Is it possible for 3 HDDs (Brand New) to Die all at once?

Keltik THC · 16 Nov 2009 at 22:14

ive got 3x 300gb WDs, worked fine until today.

Cannot boot from them, BIOS can see them but Windows and Acronis cant in normal mode, Acronis Can in safe mode, managed to restore my data but still wont boot, same error, insert boot media.

Trying to Run WD Diagnostic tool, get error 0120, no drives connected.

i have another thread with the issues:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18079766

103 views and counting and not really any suggestions.

have all 3 died at once? is that possible?

RJC · 16 Nov 2009 at 22:22

It may be your motherboard giving you problems, can you test the drives in another pc to confirm.

JonJ678 · 16 Nov 2009 at 22:28

yes but very unlikely.

that you got data off them suggests they're fine.

Boot from a gparted live cd and tell us what it sees please

Keltik THC · 16 Nov 2009 at 23:53

JonJ678 said:
yes but very unlikely.

that you got data off them suggests they're fine.

Boot from a gparted live cd and tell us what it sees please

ok so booted gparted live.

it just asked me something about kernel key mapping and before i could make a choice came up with some more DOS lines saying stuff like:

157 .632447 sr 0;0;;0;0: add. sense: illegal mode for this track
" " I/O Error, dev sr0, sector 219128
" " hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE

etc...

etc...

windows 7 can see my RAID when i try clean install, Acronis can only see it in safe mode. HDDs still wont boot when recovered partition from Acronis.

Tommorow i will try clean install of windows, but if the recovery partition didnt work then i dont see how this will work.

Most annoying thing, Asus RAID config utility says HDDs good status and bootable but WDs own diagnostic tool wont work, i get 'Error code 0120 no drives deteced' or 'no license agreement found' when i try to boot into that WD config utility.

it was working fine and switched off fine on sunday night! wtf!?

danb21t · 16 Nov 2009 at 23:55

is there any data that needs to be recovered? if not then can you try a low level format from within the RAID firmware.

Keltik THC · 17 Nov 2009 at 00:03

danb21t said:
is there any data that needs to be recovered? if not then can you try a low level format from within the RAID firmware.

no critical data will be lost, maybe some save games but most of that is safely on externals, just havent backed up my steam games for a wee while

.

But as i say something is very wrong imo, if it still wont boot when i put on my cloned partition from last week, i dont have much hope for the clean install.

leezer3 · 17 Nov 2009 at 00:37

Probably a bad batch TBQH.
Happens sometimes, nothing much you can do except RMA. As all three have died at the same time, this lends credence to that theory

-Leezer-

Keltik THC · 17 Nov 2009 at 07:56

leezer3 said:
Probably a bad batch TBQH.
Happens sometimes, nothing much you can do except RMA. As all three have died at the same time, this lends credence to that theory
-Leezer-

surely if they were dead windows and acronis (safe mode) would not be able to see them and the RAID config utility wouldnt be able to see them, and modify the RAID configs??

but those error messages on gparted about the sectors doesnt read well.

gonna try to re-install windows tonight but i have no hope if the recovery partition didnt work, im just hoping ocUK actually take a look at my post in the RMA forum....

Aside from praying that ocUK grace me with some advice and take a look at my post my only other hope is if windows installs successfully, then it will, i hope, let me recover my old partition through Acronis and then boot.

It just frustrates me i have rescue disks and backups coming out of my butt and even that isnt enough, i mean wtf.

danb21t · 17 Nov 2009 at 08:52

as I posted, is there an option within the RAID firmware to conduct a low level format?

also OcUK will almost certainly RMA these drives if not you could go straight to WD

JonJ678 · 17 Nov 2009 at 09:03

"dev sr0" is the cd drive so that suggests a dodgy burn.

Since the data is backed up, your best option is to tear down the raid and install to just one of the drives. If this works fine you can run error checking tools on the other disks, it'll help determine whether the drives are dodgy or if it's a configuration issue.

Keltik THC · 17 Nov 2009 at 10:07

Thanks for the info so far guys.

Danb21t - my RAID config utility only gives options to create, delete or reset to non-raid.

I tried to deleting and re-creating the RAID and still no luck.

My final hope before sending all 3 back to WD is that im going to do a full format like XP used to do, because i believe the RAID config utility was just deleting the file structure and not the actual data so any error would still be there although not visible.

Im not sure if Windows 7 gives you the option to full format like XP did, so i think i will just boot into XP, full format, try and recover my partition or clean install Windows 7 (again).

