# Is there something wrong with my RAID 0?



## Black Panther (Jul 7, 2009)

I'm nearly sure the "Error Occurred (0)" in red didn't use to be there before... 

I'm not 100% sure though... and I got no other raid setup to check whether it's normal or not...

Otherwise laptop appears to be functioning fine. Hadn't I caught a glimpse of the boot screen I wouldn't have seen anything strange.

Does the above screenshot indicate there might be a problem?

Thanks.


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## vbx (Jul 7, 2009)

that isn't normal.  it should both say member disk 0


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## alexp999 (Jul 7, 2009)

Here you go:



> I have figured out how to resolve this issue:
> 
> First you should check your hard drives (run a diagnostic utility) to make sure in fact there is no problem (not required). This utility was built into the BIOS of my machine which was from 2004, so you should probably have the same. Anyway:
> 
> I installed the Intel Matrix Storage Manager which IS compatible with my hardware (even though my hardware was very old - from 2004). Then follow these steps to resolve the issue: Launch the Intel Matrix Storage Console software that you now have from the installation and open up the tree view to examine my drives. In here the drives show the reported error as well. Right-click on each drive and select the popup menu option "Mark as Normal". Upon the next reboot the problem has gone away - and has not come back since.



http://www.wirelessforums.org/alt-c...0-raid-0-what-does-mean-14336.html#post194372

So ideally drop em out of raid (by disabling raid in bios) and run check from a bios bootdisk on each one. If all ok, follow instructions to mark as normal.
Hopefully its just a bug and not a failing drive


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## Black Panther (Jul 7, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> So ideally drop em out of raid (by disabling raid in bios) and run check from a bios bootdisk on each one. If all ok, follow instructions to mark as normal.
> Hopefully its just a bug and not a failing drive



Sorry I'm a noob on raid... so I have 2 questions:

1) If I disable raid in bios, then to get the raid back I just re-enable it in bios? As simple as that?

2) Which bios bootdisk would you suggest? Can I just download Intel Matrix Storage Console software?


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## alexp999 (Jul 7, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> Sorry I'm a noob on raid... so I have 2 questions:
> 
> 1) If I disable raid in bios, then to get the raid back I just re-enable it in bios? As simple as that?
> 
> 2) Which bios bootdisk would you suggest? Can I just download Intel Matrix Storage Console software?



Its up to you whether you want to knock it out of raid or not, obviously the check is more accurate than running a checker on just the raid volume.

All the times i have done it, you can disable Raid in the BIOS (dont touch the little ctrl+I config) and then your PC obviously wont boot, but it means a checker can check each drive independantly. Then when your done, you can renable it and everything carries on as normal.

Obviously i cant 100% gaurantee it, but i cant see a reason for it to go wrong.


As for checkers, most manufacturers do a DOS utility you can use, and if you follow the link in my sig, there is a guide to setting up a bootable USB stick, which you can put the utility on.

Otherwise safest and easiest way, is to download a Windows based checker, HD tune, or one from the HDD manufacturer, run it. And if all ok, then download and install the Intel Matrix Manager and mark the drive as normal.

Depends how competent you feel really.


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## Black Panther (Jul 7, 2009)

Hopefully my last question... 

Is the Matrix Storage Manager I have to download the first one here?

(Uhh I need a utility not a driver?)


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## alexp999 (Jul 7, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> Hopefully my last question...
> 
> Is the Matrix Storage Manager I have to download the first one here?
> 
> (Uhh I need a utility not a driver?)



Yes thats it


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## Black Panther (Jul 7, 2009)

And what if there is no option for me in the bios to boot from USB? I don't think I'd seen it....

Would it be okay to run the Matrix software from CD?


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## Pinchy (Jul 7, 2009)

When I had my RAID array, I got this error frequently. (Every two weeks or so)

Unsure of why it came up, but (as already mentioned) all I had to do was download the intel matrix controller, choose advanced, go to the RAID disk, right click and select "mark as normal".

For the matrix controller I just downloaded it, installed it in windows and used it within windows.


I never had a problem with my drives. It was only this error that came up every now and again. If I were you I would just mark it as normal and see how it goes


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## alexp999 (Jul 7, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> And what if there is no option for me in the bios to boot from USB? I don't think I'd seen it....
> 
> Would it be okay to run the Matrix software from CD?



As Pinchy has said, the Matrix Manager is Windows based


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## Black Panther (Jul 8, 2009)

I scanned with HD Tune... 








then ran the Intel Matrix:


















Then I marked the drive as "normal"...

So far, so good.

Btw, does the following graph look okay?


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## alexp999 (Jul 8, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> Btw, does the following graph look okay?
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/090708/2.jpg



That graph looks fine, reason it tapers off at the end, is that you are nearing the end of the platter, where the drive effectively slows down.


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## Black Panther (Jul 8, 2009)

Alex, how does the graph of my RAID compare with the graph of this single maxtor? This one seems to perform better?


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## alexp999 (Jul 8, 2009)

Black Panther said:


> Alex, how does the graph of my RAID compare with the graph of this single maxtor? This one seems to perform better?
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/090708/untitled.jpg



That single drive looks like it is using a single 320GB platter.

Against the Raid 0 drives in your lappy which use either 160GB or 80GB platters.

Thats why for a long time i was only running one drive as often a 320GB platter will out perform two 160 GB HDDs in Raid.

Everything looks normal, its just showing up Raid isnt all its cracked up to be.

Now two 320GB platter drives in Raid is a different matter, which is what i have just upgraded to.


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## Pinchy (Jul 8, 2009)

Yeah on my older 320GB WD drives (both single platters), I got around 180MB/s start (200MB peak) in RAID 0. On my dual 320gb platter drives in RAID 0 (the 2x 640's in RAID), I get around abouts 140. (Peak ~160)

These are 3.5", 7200RPM drives tho, with 16mb cache per drive.


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