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What will happen, if i remove Optane from Notebook Mainboard and put it back?

Stetto
Beginner
3,357 Views

Hey together,

excuse my english, maybe it is not all correct written or my grammer is **bleep**


I have a big problem like i wrote it here:

https://answers.microsoft.com/de-de/windows/forum/windows_10-update/kein-boot-nach-upgrade-1909-auf-2h20-zwei-windows/0ed42c18-97f3-407d-b5e7-af2c5c3a0cb0?tm=1607170275167

and here

https://community.intel.com/t5/Intel-Optane-Memory/Optane-Memory-cannot-be-detected-after-reinstalling-OS-not/td-p/316950/jump-to/first-unread-message

and here

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/can-not-boot-data-missing-twice-windows-one-volume/td-p/7881818


Before i will start some rescue tries, i will make clones of NVMe modules and put the original in a safe place, so in last step, if i have no luck and nothing of the ideas will work i can gave the original NVMe to a professional forensic rescue company which can work and try a rescue with the original NVMe.

i am looking for answeres to my 5 questions below .. but first a short story and the actual situation resulted of the problem posted above:


I think "i know" that it is no poblem to create clones of the NVMe. I did that already and i have clones of the 1TB SSD on an external 1,5 TB drive (because the NVMe has 1024GB and the normal SSD only 1000GB - exhausting .. so many unthought dependencies ..)

And i cloned the Optane on an usb stick with 32GB. No problem.

That works fine with parted magic linux live cd.


So ... i tested some tools and at the moment it seems to be my data are lost, because i think it looks like my BitLocker metadata are overwritten by the started Windows Update and/or were deleted by changing the GPT partition tables to mbr boot sector .. don't know. missy legacy mode ... i didn't expect s.th. like that

Sector scanning whole disk didn't find my bitlocker, it says:

- Proper metadata signature found, but the metadata is invalid. (0x8000003A)

- Could not validate metadata at offset "3694553600". (0xC000003B)


How i didn't expected that the Optane gives me new hope, but it does.

The disk clone of the optane is bitlockered too - yes, this is logical clearly - Optane and SSD builds one raid with one bitlocker key.


The bitlocker metadata on the optane are fully intact and on another Windows laptop i can unlock the cloned image successful with my known bitlocker key and can access the cached/stored files on the optane.

Now i consider to restore the bitlocker metadata from the optane SSD to the main SSD - do you think that is possible by sector cloning or partition cloning?


Soooooo long about my actual problem. Not to tinker with my anyway bad situation with my Intel NVMe i want to clone the Optane-SSD and Main-SSD to a new one, ordered this today https://ark.intel.com/content/www/de/de/ark/products/189611/intel-optane-memory-h10-with-solid-state-storage-intel-optane-memory-32gb-intel-qlc-3d-nand-ssd-1tb-m-2-80mm-pcie-3-0.html


i think that is the equal one, which sticks in my hp spectre https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-spectre-15-df1000-x360-convertible-pc-series/26084652/model/31595933/troubleshooting?sku=8NH15EA


same way with USB adapter like i created my actuall dumps on SSD, i want to clone the original NVMe to the new NVMe over USB-Adapter with parted magic linux live cd


1.) do you think, this will work?

2.) What will happen, if i have a full functional copy and swap the original NVMe with the clone ... will that work? Or will that disable or destroy the still configured Intel Rapid Raid in Bios?

Will the bios accept this 1to1 sector clone as the same / orignal because UUID are cloned too?

3.) And if the copy will not work, can i put original one back in the laptop or is a swap not reversible?

I want to check and try this, so maybe a BitLocker search with a windows live cd with bitlocker support instead of the linux live test with clones on another system brings more and better possibility, because the volume/partition search with repair-bde can search the full raid-volume for the bitlocker metadata and will find this on the optane

BUT I AM AFRAID that this brings more problems as solutions ...

4.) And last idea is the attempt to repair the damaged raid system with recover the original partitions on the overwritten NVMe by insert a new NVMe to the machine and install Windows with factory defaults and clone the GPT partition tables which should be the same like my laptop as i bought it before i has them overwritten with mbr partition table in legacy mode by windows setup .. *facepalm* did't know about this incompatibility and there did't came a warning, that the intel raid exist and is not compatible ...

5.) How does Intel Rapid Raid work? Where can i find more deeper informations? That isn't a Raid 0, no raid 1, no JBOD .. it is anything special .. is there any special solution to repair a raid like this with special intel software and without deleting and loosing files on the NVMe-SSD???


Did you have any futher informations or solution ideas for this problems and questions?


