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XPS 420 SATA RAID and drive failing
I have recently bought an XPS 420 with 4GB RAM, and an Intel SATA RAID controller with a pair of 320GB drives in RAID 1 configuration running Vista Home premium
Sometimes the machine claims that one of the drives has failed, but (on the recommendation of a Dell support technician) I can go into the Intel Matrix Storage Manager software and mark the drive as active (or similar wording) then all is OK for a while, sometimes a number of hours, sometimes days and then it all happens again.
I was informed by Dell that this was a driver issue, can someone confirm this and also what Dell is doing to sort this issue out as the machine become very slow when the array is being rebuilt. Is it possible that the drives are failing but the software can bring them back online for short periods?
If this is a known issue, I am rather disappointed that it wasn't flagged up when ordering the system.
Any pointers or info on this would be appreciated.
THanks,
Rupert.
Tony4052
11 Posts
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February 8th, 2008 15:00
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 9th, 2008 14:00
Vista is installing now, so I'll post back later when it's done..... assuming it works!
Seajayshome
31 Posts
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February 10th, 2008 08:00
Have also logged a support call with Dell today after reading this - see if it makes any difference. Mine has the Samsung drives fitted at the moment. If they do decide to replace the drives, I hope they can replace them one at a time and do a rebuild, so I don't have to do a complete re-install. It's just taken me six weeks to get everything set-up and working the way I want it!
Seajayshome
31 Posts
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February 10th, 2008 10:00
I do not have any other external backup, therefore simply removing both my drives would mean I lose all my data - not acceptable... They could always leave the drives and I'd do it myself, then send the old ones back... How did some people on here manage to get them sent 'DIY', instead of an engineer install?
Tony4052
11 Posts
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February 10th, 2008 10:00
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 10th, 2008 12:00
Installation is fairly easy, just pop open the case and the 2 drives are at the bottom. Unplug the power and data cables then slide them out. Undo the 4 screws holding the drive in the caddy and install the new one. Slide it back into the case and re-connect the power/data cables. 10 minute job.
I now have the 320GB drives setup with 2 x RAID 1 mirrors. A 50GB partition for the System disk, and the remainder as a Data disk. The fresh Vista install from the Dell disk is much cleaner, it doesn't have all the usual rubbish included, just Vista. You will need the Dell drivers disk also for the network adapter drivers.
Seems to be behaving so far, but the failures have been somewhat un-predictable so far.
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 11th, 2008 11:00
On the third attempt, it finally booted into Vista, and the Intel Matrix is now saying Initialising.... which I presume means it is re-building the mirror.
So basically, it looks like the problem is not solved by swapping out the Samsung disks for Seagate ones. Vista simply does not work with the Intel Matrix controller, at least not in the Dell XPS 420.
rupert_hollom
10 Posts
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February 11th, 2008 12:00
yann.r
20 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 09:00
Hello!
No posts from me since several weeks now... I had the same RAID/HDD related issue but my XPS420 was running quite ok, until this week. Almost 4 weeks without any problem...
I'm trying to determine what could have been the key factor (as, obviously, forums posts regarding Hard Disks replaced are not so optimistic...).
I'm still with exactly the same hardware (no HDD changed) so, basically, I'm focusing on software :
As written above, I had 4 weeks without any glitches on the Storage Raid sub-system. I have been announcing on this post the fact that, following Dell's advice, I installed Service Pack 1 RC1 on my Vista. Then, few days later, SP1 RC1 Refresh...
But beginning of this week, I had to re-install from scratch my Vista. Somewhat time-consuming process so, basically, I had to do it over several evenings... (OS, Drivers, Applications, Personal data,...)
I had 4 weeks without crash... But during the day I left my XPS420 running, with Vista installed BUT without any Service Pack 1,... It crashed!!
Now, I once again re-installed SP1 (so called SP1 RC1 Refresh 2, supposingly the Final one, downloaded with official WU process anyway). That was 2 days ago. No crash since then.
Rather difficult to have any firm conclusion here... But from my personal experience, I tend to believe SP1 is contributing to stabilize the RAID issue seen on XPS420...
What is your own experience on this one ?
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 10:00
So the problem is not really solved, but like many people here, I've been unable to find a specific cause of the problem.
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 11:00
Tony4052
11 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 11:00
My new drives have been in over a week now and I have not had a problem....yet....
Does windows update automaticaly install SP1 or do i need to manually download it
Seajayshome
31 Posts
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February 18th, 2008 19:00
The story from XPS support at the moment is definitely that Vista Service Pack 1 is going to fix it.
They are aware of the issue, but they have no other fix for it at the moment, except to confirm that it is not a drive fault, and the only workaround just now is to go back into the Intel Matrix Manager and mark the drive back as 'normal'.
The only thing to do just now he said, is to wait the few weeks until Vista SP1 comes out. :smileysad:
nigelwill
32 Posts
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February 18th, 2008 21:00
didfra
7 Posts
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February 19th, 2008 05:00
Hi,
I experiment the same pb with my new XPS420 / XP / ICH9R.
Does anyone test switching HD SATA port from 1-2 to 3-4 ?