3 HD's in RAID, in Intel RST mode, SSD Failed!

[ric0chet06]

Alright, kind of losing my $#@! here. Did a fresh install of Windows 7 a few weeks ago, everything went fine, put my 360gb and 2tb WD sata drives in Raid mode, and a OCZ Vertex 120gb. Enabled the Intel RST and everything worked as it should. (Had this exact setup for 2+ years with no problem)

A few days ago, computer wouldn't boot up, says BOOTMGR is missing, ctrl alt delete to restart. Somehow change the boot order to work, boots up fine in normal mode and I just don't turn it off. Dumb move, should've back up the few files I had on there. It restarts by itself yesterday, again BOOTMGR is missing. Can't get the OCZ to be recognized by anything, change cables and power cords, take it out of the case and hook it up to my external cords, nothing.

TLDR: Is there a way to get into the 2 remaining HD's that are in raid and get a few files off of them if the cache SSD has failed?

 

[Elixer]

In what mode did you setup the RAID array in ?

 

[corkyg]

In what mode did you setup the RAID array in ?

Seems pretty clear in the question . . ."RAID, in Intel RST mode."

Was there any attempt to fix the MBR?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

 

[ric0chet06]

That's another weird thing, my cd drive won't be recognized at all. Maybe it'll be worth a try to put the OCZ back in, new cd drive, and fix the Bootmgr error.

 

[Cerb]

Which drive is at fault?
Is that drive the one with the bootloader?

If you had multiple drives installed when you installed Windows, just back up, format, and reinstall it to a single SSD (only have that drive and the OS media connected).

 

[Cerb]

In what mode did you setup the RAID array in ?

Just, "RAID."
360GB SF SSD: OS drive?
2TB HDD: data drive?
120GB SF SSD: SRT drive for the 2TB.

 

[Dylanharvey999]

Just, "RAID."
360GB SF SSD: OS drive?
2TB HDD: data drive?
120GB SF SSD: SRT drive for the 2TB.

Just raid?

 

[Cerb]

Just raid?

Yes. If you look at the SATA controller settings, you will see something like this:
IDE/Legacy/compatibility - IDE emulation
Native SATA - true SATA (supplanted by AHCI)
AHCI - HW-independent SATA
RAID - Intel or AMD proprietary features superset of AHCI

RAID mode does not require RAID arrays to be set up and used (it works like AHCI, without any), but RAID arrays (which SRT definitely qualifies as) will not work if not set in this mode.

 

[Elixer]

Just, "RAID."
360GB SF SSD: OS drive?
2TB HDD: data drive?
120GB SF SSD: SRT drive for the 2TB.

Perhaps I should have been more verbose.
OP just didn't give enough info.

 

[Informant X]

Perhaps I should have been more verbose.
OP just didn't give enough info.

Nah you're totally fine. Still tons of holes in the situation. How Cerb is able to elicit what he did is beyond me. i.e. One would think you would RST the 360gb sata drive and not the 2TB. Who would RST a 2TB drive anyway?

 

[Cerb]

SRT maxes out at 64GB, so it would make the most sense for the 120GB to be the cache drive.

And, in the process, I forgot to answer the OP's question: yes. Assuming it is a single 2TB HDD with an SRT cache, you should be able to plug in to any Windows box and use it.

 

[ric0chet06]

SRT maxes out at 64GB, so it would make the most sense for the 120GB to be the cache drive.

And, in the process, I forgot to answer the OP's question: yes. Assuming it is a single 2TB HDD with an SRT cache, you should be able to plug in to any Windows box and use it.

Even if it was setup with the 360gb in Raid? I could just plug in the 2tb and access it normally?

 

[Cerb]

Even if it was setup with the 360gb in Raid? I could just plug in the 2tb and access it normally?

Unless the drive was set up as part of a RAID 0 or RAID 5, yes. SRT can be broken at any time, and in enhanced mode (default), everything on the SSD is also on the HDD. All that happens is you have to turn SRT back on, and get the SSD cache drive filled back up.

If the 360GB drive is not itself part of a RAID array (a single 360GB 2.5" SSD), it'll be fine, no different than if the SATA controller weren't running in RAID mode. If it's 360GB as in 3x120GB SSDs in RAID 0, then you'll want to hook all 3 up to another PC with as new of an Intel chipset or newer, supporting Intel's RAID, and try to read it as a RAID array.