Solved Windows 8.1 RAID issue?

kirbs2002

Member
Member
Messages
19
I've noticed that since upgrading to Windows 8.1, it doesn't seem to want to detect my RAID array. Upon system boot, it's not detected, but a few minutes after boot up, it detects my array as a removable device (even though they are connected to the motherboard's SATA ports).

Also, the detection of the array is spotty at best as it has now three times become "disconnected" from the system (as in, the OS stopped communicating with them as if they'd been unplugged), all of them generating a blue screen of DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

Information on the blue screens from reliability monitor:

Source
Windows

Summary
Shut down unexpectedly

Date
‎10/‎19/‎2013 10:45 AM

Status
Solution available

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
Code: 133
Parameter 1: 0
Parameter 2: 501
Parameter 3: 500
Parameter 4: 0
OS version: 6_3_9600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
OS Version: 6.3.9600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 0x133_DPC_storport!RaidAdapterAcquireInterruptLock

Source
Windows

Summary
Shut down unexpectedly

Date
‎10/‎19/‎2013 11:19 AM

Status
Solution available

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
Code: 133
Parameter 1: 0
Parameter 2: 501
Parameter 3: 500
Parameter 4: 0
OS version: 6_3_9600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
OS Version: 6.3.9600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 0x133_DPC_storport!RaidAdapterAcquireInterruptLock

Source
Windows

Summary
Shut down unexpectedly

Date
‎10/‎19/‎2013 11:41 AM

Status
Solution available

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
Code: 133
Parameter 1: 0
Parameter 2: 501
Parameter 3: 500
Parameter 4: 0
OS version: 6_3_9600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1
OS Version: 6.3.9600.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 0x133_DPC_storport!RaidAdapterAcquireInterruptLock
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    MSI 970A-G46
    Memory
    16 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (mixed brands)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus R9-290 DirectCU II OC
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 23" LED backlit, eMachines 23" LCD flatscreen
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Pyro 60 GB SSD (boot)

    Seagate Barracuda 500 GB
    Western Digital Caviar 500 GB
    (Configured into a RAID 0 array)
    PSU
    Antec High Current Gamer 620 W
    Case
    Cougar Solution
    Cooling
    Antec Kühler 620 liquid CPU cooler (push and pull)
Problem solved.

It turned out that flashing a new SSD firmware has fixed the issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350
    Motherboard
    MSI 970A-G46
    Memory
    16 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (mixed brands)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus R9-290 DirectCU II OC
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 23" LED backlit, eMachines 23" LCD flatscreen
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Pyro 60 GB SSD (boot)

    Seagate Barracuda 500 GB
    Western Digital Caviar 500 GB
    (Configured into a RAID 0 array)
    PSU
    Antec High Current Gamer 620 W
    Case
    Cougar Solution
    Cooling
    Antec Kühler 620 liquid CPU cooler (push and pull)
Yet another Windows 8.1 RAID issue

Hello everybody. This is my question.
Yesterday night I upgraded my system from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1.
I have a SSD 128 GB with the operating system and few apps in it, and then 2 RAID SATA Hard disk (western digital), 2 TB each, with all the data inside (in windows explore I obviously see only one hard drive of 2TB, in addition to the SSD).
After installing the upgrade, I wanted to cry: the SSD was ok, with all the data and the OS.
However, the RAID hard disk was EMPTY. No data at all, and the links to the application installed in this drive were erased.
I'm desperate: does anyone know what has gone on??
Thank you for your attention and support.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi there
For HOME users I wonder why these days people BOTHER with RAID at all -- you loose half your disk space (assuming RAID 0 which is probably what a home computer would probably use) for very questionable performance improvement - especially if the OS is on an SSD and RAID is merely for DATA -- you don't need mega fast disks for playing movies etc.

I'd Unswitch the RAID and have 4TB of disk space rather than a 2 X 2TB array of questionable value, and if the RAID gets hosed up for any reason then you've lost BOTH disks. (In other words a fault say on Disk1 will mean BOTH disks1 and 2 are unuseable until the fault is rectified and you've lost the entire 2TB).

If data has disappeared from the HDD's then only some special recovery program will retrieve it -- this emphasises again the IMPORTANCE OF HAVING ADEQUATE BACKUPS.

I don't know how many times this warning is repeated on this and on the W7 Forum -- I would ensure that the first time anybody logs on to ANY computer the user is prompted to BACK UP EVERYTHING INCLUDING USER DATA before allowing logon to continue.

ALWAYS BACK EVERYTHING UP BEFORE PERFORMING ANY UPGRADE !!!!!!! (this surely must be approaching the Guiness Book of Records for the maximum number of times the same sentence has has been posted on the Internet).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Thank you very much, Jimbo. I assume it is my fault not to have backed up recently.. and for sure, I would stick your sentence in front of my desk and bed.
Thank you also for the advice regarding the RAID setting. Just a question: isn't RAID used to keep data safer, cause there's a double-copy of every single bit? Or is it good only for improving the reading/writing speeds?
A spontaneous question: how could it be possible that Windows 8.1 deliberately deleted all my data, even if they were in another hard drive?? Why didn't it happen when I upgraded from windows 7 to 8 in the same machine with the same configuration?? I mean, the step between 7 and 8 is larger than from 8 to 8.1..

Finally, just a supposition: may it have happened that windows switched off the RAID, keeping all the data safe in one of the 2 drives and formatting the other one, keeping "usable" only the latter (and the former being invisible)?

Sorry for my inexperience, and thanks to anyone who could solve my doubts.
Thank you jimbo again for your courtesy.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi,
RAID 0 creates a striped volume where data is spread across the 2 drives and the loss of one drive means the loss of all data.
RAID 1 mirrors one disk to another for data redundancy and the loss of one disk should mean that there is still a working copy on the remaining disk. It's not perfect because in the case of file corruption or rogue software that corrupts the disk index then this can also mean data loss. There is no replacement for a Grandfather / Father / Son backup of data ..... i.e. 3 rolling backups. For example, I have a 1GB RAID 1 setup for data and 3 x external 1GB drives for a rolling backup system.

The other side to RAID is whether to use the functionality provided by the motherboard or create RAID sets using the functionality built into Windows 7 or 8. Most motherboard on-board RAID is a fudge and from my experience offers little advantage over using Windows functionality. With all the hardware RAID systems I have used you always have to remember to load the RAID driver at Windows install. Do a search in google comparing hardware or software raid .... there's plenty to read on the subject.
I have moved from using hardware RAID to using the Windows functionality. I've installed & re-installed Windows many times and have found that there is no performance penalty using Windows RAID. In many respects it is easier using Windows RAID.
Good luck
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-build
    CPU
    Intel i5 3570
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H rev. 1.0
    Memory
    8GB - Corsair PC3-12800 2 x 4GB 1600Mhz CL9 DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 1GB R7790 OC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster S24B300
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    PSU
    Corsair CMPSU-650TXV2UK
    Case
    Antec One Midi Tower Case
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
The purpose of RAID 0 is to improve performance, which it does, but usually not enough to offset the disadvantages. It provides no redundancy and protects nothing. For typical use it's use it is not recommended.

The purpose of RAID 1 is to maintain access to your data in the event of a drive failure. This is a BIG deal in a busy server where a drive failure is highly disruptive to normal business activities and staff are unable to do their work. RAID 1 allows drive replacement to be deferred to a more convenient time.

But the purpose of RAID 1 is NOT to protect your data.

This needs to be emphasized: RAID 1 DOES NOT PROTECT YOUR DATA.

That is what backups are for. RAID 1 offers protection only from drive failure, and even that cannot be relied on. For other causes of data loss, and there are many, it offers no protection whatsoever.

All files of any importance need a backup copy while those of particular importance need at least 2 backup copies. Having no backups is asking for trouble.

