OK. The machine has the following drives:
(1) Operating System (C:) (500 GB)
(2) Back-up Drive (500 GB)
(3) Raid 5 (consisting of 4 500GB drives)
Tech reinstalled the OS to (1) b/c he said that was causing the computer shutdown (it presumably works now); (2) works fine; (3) is the one with the "lost file system that XP wants to format"
I would say try the recovery software. There's a demo available at http://www.restorer2000.com that will let you see what is found on the array. You'll need the pro version to deal with the RAID array.
I do agree that it sounds like a hardware problem - the demo software should answer that question.
Very little new to report. I received an email from the tech over the weekend:
Running the restorer2000, looks like it will need time to run, I came into the shop to check the last recovery which failed, we will see if this one worked on monday.
Assuming that doesn't work (and he claims that no data has been deleted), I will pick up the machine today.
Hopefully, when I have it back, we can pick up this thread.. and I will be able to respond more knowledgeably. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
--Michael
Progress (I think!)
Through scanning with Restorer2000, I was able to *see* some of the files and actually recover the data.
I started to do a complete scan (which takes about 8 hours, it seems). All was going well for about 5 hours... then (as this thread started) the computer suddenly shut down.
The only warning message was concerning a timeout at \Device\Scsi\ulsata21
I don't know if this was the cause (or what) ... but I seem to be back at square one.
However, it does seem as if the data is at least safe. So near and yet so far...
Disc 2 (this must be the Raid5)
Basic 1965.22 online
and it is divided into 4 sections:
104.01 (unallocated)
E:811.57 (healthy)
239GB (healthy/unallocated with /////// lines)
790.25 (unallocated)
Any suggestions?
I see you have a drive letter E included in the raid here.
I thought the entire array was setup as Letter Z with all 1.3TB available before?
How did we get a partition showing E here. Really weird this stuff. Controller shows healthy on boot, but now its divided up into pieces, was it setup like this before?
Z is what I saw on the network. So E = Z
No, it wasn't divided up into pieces before... which (I suppose) is why XP wants to format it. Meanwhile I have been able to recover some of the files. However, as I said, the computer continues to randomly shutdown which is annoying b/c I need Restorer2000 to run for an uninterrupted 8-9 hours to find the old partition.
Today I plan to check the memory to see if it is corrupted. Also, I've heard that leaking capacitors on the motherboard can overheat and cause shutdown (see http://www.windows-help-central.com/windows-xp-shutdown-automatically.html)
... but I don't feel knowledgeable enough to diagnose and/or repair them.
Progress report. I've been able to salvage at least 90% of the data (using Restorer2000-thanks for that suggestion!).... but still haven't figured out how to get the Raid5 array up again, short of formatting.
It seems as if the random shutdown was caused by a faulty driver in the video controller. At least, I think so. At any rate, the machine has not been acting up/shutting down for about a day.
Any ideas on fixing the Raid5 array?????
EDIT: It wasn't the faulty driver... machine spontaneously shut down again. UGH!!!!!
0
LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited March 2008
Don't know about the RAID, but I'm happy to hear about the data recovery success.
Strip the computer down to only what you need to run Windows: CPU, RAM, Video, and your XP drive. Remove all other hardware and see if you're still having problems. If not, add one piece of hardware and test again. Repeat until you start having reboot issues, and you've likely found your source. It'll either be the component you added, its cable (if applicable), or the slot/socket it's plugged into. This process can be time consuming, but I've found it's useful for troubleshooting.
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LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited March 2008
Random shutdowns is quite often evidence of a PSU having problems/starting to fail. What PSU do you have in the system?
PSU = Rosewill RX-750-S-B ATX12V 750W (it's about 5 months old)
mertern--I will try that process this weekend--thanks!
btw... the tech emailed me yesterday and asked if the ethernet stayed lit when the machine shutdown. it does and so does the keyboard.
Any significance to that?
Progress report. Great news! I was able to reconstruct the raid5 array with ALL data intact. It turned out to be a partition issue. However, none of the partition programs I played around with were able to correct the issue. Today I found a free program called TestDisk that was able to fix the partition in 5 minutes and Disc Management shows it to be a Healthy 1.397.2 GB. I can't believe how simple that was. Thank God I listened to you guys and didn't let the tech wipe the drive(s).
