I have been trying to configure some hard drives in RAID 0+1 mode and RAID 5 mode in two different systems. One system is using the ASUS M2N-MX motherboard while the other system is using the ASUS A8N-E motherboard. Both motherboards are using Nvidia’s nForce chipsets that include their own RAID controllers. On the M2N-MX system, I was trying to setup three hard drives in RAID 5. On the other system, I was trying to setup four hard drives on the A8N-E motherboard.
RAID Array Degraded
On both systems, I was able to build the RAID array initially and install Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 on them. However, after a few times of normal restart, the RAID array on both systems would become degraded. When they were degraded, one of the hard drives in each system was being excluded from the array. In order to add the excluded hard drive back, I had to completely turn off the system power and then turn it back on. I could then go into the RAID configuration menu and add it back. Otherwise, you wouldn’t get the choice of adding the hard drive to the array. After adding it back, the RAID array would become healthy again.
Healthy Lonely Hard Drives
While the RAID arrays were degraded, I have found out which hard drives were the excluded one. I have taken them out and installed them on a different system as a stand alone hard drive. They were working well as I was able to partition them, format them, and read and write data on them. Moreover, the four hard drives on the A8N-E system were all brand new hard drives so the chance of anyone of them being broken shouldn’t be high.
Could this be a problem in the RAID controllers in the nForce chipsets? Or, is there some hardware compatibility issues with the hard drives and the motherboards? I am still trying to isolate the cause of the problem right now. What are your experiences on the RAID controllers in the nForce chipsets?
Are all the drives the same brand and model number? This can cause issues.
They are all the same brand and model. They were bought together at once.