RAID 1- SATA Cables Disconnected; Now where did they go?

[ntrider1]

I have 4 250GB hard drives in my self-built computer. I had unplugged them and replugged them back in, but I must have plugged at least one or two into the wrong drives. Some weird code ran for quite a while (I think it altered the registry.) I see now that I should have labeled the drives AND the cables first. (Live and learn.) Each pair of 2 (I don't know which 2) are a Raid 1 set. How do I figure out which one has my C: drive on it, and which one is its mirror? Same with the second set, but of course, different drive letter. Then, how do I get everything fixed? At this point, I can't get past the windows screen. Not sure if I should even have them all plugged in right now since I don't know which is which. Just plugging them in and running with it isn't working! Can anyone offer some real technical advice? Everywhere I ask I get lots of replies, like: Just plug 'em in and go; Didn't you take notes?; etc...

Here is my system:

Silver Lian Li Pc6077 Mid-Tower ATX Case
*Dim.: 210 x 450 x 490 mm
*Drive bays: 6 x 5.25"(one CD-ROM bezel included); 1 x 3.5" (with 5.25" to 3.5" converter, one FDD bezel included);
*3 x 3.5" in EX-23 H.D. rack
*Fan: 3 x 80 mm ball bearing fans
*Multi-media I/O: IEEE1394 x 1; Mic x 1; EAR x 1; USB2.0 x 2
*PCI slot: 8 Slots (ATX, with thumb screws)
*Finishing: 1.5~2 mm aluminum with burshed anodized finishing
*M/B type:ATX & Pentium 4

Product Features:
*Removable front panel, and power supply tray
*Easy-access slide out Motherboad tray
*User friendly adjustable bays to suit user's need.
*Special ventilation design with air filter installed.
*Chrome plated ring for switch and feet
*One noise reduction PSU ventiduct include
80mm Zalman ZM-F1 NP Case Fan, 3-pin
AMD Athlon 4200 Manchester Core Processor, 2.2GHz 64 X 2 Dual Core, 939, L1 Cache 128MB, L2 Cache 512 + 512KB, AMD Cool & Quiet Technology, Enhanced Virus Protection, HyperTransport Technology includes Cooling Fan, Socket 939
ASUS A8N-SLI 939 Athlon 64(fx) Motherboard, NVIDIA nForce4 SLI MPC, PCI Express, SATA 3GB/s, Dual RAID, Dual Gigabit LAN & AI NET2, NV Firewall, AI NOS, AI 8-Channel Audio, ASUS Q-Fan, IEEE 1394 Interface, Max. 10 USB 2.0 ports, ASUS Crash-Free BIOS2, S/PDIF-out on back I/O Port
Zalman 460W Power Supply ZM460-APS EPS 12V & ATX 2.03 with SATA and PCI Express Support
Directron TN-SYPW Shakeproof Power Supply Washer/Gasket
Kingston 1GB each- 400MHz DDR400 DIMM 184-pin Pair (2)
ASUS Extreme N6600 Silencer TD/256MB Graphics Adapter, GF 6600, PCI Express X16, DVI, TV-out, Direct-X support
4 Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB each- Serial Ultra ATA Hard Drives, SoftSonic motor, Enhanced G-Force protection, 8MB buffer, NCQ.
Microsoft Wireless Desktop Keyboard and Mouse- USB
Possible Sound Card
Case Fan, Zalman ZM-F1 8mm
NEC DVD -/+RW 16x Dual Layer Drives
DVD ROM Drive
CD ROM W/R Drive
3.5” Floppy Drive- Sony MPF920-Z/161
Molex Fan Connector 3-pin (4 pin to 3-pin MB)
SIIG JU-2NE012 USB 2.0, Firewire and Ethernet Combo Card
FrontX CPX512 USB FP extension cables
FrontX CPX531 Headphone/Mic FP extension cable
FrontX CPX509 IEEE 1394 FP extension cable



Software
ITEM
Partitian Magic 8.0 (Raid 0 or 5 compat.)
Window XP Professional
Microsoft Office Professional


External Accessories
ITEM
Plextor PX-M402U External Digital Video Converter (refurb)
9-in-1 External Memory Card Reader
ViewSonic VA912B 19in LCD Monitor, on-screen controls, built in basic speakers, 160 x 160 degree viewing angle
Case Badge (free with purchase)
DVI Cable (free with Display)
Remote Control (Later)

 

[smah]

First, you didn't really need to cut & paste everything - the keyboard, front pane connectors, etc really don't matter in this instance.

Second, you may have a big problem. I'm not sure about the raid controller built into this motherboard (ASUS A8N-SLI 939), but many will try to rebuild when they find a corrupt array. When the 'weird code ran for quite a while', did you allow it to complete, or did you stop it by turning the machine off? How many drives are attached now? Does the raid controller config/status/setup utility tell you anything useful?

 

[wahnula]

If this were my rig, I would boot into BIOS, disable RAID, and shut it down. Using ONE of the drives I would connect it to the OS port (or what you think is the OS port) and see if it boots. If it's part of the RAID1 OS array, it should boot. Label it. Try another SINGLE disk, until you find the other one that SHOULD boot, or at least try. If you get a "Unknown boot device" error it's probably one of the data drives.

If you can get Windows to boot using a single drive, shut down and connect one of the other drives and see if you can browse it. Check the contents of the disk.

Your next course of action would be to restore the RAID arrays, but this has to be done by cloning the good disk to another, building a new RAID array, and cloning back to the array. Let us know how it goes.

Tony

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