Trying to recover data from failed Wide Ultra 320 SCSI Hard Drive

[droctogon]

Going to explore my options from that point, will reply with what I find.

[Ali]

great...

you are getting there...

This actually did allow something different to happen when I did this procedure. At the moment the server started recognizing the the Array I clicked F2 and it asked did I want to disable logical drives or continue into a safe mode.

please write the exact message that you got...

only option that you should choose is Safe mode (recovery mode) this will allow you to rebuild the array and you would be able to boot to operating system and recover your data. other option will disable the logical drive and it will not boot to OS.

for more clarity, share the Array diagnostic report... I wanted to check whether it has started the rebuild process after choosing the safe mode options.

thanks
Aftab

[droctogon]

I'm not getting anywhere from here. I selected the F2 option to "to continue in interim recovery mode" and it continues to do as it does before. It goes to another screen where it attempts to boot from HD, CD Rom, Diskette, and eventually NIC, where it goes into an infinite loop of wanting to reboot the server...

Can I create a new logical drive using the new HD with the older drive that didn't fail and not lose all of my data?

This server also came with a third spare drive, can I raid my new drive with the 3rd spare drive and specify my drive with previous data as a spare and later recover the data once I reinstall the OS?

[droctogon]

The logical Drive status now shows that it is in Interim Recovery Mode,

slot 0 shows ok
slot 1 shows ok
slot 2 (the failed drive) doesnt show a status at all...

Should I replace this with good drive?

Also even though it is in Interim recovery, the system is still in an infinite reboot loop. If I exit the array configuration screen the system will go through the same process of screens and try reboot itself.

[droctogon]

The hard disk in tray 0 is now blinking all 3 lights on the front of the tray. The HD in tray 1 is solid green, while the HD in tray 2 is solid orange (the failed drive).

[Ali]

that's actually a good news...

You logical drive is not failed.. it has been changed from failed to recovery mode.

So your data is intact and still have chance to recover your data.

now you have another problem that it is not booting to Operating system.

it could be becoz of two reasons..
1. OS corruption
2. Boot controller order changed.

so check the boot controller order in system bios and make sure your raid controller is selected as 1st boot controller.

If boot controller order is fine and logical gets initialized during post with the message interim recovery mode, then run the repair option from windows CD to repair your corrupt OS.

About replacing the faulty drive...

Open the Array configuration utility and check the raid status.
select the drive which is showing as failed in ACU and you would notice that LED illimunated on that drive... identify and replace the faulty drive.
it should automatically rebuild the drive and you should see the message.. if it does not then reboot the server.

thanks
Aftab

[Ali]

hold all other activities/thought for sometime.

we need to rebuild the replacement drive and your raid status should change to OK.

then we can perform other activities like upgrading the system bios and controller firmware etc. offline.

[droctogon]

Ok more news, I replaced the bad drive with the good one into Tray 2, and when I rebooted and the server finally initialized the Array, it asked if I wanted "to continue with recovering data to drives click F1" or "continue without restoring data to drives F2", bad thing is after about 10 seconds after I click F1 "to continue restoring data to drives" it still moves me over to the boot screen where it goes through the boot order CD Rom, HD, Diskette...

and eventually to the NIC, where it goes into an infinite reboot cycle...

Should I move to a bios screen or something to keep it from doing that? Will the drives restore in the background while I am in another screen?

[droctogon]

Currently I have the server setting on a bios screen. The drive in tray 0 is still blinking all 3 leds...

Tray 1 is solid green but with a sporadically blinking arrow green arrow light.

Tray 2 is doing the same. It look as if that arrow is to signify activity or if the drives are writing.

But I'm not sure why Tray 0 is blinking all 3 led's...

[Ali]

HI there,

Please be patient!

You have two issues.

1. 1 hard drive failed and raid is degraded.
2. It is also not booting to OS.

so we are working on the first problem.

Open the Array Configuration and check whether rebuild process is started and what is the progress...

If rebuild process is not started then you might not have pressed key on time... power cycle the server and press the F1 key which is to start recovery process (rebuilding)

once this is initiated... it will run in background.. you can open the ACU and watch the status.

So we shall wait for rebuild to take place first then we would troubleshoot operating system issue..

thanks
Aftab