RAID 1 disk going bad

  • Thread starter Thread starter NuQ
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NuQ

It looks like one of my IDE RAID 1 drives is going bad and needs
replacing. Is it safe to assume it's the primary drive that's going
bad? If not, what's a good way to isolate which drive is bad?

I'm getting data corruption, Windows Explorer crashes when deleting some
files, Windows Write Delay errors, although I can delete via cmd line.
 
NuQ said:
It looks like one of my IDE RAID 1 drives is going bad and needs
replacing. Is it safe to assume it's the primary drive that's going
bad? If not, what's a good way to isolate which drive is bad?

I'm getting data corruption, Windows Explorer crashes when deleting some
files, Windows Write Delay errors, although I can delete via cmd line.
Click to expand...




First off...back up your data.


Next..you could put the drives...one at a time on a single IDE
connector...then from a boot disk.run the mfg's
diagnostic utility. Even if you find one bad drive...continue testing until
you've checked them all
 
philo said:
First off...back up your data.


Next..you could put the drives...one at a time on a single IDE
connector...then from a boot disk.run the mfg's
diagnostic utility. Even if you find one bad drive...continue testing until
you've checked them all
Click to expand...

Thank you for the tips.
 
It looks like one of my IDE RAID 1 drives is going bad and needs
replacing. Is it safe to assume it's the primary drive that's going
bad? If not, what's a good way to isolate which drive is bad?

I'm getting data corruption, Windows Explorer crashes when deleting some
files, Windows Write Delay errors, although I can delete via cmd line.
Click to expand...

You should not be getting these symptoms from a drive
failing. Install the Raid Manager software for your
controller's chipset, it may be from motherboard
manufacturer or the chipset manufacturer. It should
indicate which drive is failing if one is, and might even
indicate smart errors.

What is this motherboard, raid controller, etc? Is it
possible you have some other raid controller related
problem? As another poster mentioned, you should be able to
disconnect the problem drive and try the system.
 
NuQ said:
Thank you for the tips.
Click to expand...

Is there some Windows software with a RAID management console ? Maybe
the RAID has a management console you could be looking at.

Based on your symptom description, it sounds like both drives are
going bad. It sounds like perhaps you ignored some bad status coming
from the first drive, when it started to fail. Now the remaining
drive is having problems.

In short, as Philo suggested, back your data up now. Once you have
a backup in hand, you can decide what to do with a bit more
leisure.

It is also possible, that something you installed recently, is conflicting
with the driver or something. Or the RAID controller itself has become
flaky.

Paul
 
NuQ said:
It looks like one of my IDE RAID 1 drives is going bad and needs
replacing. Is it safe to assume it's the primary drive that's going bad?
If not, what's a good way to isolate which drive is bad?

I'm getting data corruption, Windows Explorer crashes when deleting some
files, Windows Write Delay errors, although I can delete via cmd line.
Click to expand...
You might want to download a copy of Belarc Advisor (free for personal use)
and give it a try. It will give you the results of a SMART test for the
hard drives it can detect.

If the SMART report is "healthy" for both drives then like the others have
said the problem could be software or hardware related.
 
Paul said:
Is there some Windows software with a RAID management console ? Maybe
the RAID has a management console you could be looking at.

Based on your symptom description, it sounds like both drives are
going bad. It sounds like perhaps you ignored some bad status coming
from the first drive, when it started to fail. Now the remaining
drive is having problems.
Click to expand...

There may be something like that. It's an Adpatec PCI controller, but I
can't remember if there's software for it other than drivers.
In short, as Philo suggested, back your data up now. Once you have
a backup in hand, you can decide what to do with a bit more
leisure.

It is also possible, that something you installed recently, is conflicting
with the driver or something. Or the RAID controller itself has become
flaky.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help.
 
kony said:
You should not be getting these symptoms from a drive
failing. Install the Raid Manager software for your
controller's chipset, it may be from motherboard
manufacturer or the chipset manufacturer. It should
indicate which drive is failing if one is, and might even
indicate smart errors.

What is this motherboard, raid controller, etc? Is it
possible you have some other raid controller related
problem?
Click to expand...

Possibly.

As another poster mentioned, you should be able to
disconnect the problem drive and try the system.
Click to expand...

It's a Gigabyte mobo, can't remember the model, but it's running dual
PIII 1 GHz CPUs, no built in RAID. Using an Adaptec PCI add-in controller.

I'll see if there's any software for the controller that may help.
 
GlowingBlueMist said:
You might want to download a copy of Belarc Advisor (free for personal use)
and give it a try. It will give you the results of a SMART test for the
hard drives it can detect.

If the SMART report is "healthy" for both drives then like the others have
said the problem could be software or hardware related.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks.
 
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