RAID and nForce Drivers - NVraid

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   I ran across the following step sheet, prepared by Michael Barr, at:
http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/raid-1-failure-nvraid-vt63292.html

The nVidia drivers, including NVraid, can be found at:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

You may find these steps useful for performing failsafe updates, like Mr. Barr, or the instructions are handy if your RAID has degraded for some reason.  If you are using these steps to rebuild a degraded RAID then please ignore any mention of removing hard drives.  In the steps given by Mr. Barr he knows exactly which array he wants to keep and which one he wants to delete.  In the case of an unintentional degraded RAID, you will need to make that decision.

In addition, when performing a rebuild, the nVidia MediaShield will display certain functions depending upon the status of your RAID.  For example, the rebuild function will only be visible after an array has been deleted and a "free disk" is available.

Be sure to back-up your data before performing any rebuild.

Be patient, the rebuild may take several hours. 

Pat (66foot)

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There are two ways to rebuild the nVidia raid;
1) Using the nVidia raid utility before Windows boots by pressing F10; or, 
2) Using the nVidia NVraid utility in Windows.

The NVraid utility within Windows is a simple routine that can be used in lieu of the nVidia BIOS routine! 

I have two metal removable drive bays in each server with a SATA 72GB Western Digital Raptor in each. SATA permits these drives to be hot pluggable while the Raptor drives are the fastest SATA drives around. Lets label them bay 0 and 1. Before I do an update I remove one of the drives. This has the same effect on the pc as though one of the drives has failed. I apply the update. If the update is successful I then remirror (rebuild) the removed drive by using the following steps. If not then I reboot to the drive that I removed.

Slide the drive back into its bay.

In Windows open the nVidia NVraid raid manager utility. 

The utility will show two hard drives, one above the other and with a heading Mirroring above each. Left-click on the Mirroring heading above the lower drive.

In the left pane under the System tasks heading left-click on Delete Array.

In the wizard that opens click next and then finish.  You have now deleted the array from the backup drive as it was at the time you removed it.

You will now have to wait a minute or two while the utility frees up the lower drive. When it is done the heading above the lower disk will read Free disk.

Now left-click on the Mirroring heading above the upper disk.

Click on the Rebuild array option in the system tasks pane to the left.

In the wizard that appears click next.

Click on the drive shown so that the next button becomes available and then click on that next button.

Click finish and now your mirrored array will begin rebuilding. To check on its progress simply click on the Mirroring heading and you will be shown how much of the rebuilding has been completed.
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Edited by 66foot - 14 Oct 2007 at 7:52pm

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66foot Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 10 Sep 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Quote Reply Topic: RAID and nForce Drivers - NVraid Posted: 14 Oct 2007 at 7:46pm
	I ran across the following step sheet, prepared by Michael Barr, at: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/raid-1-failure-nvraid-vt63292.html The nVidia drivers, including NVraid, can be found at: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us You may find these steps useful for performing failsafe updates, like Mr. Barr, or the instructions are handy if your RAID has degraded for some reason. If you are using these steps to rebuild a degraded RAID then please ignore any mention of removing hard drives. In the steps given by Mr. Barr he knows exactly which array he wants to keep and which one he wants to delete. In the case of an unintentional degraded RAID, you will need to make that decision. In addition, when performing a rebuild, the nVidia MediaShield will display certain functions depending upon the status of your RAID. For example, the rebuild function will only be visible after an array has been deleted and a "free disk" is available. Be sure to back-up your data before performing any rebuild. Be patient, the rebuild may take several hours. Pat (66foot) ------------------------ There are two ways to rebuild the nVidia raid; 1) Using the nVidia raid utility before Windows boots by pressing F10; or, 2) Using the nVidia NVraid utility in Windows. The NVraid utility within Windows is a simple routine that can be used in lieu of the nVidia BIOS routine! I have two metal removable drive bays in each server with a SATA 72GB Western Digital Raptor in each. SATA permits these drives to be hot pluggable while the Raptor drives are the fastest SATA drives around. Lets label them bay 0 and 1. Before I do an update I remove one of the drives. This has the same effect on the pc as though one of the drives has failed. I apply the update. If the update is successful I then remirror (rebuild) the removed drive by using the following steps. If not then I reboot to the drive that I removed. Slide the drive back into its bay. In Windows open the nVidia NVraid raid manager utility. The utility will show two hard drives, one above the other and with a heading Mirroring above each. Left-click on the Mirroring heading above the lower drive. In the left pane under the System tasks heading left-click on Delete Array. In the wizard that opens click next and then finish. You have now deleted the array from the backup drive as it was at the time you removed it. You will now have to wait a minute or two while the utility frees up the lower drive. When it is done the heading above the lower disk will read Free disk. Now left-click on the Mirroring heading above the upper disk. Click on the Rebuild array option in the system tasks pane to the left. In the wizard that appears click next. Click on the drive shown so that the next button becomes available and then click on that next button. Click finish and now your mirrored array will begin rebuilding. To check on its progress simply click on the Mirroring heading and you will be shown how much of the rebuilding has been completed. ------------------------ Edited by 66foot - 14 Oct 2007 at 7:52pm

commast Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 262	Quote Reply Posted: 15 Oct 2007 at 1:37am
	It seems that the NvRaid utility is embedded in the Vista Nvidia control panel now. The bad thing is that it won't allow you to change your raid setting in Window . All it does is give you the status of the Raid array.The link below is more up to date as far as install or upgrade the drivers: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/vista-and-nforce4-sataraid-an-installation-guide-vt66299.html From my experience, the easiest way to upgrade the raid/sata drivers is to run the installation package from Nvidia. Edited by commast - 15 Oct 2007 at 3:18am

RAID and nForce Drivers - NVraid

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