I will be really glad, thankful, happy for any assistant to get my important data back


thank you for reading and hope you understand my english and the situation.


all solutions like simple recover the drives by factory defaults, bios recovery, hp recovery and so forth are no options, because that will delete and format all the rest of the 500GB of files on the NVMe.


I don't want to give up, because the working bitlocker metadata is stored on the optane and bitlocker BEK-File and Recovery key exists too.

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3 Replies
BrusC_Intel
Employee
3,308 Views

Hello, @Stetto.

 

Thank you for contacting Intel Community Support.

 

I reviewed your ticket regarding Intel Optane Memory recovery and cloning, I will be glad to assist you.

 

After reviewing your case and the details provided, I have to begin by saying that what you are trying is not supported nor validated by us and it would be better to perform a clean OS installation to get the system up and running, or to contact a professional data recovery company in case it is imperative for you to recover the files.

 

1.) Do you think, this will work?

 

Performing the steps you mentioned for cloning could have unpredictable results and I do not think it will work, there is not even guarantee that you will even be able to clone to the Optane H10 or that it is even supported by your system.

 

2.) What will happen, if i have a full functional copy and swap the original NVMe with the clone ... will that work? Or will that disable or destroy the still configured Intel Rapid Raid in Bios?

Will the bios accept this 1to1 sector clone as the same / orignal because UUID are cloned too?

 

There is no official answer for this, but replacing the Optane Module will destroy the pairing with the other drive, even if you install a drive that is, supposedly, a copy or clone of the original, but as mentioned before, this is not supported nor validated by us.

 

3.) And if the copy will not work, can i put original one back in the laptop or is a swap not reversible?

I want to check and try this, so maybe a BitLocker search with a windows live cd with bitlocker support instead of the linux live test with clones on another system brings more and better possibility, because the volume/partition search with repair-bde can search the full raid-volume for the bitlocker metadata and will find this on the optane

 

Most of the time, taking the Optane Module out of the system will have no impact as long as you do not perform any changes or try to boot, you may even try to take both (Optane Module and SSD) to a different system and they would work fine. If you take just the Optane Module out and try to boot, the OS may try to repair itself and fail, and this attempt to repair itself will prevent the Optane Module to pair correctly once you install it back, but again, this is not official and is unpredictable.

 

BUT I AM AFRAID that this brings more problems as solutions ...

 

I think the same.

 

4.) And last idea is the attempt to repair the damaged raid system with recover the original partitions on the overwritten NVMe by insert a new NVMe to the machine and install Windows with factory defaults and clone the GPT partition tables which should be the same like my laptop as i bought it before i has them overwritten with mbr partition table in legacy mode by windows setup .. *facepalm* did't know about this incompatibility and there did't came a warning, that the intel raid exist and is not compatible 

 

There is no comment I can provide regarding this one.

 

5.) How does Intel Rapid Raid work? Where can i find more deeper informations? That isn't a Raid 0, no raid 1, no JBOD .. it is anything special .. is there any special solution to repair a raid like this with special intel software and without deleting and loosing files on the NVMe-SSD???

 

There are no official ways to recover a failed pairing of Optane + SSD/HDD, it is always recommended to keep a backup of the information in case anything happens.

 

Did you have any futher informations or solution ideas for this problems and questions?

 

There are no official methods or information we can provide in order to recover the information or clone the drives. For cloning, we always recommend to disable the Optane Memory acceleration and then clone the storage drive, the same applies if you are migrating the drives to a different computer.

 

Right now there are many variables involved, including BitLocker encryption, making it even more difficult for you to perform any recovery attempts.

 

With all this being said, there are no recommendations we can provide as this goes beyond our scope of support.

 

If you have other questions or I can assist you with something else, please let me know, I will follow up on December 14th or you can let me know a different date to follow up if necessary.

 

Best regards,

 

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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BrusC_Intel
Employee
3,260 Views

Hello, @Stetto.

 

I wanted to follow up on your thread to check if I can help you with anything else beside what we previously discussed. 

 

If I can be of assistance, please let me know, otherwise I will proceed to close the thread on December 17th.

 

Best regards,

 

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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BrusC_Intel
Employee
3,245 Views

Hello, @Stetto.

 

This post is to follow up on your thread regarding Optane Memory and data recovery.

 

I previously mentioned that what you are trying is not supported nor validated by us, along with the suggestion of contacting a data recovery professional if recovering the files is crucial.

 

The thread will be closed right now since there has been no confirmation about additional support or questions, please open a new thread if you still need assistance as this one will no longer be monitored, or contact us via one of the other support methods (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html).

 

Best regards,

 

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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