Invisible Areca array in boot disk selection

[Spacedust]

How to change default Mac OS drive to my Areca array to boot Windows from it ?

It's invisible in my boot disk selection window however the array is visible in Lion and working properly.

I think resetting PRAM should fix this problem. I just need to remove selection from OS X drive in order to boot from other drives.

 

[nanofrog]

I'd need to see screen shots to be sure/get further information, but I suspect the LUN assignment may be the issue (LUN needs to be 0:0:0 for the boot volume under OS X).

BTW, you can change this via the Modify Volume Set tab within the RAID Manager Utility on the far left side of the screen. Also, just in case you forgot, you'll need to use a different browser than Safari, such as FireFox (RAID commands tend not to take when set in ARCHTTP/McRAID run under Safari).

Hope this helps. If not, post screen shots of both the card and what comes up under Disk Utility.

 

[Spacedust]

I'd need to see screen shots to be sure/get further information, but I suspect the LUN assignment may be the issue (LUN needs to be 0:0:0 for the boot volume under OS X).

BTW, you can change this via the Modify Volume Set tab within the RAID Manager Utility on the far left side of the screen. Also, just in case you forgot, you'll need to use a different browser than Safari, such as FireFox (RAID commands tend not to take when set in ARCHTTP/McRAID run under Safari).

Hope this helps. If not, post screen shots of both the card and what comes up under Disk Utility.

Something like this:

 

[wonderspark]

I see Safari is the browser being used...

 

[Spacedust]

I see Safari is the browser being used...

I wasn't changing anything

Reseting PRAM removed the selection from OS X drive, so I will try to remove this drive to force boot from array. Then I'll try to change boot drive inside Windows 7 on Boot Camp.

 

[Spacedust]

Still no boot :/ It's just displaying question mark.

 

[Spacedust]

Finally booted off the raid and still no bootcamp volume:

 

[nanofrog]

Bootcamp will not work with a RAID volume (software or hardware implementation).

You must use a single disk, and since the OS X disk is on the array attached to the card (can only use one volume on the Areca as a boot location when run in a MP), it will need to be a separate disk attached to one of the built-in SATA ports in the MP (ICH).

In your specific case, you won't need to run the Bootcamp application, as it's not a shared drive (BC is just a partition tool that allows OS X and Windows to share a single disk - Apple never designed it to work with RAID). You'll only need to run setup.exe on the bootcamp installation DVD in order to install the Windows drivers needed for the MP.

This should get you sorted if I understand your more recent posts correctly (under the assumption you've gotten the array set as the boot volume and OS X installed on it, and it's working properly).

 

[Spacedust]

Bootcamp will not work with a RAID volume (software or hardware implementation).

You must use a single disk, and since the OS X disk is on the array attached to the card (can only use one volume on the Areca as a boot location when run in a MP), it will need to be a separate disk attached to one of the built-in SATA ports in the MP (ICH).

In your specific case, you won't need to run the Bootcamp application, as it's not a shared drive (BC is just a partition tool that allows OS X and Windows to share a single disk - Apple never designed it to work with RAID). You'll only need to run setup.exe on the bootcamp installation DVD in order to install the Windows drivers needed for the MP.

This should get you sorted if I understand your more recent posts correctly (under the assumption you've gotten the array set as the boot volume and OS X installed on it, and it's working properly).

This worked in console:

bless -device /dev/disk4s2 -legacy -setBoot

I only needed booting to my Bootcamp array by default, not to OS X without having to use any other boot drives (I'm selling all of my 500 GB drives because I don't use them and drives are really pricey now)

/dev/disk4
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *64.1 GB disk4
1: Windows_NTFS System Reserved 104.9 MB disk4s1
2: Windows_NTFS BOOTCAMP 63.9 GB disk4s2

 

[nanofrog]

I only needed booting to my Bootcamp array by default, not to OS X without having to use any other boot drives (I'm selling all of my 500 GB drives because I don't use them and drives are really pricey now)

I misunderstood what you were asking.

BTW, I presumed you would use the 40GB SSD as a second boot disk due to the performance (likely need to make it a lean installation, but quite doable).

 

[Spacedust]

I misunderstood what you were asking.

BTW, I presumed you would use the 40GB SSD as a second boot disk due to the performance (likely need to make it a lean installation, but quite doable).

No I just use this old 40 GB SSD for Mac OS and 4x16 in Hardware RAID for Windows on BootCamp.

BTW: Why I was doing this ? One day my Mac Pro freezed during backup on Windows. I found this in my Areca card logs:

2011-11-10 18:59:31 Raid Set # 00 Rebuild RaidSet
2011-11-10 18:59:31 ARC-1210-VOL#00 Failed Volume Revived
2011-11-10 18:59:31 H/W Monitor Raid Powered On
2011-11-10 18:51:40 IDE Channel 1 Device Failed
2011-11-10 18:51:40 Raid Set # 00 RaidSet Degraded
2011-11-10 18:51:40 ARC-1210-VOL#00 Volume Failed
2011-11-10 18:44:59 H/W Monitor Fan Failed

and some reading errrors....

