Attn: Techies! My Computer is FUBAR

[WildCat]

Here's the problem: A little over 1 month ago, I got a message on bootup saying there was a problem w/ my RAID 1 array. Wouldn't boot up, all data lost. I finally bought new hard drives, set up the whole shebang again and for 3 weeks or so all was well. Then last week, same problem! I'm sending the new drives back to Maxtor, hopefully they'll replace at least one of them. My question is, what could be causing my hard disks to fail? Is it the RAID controller on my motherboard (Asus P4B533-E)? Is it a power supply problem? Did I just happen to buy a defective hard disk? Or is it something else?

Any ideas will be much appreciated! In case you're wondering, I'm able to log on here because I have a 3rd disk installed on my computer which I was able to load an OS on.

[Underemployed]

A RAID 1 array is mirrored, so a failure of one hard drive should not be catastrophic. You should be able to determine which drive has failed through the motherboard's RAID controller BIOS - if this is not possible you may have to try both drives in another computer to see which one (if either) has failed. Two drives failing at the same time (while all else appears to be working) means you are outrageously unlucky or you have a bad RAID controller (possibly a bad IDE cable or a bad PSU, though this is less likely).

So, with the working drive identified, you should be able to boot up and still see Windows as you are used to.

You did mean RAID 1 and not 0, yes?

Did you test any of the drives in other computers? If they work in other systems - or at least can be made to work after a format - then the blame surely lies with your RAID controller and it's your board you should be sending back - especially if both drives in a mirrored array are unuseable.

Check the BB's of the Asus community - someone else with your board may have come across this problem.

[WildCat]

Originally posted by Underemployed
A RAID 1 array is mirrored, so a failure of one hard drive should not be catastrophic. You should be able to determine which drive has failed through the motherboard's RAID controller BIOS - if this is not possible you may have to try both drives in another computer to see which one (if either) has failed. Two drives failing at the same time (while all else appears to be working) means you are outrageously unlucky or you have a bad RAID controller (possibly a bad IDE cable or a bad PSU, though this is less likely).

So, with the working drive identified, you should be able to boot up and still see Windows as you are used to.

You did mean RAID 1 and not 0, yes?

Did you test any of the drives in other computers? If they work in other systems - or at least can be made to work after a format - then the blame surely lies with your RAID controller and it's your board you should be sending back - especially if both drives in a mirrored array are unuseable.

Check the BB's of the Asus community - someone else with your board may have come across this problem.
Oops, I meant RAID 0, striping. So if one fails, the other won't work either. And according to Asus tech support, even if I get a new RAID controller it wouldn't be able to read the other drives, as they must be new disks to set up the RAID 0. They also seem to think it's highly unlikely that their RAID controller could possibly be to blame... :rolleyes: The motherboard is 2 years old and out of warranty. So is it the controller that has gone bad?

I have to leave town this weekend, so I'll check back here Monday pm to see if anyone has any ideas.

[WildCat]

Hmm, according to the Asus web site the board has a 3 year warranty, now if only I can get them to consider that it might be their board that's at fault!