Suggestion for fixing broken raid set

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VincensoXFIN Author

Level 1

41 points

Suggestion for fixing broken raid set

Jesus. Again. Twice in 6 months. Raid set failure.

2:58pm today : Drive 3:50014ee2aede46eb missing - Previous drive status was inuse

2:59pm today : Degraded RAID set RS1

2:59pm today : Degraded RAID set RS1 - No spare available for rebuild

Jesus...

After launching the Raid Utility, I notice that one drive is actually missing from the drive bays.. Its just gone, and I have not done anything to it. This happened last December as well. Hard booting the drive (pull out, push back in) worked last time to get the drive online, but jesus. Twice? I should maybe replace the drive? I am using Apple Raid Card, people say it turns to be pretty strict about the drives state, but why the **** it keeps disappearing from the system?!

I was already on the phone with one Apple consultant about this, and I think everything is pretty OK. I have good backups, and gladly, the OS RAID set is ok. Only our accounts and work files were in there, and all is secured. But this is really stressful.. Feels like I can't trust these drives one bit. And they are good drives, standard hardware what comes with Mac Pro.

Just when I was starting to think that everything is finally working smoothly..

Any recommendations about how to act now. I know what I have to do but, it would be encouraging if I would get some steps to how to fix it. Working order etc.

Everything works tho, taking one separate set of backups at the moment just in case. I just need to get my act together and fix it. God I am annoyed tho.

Good weekend to everyone tho. Comments are appreciated.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on May 6, 2011 5:59 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Beavis2084

Level 4

2,854 points

May 6, 2011 7:59 AM in response to VincensoXFIN

Sounds like it could be a simple bad drive.

Can a scan & repair be done to it to see if it has bad sectors, etc?

I would recomend simply replacing it and rebuilding the RAID.

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Answer 2

VincensoXFIN Author

Level 1

41 points

May 9, 2011 5:56 AM in response to Beavis2084

Yeah, I already ordered a new drive.

I can't do any tests for the bad drive cos it just disappeared from the system totally. I guess it could come online if I hard boot it again (like when the raid set broke last december), but I don't feel like doing it before I get the new drive. Need to analyze it on another computer.

The consultant I talked with earlier mentioned that the RAID card is pretty strict about the condition of the drive. But I would like to know if that is why the drive keeps disappearing, if it really totally ejects it from the system . I heard that some cases the the Raid Utility just shows the red light what indicates the drive state if there is a problem, but for me the drive is just gone totally.

Hope that the new drive arrives soon. Will the Raid rebuild itself if I insert the new drive and mark it as global spare ? That's what I understood from reading the Raid Utility manual.

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Answer 3

Beavis2084

Level 4

2,854 points

May 9, 2011 6:35 AM in response to VincensoXFIN

You'll have to default to that manual on the rebuild. Sadly, I only have memory of one or two older RAID systems I've played with in the past and don't have any further knowledge on the Apple RAID card.

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Answer 4

VincensoXFIN Author

Level 1

41 points

May 9, 2011 6:40 AM in response to Beavis2084

Thanks for the reply anyway! I'll hope I manage. Didn't seem so difficult as far as I can understand from the manual.

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Answer 5

ClassicII

Level 4

1,097 points

May 9, 2011 8:18 AM in response to VincensoXFIN

As long as you got an apple oem drive you will be fine.

Once you insert the drive go to the raid utility and then click RAID from the top menu and then select "Make Spare"

This will begin to rebuild the raidset. It will take 1 to 2 days. to full rebuild depending on the size.

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Answer 6

VincensoXFIN Author

Level 1

41 points

May 10, 2011 2:25 AM in response to ClassicII

Thank you. Thats actually just what the manual says, but I just don't feel confident just reading the manual. Feels great when you get response from here!

It's 2TB drive, so I think it will take some time, but it doesn't matter, just as long as it will be fixed.

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Answer 7

VincensoXFIN Author

Level 1

41 points

May 11, 2011 5:03 AM in response to VincensoXFIN

Just one more thing. While I have read trough some manuals about how the drive should be installed, I noticed that there were mention that I should not install the drive while the system is running. But I am curious, can it be harmful to change the drive while the system is running? Have you guys ever done it? I have hard booted one drive once before and it didn't seem to have any bad effect. I really wouldn't like to power off the system, I can do that if there are no other way, but I would like to do it while the Pro is running.

So, comments are appreciated.

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Answer 8

ClassicII

Level 4

1,097 points

May 11, 2011 7:21 AM in response to VincensoXFIN

You can insert the new drive while the system is running and it will be fine.

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