Re:undo raid0 intel optane memory and storage management

IDidItAgain · ‎08-24-2020

I have an Acer Helios 300 which I have installed a second storage device in. I decided it would be a great idea to create a raid 0 with 2 different sized drives. So now I'm looking to undo it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

System information:

Predator PH315-52

16GB ram

2 m.2 NVME drives of 256GB and 512GB

AndrewG_Intel · ‎08-25-2020

Hello IDidItAgain,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

In order to check this further, could you please provide the following information?

1- Screenshot showing the status of the RAID volume/disks on Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) User Interface program:

2- System Report for Intel® Rapid Storage Technology following the steps on this link:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006351/technologies.html

3- Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) report following these steps:

Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-
Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".
To save your scan, click Next and click Save.

Note: To upload and attach a file, use the "Drag and drop here or browse files to attach" dialog below the edit box.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

IDidItAgain · ‎08-30-2020

Since posting I reinstalled windows and was not able to undo the raid. I cant undo the raid from bios either. I also dont have the intel rapid storage technology program anymore. due to end of life it swiched me over to intel optane memory and storage management.

AndrewG_Intel · ‎08-28-2020

Hello IDidItAgain,

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you need further assistance. If you have additional concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us back.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

AndrewG_Intel · ‎09-01-2020

Hello IDidItAgain

Thank you for your response.

Could you please confirm the following information to check this further?

1- What do you mean when you said: "can't undo the raid from BIOS"? Do you mean that the BIOS does not have options for this task? Or are you receiving an error message? Could you please provide more details?

2- What version of the Intel® Optane™ Memory and Storage Management User Interface are you running on the system?

3- Intel® RST driver version:

Open Device Manager as Administrator.
Expand Storage Controllers.
Right-click Intel® Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium Controller.
Click Properties.
Select the Driver tab.

4- Is the operating system installed on the RAID volume?

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

IDidItAgain · ‎09-01-2020

There is not an option in the bios. No error codes.

Screenshot includes product version and driver version. Double checked in device manager just in case

Yes OS is installed on the raid drives.

Thank you for your help

If I save an image as a backup would that create a problem when restoring once the raid is undone? I did not think it would but a second opinion doesn't hurt

AndrewG_Intel · ‎09-03-2020

Hello IDidItAgain

Thank you for your response.

The Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management User Interface allows to delete volumes from the Manage Main View with the exception of the boot volume (Under ‘Status’ or ‘Manage’, we need to click on the volume to delete. The user will be presented with the volume properties on the left, then we need to click on "Delete Volume").

However, since the operating system is installed on the RAID drives (a bootable volume), we need to delete it from the "Intel RAID Option ROM utility" or from the BIOS. This varies from one manufacturer to another.

Could you please check if you are able to access Intel RAID Option ROM utility by pressing the key combination "Ctrl + I" during the POST process? Please provide some pictures showing the options available.

Note: "Ctrl + I" may not work for your system since it may need a different key combination or a different process. We recommend checking with ACER® support for the proper instructions.

We have searched on the User's Manual* and on their website* but could not find any reference to Intel® RST on BIOS or Option ROM utility:

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/7983?b=1&pn=NH.Q54SV.002&sn=NHQ54SV002920061DB2600

If you are not able to access the Intel RAID Option ROM utility, please provide pictures from your BIOS, for instance: Main tab, SATA configuration, SATA Mode, Drives, etc.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

*Links to third-party sites and references to third-party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, Intel® is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third-party endorsement of Intel® or any of its products is implied.

IDidItAgain · ‎09-03-2020

This is what I expected since other support questions have the same response. Ctrl + I does not work for acer devices and I was unable to find anything in the user manual either. So I contacted acer support already and I have this from a person who is not an acer employee.

This no longer works apparently

"Download the RAID tool
ftp://ftp.acer-euro.com/Notebook/Predator/G9-793/RAID_Tool.zip

Right click the downloaded RAID_Tool.zip file
click on "Extract all"
Click on "Browse..."
Click on "Computer"
Click on "C:" (normally it's labeled "Acer (C: )
Click on "Ok"
Click on "Extract"

Now click on the Windows logo at the bottom left of your screen
Click on the Power icon
Press Shift key and click on "Restart"
On the next screen click on "Troubleshooting"
On the next screen click on "Advanced settings"
On the next screen click on "Command Prompt"
Select your account and type your password (if any)

At Command prompt
type C:
type CD Raid_tool
type delete

Once successfully deleted, press Enter and then reboot your PC.
The RAID array will be deleted."

This no longer works apparently creating another post below with supposed fix

Just completed an image backup so im going to try this and hopefully it will work. Will update once done so you can advise people in the future. Thanks for your help

IDidItAgain · ‎09-03-2020

Try number 2:

"the RAID tool doesn't work anymore, the only way to break the RAID array is using a Gparted live bootable image and format the HDD as NFTS, deleting any partition on it or (if it didn't work) wipe/erase completly writing 0 on the HDD (HDD only, not SSD)
https://gparted.org/livecd.php

or you can try this (i don't have a RAID system to test it):
1) press Alt+F10 at boot to enter Windows recovery then choose troubleshoot - Advanced options - Command Prompt
if this worked jump to point

2) download a windows 10 iso using Microsof tool:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

select the proper windows 10 version (the same installed on your laptop) and choose to save it as iso file when prompted

3) download Rufus:

http://rufus.akeo.ie/?locale=en_US

plug your USB flash drive, run Rufus then:

select ISO image from the dropdown menu near "Create a bootable disk"

click on the little icon on the right and browse to the windows 10 downloaded iso file

as Partitions scheme select "GPT partition scheme for UEFI"

as File system select "FAT32"

click on Start

wait until it finish, then uplug your USB flash drive

4) backup all your personal data

5) Reboot to BIOS, pressing F2 at boot if it's a laptop or Del key if it's a desktop, then press F9 to load default and F10 to save and exit

6) plug your USB flash drive and at boot press F12 (if F12 doesn't work, see if it auto-recognise the USB flash drive or press F2 or Del key to enter BIOS and enable F12 boot menu under BOOT tab), choose the USB flash drive as bootable device

7) once at language/keyboard selection, press shift+F10, a command prompt will open

type

Diskpart

list disk

select disk x (x is the number of your HDD // not SSD!!!)

clean all

exit

exit again to close command prompt

It will take some hours to completly wipe the HDD and probably you will need to re-install windows 10 from scratch, so backup all the data you need!"

hopefully this will work. I was hoping not to do this but it seems like there is no easier way

IntelSupport · ‎09-04-2020

Hello IDidItAgain

Thank you for your response and detailed information.

As you mentioned it has been observed that "Ctrl + I" is not available for some Acer computers. Since we do not handle information about the technical details and features of your laptop's BIOS that's the reason why we wanted to get more details or screenshots regarding the options available in your BIOS since one step we could try is setting the disks to Non-RAID.

Nevertheless, we understand that you are in the process of trying additional steps to solve the problem. Please feel free to share any feedback or outcome of those steps.

Sincerely,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

AndrewG_Intel · ‎09-09-2020

Hello IDidItAgain

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you need further assistance. Should you have additional concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us back.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

AndrewG_Intel · ‎09-14-2020

Hello IDidItAgain

We have not heard back from you so we will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer being monitored.

It has been a pleasure to assist you.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician