Did Windows Update kill my RAID drive?

[ATJ]

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit. I have (or maybe I should say HAD now) a Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition II external drive in RAID 1 configuration which I use to store all my photos (plus some other things).

On Friday night Windows notified me I had a Windows Update to be processed and so I shutdown the PC to install. (I don't understand why it only gets installed with a shutdown and not a reboot.) During the shutdown it installed 8 updates and took an hour or so. When it came back, it appeared that my USB ports were no longer working although I didn't notice until Saturday morning when my iPad had not been charging at all.

I shut the PC down again, and there was another update to be installed. I installed that, too. When the machine came back, the USB ports appeared to be working again, but my WD drive was complaining about an error. It is normally plugged into one USB port so I moved it to another one and it came back up, but said it needed to rebuild the RAID array.

The rebuilding of the RAID array ran from Saturday morning until Sunday night. I'm not sure if it actually finished because the RAID manager said it was at 99% but the tray icon said it was healthy. I safely ejected the USB cable and plugged it back to its normal slot but I was getting the error again. RAID manager says device not found. I even tried it in a different PC and its the same story.

Is there anyone else out there with Windows 7 64bit that had some updates install in the last week? Did you have any problems with USB ports?

[dviv]

I had some updates run and had a problem with the USB keyboard afterwards (but not the USB mouse ) I did a reboot and everything seemed fine. (I didn't think anything of it at the time)

I didn't have any USB drives plugged in at the time (I only turn them on when I need them)

I realise that's not much help, but it does seem that there was something wierd going on with USB.

[ATJ]

I realise that's not much help, but it does seem that there was something wierd going on with USB.

Thanks, David. That is a help.

[ATJ]

Assuming it is just the RAID controller that has died, and the data on the disks is intact, do you reckon I could buy a new WD My Book (can't get the exact same model as they have been superceded) and put my old drives in the new enclosure? Is RAID generic or would it be specific to the controller?

Alternatively, could I put the single drives into a standard enclosure?

[photohiker]

I'd suggest contacting WD before you do anything more.

These sorts of problems can easily become unrecoverable because the number of attempts to get at the data can land up mangling it.

Michael

[DaveB]

Assuming it is just the RAID controller that has died, and the data on the disks is intact

That is an assumption. You've gone through one apparently-unsuccessful cycle of rebuilding the data, so who knows what state the data is in?

Have you been able/unable to access the unit through another computer system? Maybe it's OK but Windows is just refusing to talk to it? The messages about needing to rebuild the RAID array: which software generates those? Has it been broken by the Windows update? Does it need to be patched?

do you reckon I could buy a new WD My Book (can't get the exact same model as they have been superceded) and put my old drives in the new enclosure?

This is a question for WD's Support people. Certainly I think it's got a high chance of working. Higher than most other options. I suspect if you choose a new model and go through its support database online you might find a statement about which earlier models disks are supported from. They do make these so you can replace the disks yourself in the event of a disk failure, so it's an issue they're sure to have run into before.

Is RAID generic or would it be specific to the controller?

Definitely not generic!

Alternatively, could I put the single drives into a standard enclosure?

No, I don't think putting the plain drives into a JBOD (Just Boring Old Disks) enclosure would help. I don't think Windows will understand the WD RAID system. WD's online Knowledge Base will surely have something to say about this.


Mind you, a fundamental question you haven't addressed is how much all this is worth? How much data will you lose if you reformat and restore from your last backup? What is the value of that lost data?
RAID systems are by their nature more complex than JBOD systems, and while they can provide robustness against disk failure, they do introduce other risks (and don't ameliorate risks like accidental deletion at all) so regular backups/archiving is still important.

[ATJ]

Have you been able/unable to access the unit through another computer system? Maybe it's OK but Windows is just refusing to talk to it?

As mentioned above, I have tried the unit in another PC (this other was is running Windows XP and I get the same error).

The messages about needing to rebuild the RAID array: which software generates those?

I'm not getting that message anymore. I got that on Saturday morning - actually, the unit just went ahead and rebuilt without asking. I believe the unit does that independent of the software running on the PC. WD RAID Manager just reports what the unit is doing.

