Rapid Storage Technology issue on ICH10R

[idata]

Hello all,

I am havingt some major issues with my ICH10R, and Rapid Storage Techology.

I have two RAID1 arrays set up on it, but one keeps failing. I am at a loss to explain why this is. The failures used to occur fairly randomly, but now they are occuring often, to the point whereby it fails every time I turn my machine on.

The failures always occur in the same manner - the system hangs for about 10 seconds, and once it responds RST pops up with a warning that one of the two disks in my second array has been 'unplugged'. Both the power and data cables are welll-seated, so I find this error a little odd. Anyway, this occurs at any time, and has occured a couple of times during a rebuild of the array itself. I have, to date, not lost any data on either of the disks in any of these failures, ergo leading me to believe that the disks themselves are fine, and the error report is incorrect.

I have read at great length other posts about RST, and the issues within it. From my own personal point of view, no single version has been stable for me. I have always had errors on my second array. The errors were few and far between after upgrading to 9.6.0.1014, but they have been far more persistent of late. I have upgraded to 10.0.0.1046, with no discernable difference (i.e. the second array still fails almost daily).

All four disks I'm using are identical, so I am confused as to why the first of my two arrays works perfectly (and will continue to do so I hope!), but the second is giving me such pain. My system is as follows:

4 x WD10EADS SATAII Hard Disks (with TLER enabled to 7 seconds - older version disks, this isn't possible on later versions)

ICH10R (embedded in an Asus P5Q Mobo) 6 port SATA controller (first array plugged into 0 and 1, second in 4 and 5)

Vista

I also use a UPS, the AEG ProtectB1000bl. I am using the CompuWatch software that came with it to monitor it.

I have noticed on a number of occasions when the second array failed that my graphics drivers crashed (but Vista was able to restart it), and the UPS provided a message that the data communication had become disconnected. However, these symptons aren't present every time the array fails.

Any help would be greatly appreciated at this juncture. Thanks everyone for your help in advance.

[idata]

Have you updated the BIOS or even tried an older one?

Set "turn off hard disk after" to "Never" in power options.

I will only suggest that you use/try Matrix Storage Manager 8.8 regardless of what OS your using to prove it is a driver problem.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17412&ProdId=2101&lang=eng http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17412&ProdId=2101&lang=eng

if it fails a drive its not a driver issue.

[idata]

Thanks for your reply Peter.

I have done what you recommended, and unfortunately there's no change. This means that either disks or controller hardware are faulty I guess? Also, what is the latest firmware version for the ICH10R chip, and how do I go about getting it installed on my system?

Thanks in advance.

[idata]

Is the system overclocked?

Its likely one of the disks thats faulty then, does it happen to the same one each time?

To rule out a PSU problem swap all power connectors over with your other array and do the same for the SATA cables or try new ones.

You can run Toolbox to view the SMART of your HDD's its not the best way to see if the HDD is fine but it may show something.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18455&lang=eng&wapkw=%28toolbox%29 http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18455&lang=eng&wapkw=%28toolbox%29

The firmware for ICH10R is updated in a BIOS update trying newer and older BIOS updates may fix this problem if you search around and find others having the same problem.

Message was edited by: PeterUK

[idata]

I had a similar problem, and eventually concluded that the problem was the inability of the drive to power up in a timely fashion. In particular, the problem became more pronounced over time, and evenutally began to result in occasional calcking sounds (but only during initial poweron). After the drive had powered up correctly, I would be able to rebuild the array, and run for weeks before a reboot cause the the problem to reoccur. I eventually replaced the faulty drive with one an identical drive, and the problem disappeared completely.

So in the absence of any other details, I'd suspect the drive.

[idata]

I have been in the same boat - ever since I got my system. My drives are Western Digital WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0. Every month or two, give or take, the system has the same symptoms described here. I have seen it on both ports, and on both drives - did cable swapping to prove that out. I am running Matrix Storage Manager 8.9, drivers show up as 8.9.0.1023. Intel makes it REALLY HARD to determine what the latest driver is, but I haven't seen anything newer. My power settings are set to NEVER on the Hard Drives. Typically I am able to recover and rebuild without even shutting the system down.

[Allan_J_Intel1]

This type of problem was reported long ago when using Matrix Storage Manager version 8.9. Intel recommended to install Matrix Storage software 8.8 or 9.5 and higher

Here is the URL for 8.8 version:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=17412&ProductFamily=Software+Products&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%C2%AE+RST)&lang=eng https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=17412&ProductFamily=Software+Products&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%C2%AE+RST)&lang=eng

and here for the latest version available:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=22194&ProductFamily=Software+Products&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%C2%AE+RST)&lang=eng https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=22194&ProductFamily=Software+Products&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%C2%AE+RST)&lang=eng

[idata]

Thanks for the tip and the links.