Solve : 2 HDs a Problem?

1.	Solve : 2 HDs a Problem?
Answer» I'm having a problem that I just cannot troubleshoot any further. I setup RAID 1 only on 2 maxtor SATA hard drives recently (Maxtor 7L320SO and Maxtor 7B320SO) using the onboard RAID controller on my MSI NEO2 v2.0 VIA VT8237 chipset) motherboard. VISTA had been giving me some BSODs for a while and every once in a while my computer would shutdown without notice and I'd get a flashing green power LED. I was also getting a glitch that automatically restarted the computer and left me at a "Hardware initiate failed, please check device!!! The Bios does not be installed." A google search on this could never really rectify the problem and I let it go for sometime SINCE I never had the energy to probe further. Aside from having to save my programs more frequently, it was something that a manual reboot could temporarily solve. One time I followed a possible solution that mentioned I should go into the BIOS and change the SATA setting from "RAID" to "IDE." That seemed to solve the problem until one day I booted to a "Verifying DMI Pool Data...GRUB" screen. Changing back to "RAID" on the SATA screen seemed to solve the problem. I am 100% certain I had no viruses of any sort. Then, several days ago I startup my computer to a "RAID 1 array needs to be duplicated to ensure data consistancy" screen. I say OK and it says "Failed." From then on I could not boot to anything other than a GRUB screen, even when breaking the mirror. Horribly, I later confirmed all my data was screwed and unrecoverable off of either drive. Keeping the source drive in tact, I installed windows xp on the old mirrored drive. I found the old source drive which windows WANTED to format. However, after running windows for sometime, the computer would shut down to a flashing green power LED as before. Taking the old source drive off will always yield a stable computer. Both drives are perfectly okay physically as diagnostics check out OK. I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts. My SATA cables check OK. The only thing I can think of is that the motherboard's SATA0 port might be damaged somehow. I cannot seem to verify this since the OS has to be on SATA0, leaving the screwed up drive on SATA1. Swapping them always yields a "OS cannot be found" screen. I cannot shake the feeling that the board may be damaged or that there is too much of a draw on the PSU ALTHOUGH the later seems the most unlikely of the two. Ideas anyone?GRUB screen, even when breaking the mirror. Horribly, I later confirmed all my data was screwed and unrecoverable off of either drive. Keeping the source drive in tact, I installed windows xp on the old mirrored drive. I found the old source drive which windows wanted to format. However, after running windows for sometime, the computer would shut down to a flashing green power LED as before. Taking the old source drive off will always yield a stable computer. Both drives are perfectly okay physically as diagnostics check out OK. I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts. My SATA cables check OK. The only thing I can think of is that the motherboard's SATA0 port might be damaged somehow. I cannot seem to verify this since the OS has to be on SATA0, leaving the screwed up drive on SATA1. Swapping them always yields a "OS cannot be found" screen. I cannot shake the feeling that the board may be damaged or that there is too much of a draw on the PSU although the later seems the most unlikely of the two. Ideas anyone?Quote from: shakedog on November 01, 2008, 04:30:03 PM I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts. Ideas anyone? Why do you think that rules out the PSU? The maximum wattage on the label is not always a good guide (not all PSUs are CREATED equal). Have you calculated the power draw of all your components? 2 good rules of thumb are to 1. Buy a good brand PSU 2. Over specify the PSU by 50%. That is, if your system will use 350 W, buy a 700 W power supply. No PSU performs at its best if it is loaded over 50%. In terms of efficiency, stability, and longevity. The nearer the label rating you go, the more chance of rails drooping under load and causing problems, especially with lesser brands. Just my 2 cents worth. Well I haven't ruled it out, I was just trying to rate the probability of one potential cause over the other. It could very well turn out to be the PSU. I haven't done the math yet on the power consumption but it does seem a course to take. Thanks.I have to say that re-reading your posts, I would not rule out motherboard damage. But it may not be a binary (either/or) situation. Bad PSUs can damage motherboards and vice versa, and bad disks can drag power rails down.

