G-Tech G-Speed eS RAID Single Drive Failure – How Should I Replace The Failed Drive?

[Jim Zons]

Also, I have a replacement drive arriving tomorrow. After I determine which RAID has the failed drive, would you recommend shutting down the RAID and powering it off until that other drive arrives? I am one of those guys who feels a hard drive should not be powered down for any extended period of time since it may not spin up again … thoughts on that?

[Tyler Chittick]

Hi Jim!

Firstly, I would agree that you should NOT turn off the RAID until you get that new drive in there and the RAID rebuilt. According to G-Tech, the second number in the series (the 3 in 1/3/2) corresponds to the port that particular enclosure is plugged in to. The ports start at PORT1 on the left and count up as you go across (PORT1 PORT2 PORT3 PORT4 if you’re looking at the back of the computer). The third number in the series (the 2 in 1/3/2) corresponds to the disk number. In these enclosures, the disk numbers start at number 1 on the top and count up as they go down:
DISK1
DISK2
DISK3
DISK4
Therefore, I would say that DISK2 in whichever enclosure is plugged in to port 3 on the eSATA card is the bad one. All of this information came from this document from the G-Tech website about the eS enclosure, specifically pages 16 to 19:
https://support.g-technology.com/sites/default/files/G-SPEED-eS-Manual-Win-11-05-07.pdf
Please use this document to check my information and confirm before you proceed! Afterall, as they say in big red letters, and as you said, your data is at risk! Good luck!

— Tyler

—
Tyler Chittick
Integration & Warehouse Manager
Technical Support
Maxx Digital
http://www.maxxdigital.com
tyler@maxxdigital.com
714-374-4944

[Gene Gilbert]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your post. The drive should be on when replacing the defective drive, and should automatically go into rebuild mode. The way to identify the defective drive is the port is the second number in the location and the drive is the third, so port 3, drive 2. One thing that concerns me is the drive status is disabled, which indicates something beyond a single drive failure. Does the drive mount? If so, copy the data off right away. There may be another failure in the set. You could also try a new cable as that could be part of the issue, or try swapping drives into your other enclosure. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you like, my direct contact is eugene.gilbert@hgst.com

Regards,

Gene Gilbert
g-technology.com

[Jim Zons]

Tyler and Gene, thanks for the help so far! I determined which G-Speed had the issue, and the which drive was the failed drive. However, when I placed the new drive into the G-Speed, it detected the drive, but wouldn’t start the rebuilding process: the “Array Maintenance” window said that the drive was “offline” … and I can’t figure out how to “kick start” the rebuilding process, or make the drive “online.” The manual doesn’t seem to mention what to do … in fact it implies the rebuilding should be automatic.

The existing, original drive is not totally dead, since I can reinsert the older disk, the config utility “sees it” and the RAID returns to “critical” status and I can still access all of my files. This only lasts for a short period of time however: not enough time to simply copy all of my files off the unit and just create a totally new array.

Any thoughts about what I should do next now that the working drive is in the unit?

[Gene Gilbert]

Hi Jim,

That confirms my thought. Please contact me directly at eugene.gilbert@hgst.com so we can go over your case better.

Regards,

Gene Gilbert
g-technology.com