Undoing Nvidia RAID HDDs

[€uro]

Yes, when I said flashing the BIOS, I meant using the jumper to reset the BIOS to its default data.

[€uro]

Yes, I am not rushing this one because a mistake could be costlty. Also I did make the mistake of thinking the MBR was on the disc. I have just run the command line "as administrator" & typed "help", but there are not the FIXMBR or anything like it commands, so I guess I need a manual on MS-DOS?

[jazzbo]

Hello Folks

I suggest using the "FIXMBR" from the control console(Windows XP-Pro)..
XP Pro doesnt have "DOS" as such..The control console looks like a DOS screen but has its own set of commands..

On my version (WinXP-Pro Corp.ED.)Hers's how I get to the console..

*Boot up with the XP Disk ..
*When the screen says "PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT TO CD"---Press a key...
*OK the EULA screen(if one appears){F8 Key]
--Next Screen--
*Choices
----------------------------------------------
 1. "INSTALL FRESH WIN XP"[Enter Key]
-or-
 2. "REPAIR SETUP FROM CONSOLE"[R Key]
----------------------------------------------------
Choice (1)[Enter Key] will  lead to a screen which allows you to either :
Install a fressh (OEM) Setup of the Windows
-or-
Do a non-destructive Repair to an existing setup
(I'd do this first if possible)[R Key]
-------------------------------------------------------
Choice (2)[R Key] Will take you to the "CONSOLE"

You will have to log on"ADMIN" and give password(if appliccable)
to see the
>C:\Windows< Prompt

At this Prompt Type HELP to see the command list including "FIXMBR" etc..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is not DOS so DOS commands dont work here..
You can do a lot from this Prompt but it takes some familiarizing..
Type The "help fixmbr" or (help anycommand) to see the switches available..

Good Luck

jazzbo.......................................

[€uro]

>FIXMBR

"this computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record

FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed

this could cause all the partitions on thecurrent hard disk to become inaccessible

if you are not having problems accessing your hard drive do not continue"

>y

new MBR sucessfully written.

>EXIT

***************
XP booted, so I tried to boot vista with one of the spare drives, but no luck. vista still boots on its own. The spare drives are still problematic.

[shoarthing]

>FIXMBR

"this computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record

FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed

this could cause all the partitions on thecurrent hard disk to become inaccessible

if you are not having problems accessing your hard drive do not continue"

>y

new MBR sucessfully written.

>EXIT

***************
XP booted, so I tried to boot vista with one of the spare drives, but no luck. vista still boots on its own. The spare drives are still problematic.

 - if you can now POST with one of these HDDs attached; boot as detailed above to a W98SE boot/system floppy with NO OTHER HDD ATTACHED (other than the one you want to fix) & run:

fdisk /mbr 

 - this will erase/overwrite the previous MBR

 - then run:

fdisk

 - choose to make one primary partition

 - then (optional but may make life simpler) run:

format C:

 - choose to make one big partition.

 - you will now have an olde-worlde FAT32 HDD, which you can reformat/faff with at your leisure/pleasure.

[edit] - this doesn't work with HDDs larger than 128GB; you then need a third-party realmode tool if working from DOS.

[€uro]

I have not been able to find win 98 boot disc as yet. I tried booting to the repair console on the XP cd but it did not have fdisk, so I tried to format, but it said the disc was invalid.

[shoarthing]

I have not been able to find win 98 boot disc as yet

- perhaps you might like to read my [first] reply here - it contains a link to d/l suitable self-writing floppy images.

[€uro]

Vista crashed & would not reboot, so I enabled RAID in the BIOS, but did not enable any of the ports specifically for RAID, & vista booted. When it crashed I got the charcteristic buzzing sound from the HDD. Am now going to download Ultimate Boot CD 4.03 from Computeractive, & see if it can diagnose/solve anything.

[shoarthing]

OK - You really need to approach this in a systematic way.

I'll repeat what you need to do:

a) Get the motherboard to POST with (only - no other HDD attached) one of these iffy HDDs attached & with NVRaid completely disabled; then
b) Boot to floppy/CD & use your utility of choice to clear the MBR of each of these HDDs - I would use FDISK from DOS . .
c)  . . . then you can do with them what you will.