Has it been broken by the Windows update? Does it need to be patched?

I don't believe so as I get the same message on another PC.

Mind you, a fundamental question you haven't addressed is how much all this is worth? How much data will you lose if you reformat and restore from your last backup? What is the value of that lost data?

I don't believe formatting would help. As I said, I'm pretty sure it is the RAID controller that is dead. Yes, I don't know the state of the data on the drives, but interestingly, when I plug the unit into my PC, the drives appear fine from a Windows perspective. It is the WD software that is telling me something is wrong.

I haven't taken any photos in 3 weeks and I do weekly backups so I know I have 2 good sets of data of my photos. There are some other less important things on there which aren't backed up. It is no great loss if I lose the other stuff, but it would be nice if I don't lose it.

RAID systems are by their nature more complex than JBOD systems, and while they can provide robustness against disk failure, they do introduce other risks (and don't ameliorate risks like accidental deletion at all) so regular backups/archiving is still important.

Yes. I fully understand that point which is why I'm religious with regards backup of important stuff.

[DaveB]

RAID systems are by their nature more complex than JBOD systems, and while they can provide robustness against disk failure, they do introduce other risks (and don't ameliorate risks like accidental deletion at all) so regular backups/archiving is still important.

Yes. I fully understand that point which is why I'm religious with regards backup of important stuff.

At this point all I can suggest is "ask WD".

[gstark]

When it came back, it appeared that my USB ports were no longer working although I didn't notice until Saturday morning when my iPad had not been charging at all.

That's not an indication of anything untoward.

The iPad normally will NOT recharge through a USB port. While it behaves like an iPhone in many respects, in many other respects it's more like a netbook, and as such, requires a higher recharging current than a USB port can provide.

Is there anyone else out there with Windows 7 64bit that had some updates install in the last week? Did you have any problems with USB ports?

I had some updates installed overnight on Saturday, but have seen no ill effects from this.

[ATJ]

At this point all I can suggest is "ask WD".

Indeed I will.

In the meantime, I checked the knowledgebase and found nothing about the problem. The closest thing I could find was a warning about disconnecting the device during Windows Updates - which is nice to know now.

I have assumed the worst and bought a new unit today - only $271 for a 2x1TB unit at Officeworks. I'm currently formatting the drives now.

Interestingly, the new unit came with some diagnostic software. The software shows the state of the old unit as "unknown" but the test I ran (sector read) suggested all was good. It appears as though the problem is with the RAID management rather than the disks themselves, although I have no idea what "damage" the rebuild might have done if the RAID management is faulty.

My plan going forward is once the formatting is complete, I'll connect the old unit and copy all the data from old to new. I'll then use CDCheck to compare the data on the new unit to my backup. If it all matches, I'm set. If not, I'll copy from the backup instead.

The iPad normally will NOT recharge through a USB port.

Actually it will and it does. While a standard USB port will not provide enough power to charge while the iPad is awake, it does provide enough to charge when the iPad is asleep, albeit slower than the 10W AC adapter.

For example, this morning after the F1 GP my iPad was at around 50%. Before I went back to bed I connected it to the USB port. At 9am it was at around 85%. It got to 100% later in the day.

On Friday night, after the Windows update, not only didn't I get any charge, but the PC would not recognise either the iPad nor the iPod. And iTunes acted like they weren't connected.

[Murray Foote]

I am running Win7 64-bit and all seems well irrespective of recent updates. My PC includes a RAID5 array with 4X1TB disks.

I did have some RAID problems a while ago. First one of my disks failed after a couple of months and I sent it back to WD. I got a slightly more recent one to replace it and put my "spare" drive instead in the RAID array. After a few weeks the drive I put into the same slot failed as well and I sent that back and purchased a replacement. Shortly after that I discovered the problem was with the RAID controller software, Intel Matrix Storage Manager 8.9, which could report drive failures without any cause (perhaps specifically with Windows 7). I updated that to Intel Rapid Storage Technology 9.6 (they changed the name as well) and all has been OK since. I did get sent the extra drive back but at least I can use that in my Drobo.

This is probably not the same situation (unless you have the same RAID software) but it may be worth checking for reports of problems with your RAID software and relevant upgrades.