My problem is that if the hard drives are dead then fine, i will send them back, but certain programs see them (windows 7 install, acronis in safe mode, my BIOS) but other dont like Acronis in normal mode or Windows when trying to boot up.

danb21t · 17 Nov 2009 at 11:03

you could plug each drive in separately and run through the xp install, do full format as it does a checkdisk at the same time and picks up bad sectors..

Keltik THC · 17 Nov 2009 at 22:31

ok well, im going mental...

Just ran XP installation on all 3 HDDs, didnt actually install XP but did full format and check disk and NO PROBLEMS.

Boot up into Acronis, STILL CANNOT SEE MY RAID!

Acronis used to have no problems, because i have recovered before using it.

I run Windows 7 installation and it can see my RAID config...

wel, im now just praying that it boots correctly after install, if not just going to send all 3x raptors back to WD and use my RE3.

I'll let you guys know if windows 7 runs or not, i obviously hope it does but it will be left very confused if it does boot up succesfully.

edit: windows 7 installing to raid so far no problems... i guess the important moment now is when it tries to boot from the raptors.

danb21t · 17 Nov 2009 at 22:33

could be dodgy motherboard... o.O

Keltik THC · 17 Nov 2009 at 23:18

ok so it turns out my pc boots up with no problem on a clean install of windows 7.

I have now booted back into acronis and it can see my RAID!!!!!

Now i just went ahead and tried to restore my partition from last week.... 55 minutes remaining.

can anyone explain, what happened here?

heres a quick recap:

RAID 0 suddenly doesnt boot

no F11 option during boot for Acronis Saferecovery doesnt (small partition with acronis on backup HDD).

BIOS can see RAID, Asus RAID utility can modify RAID no problem.

Boots into acronis with CD

Acronis in normal mode cannot see RAID, only other internal SATAs.

Acronis in safe mode can see RAID, restores a working partiiton succesfully, but when i restart still doesnt boot into windows.

stilll recieve 'insert bootable media' when booting.

remove my RAID, format drives, re-create RAID, still Acronis sees nothing.

Format each individual drive with XP and checkdisk, no issues.

try and check acronis, still no RAID (ive re-created them again).

Boot into windows 7 installation and it sees my RAID.

install windows 7, everythings fine.

Boot up into acronis, and it now sees my raid.

restoring partition, 45 minutesleft, no issues.

:confused:

danb21t · 17 Nov 2009 at 23:45

one of those mysterious anomalies that happen from time to time, however I would keep an eye on it for a while

Keltik THC · 18 Nov 2009 at 00:16

umm.... partition was recovered successfully but i still recieve:

'insert bootable media' when i try to boot that recovery.

But when i go into Acronis it can at least see my RAID drive with all my files and stuff now.

i already tried windows 7 recovery when this first kicked off, i guess ill give it another go tommorow and if that doesnt work i guess ill have to go back to a clean install and then just hope this never happens again.

much strangeness.

edit: just tried to restore a fresh partition i created when i clean installed windows 7 weeks ago and it still doesnt boot.

so boots up with a clean install but wont boot up with a clean install image?

again wtf?

Arachnae · 18 Nov 2009 at 07:50

What sort of RAID are you running with 3 drives, I'm assuming it's a standard stripe across all 3?

Have you tried dropping it down to 2 for the stripe?

AFAIK, 3 isn't exactly orthodox

Keltik THC · 18 Nov 2009 at 12:11

Arachnae said:
What sort of RAID are you running with 3 drives, I'm assuming it's a standard stripe across all 3?

Have you tried dropping it down to 2 for the stripe?

AFAIK, 3 isn't exactly orthodox

Its RAID 0, 64Kb stripe... from my understanding you can have as many HDDs in the array as your RAID controller will allow... the asus RAID utility allows for up to 6.

So yeah, its so wierd - a clean install works no problem but when i install a backup partition i made straight after a clean install over a month ago it gets the boot error 'insert boot media' - i mean wtf?

After re-installing Windows7 Acronis can now see my RAID (even though it wont boot with my recovery partition) and all my files are there so i think im just going to install XP (because its quicker) on my backup HDD, boot into it and save all my important files from my RAID (emails and steam games) and then format everything and start all over again with a clean install of windows 7 and hope this was just a random anomaly

The ineresting thing is that i have acronis boot loader installed on my backup drive and it no longer gives me the f11 option to boot from their either, but when i look at my drives in acronis the acronis boot loader partition is available and working!??!?

ffs.

Keltik THC · 18 Nov 2009 at 21:14

i guess all the experts on here dont have a clue as to what the hell is going on, hundreds of views (467!!) on this issue and hardly a response... oh well, i guess im off to Toms Hardware or something to try and get some insight.