Hello Kevin

It sounds like you lost track 0 on your HD. Are you still using raid 0 array?

You need to repair the MBR. What are you using as a loader for Ubuntu?

Windows 7 doesn't need bios mbr to boot, but Ubuntu probably does and

rewrites track 0 when you boot into it. You might take a look at Easy BCD

program. I haven't used it yet but have looked at it and it can load different

systems. Don't know if that will stop the track 0 rewrites. Remember the last

time you system that DellUtility what happened and be ready for it again.

I'm not much help but maybe get you looking in the right direction.

Tom

Hey Tom,

OK, I've got some more information now ... I followed Dan Goodell's instructions -- once again! -- but this time, when I was done, I left in place the 0x06 partition type and the 0x80 active flag for the Dell Utility partition, and then I just tried booting the system "normally" (i.e., not using the F12 BIOS "Boot Options" menu) ... And sure enough, the system booted right from the Dell Utility partition and straight to the diagnostics menu "as expected" (i.e., with the anomalies noted in the previous thread that apparently come from using a Windows 98 version of MS-DOS on the partition, instead of Dell's DRMK or some other version of MS-DOS) ...

Of course, this "method" of booting straight to the diagnostics menu no longer "works" as soon as I change the partition type back to 0xDE, and/or move the 0x80 active flag back to the Recovery Partition in order to boot Windows 7 again ... And no matter WHAT I do -- whether I change the partition type, and/or move the active flag -- the Dell Utility partition just will NOT boot using the "Boot to Utility Partition" choice in the F12 BIOS "Boot Options" menu ... I immediately get the message:

No Diagnostic Utility Partition Identified: Press any key to reboot...

So what's up with THAT???  I've proven that the Dell Utility partition is indeed "bootable", so WHAT is the BIOS (or something else) expecting to find that's not THERE???  Everything seems to be in order, but it's almost as if the BIOS (or something else) somehow "knows" that this is NOT the "original" Dell Utility partition and therefore will NOT boot to it ...

Recall that I actually HAD this "working" a few weeks ago -- using "Boot to Utility Partition" -- and I've NOT updated/flashed the BIOS since then ... However, I HAVE installed a long list of Windows Updates since then (including SP1), and I could almost SWEAR that I first started seeing this particular message after that ... I really don't know how Windows Updates could cause this to happen, but I don't see any other possible cause?

Thanks for any insight you may have into this,

Kevin

Hey Kevin

Go HERE and read this.

I did some test and when I set type to 06 and flag to 80 my utility partition boots but have to set it back to use

the F12. When I enter the utility thru F12 the type DE and flag 00 do NOT change they stay as DE and flag set to 00.

No Diagnostic Utility Partition Identified: Press any key to reboot...

This probably happens because to RAID controller doesn't know where the MBR is

located, you should install MBR and track 0 thru the controller. The controller

also uses track 0 for some of its info about where the strips are located and this

might be overriding the DOS info in that track. Dell must have a way to install all

of this as it worked from factory. It would be nice if they would share some of this

information with us. I did a search for ( raid 0 mbr ) and found some info that might

help you. Remember backup system as this area can really mess up the array.

Tom

Thanks, Tom ...

First of all, your advice about backing up the system is well-taken -- I've been backing up the entire 2-TB RAID 0 array (with "continuous" updates at 15-minute intervals) to another 2-TB eSATA external drive that I bought last year for this very purpose ... The backup software also sets up the backed-up system on the external drive to be instantly bootable from the BIOS in the event of an internal drive failure -- they call it "Instant PC Recovery" -- so that one can continue working from the backup drive, with virtually no interruption (albeit somewhat slower because of the eSATA interface), until one can replace the internal drive ... (And, of course, I've tested this and seen it to work -- I can indeed boot directly to the backup drive from the F12 Boot Options menu, bypassing the RAID 0 array entirely) ...

Plus, I can also boot to Ubuntu (Linux) on a USB stick and see the entire RAID 0 array -- using software RAID that implements a mapping function based on RAID configuration info (BIOS and/or on-disk?) -- as well as the 2 individual 1-TB drives that are the RAID 0 components ... So I should be able to, say, read from each 1-TB drive separately by using the "raw" Linux devices for each WITHOUT affecting the RAID setup at all -- which I doubt would be possible through Windows ...

