How do i move raid1 volume to larger disks. Rebuilding to larger disk and trying to boot from them makes Windows unbootable.

[JDhil]

My server has Asus p8b-m motherboard with Intel c250 chip. I need to upgrade the raid1 volume on the server from current 500GB to 4TB. It's running Windows 2011 SBS essesntials.

I tried to follow the procedure indicated on Intel article https://www.intel.ca/content/www/ca/en/support/articles/000005837/technologies/intel-rapid-storage-technology-intel-rst.html 

Following the steps and changing the raid to non-raid and booting of just new disk makes the Windows unbootable and keeps going to recovery mode. It seems like it messes up the boot partition etc.i noticed in bcdedit in recovery command prompt screen. Not sure what is correct way, even removing the smaller disk and keeping large disk i cannot boot to Small Windows server 2011. The disk has 2 partitions (C:: & D:) along with system reserved 100mb. i see in the bcdedit display it assign C: to system reserved and D: to Windows tried repairing it but no luck, Even tried cloning few time still the issue cannot migrate to the larger disk preserving the OS and application.

Is there any other easier way to migrate to new 4tb disks. I tried cloning but being raid volume doesn't seem to work. Tried rebuilding

Can i make the volume non-raid, clone it new disk and add the new disk as non-raid first. After can i create the raid with 2nd 4TB disk, will it delete the data when creating raid with existing non-raid disk. If someone has experience please advise. Thanks

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Thank you for posting on the Intel ® communities. First, I would like to know if you are using Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology or Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise, this is important to see if the option is available. Normally when you remove one of the drives and add the larger one the option to rebuild should be there when opening the software, if possible, please attach a screenshot of how it shows in the interface and when you connect the larger drive. Also, I would like to request an Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology system report, this report can be generated by following the steps in the link below: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006351/technologies.html Have you tried accessing the Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology via the BIOS extension? (Ctrl + I during POST). This is another way to rebuild it, rebuilding it directly from there, if you are unable to access it with the combination of characters mentioned during POST then that could mean that the system manufacturer (Asus) could have changed that combination, it would be advised to contact them to get information on how to access. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JDhil]

Hi David, Thanks for responding, i figured out the board/chipset must be very old and not compatible with RST so tried with matrix storage manager. Voila, i could see the rebuild option & lot more. I am able to rebuild the disk to new larger disk but now the issue is after following the steps and changing the raid to non-raid and booting of just new disk makes the Windows unbootable and keeps going to recovery mode. It seems like it messes up the boot partition etc.i noticed in bcdedit in recovery command prompt screen. Not sure what is correct way, even removing the smaller disk and keeping large disk i cannot boot to Small Windows server 2011. The disk has 2 partitions (C:: & D:) along with system reserved 100mb. i see in the bcdedit display it assign C: to system reserved and D: to Windows tried repairing it but no luck, Even tried cloning few time still the issue cannot migrate to the larger disk preserving the OS and application.

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Thank you for your response. Have you tried changing the boot order within the BIOS to see if it allows you to boot? Keep in mind that sometimes you must check the boot order because the previous order was first selected to boot with the other drive, this could present you with issues when booting to the operating system. Also, did you try accessing the BIOS and checking the SATA mode of the disk that you are trying to boot from? Make sure that the disk is not in RAID sata mode. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JDhil]

Yes, i did go into bios when tried booting with new larger disk and changed the SATA configuration to AHCI from RAID and also the boot order. Windows start booting from the disk but goes into recovery mode, where i noticed in the command windows using BCDEDIT that the partitions drive letters are messed up. It assign C: to system reserved and D: to Windows that may be the issue, i tried changing those using diskpart but still not able to boot successfully.

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Thank you for your response. The system is behaving as if you had not converted the disks to non-RAID. Since this seems to be the case, you could try re-building the RAID with the other hard drive. Also, you can simply transfer the data from the RAID to the bigger disk and from there, add the other big disk and build a RAID 1 from scratch which will contain your data. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JDhil]

David, When you say rebuilding with other disk you mean with original disk that was removed before converting to non-raid. I am not able to transfer since disk contains the boot and OS volume, i have tried cloning with 3rd party tools without any success.

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Thank you for your response. When you selected the option to convert to "Non-RAID" did you do it in the BIOS extension of Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology? Are you able to go in there now? If so, please take a picture of how it shows in your system and attach the picture here for reference. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, I am following up with your case and see that we have not heard back from you. Please provide me with pictures of the Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology BIOS extension for more information. If you need more assistance do not hesitate to reply. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JDhil]

I did reset the disk to non-raid in the BIOS raid utility through Ctrl+I and option 3. The raid controller is  intel ich8r/ich9r/ich10r/do and seems to not work with the 4tb disk or 1TB disk. It only seemed to work with just one model of 1TB disk, i had at home. So running without redundancy. will need to figure out why is not working with other disk, Windows goes into the repair mode and no option works after that. is it possible the raid controller is not compatible with newer disks?

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, I was checking the support site for your motherboard and I was not able to find any drivers for Windows Server 2011, the closest was Windows Server 2012, can you please check? https://www.asus.com/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/P8BM/HelpDesk_Download/ * Please be aware that the content on that site is not controlled by Intel*. This information is offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel* for the merchants or services offered there. * This could be a reason as to why the Intel ® Rapid Storage Technology is not working. Make sure to have an operating system supported by your manufacturer. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Were you able to check with the manufacturer? Let me know please. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[JDhil]

Hi David, I didn't get chance to check with Asus yet.

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Thank you for your response. Let me know please. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation

[David_V_Intel]

Hello JDhil, Did you have the chance to check with Asus* support? Please let me know. Regards, David V Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation