# Solved: RAID - degraded drive



## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

I have a compaq proliant server with 2 - 80 gig drives. When I enter the MegaRAID setup utility on startup it shows that I have 2 arrays:

Array #0 [DEGRADED]
Raid 1
Drive(s) 1
bootable 
option to build array

Array #1
Raid 0
Drives(s) 2
not bootable

So I was wondering what to do about the degraded array #0 and do I use the option to rebuild array?

The server is still running and all the data appears in tact.

Does this mean one of the drives is starting to fail?

thanks!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Sure sounds that way. I'd be looking to see what drive has failed and getting a replacement in there pronto!

Is this a RAID-1 array? The only thing I can see you having with two disks.


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## datamonger (Jul 25, 2006)

It looks like you have two arrays here. The first one being a mirrored RAID array and has only one disk. This means that the other disk has failed in some sort. This does not mean that the drive is bad, just the RAID failed for some reason. You will need to rebuild the RAID if you want to maintain the same level of redundancy.

You can just attempt a rebuild the RAID to the same drives but if this fails you will want to replace the bad drive. In order to do this you will need to make sure you can tell which drive is which. You do not want to mirror the bad drive to the good one.

If attempting a rebuild to the existing drive does not work or is not an option (because the failed drive could really be bad), you will need to determine which physical drive needs to be replaced. You may be able to hot-swap the drive but if you can power things down, that is always safest. Once the new drive is installed, you can rebuild to it and all should be well after that.


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## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

datamonger said:


> In order to do this you will need to make sure you can tell which drive is which. You do not want to mirror the bad drive to the good one.


How do I do this?

Its a compaq ml310 with an integrated raid controller. Do I go into bios setup and see if the drives are recognized or is it in the raid config utility?

thanks!


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## datamonger (Jul 25, 2006)

That is one way. It should say which drive it is. Whether 0-3 or Primary Master, slave etc. You could also verify by unplugging the suspected bad drive and make sure the system still boots up and works.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

How many physical disk drives do you actually have?


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## TheDude5555 (Aug 26, 2006)

You might also visit HP\Compaq's site and download the Support Pack for your server. It has additional software such as the management agents and Array Diagnostic utility to help you figure out the exact problem. After installing, and possibly rebooting you should be able to see individual device info such as hard drive health and array status. You didnt specify which OS you have on the server, so here is the link to the place you want to start.

http://h18023.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/family/model/4763.html?prodTypeId=15351


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## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

Its running server 2000 and there are 2 physical drives.

I unplugged both one at a time and the good one boots normally, and the degraded drive is still there and boots but when windows tries to start it gives an error about a missing file and wants to re-boot in active directory repair mode.

They are maxtor drives so I would usually use Maxtors diagnostics utility that boots from a floppy and checks your drive. Will that still work when using a raid controller?

So the degraded drive is not totally dead so I need some sort of diagnostics to see if the drive is failing right? Or could the drive still be good and the data is just corrupted?
Where that server is located there were a lot of problems with storms & power outages over the past week or so that caused some problems with other pcs. 

I will go get some of the utilities that Dude mentioned on the HP site, they have a lot.

thanks


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

OK, with two physical drives, it's unlikely that you have two separate RAID arrays, that's what I was trying to find out.


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## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

Here is what the config utility shows:

Array #0 [DEGRADED, 78165 MB]
Array Type Raid 1
Drive(s) 1
Bootable yes
Build Array PRESS ENTER >>
Initialize Array PRESS ENTER >>

Array #1 [ONLINE, 78165 MB]
Array Type Raid 0
Drives(s) 2
Stripe Size 64k
Bootable no
Initialize Array PRESS ENTER >>

So I tried the "Build Array" option for the first disk but I get "Invalid source/target drive for building"

Do I need to delete it first and then re-build?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

It appears that the array is corrupted.

I presume that before this happened, you had one RAID-0 array the size of one of the disks, right?

You may have to backup and rebuild the array to sort it out. I'd backup before it decides not to boot.


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## datamonger (Jul 25, 2006)

John,

It looks like he has two physical drives.

There is one RAID-1, 78165MB and one RAID-0, 78165MB.

I would guess that they are 120GB drives. 2/3 of each is devoted to the RAID-1 and the remaining 1/3 is used for the RAID-0.

It looks like maybe one of the RAID-1 partitions died--not physically, otherwise the RAID-0 drive would be offline as well. The bad RAID-1 partition should be deleted which should allow the RAID-1 to be rebuilt using the good RAID-1 partition.

Now, virtualgeorg, are you using Windows RAID or a hardware RAID that is on the MB or an add-on board?


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## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

datamonger said:


> Now, virtualgeorg, are you using Windows RAID or a hardware RAID that is on the MB or an add-on board?


There are 2 - 80 gig hard drives. I am using the hardware raid that is integrated into the motherboard. Integrated ultra ata-100 ide raid controller by LSI Logic.

I have the data backed up and the data & OS are on separate partitions. I am getting errors when starting about the WINS database corrupt and think I probably want to format the OS partition & re-install.

I ran diagnostics software that I downloaded from HP and it said that hard drive #2 had the sequential verify test failed.

So I reckon I need to replace that drive?

When I used acronis true image it shows disk #1 as my e: (data partition) and disk #2 as my c: drive which has the OS. It let me backup the data partition but could read all the data on disk #2 which the diagnostics software also showed an error.

thanks!


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## datamonger (Jul 25, 2006)

So, the drives are mirrored via the LSI controller. Then the OS has them partitioned out (since Windows only sees one hard drive--the mirror set). So what you are seeing in Windows is what is on the good drive. I think I am finally coming around  

Since you had diagnostics fail on a drive, you should replace that drive. Then you can rebuild the mirror via the LSI utility.


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## virtualgeorg (Sep 9, 2003)

Thanks!


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## KeysPirate (Jul 6, 2007)

One of the drives in my RAID array has been failing and rebuilding for months. Both drives were replaced several months ago, but recently one started failing regularly.  Now it is every day. DELL tech support has had me go through all diagnostics, which say the drive is okay. They are now telling me I must reinstall Windows XP. Yikes! Seems to me the drive needs to be replaced. What do you think?


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