Access RAID-0 data from dead Asus A7N8X2.0 mobo with Silicon Image RAID controller?

[Thumper]

I believe my Asus A7N8X2.0 (deluxe) motherboard is damaged, because
the system would not shut down for three weeks and now it will not
boot my system disk. The fans turn, but the after five seconds, the
system seems to restart. I never see the bios screens.

I would simply buy a new computer, expect that I have an onboard RAID
controller with two SATA HDDs connected. The RAID controller is on the
Asus motherboard: Silicon Image Serial ATA, SataLink, SiI3112ACT144,
Q21932.1A, 0307, 1.1.

I have learned that I won't be able to access these two striped RAID-0
drives in a new system unless the RAID controller chip is identical or
very similar to the one that created the RAID on my dead system.

Therefore, can anyone advise me of whether *any* new Asus mobo with
Silicon Image RAID controller will be able to access my existing
stripe RAID? Or should I try to buy my old mobo again and connect
everything to that?

Anyone have the same problem?

 

[Michael Hawes]

I believe my Asus A7N8X2.0 (deluxe) motherboard is damaged, because
the system would not shut down for three weeks and now it will not
boot my system disk. The fans turn, but the after five seconds, the
system seems to restart. I never see the bios screens.

I would simply buy a new computer, expect that I have an onboard RAID
controller with two SATA HDDs connected. The RAID controller is on the
Asus motherboard: Silicon Image Serial ATA, SataLink, SiI3112ACT144,
Q21932.1A, 0307, 1.1.

I have learned that I won't be able to access these two striped RAID-0
drives in a new system unless the RAID controller chip is identical or
very similar to the one that created the RAID on my dead system.

Therefore, can anyone advise me of whether *any* new Asus mobo with
Silicon Image RAID controller will be able to access my existing
stripe RAID? Or should I try to buy my old mobo again and connect
everything to that?

Anyone have the same problem?

A data recovery company would recover the data, at a price.The correct
answer is to rebuild nes system from your data backup. If you run RAID0 you
NEED backups!

Mike. :-(

 

[Arno Wagner]

I believe my Asus A7N8X2.0 (deluxe) motherboard is damaged, because
the system would not shut down for three weeks and now it will not
boot my system disk. The fans turn, but the after five seconds, the
system seems to restart. I never see the bios screens.

Sounds like a defective PSU to me. If the shutdown attempts
did everything besides the final power-off, then that would also
point to a defect PSU.

I would simply buy a new computer, expect that I have an onboard RAID
controller with two SATA HDDs connected. The RAID controller is on the
Asus motherboard: Silicon Image Serial ATA, SataLink, SiI3112ACT144,
Q21932.1A, 0307, 1.1.

I have learned that I won't be able to access these two striped RAID-0
drives in a new system unless the RAID controller chip is identical or
very similar to the one that created the RAID on my dead system.
True.

Therefore, can anyone advise me of whether *any* new Asus mobo with
Silicon Image RAID controller will be able to access my existing
stripe RAID? Or should I try to buy my old mobo again and connect
everything to that?

Anyone have the same problem?

I would advise you to first try to fix the problem. Buying a new
computer is a) costly b) bad for the environment and c) might
leave you in the same fix after some time.

Arno

 

[Thumper]

Sounds like a defective PSU to me. If the shutdown attempts

did everything besides the final power-off, then that would also
point to a defect PSU.

Interesting. Given that the system powers on by itself (after plugging
it in) but that the bios screen never appears, do you think replacing
the power supply unit will have a positive effect? Or are these new
symptoms consistent with a damaged mobo?

 

[Michael Hawes]

Interesting. Given that the system powers on by itself (after plugging
it in) but that the bios screen never appears, do you think replacing
the power supply unit will have a positive effect? Or are these new
symptoms consistent with a damaged mobo?

Can you borrow a PSU to test with? Just attach the cables, without
mounting the PSU into the case, it's a quick test and a good first move.

Mike.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Interesting. Given that the system powers on by itself (after plugging
it in) but that the bios screen never appears, do you think replacing
the power supply unit will have a positive effect? Or are these new
symptoms consistent with a damaged mobo?

