chime in.

2. For RAID:
You need the Intel SATA Preinstall driver (For AHCI / RAID Mode)
For Win 7 - you extract the files and then copy to a standard formatted usb or cd on a separate computer.
Just copy all files, not the folder:
iaahcic.cat
iaAHCIC.inf
iaStorA.sys
iastorac.cat
iaStorAC.inf
iaStorF.sys
The point you load them is as per this guide, see image 1.9, Load Driver option at the bottom left of the screen.
It will list the drivers - now I'm not sure for Intel, but for me, I need to select this option twice to install both drivers;
Someone who uses Intel maybe able to clarify, but looking at the extracted files, you also have 2 drivers
iaStorF.sys
iaStorA.sys
Both will not load at once, you do 1 then go back and do the other via the same method.

Then just continue on with the install of Windows and let it process as per a normal install.

3. HDD STORAGE
The Intel� Rapid Storage Technology driver is all that Win7 might have already, but it wouldn't hurt to download the latest off the site.
This is for when you are in Windows, some install them and some don't. I do not believe in the Windows 7 has the drivers already. The z77 chipset was not around when Win 7 came out.
It might have a basic version that will run, but the latest drivers for the newest motherboards and chipsets are there for a reason.
Some do and some don't. Let it run without them create a back up and run a HDD benchmark. Then install the drivers and then back up, then do the HDD benchmark again to see if they work for you or not.

--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:01:06 EDT

me posted : I decided to connect the drives to the gsata slots with the
Marvell 88SE9172 SATA Controllers

Despite what they say, the z77 does need drivers or something because windows 7 went through the install process and said there was hardware problem and could not complete the install.

I read somewhere that someone was able to set a portion of the drive space with stripe size 64k for windows 7 (windows 7 prefers this) and was able to set the rest of the drive space to 127kb stripe size (best for video and large files)

How is this possible?

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:55:25 EDT

me posted : I guess this board has two raid controllers
one if you use the SATA 6 or 3 slots (Intel Z77)
Another if you use the GSATA slots (Marvell)

Since I dont have anything connected to the GSATA slots I hope the Intel SATA Preinstall driver will work.

Or should I switch to the GSATA slots.

BTW I am doing a clean install

Since I am not using the Marvell controller I guess this applies

"As Windows 7 already include Intel SATA RAID/AHCI driver, you do not need to install separate RAID/AHCI
driver during the Windows installation process."

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:40:20 EDT

norwegian posted :
As pointed out start fresh and load the raid drivers at the F6 prompt if using XP or the 'addition drivers' notification of Win 7.

Anything else would be too arduous and the fact that trying to mod as such a low level to make it work would not guarantee the speeds would be obtained either due to possible incorrect call functions and hence those BSOD's pointed out above, raid 0 is risky enough without having troubles added by trying to compromise.

Do it correctly and do it once, and as mentioned backup the array.
I'd almost go looking at an extra drive or 2 and looking at raid 5.

quote:
Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

Then you will help avoid total loss of that raw data of your projects if there are hdd/sata cable failure etc.

That might be the better option for your needs.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:06:37 EDT

me posted : Such an informative an well thought-out reply.
Thank you for that.

My reason for going with RAID 0 as apposed to ssd is that I will be capturing live video streams and that data is raw and uncompressed or formated. SSD write speed for this kind of data is actually slower than a regular hard drive. The size limitation is a factor also.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:37:19 EDT

koitsu posted : I think you may be in for a rude awakening when you try this.

The underlying "drive geometry" when using RAID completely changes compared to a standalone disk. A standalone disk may show X Y and Z values, while the geometry of the "disk" (RAID volume) will be completely/entirely different.

Depending on how the backup software behaves and at what level, this may or may not work for you.

Furthermore, the actual device naming semantics tend to change under Windows when you change storage drivers. I.e. you're going from native AHCI to some "mystery vendor-lock-in" crap ("Gigabyte Marketing Hooplah") driven by the Marvell 9172 chip.

For example, if I switch my BIOS from from standard SATA (i.e. non-AHCI) to AHCI (and I despite having Intel's RST drivers installed), BSOD is the result. Why? Because Windows refers to the "root device" (OS device) by a unique string, something like \\.PhysicalDrive0 or \\?\Device\HarddiskVolumeX (I forget which) -- while Intel RST results in this being called something like \\Device\Ide\iaStor0 (I forget the exact name). You'll see something like this, and possibly only for a split second:

»i40.servimg.com/u/f40/09/00/63/8···o210.jpg

Or possibly this:

»img231.imageshack.us/img231/287/···rror.jpg

It's probably named something very different with the XHD/Marvell stuff.

My advice is:

1. Don't bother screwing around and spending hours/days dealing with this -- configure the RAID-0 array, and reinstall Windows fresh on it (assuming it will even see your array, re: what others have told you about drivers),
2. Be aware of what you're giving up by going with this XHD and Marvell controller. More often than not you lose visibility into the drives themselves (such as being able to examine SMART attributes to see if a drive is actually having issues). Ask yourself if you really need RAID-0 (you probably don't and just want to fool around -- consider something like an SSD instead),
3. If despite the above you still want to do it, make sure you're doing backups regularly (I would advise daily). You know how it goes with RAID-0 -- the instant you experience any anomaly with the storage subsystem on any drive, you lose your entire array.

Finally, you might want to ask Gigabyte Technical Support the exact same question you asked folks here on DSLR/BBR. They may be able to tell you what to expect.

Good luck.
--
Making life hard for others since 1977.
I speak for myself and not my employer/affiliates of my employer.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:14:10 EDT

me posted : Both hard drives are Seagate 2TB exact same.

Gigabyte GA-z77x-d3h

It has this feature:
GIGABYTE eXtreme Hard Drive (X.H.D)
automatically and quickly set up a RAID 0 array.

Marvell 88SE9172 chip supports RAID 0 and RAID 1.

Also, I read somewhere that using Acronis as the backup software worked for some people.
I found this with a quick search.


"It installs boot device drivers (e.g. hard drive or RAID controller drivers) into the system during the recovery process, so that the operating system can boot from this boot device"

»kb.acronis.com/content/4000

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 05:26:54 EDT

norwegian posted : You will not likely be able to do it unless the original image has the raid drivers on it.

You can set up a HDD with the image and then build a raid, but the drivers for the raid have to be added offline, not just installed via device manager or copied off a disk. Then you affect AHCI, HAL and other components of the operating system - it is not a nice easy task. This involves extracting files via recovery console etc and unless you are a very competent operator of the command line, it will be just too difficult.

Also things like the HDD's are they the same size?
What motherboard do you have?
Is it a raid card or on board raid, etc?

With the info you have provided, I'd say no.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:55:52 EDT

Dream Killer posted : i'm gonna try this tonight.

my guess is i just need to install the intel raid storage drivers then image it, set up raid-0, then restore + boot.

i'll let you know how it goes.

Re: RAID 0 and restore image

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:01:04 EDT

Kilroy posted :

said by me:

Can I use a disk image (created by Macrium free) to restore after I setup a RAID 0?

Probably not. How you set up the RAID depends on your hardware and software. Since RAID needs more than one drive you will be using more than one SATA port.
--
�Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.� � Robert A. Heinlein

RAID 0 and restore image

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 18:05:28 EDT

me posted : Can I use a disk image (created by Macrium free) to restore after I setup a RAID 0?

Any links to good explanation on how to create a RAID 0 would be appreciated. Video even better.

Can I find out what type of SATA port is being used from within windows?