PC hangs at RAID configuration screen

[Samrulez91]

Since Monday, my PC hangs for like two minutes on the RAID Configuration screen when I turn my PC on for the first time on a day (after being off for many hours). If I reboot, it takes the normal two seconds.

I use a RAID 0 setup with two 300GB HDDs, my RAID controller is an Intel ICH8R/ICH9R SATA RAID Controller.

My specs and that are in DxDiag.txt

It was working fine before and now suddenly this begins happening from Monday, if you need more information let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Note: I'm not sure if this is a hardware or a software problem, so I put it here.

[OlyComputers]

sounds like it might be a hardware problem, or BIOS. if there's a newer version of your BIOS use them.

The other thought is that it's an issue with one of the drives and it's having a hard time coming up from "cold" run thorough disk checks on them and see if they have anything wrong.

If this is a RAID 0 I'd suggest you start baking up data, whether it's your controller or drives, if either fails* you might lose the array and lose data.

*Raid arrays will only be recognized form the same chipset they were created on. If your raid controller goes out you wont really be able to recompile the array unless you replace it with the same controller.

[Samrulez91]

I updated my BIOS as suggested by my friend, to Revision A06, which is the latest, did nothing to solve the problem.

What disk checks do you mean? I have done CHKDSK where I set it to automatically fix file system errors and scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, this took about an hour. There were no problems there either.

[Samrulez91]

Ok, since it won't let me edit my post, il say this: If I press CTRL-ALT-DEL when the PC begins to hang on first boot, it reboots and then loads with no hang, even though I didn't let it hang and load up the first time.

[OlyComputers]

There are other non windows diagnostic tools. Try the manufacturers disk tools (on their website, usually not hard to find) and just google "disk daignostic tools".

[Samrulez91]

The problem has appeared to fix itself, It didn't hang on first boot today.

But I will use the manufacturers (one is Seagate, one is Western Digital) disk tools anyway.

Thanks for your help.

[Samrulez91]

Ok, the problem has come back.

The manufacturers disk tools weren't much help since the two HDDs are recognised as one by Windows.

I updated my RAID controller driver to latest, didn't fix the problem. Would a reinstallation of the OS fix this? Because I was thinking of doing that anyway.

I don't understand it, both HDDs seem perfectly fine, the RAID configuration screen said status is normal. I am using the PC with the problem as I speak.

[nsindian]

are you using this PC as a server of some kind? if not why do you need to enable RAID.

[nsindian]

if you really have to enable it, then i would buy two HD from the same manufacturer with the same amount of disk space

[Samrulez91]

I bought the PC from Dell and it already had a RAID 0 setup with two different manufacturer's drives. The PC originally had Vista, I changed it to XP like the same day it was delivered to my house.

The RAID 0 setup with these two different manufacturer's drives has been perfectly fine for ages now (I bought the PC in February). Both drives do have the same amount of disk space. I prefer it to be RAID 0 than split up.

Also, I'm not using the PC as a server, just for general use like playing games, music etc.

[nsindian]

to save headaches and hassles, disable RAID in the BIOS and reformat your secondary HD and use it as backup storage

[Samrulez91]

I would prefer not to split the drives, I like having it as RAID 0.

It has not caused any problems until now and even then it's not that big of a deal, only makes booting take a bit longer.

[OlyComputers]

We really should stay on topic to fix the problem, not convince him to get rid of RAID, most people who use RAID don't need it.

On that note if you're open to the possibility of re-installing your system, consider JBOD or "Disk Spanning" thorugh windows. They work the same way as RAID 0 in that both drives show up as a single partition. It doesn't have the same performance increases in games, but there are other task where separate disks perform better.

[Samrulez91]

Reinstalling the OS is a possibility but I would really prefer not to. What can I do?

[Samrulez91]

Reinstalling the OS is a possibility but I would really prefer not to. What can I do?

I still have this problem.

[caperjack]

Reinstalling the OS is a possibility but I would really prefer not to. What can I do?

time to bite the bullet and give in and do what you prefer not to do

[Samrulez91]

time to bite the bullet and give in and do what you prefer not to do

Will reinstalling the OS solve the problem though, that's what I want to know.

If it does, I'l do it.

It's been like a month since I first got the problem and my HDDs have not failed or nothing so I presume my RAID 0 setup is fine and an OS reinstallation will fix the boot hang (I hope).

[OlyComputers]

I'm not sure an OS reinstall will resolve it, but it's probably your best bet. I hang at that point in the set up is an issue with the array itself (either the disks, configuration, or controller) so breaking the array, re creating it and then starting over might be your best bet.

I have an idea for trouble shooting:

If you have or can borrow two spare drives, put them in your system and create a raid array. If you still hang after doing this you know it's the controller, if it doesn't you've narrowed it down to the current configuration and know it's a corruption of the drives or settings.

[Samrulez91]

Ok. I will format the HDDs, reinstall OS, and re-create the RAID. I will get back to you how this goes, if the hang is fixed or not. I will begin backup of data now.

I don't have any spare drives so I can't do your idea.

[caperjack]

Ok. I will format the HDDs, reinstall OS, and re-create the RAID. I will get back to you how this goes, if the hang is fixed or not. I will begin backup of data now.

I don't have any spare drives so I can't do your idea.

if you have a lot of data ,and new data all the time, a raid -0 is really not recommended for you !if raid fails you will lose all data on both drives ! or something like that !