Now, as to the random shutdown, it doesn't seem to be a hardware issue. If I run XP in safe mode... it doesn't shut down. Doesn't that suggest it could be a driver or something? Any suggestions on how to proceed from here? (I feel like I'm 90% of the way home)
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LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited March 2008
Good job!
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Straight_ManGeeky, in my own wayNaples, FLIcrontian
edited March 2008
Still possible hardware. Video cards work harder in high video mode, also overheat faster in high video modes. Any chance video is shutting down???
Note, safe mode uses LOW video mode.
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LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited March 2008
Straight_Man is thinking what I am. You may have an overheating problem.
Comments
He states that XP "wants to format the drive" ..
That indicates that the XP itself it's not on the Raid 5 system ..
How many HDD are there in the computer ? 5 or more ?
I'm sorry to say it, but I'm getting more confused ..
And we can only getting more knowledgeable by the minut.
(1) Operating System (C:) (500 GB)
(2) Back-up Drive (500 GB)
(3) Raid 5 (consisting of 4 500GB drives)
Tech reinstalled the OS to (1) b/c he said that was causing the computer shutdown (it presumably works now); (2) works fine; (3) is the one with the "lost file system that XP wants to format"
(6 HDs in total)
I do agree that it sounds like a hardware problem - the demo software should answer that question.
Running the restorer2000, looks like it will need time to run, I came into the shop to check the last recovery which failed, we will see if this one worked on monday.
Assuming that doesn't work (and he claims that no data has been deleted), I will pick up the machine today.
Hopefully, when I have it back, we can pick up this thread.. and I will be able to respond more knowledgeably. Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
--Michael
Got into RAID Array list. Here's what I see:
Boot Status Vendor Array
Yes Healthy NVIDIA Raid5 1.36T
Got into Computer Management. Here's what I have
Volume (no letter) Healthy (unknown partition) 259.39GB
C: NTFS Healthy (System) 465.75GB
E: Healthy (Partition) 811.57GB
NAS F: NTFS Healthy 465.76GB
Disc 0 C:
Basic 465.75 online
Disc 1 F:
Basic 465.76 online
Disc 2 (this must be the Raid5)
Basic 1965.22 online
and it is divided into 4 sections:
104.01 (unallocated)
E:811.57 (healthy)
239GB (healthy/unallocated with /////// lines)
790.25 (unallocated)
Any suggestions?
Through scanning with Restorer2000, I was able to *see* some of the files and actually recover the data.
I started to do a complete scan (which takes about 8 hours, it seems). All was going well for about 5 hours... then (as this thread started) the computer suddenly shut down.
The only warning message was concerning a timeout at \Device\Scsi\ulsata21
I don't know if this was the cause (or what) ... but I seem to be back at square one.
However, it does seem as if the data is at least safe. So near and yet so far...
btw. what Promsie card is it ?
I thought the entire array was setup as Letter Z with all 1.3TB available before?
How did we get a partition showing E here. Really weird this stuff. Controller shows healthy on boot, but now its divided up into pieces, was it setup like this before?
No, it wasn't divided up into pieces before... which (I suppose) is why XP wants to format it. Meanwhile I have been able to recover some of the files. However, as I said, the computer continues to randomly shutdown which is annoying b/c I need Restorer2000 to run for an uninterrupted 8-9 hours to find the old partition.
Today I plan to check the memory to see if it is corrupted. Also, I've heard that leaking capacitors on the motherboard can overheat and cause shutdown (see http://www.windows-help-central.com/windows-xp-shutdown-automatically.html)
... but I don't feel knowledgeable enough to diagnose and/or repair them.
It seems as if the random shutdown was caused by a faulty driver in the video controller. At least, I think so. At any rate, the machine has not been acting up/shutting down for about a day.
Any ideas on fixing the Raid5 array?????
EDIT: It wasn't the faulty driver... machine spontaneously shut down again. UGH!!!!!
any suggestions on what I should try next?
(as you can see, I'm currently trying to synchronize)
Note: Disk 2 is the (once and future?) Raid 5 Array
mertern--I will try that process this weekend--thanks!
btw... the tech emailed me yesterday and asked if the ethernet stayed lit when the machine shutdown. it does and so does the keyboard.
Any significance to that?
Now, as to the random shutdown, it doesn't seem to be a hardware issue. If I run XP in safe mode... it doesn't shut down. Doesn't that suggest it could be a driver or something? Any suggestions on how to proceed from here? (I feel like I'm 90% of the way home)
Note, safe mode uses LOW video mode.