Very Slow RST RAID5 initialisation on Z790 - Help please!

[Richie2]

Hi there, I'm experiencing very slow initialisation of a RAID 5 array. ASROCK z790 pro rs wifi - BIOS version 14.02 - Latest Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 2x 8gb DDR5 RAM The Intel RST Driver is 20.0.0.1038.3 Running Win 11 Enterprise - Fully updated OS is running on a M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive The RAID 5 array is on 3x (new and empty) 12tb Seagate Ironwolf NAS SATA drives. These are connected to the onboard motherboard controller. I've assigned the drives to the array in the bios, which also showed up in the RST windows application, but initialisation is taking waaaay too long, 4% after 24 hours!!! CPU usage is low, it isn't doing anything other than initialising the array at the moment. The PC is a new build and is running fine with no issues other than the RAID5 problem As a test I can deleted the RST RAID5 array and setup the drives in Windows Storage Spaces (with parity). This seemed to work ok, a quick format had it up and running in minutes. Storage spaces doesn't have great reviews however and I thought RST would be a more professional and reliable solution (maybe I'm wrong). Surely it isn't supposed to take a month to initialise an empty array!!?? Is there an issue with the drivers or am I doing something wrong?? Help please! Richie

[Earl_Intel]

Hi Richie2,

Thank you for posting in the communities!

Upon checking on your concern, I was able to look for an article about "RAID 5 Initialization Extremely Slow on Z790"

Information about the issue:

• What is the normal time for this process?
• This depends on the disk performance. For example, different performance between GEN3/GEN4 NVMe, SATA SSD, SATA HDD 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm.
• Assuming this is abnormal, what could be the cause?
• We previously observed one performance issue related to SATA HDD cache design. Ex: Seagate ST500LX025.
• If this eventually finishes, then someday a drive fails, does that also mean I'm looking at a similar time frame to rebuild the lost data? If so, I need to rethink RAID 5 as a viable option and get another drive for 0+1.
• If one disk fails, it can still work, and you can get a new disk to rebuild RAID5. This rebuild can be done by the HSA app.
• While initializing, the task manager shows zero drive activity. Is this normal?
• RAID initializing is mainly working inside the RST driver.
• While initializing, disk benchmark numbers drop tremendously. Read/write goes from 220/200 down to like 40/20. Normal?
• Since the RST driver is working on the initializing, it’s expected the performance will be impacted.

Source link: RAID 5 Initialization Extremely Slow on Z790

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Richie2]

Hi,

Firstly apologies. I used the chrome browser for my initial post and all the formatting disappeared. Your website seems to work better in Edge. Please see my responses/questions to your previous reply.

Information about the issue:

• What is the normal time for this process?
• This depends on the disk performance. For example, different performance between GEN3/GEN4 NVMe, SATA SSD, SATA HDD 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm.

The array is 3x 7200rpm SATA HDD 12tb Seagate Ironwolfs, ST12000VN0008. Surely anything more than a couple of days can't be normal, let alone 20-30 days?

• Assuming this is abnormal, what could be the cause?
• We previously observed one performance issue related to SATA HDD cache design. Ex: Seagate ST500LX025.

Well, did you come up with a solution? I note the latest RST driver release is 4/14/2023. Was this issue also related to the Z790 chipset? Did it occur with other brands of HDD? Is there a fix?

• If this eventually finishes, then someday a drive fails, does that also mean I'm looking at a similar time frame to rebuild the lost data? If so, I need to rethink RAID 5 as a viable option and get another drive for 0+1.
• If one disk fails, it can still work, and you can get a new disk to rebuild RAID5. This rebuild can be done by the HSA app.

I haven't even got this far, but what is the HSA app? Does the RST software not rebuild the array.

• While initializing, the task manager shows zero drive activity. Is this normal?
• RAID initializing is mainly working inside the RST driver.

So there is a problem with the RST driver?

• While initializing, disk benchmark numbers drop tremendously. Read/write goes from 220/200 down to like 40/20. Normal?
• Since the RST driver is working on the initializing, it’s expected the performance will be impacted.

My array is empty.