I've checked smart on this disk under Linux booted from DVD:

smartctl 5.42 2011-10-20 r3458 [x86_64-linux-2.6.32-71.el6.x86_64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: JMicron based SSDs
Device Model: KINGSTON SS100S216G
Serial Number: 16GB30012934
Firmware Version: D100719
User Capacity: 16,013,942,784 bytes [16.0 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Sat Nov 12 19:56:09 2011 EST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 30) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x1b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
No Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 1) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0
3 Unknown_Attribute 0x0007 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0013 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Unknown_Attribute 0x000b 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 Unknown_Attribute 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 924
10 Unknown_Attribute 0x0013 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 840
168 SATA_Phy_Error_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1
175 Bad_Cluster_Table_Count 0x0003 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 3
192 Unexpect_Power_Loss_Ct 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 040 100 020 Old_age Always - 40 (Min/Max 30/60)
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
240 Unknown_Attribute 0x0013 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
170 Bad_Block_Count 0x0003 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0 30 0
173 Erase_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 24 5117 3893

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 2
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 2 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 908 hours (37 days + 20 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
84 51 00 00 00 00 a0

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 08 01:22:37.900 IDENTIFY DEVICE
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 01:22:37.700 NOP [Abort queued commands]
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:22:37.600 SMART READ DATA
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:22:36.500 SMART READ DATA
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:22:17.800 SMART READ DATA

Error 1 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 908 hours (37 days + 20 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
84 51 00 00 00 00 a0

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 08 01:08:01.700 IDENTIFY DEVICE
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 01:08:01.500 NOP [Abort queued commands]
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:08:01.400 SMART READ DATA
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:08:00.300 SMART READ DATA
b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 a0 ff 01:07:41.600 SMART READ DATA

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 919 -

Device does not support Selective Self Tests/Logging

I suspected the drive to fail, but then I found Kingston made a terrible firmware in their drives and now they're fixing it:

http://www.kingston.com/support/ssdnow/s100_firmware.asp

Release Notes for SS100S2, Firmware Rev. 110512
• Resolved a rare condition where the drive would timeout.
• Improved the bad block management process.
• Fixed an unusual incident where the drive enters into a write-protect state.

I've installed new firmware, but it erased the drive completely, so I have install firmware on all of my drives. Then recreate the array, reinstall windows and restore all files from backup.

Now it works fine I'm still using RAID 0 with weekly backups on Time Capsule and manually created image of whole disk, because Time Capsule doesn't support NTFS required for doing VHD image backups (just not to reinstall everything from scratch).

 

[nanofrog]

No I just use this old 40 GB SSD for Mac OS and 4x16 in Hardware RAID for Windows on BootCamp.

Technically speaking, you're not using a BootCamp method, as each OS resides on a different physical volume (not single disk partitioned for both OS's).

Granted, running BC on separate disks will allow applications like CCC or SuperDuper to clone the Windows disk, calling such a configuration a BootCamp installation causes confusion for me. I can't help but thinking partitioning a single disk was involved.

BTW: Why I was doing this ? One day my Mac Pro freezed during backup on Windows. I found this in my Areca card logs:

Proper hardware RAID cards are the only way to go once you've experienced one.... They can save your hide in numerous occasions that you're just screwed with a software implementation.

Some might call me spoiled, but I just call it being smart (additional expense is justified IMO).

I've installed new firmware, but it erased the drive completely, so I have install firmware on all of my drives. Then recreate the array, reinstall windows and restore all files from backup.

SSD's are still rather new, and more frequent firmware upgrades are to be expected IMO.

At least you keep backups, so all it means is additional time on your part to get it all sorted.

 

[Spacedust]

Technically speaking, you're not using a BootCamp method, as each OS resides on a different physical volume (not single disk partitioned for both OS's).

Granted, running BC on separate disks will allow applications like CCC or SuperDuper to clone the Windows disk, calling such a configuration a BootCamp installation causes confusion for me. I can't help but thinking partitioning a single disk was involved.


Proper hardware RAID cards are the only way to go once you've experienced one.... They can save your hide in numerous occasions that you're just screwed with a software implementation.

Some might call me spoiled, but I just call it being smart (additional expense is justified IMO).


SSD's are still rather new, and more frequent firmware upgrades are to be expected IMO.

At least you keep backups, so all it means is additional time on your part to get it all sorted.

It started to happen again and Windows is now unbootable:

2011-11-14 14:27:52 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:50 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:49 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:47 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:45 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:43 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error
2011-11-14 14:27:41 IDE Channel 4 Reading Error

Maybe it's time to set RAID5 Good I've made an image of a working system.

Update: Changed chunk under OS X from 128k to 64k and then back to 128k. Array works fine and booted to Windows with no errors

 

[nanofrog]

Hopefully, it won't give you anymore problems once you're done.

 

[Spacedust]

Hopefully, it won't give you anymore problems once you're done.

The funny thing is that all SMART errors are gone and Power On Hours is being counted from 0

 

[Spacedust]

Damn :/

It crashed again. I've switched to RAID3, because it's faster than RAID5.

I was clever enough to make a VHD image of whole array before it crashed, but recovering was really painfull. I have to install Windows 7 on 500 GB drive. Then mount VHD image, resize partition in order to fit into smaller array with EASUS software, write VHD image to disk with WinImage, fix booting from Windows 7 DVD (bcdboot c:\windows /s F: and editing boot manager with bcdedit), fix booting inside Mac OS (with bless) and finally it works

Drive 1 crashed during this procedure, but it will probably work again, because SMART is not showing anything. It still in warranty though (only half year old).