They are consistent with a defect crontrol circuit in the PSU or
on the mainboard. Given that PSUs are typically of much lower
quality than mainboards, I would say trying a different PSU (maybe
you can borrow one...) is a really wothwhile test.

Arno

 

[Thumper]

I connected the big white connector from my old PC mobo to my dead PC
mobo. I turned on the dead computer and it caused the old PSU to
start. However, nothing appeared on the monitor and I didn't hear any
beeps or sounds.

Apart from that big fat white plastic connector, am I supposed to
connect any other wires from the old PC to the dead one (for the
purposes of this limited test)?

 

[Arno Wagner]

I connected the big white connector from my old PC mobo to my dead PC
mobo. I turned on the dead computer and it caused the old PSU to
start. However, nothing appeared on the monitor and I didn't hear any
beeps or sounds.

Apart from that big fat white plastic connector, am I supposed to
connect any other wires from the old PC to the dead one (for the
purposes of this limited test)?

Does ypu mainboard have a an additional power connector with
only yellow and black wires in it? If so, that would
be the one feeding the CPU and you need to connect it as well.

It is possible that your old PC does not have these connectors.
Then you need to find a PSU that does.

Arno

 

[Svend Olaf Mikkelsen]

True.

But are anybody aware of a RAID controller, which will not use the
same method of storage:

One data block at the beginning of the first disk, next data block at
the beginning of second disk, and so on, and some metadata at the end
of each disk, defining the stripe set.

If the new RAID controller does not recognize the metadata, recreating
the stripe set with the same parameters and the same sequence of
disks, should work.

In the examples I have seen, the RAID BIOS would not write any data to
the user data areas when creating a stripe set.

If the parameters (stripe size) is not known, some attempts, and read
only verifying would be needed.

 

[Arno Wagner]

But are anybody aware of a RAID controller, which will not use the
same method of storage:

One data block at the beginning of the first disk, next data block at
the beginning of second disk, and so on, and some metadata at the end
of each disk, defining the stripe set.

There are RAID controllers that put the metadata at the start of
the disk. According to the docu, some variants of Linux software
RAID do this (no idea why, putting it at the end makes eminently
sense). Then there is the issue of finding out the stripe size.

If the new RAID controller does not recognize the metadata, recreating
the stripe set with the same parameters and the same sequence of
disks, should work.

In the examples I have seen, the RAID BIOS would not write any data to
the user data areas when creating a stripe set.

If the parameters (stripe size) is not known, some attempts, and read
only verifying would be needed.

Isn't there some RAID recovery software that does this, and even has
a free trial?

Arno

 

[Thumper]

Problem: Asus A7N8X (deluxe) motherboard (aka mainboard, mobo) died,
leaving my RAID-0 stripe hard drive array homeless, as the HDDs relied
on the onboard Silicon Image SATA controller card (SiI 3112).

Solution: I bought a Syba PCI Serial ATA (SATA) Host Controller Card,
which had the exact same controller chip as the one that came with the
Asus motherboard. I installed the PCI card in an old PC. I connected
the two SATA hard drives (which were in a RAID-0 array on my dead
computer). I turned on PC. Windows XP detected the new hardware card.
I installed drivers from CD. I restarted. I can now see the striped
hard drives in My Computer. Success!

Thanks for all those who helped and especially to the guy who
suggested the PCI controller card.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Problem: Asus A7N8X (deluxe) motherboard (aka mainboard, mobo) died,
leaving my RAID-0 stripe hard drive array homeless, as the HDDs relied
on the onboard Silicon Image SATA controller card (SiI 3112).

Solution: I bought a Syba PCI Serial ATA (SATA) Host Controller Card,
which had the exact same controller chip as the one that came with the
Asus motherboard. I installed the PCI card in an old PC. I connected
the two SATA hard drives (which were in a RAID-0 array on my dead
computer). I turned on PC. Windows XP detected the new hardware card.
I installed drivers from CD. I restarted. I can now see the striped
hard drives in My Computer. Success!

Thanks for all those who helped and

especially to the guy who suggested the PCI controller card.

Yeah, whoever it was that spoke to you in your dreams.