For example, the various disks and partitions are presented as the following in Ubuntu (where  "xxx"  is a unique string of letters):

 

/dev/sda                 -- "raw" RAID 0 component disk #1 (1.0 TB)

/dev/sdb                 -- "raw" RAID 0 component disk #2 (1.0 TB)

 

/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY0   -- "raw" RAID 0 array, entire array (2.0 TB)

/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY01  -- "raw" RAID 0 array, partition #1 (~41 MB, "DELLUTILITY")

/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY02  -- "raw" RAID 0 array, partition #2 (~12 GB, "RECOVERY")

/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY03  -- "raw" RAID 0 array, partition #3 (< 2 TB, "OS")

 

The MBR for the RAID 0 array can be accessed as the first block (512 bytes) of  "/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY0",  and the Boot Records for each of the 3 partitions of the RAID 0 array can be accessed as the first blocks of  "/dev/mapper/xxx_ARRAY0[123]",  respectively ...

Before I continue here, the REAL question for me is -- how did "Boot to Utility Partition" get BROKEN after I had it WORKING???  Because, once I finally had that WORKING several weeks ago (in a Windows 98 MS-DOS sorta way):

-- I didn't update or flash the BIOS

-- I stopped tinkering with the MBR

-- I stopped re-formatting or otherwise tinkering with (the contents of) the Utility Partition

So what the heck HAPPENED???

Anyway, I read the link that you posted, but I still don't see where the RAID controller and Track 0 comes into all this... I can tell you that I've used Ubuntu to read the MBR for the RAID 0 array (as well as the Boot Records for each of its 3 partitions), and everything seems "in order" ... I don't know whether the MBR physically resides on RAID 0 component disk #1, or RAID 0 component disk #2, or both (backup copy?) -- but I DO know that the MBR (wherever it physically resides) is used to boot successfully from the Recovery Partition (and then into the OS Partition), so it seems to me like the RAID controller is able to locate the MBR ... And as far as I know, all of the DOS info is located in the first 3 sectors of the Utility Partition, which is located at LBA 63 (CHS 0/1/1, or Track 1) of the RAID 0 array ...

So I guess I still don't get what you're saying?

Thanks again,

Kevin

Hello Kevin

I can't answer your question as I don't know what happened. I'm about out of answers.

Read HERE about cloning the utility partition, I know it's about a laptop but should be

the same. I used cw1365a0.exe diagnostics for you computer and made a bootable

flash drive then imaged the flash drive and restored to HD.

If and when you get it working again, check after you boot to Ubuntu (Linux) on a USB stick

and see if that is what stops it from working. Thats all I can figure out on this problem.

Let me know what you figure out on this. Thanks.

Tom

Thanks for the info and the link, Tom ...

If I were working with a bare drive, I think I would first try Dan Goodell's instructions for that scenario -- apparently, all of the tools and files needed to create Dell's Utility Partition on a bare drive are found on Dell's "Drivers and Utilities" CD (or "Resource" CD) ... (Of course, I couldn't clone the Utility Partition -- which Dan also mentions -- even if I had a bare drive, because I don't have Dell's original Utility Partition anymore, anywhere, to start with) ...

I too made a bootable USB flash drive using "CW1365A0.EXE", but I didn't really know how to put all that stuff onto my HD and make it work... You said you "imaged the flash drive and restored to HD" -- how exactly did you do that?  Maybe THAT would work for me ...

"If and when I get it working again", this time I'll be sure to check whether booting to Ubuntu breaks it, but I'd be very surprised if that happens ... As far as I know, the Ubuntu bootloader (GRUB) resides only on the USB stick these days --- the way I finally had to install it -- and doesn't affect the MBR or anything else on the HD ... (I think that's what you were saying) ...

Thanks again, Tom ...

Kevin

 

Kevin

I use Acronis True Image to backup and recover drives and partitions.

If you have a Seagate go HERE to download a free copy and if you

have a Western Digital go HERE for a free copy. When you restore

the image it will let you recovery MBR also. Good luck.

Tom

Even though this post/issue is not new, I might add that I have had the same problem on a one-year old Dell XPS 9100; for some reason a week ago using F12 to boot to the utility partition, one gets the error message bootmgr missing, press Alt/Control/Delete top restart the computer. The partitions are there (both the OEM and Recovery). Dell makes a utility to update the utility partition but one gets an error message running this program saying, “no utility partition was found or there was an error accessing the partition.” I recently had a second hard drive fail and restored the system using the backup DVDs, which recreated all the partitions on a new hard drive and everything worked fine until a week ago. There is no problem booting into Windows 7; it is just that Dell’s partitions no longer work. One significant difference in the setup is that I do not use RAID – I have two internal 1 TB hard drives and an external 2 TB drive.

The solution usually given is just run diagnostics from the CD or a flash drive. I am at the point after researching this that I bought a Windows 7 Pro DVD and will wipe the drive clean and leave all Dell software off the PC and remove all OEM and Recovery partitions. I have done that for years, but these days Dell and other computer companies do not provide DVDs of Windows by putting all software in the recovery partition.

I realize this is not a solution, but I am yet another person who cannot get the Dell utility partition to work.

Jeff