HighPoint RocketRAID raidtool
Thanks to Gegereka I managed to download the raidtool.exe, and share it here for your convenience.
raidtool.exe (ZIP)
I could not locate it on the manufacturer’s website, although they do have a good driver selection, e.g. for the Highpoint Rocketraid 2300
If you’re under no time pressure you might consider getting in touch with HighPoint’s customer support first.
You have to run the raid tool from DOS. Download a boot disk creator from here. I used DOS 6.22 without problems, having DOS on one floppy disk and the rocketraid tool on another floppy (you can just switch them after booting, use dir to show the contents and type raidtool to start the raidtool).
Before you do anything else: write down the information about your current RAID setup. You can get it by using ARRAY->Information / other self-explanatory menu entries. You will need it later to recreate the RAID. Information you will need includes: Array name, RAID type, Cache policy, Block size and sector size.
Tip: also write down the exact identifiers of your harddrives (even same models have unique numbers in the end) and which channel and place which harddrive is assigned. You might need it later to recreate the exactly same RAID setup you had.
You have to delete the RAID(s) and create a new one (use enter in the drives window to enumerate the drives in the correct order, numbers will appear beside them, then use create from the Array menu.)
You also might want to save the previous configuration to the floppy before deleting.
Attention!! Ensure that no initialization / keep old data is selected! () The tool will apply the new RAID information once you OK the dialog.
I Repeat: do NOT initialise the drives – this means actually deleting the data which is on them! (There’s also an option to do that in the BIOS / boot time configuration. Do not use it!)
Be sure to check out this very helpful thread in it’s completeness on the hardforum before working with the tool. Below, I reproduce an essential part from it – should the hardforum ever remove the thread.
“Hello,
Attached is a RAID recovery utility – it may be able to remove the disabled status.
The disabled status is assigned in cases where multiple disks have failed, or the parity is faulty.
Try using the all of the original disks first (including the drive originally listed as failed).
It requires that the system be booted to DOS mode, and is able to access the card’s BIOS/firmware.
It is a graphical utility that is similar to our controller cards’ BIOS display.
Instructions:
The utility is as a compressed file (.zip format).
It’s DOS based, and graphical – it responds to standard keyboard inputs.
If you need a DOS boot diskette or CD image, we recommend visiting this site (downloads are free):
To run, boot to a DOS floppy, and use the following command:
raidtool.exe
Use the arrow, Alt, and Tab keys to navigate the windows, and the Enter key to select a device (disk, array), and execute a command.
It is capable of many different functions.
The function you will want to use are:
Save Array Info
Delete Array
Create Array
1) Use the arrow/tab keys to highlight the array, then press the Spacebar or Enter to select it.
2) Click Alt and use the arrow keys to highlight the “Array” tab. Press down and select the “Save Array Info” option – this will save the current RAID configuration to the floppy – we can have engineering analyze this necessary (default disk order is sequential – channels 1 through 4).
Next, use the “Save MBR” option – as above, this will save the configuration data to the floppy.
3) Next, use the Delete option, and delete the RAID arrays.
This option will not delete actual, useable data from any of the disks, and will not damage the partition tables – it was designed specifically not to. It is simply a way clear out any junk RAID data, or “disabled” status from the disks.
4) Next, use the Create option and recreate the array. This is similar to the card’s BIOS menu.
Do not worry about the Build options in this case.
If it insists you select an option, choose “No Initialization”.
Once recreated, exit the utility and reboot – make sure the card’s BIOS recognizes the array correctly (Press Control + H when prompted).
If not, you can always run this utility again – it can be used as many times as needed. Do not attempt to rebuild or verify the array unless you can access the volume. “
My own story
I was asked to help with file recovery on a Windows 2003 server running completely off a RocketRAID 2300. 4 drives à 400 GB capacity connected together in a RAID 5. The problem was: the second drive was marked “critical“, and the fourth drive failed completely once it was accessed, and was marked “disabled“. Meaning, I would not be able to run the RAID at all, even for recovery purposes.
As things were, it would not even boot into Windows Server 2003 – it would keep restarting before reaching the login screen. After using F8 to enter the advanced boot options, I disabled “automatic restart on failure” (translated from German), and got a blue screen instead: “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME”
If I would rescan from the management tool, the RAID would come up again, trying to rebuild itself – and failing.
After using the raidtool.exe to rebuild the RAID properly, I could not boot into the (native) Windows on the RAID anymore: “NTLDR is damaged”.
File recovery software
- http://www.totalrecall.com/data_recovery_software_windows.html
- http://www.ontrack.de/kostenlose-software/
Linux
There are drivers for Linux, also this document unspecifically about dmraid might be of some interest. Unfortunately, I fear, that it is too complicated to set up a new Linux with correctly installed drivers and settings for recovery purposes and could even destroy data. I have not tried it and advise against it for people who are not Linux-savvy and know their way around the tools already.
Further reading
Here’s a good overview introduction to RocketRAID cards (RR 2340) – they’re not “entirely” a hardware RAID system.
Use Wikipedia to read more about RAIDs.
