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From: Steve on 5 Aug 2010 13:09
We've had many problems since the CMOS battery failed, including problems
with DNS errors, AD and Exchange not working and file and print sharing
services not working. I believe I need to fix the RAID issue first, since
it's keeping me from accessing other parts of the OS installation.

I've put a new battery into the server and reset everything (including the
date), but now the RAID doesn't work correctly. The RAID (Level 1)
controller shows that the drives are fine (and all 4 are bootable) during
the POST, though it does state that the DATA array needs to be repaired, and
it will do that within Windows. Unfortunately, Windows doesn't recognize the
RAID drives.

SBS 2003 doesn't see our "DATA" drives and won't boot if the Intel ICH6R
controller is set to RAID in the BIOS. If I try to boot it that way, I get
an "NTLDR is missing" error, and I have to reboot. The NTLDR file is there,
because if I set the drives to SATA (instead of RAID), I can boot just
fine--I just can't access the DATA drives, and end up with two "SERVER"
drives (C and F).

Intel's RAID software doesn't load in Windows, and if I try to re-install
it, it says the system doesn't meet the minimum requirements for installing
the software. I presume this is because the RAID controller isn't active,
though the controller chip is obviously on the motherboard.

I've tried Microsoft's suggestions for "NTLDR is missing" errors
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816793), but none of them worked. Again,
since the NTLDR file is there and I can boot fine when the BIOS is set to
the "SATA" drive configuration, I believe this error is "bogus" and more
related to the RAID configuration than anything else. I've seen this before
when other RAIDs are reset to SATA, but what has worked for me in the past
isn't working here.

Should I try one of the other "fakeRAID" implementations on the mobo? There
are two others (IT8212 and Silicon Image), and Windows has the drivers
installed for them, but I didn't know if hooking the drives up to the other
SATA ports on the mobo and using a different RAID "controller" would cause
problems with the data.

This is an emergency, so if anyone has any ideas, I'll try them. I need to
get this running as soon as possible! I can get into Windows as long as I
don't set the BIOS for RAID, so if you need anything from the Event log,
please let me know.

Thanks!


SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
Asus P5AD2-E Premium motherboard
Intel ICH6R RAID controller
4 SATA drives: 2 "SERVER" and 2 "DATA" (RAID 1 configuration)

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