Answer»

I'm having a problem that I just cannot troubleshoot any further.

I setup RAID 1 only on 2 maxtor SATA hard drives recently (Maxtor 7L320SO and Maxtor 7B320SO) using the onboard RAID controller on my MSI NEO2 v2.0 VIA VT8237 chipset) motherboard. VISTA had been giving me some BSODs for a while and every once in a while my computer would shutdown without notice and I'd get a flashing green power LED. I was also getting a glitch that automatically restarted the computer and left me at a "Hardware initiate failed, please check device!!! The Bios does not be installed." A google search on this could never really rectify the problem and I let it go for sometime SINCE I never had the energy to probe further. Aside from having to save my programs more frequently, it was something that a manual reboot could temporarily solve. One time I followed a possible solution that mentioned I should go into the BIOS and change the SATA setting from "RAID" to "IDE." That seemed to solve the problem until one day I booted to a "Verifying DMI Pool Data...GRUB" screen. Changing back to "RAID" on the SATA screen seemed to solve the problem. I am 100% certain I had no viruses of any sort.

Then, several days ago I startup my computer to a "RAID 1 array needs to be duplicated to ensure data consistancy" screen. I say OK and it says "Failed." From then on I could not boot to anything other than a GRUB screen, even when breaking the mirror. Horribly, I later confirmed all my data was screwed and unrecoverable off of either drive.

Keeping the source drive in tact, I installed windows xp on the old mirrored drive. I found the old source drive which windows WANTED to format. However, after running windows for sometime, the computer would shut down to a flashing green power LED as before. Taking the old source drive off will always yield a stable computer. Both drives are perfectly okay physically as diagnostics check out OK. I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts. My SATA cables check OK. The only thing I can think of is that the motherboard's SATA0 port might be damaged somehow. I cannot seem to verify this since the OS has to be on SATA0, leaving the screwed up drive on SATA1. Swapping them always yields a "OS cannot be found" screen. I cannot shake the feeling that the board may be damaged or that there is too much of a draw on the PSU ALTHOUGH the later seems the most unlikely of the two.

Ideas anyone?GRUB screen, even when breaking the mirror. Horribly, I later confirmed all my data was screwed and unrecoverable off of either drive.

Keeping the source drive in tact, I installed windows xp on the old mirrored drive. I found the old source drive which windows wanted to format. However, after running windows for sometime, the computer would shut down to a flashing green power LED as before. Taking the old source drive off will always yield a stable computer. Both drives are perfectly okay physically as diagnostics check out OK. I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts. My SATA cables check OK. The only thing I can think of is that the motherboard's SATA0 port might be damaged somehow. I cannot seem to verify this since the OS has to be on SATA0, leaving the screwed up drive on SATA1. Swapping them always yields a "OS cannot be found" screen. I cannot shake the feeling that the board may be damaged or that there is too much of a draw on the PSU although the later seems the most unlikely of the two.

Ideas anyone?Quote from: shakedog on November 01, 2008, 04:30:03 PM

I thought perhaps my PSU isn't up to snuff but it puts out 500 max watts.
Ideas anyone?

Why do you think that rules out the PSU? The maximum wattage on the label is not always a good guide (not all PSUs are CREATED equal). Have you calculated the power draw of all your components? 2 good rules of thumb are to 1. Buy a good brand PSU 2. Over specify the PSU by 50%. That is, if your system will use 350 W, buy a 700 W power supply. No PSU performs at its best if it is loaded over 50%. In terms of efficiency, stability, and longevity. The nearer the label rating you go, the more chance of rails drooping under load and causing problems, especially with lesser brands.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Well I haven't ruled it out, I was just trying to rate the probability of one potential cause over the other. It could very well turn out to be the PSU. I haven't done the math yet on the power consumption but it does seem a course to take. Thanks.I have to say that re-reading your posts, I would not rule out motherboard damage. But it may not be a binary (either/or) situation. Bad PSUs can damage motherboards and vice versa, and bad disks can drag power rails down.

Solve : 2 HDs a Problem?

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