Having now done some further research I note that other people have reported similar issues with both the z690 and z790 chipsets by different manufacturers, suggesting it is a driver problem. Is there a fix, if not do you have any intention of fixing this?

This is very disappointing to be honest. Myself and a friend were discussing the merits of an AMD build over an intel build the other day, and it would appear that I may have chosen wrongly.

Richie 

[Earl_Intel]

Hello Richie2,

Thank you for sharing this useful information with us.

I deeply apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

Rest assured that I will further check on your concern and will try to come up with a solution.

Kindly run this on your system so that I can gauge the following peripherals and the driver versions that you have:

Intel® System Support Utility for Windows*

Once finished downloading, open the tool, click on scan (leave the default items checked), click next, then save the system information to a .txt file.

Please provide us the .txt file.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Richie2]

Thank you for the reply,

Scan file attached.

Richie

[Earl_Intel]

Hello Richie2,

Thank you for providing the SSU logs.

I'll further check on this internally and provide you an update on this thread as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Richie2]

Hi,

It has been over three weeks now and I've had no reply. This is very disappointing.

It is clear that other people are also have problems with RAID implementations on z790 chipsets. I can't workout why this was not identified and resolved at a much earlier date.

Also now you have my SSU log, could you please delete the file from the forum post. I would rather that it wasn't in the public domain.

Richie

[Richie2]

Any update on this issue?

[Ramiro85]

Hello, I'm having the same issue here:

System:

•   MB Asus Z790 Rog strix Wifi D4
•  Inel(R) Core(TM) i7-14700 2.10 GHz
• 32GB RAM
• 1x WD BLUE SSD 500GB (system OS)
• 2xWD NAS (RED) 6TB (clean with no data) more than 2 days to generate RAID 

Training to generate new raid 1 (no rebuild nor data to copy)... 

VMD driver installed and system updated bios and drivers

Tried in other system with same hardware (same MB and i7 and m2 SSD system drive )  and 2x1TB WD NAS  (RED)  and took 1.5 days to generate.

Also when coping data TO or FROM the array speed is not constant and fluctuates allot ,  looks like hangs and drops to 10MB/sec for 3  minutes then speeds ups then drops again (have seen drops to 1MB/s) 

Same hardware without RAID 1 no drops on speed no issues when copying the same files...  Performance is terrible when using RAID 1 on Z790

I also have a  old Asus  z170-A  Motherboard and i5 processor with 8gb ram,  have finished the same process in less than 14 hours with the same OS and the same 6TB drives. ALSO, THERE IS No speed fluctuation on this motherboard with Raid 1 on the same disks, when I copy data.

Its impossible that and older system takes less than 1/4 of the time than the newer system... 

I have no doubt there is a problem with the RAID CONTROLLER or the driver on the  z790.  
Disks are not the problem because I  tried with several WD RED NAS sizes in pairs (2x1TB 2x2TB and 2x6TB and all perform horrible in Z790

Hope to get an updated driver or something to solve the issue (I have 3 Z790 motherboards with raid and every single one performs terrible with RAID 1). 

[Richie2]

Any update on this?

Could you please remove my post with the SCAN file attached?

[Richie2]

IS ANYONE THERE???

CAN YOU GIVE ME AN UPDATE ON THE Z790 RST DRIVER ISSUE???

AND FOR THE THIRD TIME OF ASKING, PLEASE REMOVE MY POSTED SCAN FILE POST.

AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE INTEL, TRULY AMAZING!!!!!!!

[AlHill]

@Richie2   Do not be afraid to release the CAPS LOCK.

Doc (not an Intel employee or contractor)
[W10 is this generation's XP]

[Richie2]

Given the fact that Intel has ignored my posts for over a month now I'M NOT AT ALL INCLINED TO RELEASE THE CAPS LOCK!

[Earl_Intel]

Hi Richie2,

I deeply apologize for the delayed response from our end.

Intel is currently investigating the cause of the issue, but to further troubleshoot it, can you check whether 3*12TB HDDs can be recognized by BIOS? if so, could you create RAID5 in BIOS first to see if there will be any improvements on initialization.

Best regards,

Earl E.

Intel Customer Support Technician