 . . . unlees you absolutely must run NV firmware RAID do *not* use NVIDIA drivers, above all NVRaid drivers from their NFORCE package, in Windows - roll back to the default MS drivers & uninstall all/any NV IDE/SATA/RAID drivers. The MS versions are stable & work OK.


Please post here with exact details if you cannot do the first step.

[€uro]

Found a win 95 boot floppy with fdisk. Turned off Quick POST in BIOS. Connected iffy disc. Booted to floppy & did a fdisk /mbr. Got not reply, just another prompt, so assumed to be OK & tried to boot vista with iffy disc, but no luck, except iffy disc does not give buzzing sound? RAID is disabled on all ports. Should I do fdisk several times or for every disc before attemting boot, or should I have formatted as well?

[shoarthing]

Good: glad to hear progress is being made.

You may find it useful to read this post & follow the steps - as I have said repeatedly, I recommend using a W98SE system floppy, tho' a W95OSR2 one *might* be OK.

Each disk after 'fdisk /mbr' should be returned to a usable state. Running 'fdisk' [after this] on each disk & choosing to make one large primary partition *may* simplify life, in that each disk will then have a working MBR for standalone [ie non-RAID] use.

Formatting this partition [from DOS] will give you a working standalone HDD with a single FAT32 partition - I personally would do this just to make sure each disk functions OK.

[€uro]

Downloaded win98se bootdisc from bootdisk.com, & wrote it to floppy. Booted to floppy with iffy drive attached, did fdisk /mbr, no reply as before. Tried to boot vista with iffy disk, same as before with buzzing sound from iffy disk. Went back to boot on win98se & did format C: then tried to boot vista & iffy disc with same result.

[shoarthing]

Please read my posts & follow the steps.

If you a) have permanently disabled NVRaid, & b) have run fdisk /mbr, then fdisk & made one large primary, then formatted the iffy HDDs you should be OK.

See if you can install Windows to one of 'em when you've finished.

You may well need to repair your Vista installation, but that is a separate issue.

[€uro]

Next I did fdisk /mbr for the disc containing XP pro, it still booted on its own, so I then tried to boot it with iffy disc, but it did not. That was conclusive for me, but for completeness I did  fdisk /mbr on 2nd iffy disc & tried to boot XP with it. Same result. I was not going to format the 2nd iffy disc as case was already proven, especially since both discs had previously been formatted using the XP install disc. I hope that stability of the OS discs has been gained, if nothing else. I did the fdisk /mbr on the vista disc also.

[shoarthing]

Next I did fdisk /mbr for the disc containing XP pro, it still booted on its own, so I then tried to boot it with iffy disc, but it did not.

. .  what on earth are you thinking about? I have said, repeatedly, that you run fdisk /mbr only on your iffy ex-RAID HDDs to get 'em back to a usable non-RAID status. Do you believe you can somehow get at a WinXP install which was onceuponnatime on a NV RAID volume? Is that in fact what you wanted to do? If so, why didn't you say?

. . That was conclusive for me, but for completeness I did  fdisk /mbr on 2nd iffy disc & tried to boot XP with it

(my emphasis) - again; what are you trying to do? What do you think you are trying to do? How on earth can you hope to boot WinXP off half an ex-RAID array which you've just run fdisk on?

. . . Same result. I was not going to format the 2nd iffy disc as case was already proven, especially since both discs had previously been formatted using the XP install disc. I hope that stability of the OS discs has been gained, if nothing else. I did the fdisk /mbr on the vista disc also.

 . .  to get off Planet Fluffy; can we return to what you actually want to do with these HDDs?  . . In your first post you said:

I have two 120Gb Seagate Barracuda HDDs which were used in Nvidia RAID arrays . . . . . 
I want to use these two drives as non-RAID, so what I think I need is a bootable floppy/cd with a utility to sort the beginning of the drives out?

You have received exact & accurate [& repeated] instructions on how to do this. If you do not understand what 'fdisk' is, either say so here or Google (see the first link) for a description of what this utility is & what commandline switches [ie: options] are available.

Seriously, the issue here is PEBCAK; but we've all been there & there's no shame in it . . .