RAID 1 is a good thing and I have no objection to using it. Just be sure you understand what it is, and more important, what it is not.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hi there
High performance servers are one thing - but these days for HOME computers is ANY sort of RAID actually worth it -- large capacity cheap external HDD's are available for any amount of backup - I recommend those small self powered 2TB Passport pocket size drives - while any decent OS performance can be had easily - even on quite OLD hardware by installing the OS on an SSD.

Do you at home really need for example to waste HALF the disk space in using any sort of RAID - most home computers aren't servers that need to be operational 24 hrs a day so "downtime" when it's necessary to recover data from your external backup sets isn't an issue.

I'd rather have 4TB of user data available rather than 2 X 2 TB in a RAID -- In all the years of using computers I can honestly say that I've experienced only about 2 hdd's completely fail in the last 25 YEARS !!.

If you are running something like a BANK server or other fast access 100% reliable always on database type of system - then that's another issue - and in that case you should be using top end SCSI Disks - not el-cheapo consumer grade ones anyway for your RAID setup. This IMO is way over the top for Home computers and is totally unnecessary too -- given that you could fit an SSD for the OS and major applications I doubt that you would see any gain whatsoever in using RAID - restoring a failed OS to another SSD would take around 10 - 30 mins on most systems - and data recovery would be a synch from a decent backup anyway.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
You don't lose half your disk space by using R0, you don't lose any actually. I have no idea what you mean by that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W7
You don't lose half your disk space by using R0, you don't lose any actually. I have no idea what you mean by that.

Hi there
what I meant by "losing half your disk space" is that a RAID 1 array of a 2 X 2 TB array gives you 2TB - whereas running these as separate "Normal" discrete disks gives you 4TB -- now in My Maths 2TB is Less than 4TB by a SIGNIFICANT amount. !!!

There is TOTALLY NO POINT in using RAID 0 in Windows since you already have a built in facility called SPANNED Volumes which does the same thing much more safely -- and if you have UNEQUAL size disks the WHOLE sizes are spanned whereas in RAID 0 the size of the data space available is dependent on the size of the smallest volume - e.g 100GB and 350 GB Raid 0 would give you 2 * Min(100, 350) i.e 2 X 100 = 200 GB.

Forget RAID 0 on Windows --waste of time. Raid 1 also isn't necessary either - this is the one that mirrors the disks so only half the data space is available to the user.

Screenshot below shows spanned volume with a 3TB and a 750 GB HDD - windows thinks its a single drive "F".

(I need this facility as I have two very large multi-media libraries which need to be in single directories - i.e THEY can't span volumes - but what Windows does is make Drive "F" appear to the application as a single large drive).

Cheers
jimbo
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
I like RAID 1 in many cases.

I do quite a bit of work for home offices, realtors, engineers etc. We very often set them up as RAID1 and it has saved them money on a few occasions. A drive fails, I show up and replace the drive in all of about 15 minutes and it starts rebuilding. If they weren't RAID they would have been down for the time it took me to get a drive, install it, restore their latest image and restore their backups. I would have charged them for probably 4-5 hours, or more, instead of the 1/2-hr service charge.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Storage spaces has redundancy also I believe.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
I like RAID 1 in many cases.

I do quite a bit of work for home offices, realtors, engineers etc. We very often set them up as RAID1 and it has saved them money on a few occasions. A drive fails, I show up and replace the drive in all of about 15 minutes and it starts rebuilding. If they weren't RAID they would have been down for the time it took me to get a drive, install it, restore their latest image and restore their backups. I would have charged them for probably 4-5 hours, or more, instead of the 1/2-hr service charge.

Hi there.

If you NEED it for these type of applications (Raid 1) then fine - my posts were aimed at typical HOME users - running a commercial business or servers that need the maximum up time and minimum of disruption when you have to replace a defective piece of kit is totally a different issue.

Home users provided they take decent backups etc don't need to bother with RAID 1 and by using Spanned Disks they can lump together a load of different sized drives into an aggregate larger volume (or set of larger volumes) so RAID 0 is unnecessary in any case. (if you have a desktop and spare bays don't throw your old HDD's away unless they are really slow - just aggregate them into larger volumes via spanning - I showed an image in a previous post in this thread).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
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