I have a SCSI RAID controller and the drives keep coming up marked dead/off-line. I can return the drives on-line again, but why is this happening and what can I do to fix it?
Drive randomly marked dead (off line) by SCSI controller.
There are many reasons why a SCSI controller or operating system marks one or more drives off line. Here is a list of common issues, likely to cause a drive to be remarked off line–dead.
It’s important to make sure the cabling, termination, and drive enclosure hardware is suitable based on SCSI specification–or as required by your configuration. Use the…
Western Digital manufactures desktop edition hard drives and RAID Edition hard drives. Each type of hard drive is designed to work specifically in either a desktop computer environment or a demanding enterprise environment.
If you install and use a desktop edition hard drive connected to a RAID controller, the drive may not work correctly unless jointly qualified by an enterprise OEM. This is caused by the normal error recovery procedure that a desktop edition hard drive uses.
When an error is found on a desktop edition hard drive, the drive will enter into a deep recovery cycle to attempt to repair the error, recover…
Note: A RAID 1 array is designed for fault tolerance. You will not notice any performance increase in your computer after creating a RAID 1 array. A RAID 1 array uses the second hard drive to copy the data of the first drive. Should one of the hard drives fail, you will still be able to boot your computer using the second hard drive.
Important: After creating a RAID 1 array, the total capacity of both hard drives will not appear as usable space in Windows. Because the second hard drive is being used to store the exact same data of the first drive,…
Note: A RAID 0 array is not fault tolerant. It is recommended that you backup any important data that you decide to store on the array.
To create a RAID 0 array please follow the steps below:
- With the computer powered off, follow the instructions for installing the RAID controller correctly and connect both Serial ATA hard drives to the controller.
- Boot your computer with the controller and drives already installed.
- Watch your boot screens for a prompt that will ask you to press the Control and F keys at the same time to enter the Fastbuild utility and press those keys to enter.
- Press the 1 key to enter…
!!WARNING!!
If the firmware upgrade installation instructions are not followed properly the firmware upgrade could be data destructive and/or render your hard drive inoperable. As Seagate does not warrant the data on your drive, in addition to regular back-ups, if possible your data should be backed up before upgrading the drive firmware. Additional information on backing-up the contents of your drive can be found at www.seagate.com. Though this firmware upgrade to your product is a change to the product the terms and conditions of your Seagate warranty for the product will remain effective to its normal expiration. For other warranties on…
The NAS 4000 Series has a software controlled RAID 5 disk array, Dual 10/100 NIC’s, and two independent, mirrored Operating Systems.
My Macintosh (running Apple OS 8.6 – 9.2.2) freezes during system startup when my 1394 Personal Storage/External Storage drive is attached to the FireWire port.
This error happens if you installed the optional Maxtor FireSCSI Extension Set at the same time you installed the Maxtor Utilities.
At the Apple Menu choose: Control Panels / Extensions Manager. From the View menu, select as Items. Click on the Name column (near the top of the Extensions Manager window). This will lists extensions in alphabetical order. Find the following extensions and uncheck each one to disable it from loading:
- FireSCSI Expert
- FireSCSI Maxtor Enabler
- FireSCSI RBC RAID Enabler…
What do I need to consider when selecting drives for use in a RAID configuration? Can two different hard drives be used in a mirroring or RAID array, or must they be identical brands and models?
Hard drives for RAID. Mix hard drives in a RAID array?
Most SCSI RAID controllers will accept different kinds of hard drives. The hard drives should match in capacity points and rotational (RPM) speed. At best, all drives in an array will be identical–at the same firmware revision level.
RAID can be used with any size hard drive. The smallest capacity drive will determine the largest logical volume…
Please Note: WD Drive Manager will appear in the System Tray only when your WD My Book external hard drive is attached to your computer. The software can be downloaded from the Downloads Library.
Examples of what it does on single WD My Book drives:
- When you mouse over the WD icon, the WD Drive Manager will show you the drive status: Drive Name, Volume Letter, Percent Used, Temperature Status. If the drive is healthy, the icon is steady and dark blue.
- When you right-click on the Drive Manager icon, it will allow you to safely remove the drive.
- Left-click on the…
Note: A RAID 0 array is not fault tolerant. It is recommended that you backup any important data that you decide to store on the array.
To create a RAID 0 array please follow the steps below:
- With the computer powered off, follow the instructions for installing the RAID controller correctly and connect both Serial ATA hard drives to the controller.
- Boot your computer with the controller and drives already installed.
- Watch your boot screens for a prompt that will ask you to press the Control and F keys at the same time to enter the Fastbuild utility and press those keys to enter.
- Press the 1 key to enter…
I have a SCSI RAID controller and the drives keep coming up marked dead/off-line. I can return the drives on-line again, but why is this happening and what can I do to fix it?
