Need a solution for a Software Raid on Intel DG965WH

Question

I had setup a software RAID (Raid 0) on my Intel DG965RY motherboard. The motherboard had some issues and as it was in warranty i had it replaced. Now when I reconnected my hard drives to the replaced motherboard I can see the hard drives in the BIOS but how do i reconfigure the RAID as i cannot see it anymore.

I had earlier set it up while installing Windows XP, i.e. installing the drivers via a floppy drive before starting up the install process. Also it should keep the same configuration as earlier as i don't want to loose all my data. Any solutions?

If there is no way that i can get back my earlier RAID configuration, is there a way to safely recover all the data from my hard drives.

I currently have six hard drives on the computer which were set in 3 pairs each for RAID 0.

(also i have no idea which hard drives were paired together in the earlier RAID config)

Answer 1

The configuration (was) hopefully stored on the RAID controller. Recreate the RAID configuration by going into the RAID manager: http://download.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/8_x_raid_ahci_users_manual.pdf

Make sure you read the instructions, you don't want the RAID manager writing metadata to the hard drives and then you'll be even worse off.

Intel also has a RAID troubleshooting guide that might help: http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/cs-020811.htm

Note that the process of installing RAID drivers for Windows XP will not help you yet. The drivers simply allow Windows to access the RAID controller. If RAID is not set up then connecting to the controller will not help.

If you absolutely need to get the data back you can try http://www.runtime.org/raid.htm

EDIT: Here is the product page I used to get the resources from: http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/DG965RY/

Expand out "Installation" and "Technical Documentation" if you need more assistance. There are also links to updated RAID drivers for if you need to install Windows XP again.