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Mirrored RAID Set Questions

I initially set up a mirrored RAID set up on my system drive as a means of backing up my files. I've since decided I'd like to use Time Machine instead. When I try and break up the RAID set using Disk Utility, a lock icon appears next to the RAID set and I'm unable to "delete" the set. My guess is that I need to reboot off a different system, but since Lion didn't come with an install disc, and since Lion doesn't set up a Recovery HD on RAID sets, how would I go about unlinking this mirrored RAID set?


Conversely, I inadvertantly unlinked a different RAID set and would like to reconnect them, but Disk Utility says it'll erase all the data on the drives before it establishes the connection. Is there a way to reconnect a mirrored RAID set that has been disconnected?

Mac OS X (10.7.3), 12GB RAM

Posted on Mar 11, 2012 5:31 PM

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7 replies

Mar 11, 2012 6:12 PM in response to Raymond Fox

For the first question, go back to the App Store download Lion again but before it begins the install stop the process and create a flash drive installer. See How to make a bootable Lion install disc or drive .


Remember you have to make sure the install process doesn;t proceed because once Lion is installed the installer app will be removed from your HD.


Sorry can;t help with the second question.


regards

Mar 13, 2012 8:35 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks for the reply, Frank.


I didn't install a backup drive during the Lion install because the installer simply wouldn't do it on a RAID set. So once I redownload Lion, won't I have to disconnect the RAID before I can reinstall the Lion recovery partion? So it seems to be a chicken and the egg scenario. I can't disonnect the RAID unless I can reboot from a separate Lion disc, but I can't boot a second Lion disc unless I disconnect the RAID set. 😟

Mar 14, 2012 8:39 AM in response to Raymond Fox

Are you saying if you go to the App Store and download Lion it won't do it?


I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say:

I didn't install a backup drive during the Lion install because the installer simply wouldn't do it on a RAID set

You're not installing anything with the procedure I linked to, you're creating a bootable flash drive with Lion on it.


Perhaps if you described fully how you did get Lion installed originally it might help to clear this up.


regards

Mar 14, 2012 10:49 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

>You're not installing anything with the procedure I linked to, you're creating a bootable flash drive with Lion on it.<


Beginning to see the light here. I was confused thinking that you were providing directions to get Lion's safety partition (or whatever they call it) installed on my hard drive. What you were suggesting was getting Lion on to a thumb drive so I could boot from it so I could proceed to split the mirrored RAID set. The fog is beginning to lift. Thanks for your advice and patience. 🙂

Mar 14, 2012 11:31 AM in response to Raymond Fox

Yes that was what I was suggesting, sorry if ti wasn't clear.


If you can get the Lion installer app to download you should then be able to make the flash drive as described in the link in mt first post. Once you have that you can boot from it and should be able to do what you need to do to the RAID set drives.


good luck, let us know how it works 'm sure others will run into this.


regards

Mar 19, 2012 3:35 PM in response to Raymond Fox

Well, the only way I figured how to take care of these issues was to CarbonCopy clone the hard drives to a spare drive, erase them (which broke the connection to the mirrored sets) and then copy everything back to the original hard drive. Took all weekend. What a pain.


It was a simple task to get the missing recovery partition added to the startup disk. Simply run the Lion installer again and it will add it to an eligible disk. (Won't add it to a disk that's part of a RAID set.)

Mirrored RAID Set Questions

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