Rebuilding RAID 5

[tewas]

Hi guys,

So i have got this problem today due to my stupid mistake. I don't know where to begin but here it goes:
I loaded Bios defaults on restart, which promptly reset my values to default. Usually it's not that big of a deal except my motherboard has RAID controller and i have 2 separate RAIDs running, 5 and 0. Now both of those are broken, and the Intel Matrix Storage manager gladly informs me that i have two disks missing and few "spare" disks that are not in any raid. The disks are fine, they are working and they still have data on it (i boot from separate non-raided disk).

My question is if it is possible to tell the controller that those missing disks are right there? The boot time controller does give me option to create raid, but that will destroy all the data that i have right now, so that option is out of question.
The worst case scenario probably would be to buy data recovery software and extract data from RAID disks and re-create the raid, but that would cost ~$500 for software and extra drive to store the data while i'm playing with RAID configuration.

So if anyone has any ideas, tips of how i could avoid spending that kind of money i would appreciate.

I run Win7-64Ultimate bit with Asus P5B-Deluxe motherboard.

Thanks

 

[Dwarf]

Although most motherboards are RAID capable, this option has to be explicitly enabled in the BIOS. By default, the RAID option in the BIOS is set to disabled. You can have RAID enabled on the board, and still be able to boot from a non-RAIDed drive, as it is possible to select which drives should be part of a RAID array and which should not.

Since you reset the BIOS to its defaults, just check the options there and I'm pretty sure you'll find that is what has happened.

 

[tewas]

That was exactly what happened. The default setting in my motherboard is set to IDE configuration, once i set to RAID, my software RAID controller came back alive but with only 1 disk in each raid. As you all know RAID 5 cannot function with only 1 disk, it needs at least 2 working ones and only 1 can be down. Neither of the disks are down and now i try to find a way to point controller to the two disks and tell it to use for RAID 5. Hell if i could point to one disk, another could be rebuild.
I've attached the Intel Matrix Storage screenshot in case anyone need more info.

WD1001FALS-00J7B1 disks should be in raid 5
WD3200AAKS-XXXXX should be in raid 0
Remaining disk is working and have my OS loaded on.


Thanks

 

[Dwarf]

Hi tewas,

Well, that's a start. However, not only have you got to enable RAID in the BIOS, but you have also got to assign the disks to the array.

 

[tewas]

Assigning disks to the array is where i need help with. The controller (when booting up) gives you and option to create/delete array, but i can't use them, due to data preservation.
I also found a program called Restorer Ultimate that claims to be able to recover from failed RAID5 config. For now i'm just scanning my disks trying to find out what would be the best course of action. If anyone used it, or heard anything about software i would appreciate your input.