-
RAID Nightmare!
This is a post for those who may be in my their own time of trial with RAID 0….
I was upgrading to a Leopard 10.5.3 -MacPro 8 core 3.0Ghz – FC Studio 2, and updating my RAID (ICYDOCK 4 bay external & NORCO-4629 PCIe SATA II).
First off I had already backed up the RAID (actually I back up everything – sometimes even double backup) – which was good! Very good!
After I had re-initialized my RAID 0, set up with SoftRaid and began copying data back. It quit with an error (-5) partway through and only copied 145 GB of 375 GB. Okay, tried to erase drive and try again, Didn’t work. Drive wouldn’t erase, it was now “busy.” (Busy with what?) Had to do a restart of the MacPro. That wouldn’t work, it hung on the empty screen. Waited half and hour and then did a hard shutdown. (my mood: puzzled and slight worried)
For a day and a half I tried many things, set the partition tables on the drives to GUID (were APM). Reinstalled RAID card drivers – it’s a NORCO-4629 (which is now past it’s prime). Wiped the drive multiple times, tried copying in the Terminal app using “ditto” Nothing worked – it would start copying, then choke. Then the system would be “busy.” (my mood: really angry)
Finally I was going to order another RAID card since the NORCO support is weak at best – probably the Sonnet E4P. Then I thought, since I’m screwed already, why not try some things. Hell, I make money consulting at some major companies doing just this. (note: it’s amusing when it is your own stuff you have a very different attitude on troubleshooting – much less pro, much more “end user” mindset)
On with the consulting hat… So time to troubleshoot (i.e. experiment) I decided I would eliminate SoftRaid from the equation (as I didn’t have the new card yet). De-installed it and it’s drivers. Reset the array to Apple Disk utility RAID O. Rebooted. (actually used the shutdown command in terminal since the system was “still busy” or “getting busy” – who knows)
OK. It all comes up nice, it looks good. The ultimate test – copy it all back.
I watched with trepidation as the bar moved slowly – said some prayers… and, well – it worked – NO problem. Ran a test with the AJA utility. It is now faster than it was with SoftRaid. Was averaging 105 MB/s (2 drive array). Now, with Apple RAID it is averaging about 140 MB/s (read & write). Plus I noticed on the graph mode that it is less “choppy” and more consistent on data rate. (my mood: much better once I had had a serious drink! rum and coke – mostly rum)
The problem came down to this: SoftRaid 3.6.6 – which had always worked in the past. And they are a good company. For years they were the best – and hopefully will be again shortly. But they need to get on the stick. They should be on this asap. They should have had 10.5.3 issues resolved before it came out, and have tested it with various cards, even legacy ones. Or maybe it isn’t the card. Maybe it is just 10.5.3 and SoftRaid which are unhappy together. The NORCO card is a bit odd.
So there you have it, some troubleshooting that I hope helps others in their time of trial. Also, I’d love to hear what people think is a better 4 port PCIe SATA II card. The most Mac friendly and support laden one. Let us all know.
-
6 Replies
-
140mbs? I get more than that on my little 2 drawer Firmtek. My 4 drawer Firmtek on RAID 0 gets well over 230. Are you sure you got this right?
Sorry for your troubles, at least you seem to know what you are doing.
Have a wonderful day.
-
Honestly have never heard of any of your products, but they sound like it’s all a build it yourself type of deal.
We use the LaCie 4 port card for our LaCie SATA RAIDS and the Atto R380 SAS Controller for our MaxxDigital SAS/SATA arrays.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
-
Are you using the AJA utility? Are the Drives 10K Raptors? Alone a SATA drive really only pumps about 60 – 80 MB/s – so two drive should only be able to push 1.5 to 2 x their original speed.
Curious what you have as drives in the FirmTek – BTW they make great stuff!
-
Yes, sounds like a great set up. LaCie is always a good bet. And the ATTO is also nice. Do they consistently update their drivers and/or firmware? Especially with the vagaries of Leopard, that would be a “good™” thing.
Actually I have always built my own Arrays, I want to get specific drives in them, not just the maker’s off the shelf device. Often time I use the most expensive and/or safest enterprise drives (I’ve never had an array fail from a bad drive (knock wood)). I think I’ve had over 15 arrays over the years just for my own use!
Luckily it isn’t days of SCSI, with cable length and bizarre termination issues. Question: Remember the special SCSI terminator a MacIIfx needed? We all all better off now without that mess.
-
Yes, the AJA utility. I ran it just last week.
Have a wonderful day.
-
Well you have to tell me what drives and model numbers you have. Seagate, WD, Hitachi? Also the specific model. And it is a 2 drive array, not 3, correct?
And what controller card are you using? The Seritek I imagine – which model of that as well.
Let us know! Those are great numbers for a 2 drive array.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up