1x SATA to 2xSATA Raid 0 and vice-versa

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by Fedorov999, Oct 12, 2004.

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  1. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    Anyone got any experience of doing this?...

    If I have an image of a 1-drive SATA system, I *should* be able to restore that image onto a machine that has a newly configures Raid0 with 2 SATA drives in.

    My theory is that okay TI would restore to the 2 drives okay but Windows won't know how to boot as it won't have any RAID drivers in from being off a different machine etc... o_O

    Vice-versa, in theory I presume I can take an image of my Raid0 system (2x Maxtor 160gb) and restore it onto 1x SATA or PATA drive, would Windows be able to boot though?

    Just my thoughts for the day :)

    Fedorov.
     
  2. Scopacetic

    Scopacetic Registered Member

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    If it is the same controller (ie your SiI3112a) and just a difference between RAID or single disk, it will probably work. If it's a different controller, it won't work staight out. However, after restoring the image, you can use the Win XP install disk to repair the installation. I've done that successfully before. You just need the driver for the new controller on a floppy (assuming not IDE).
     
  3. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    Decided to try out this latest build 774 on a newer Asus board that has the Si3114 controller... the boot CD sees the Raid0 perfect, took an image, nuked the Raid0, setup the Raid0 and restored the image and worked fine :) Buying another copy shortly!!! :)
     
  4. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    I can happily report that with build 774 on a Si3114 test machine we can restore a single drive image to a Raid0 and it works, and also take a Raid0 down to a single drive. :)

    Very nice!

    Fedorov.
     
  5. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, Fedorov999

    Good to see you been swimming Fedorov. :D

    By the way you can install a Pata Image to Sata Raid also if you give the Pata the Raid Controllers before you make the Image.

    And a warning! do not change you cluster size if you have XP-SP2 installed or it will not reboot. [Disk read error]

    I slipstreamed SP2, formatted to 16X16 and when I [or anybody else] Installed and right after the first reboot, the 15 second warning one, you get a Disk read error. [full stop :eek: ]

    The cause is SP2 writes a few bytes to the MBR and changes it.

    Microsoft advise to stay with 4kb clusters [a wast of speed] or do not slipstream.

    But Big Poppa Pump over at the Abit forum found a fix for it, so if you do any slipstreaming be sure to read it. [it is moving some files around in SP2's i386 ]

    Now thanks to Big Poppa Pump I have made a full working WindowsXP SP2 CD that work with any size stripe and cluster.

    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  6. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    Hi Quest, could you elaborate a little more on that one please, are you saying that as long a you install the Raid or Sata (or both?) windows drivers to the single Pata system BEFORE restoring this to a SataRaid it will work?

    I already did this in my tests but did not use ANY drivers :) Had an image of a single SATA system on a CD, in an identical server, configured the 2 SATA drives as Raid0 and restored from that CD, Windows just booted with no intervention :)

    Quest, really appreciate if you could explain your "16x16" stuff and SP2 a little more, are you saying that if I have got WinXP SP2 already installed on a single PATA or SATA drive I cannot restore this to a Raid0 config?

    Thanks again

    Fedorov.
     
  7. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, Fedorov

    Yes, if yo have and Pata with an OS on and you boot from it and have the Raid Array [with or without OS] set up on Sata, the Pata OS will see the Raid Array [Mass storage unit] and ask you for the drivers, which after they are loaded you can then make an Image of the Pata, then that Image can be restored to a Raid Array, just the same as you did below because it had the drivers from your Sata setup.

    No, I not saying you can not restore an Image with SP2, because the Image restores what ever Cluster size was set in use at the time of making the Image. [an Image is an Image]

    When I set up Raid0 on my Motherboard the default stripe [chunk] is 16 which I keep, because, I make all the Partitions with 16k Clusters [16x16] before installing the OS.

    So when it came to installing the OS, WinXP CD with SP1 slipstremed there was never a problem.

    Now that I [and many others] have slipstreamed SP2 on to the WinXP CD, it will not Install [becaus of the none default 16k clusters [default 4k] , it gives a disk read error, or if you try changing the the cluster size of the OS Partition after WinXP SP2 is install , at reboot you will get a disk read error [OS will not load].

    So the way round it is to take some file from the WinXP CD i386 and put them into SP2's i386.

    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  8. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    Very interesting! So the reason my single drive moving up to Raid0 worked is because the single drive was already SATA so Windows already had SATA drivers from when I installed the OS. If I'd done if from a single PATA it probably wouldn't have worked as the restored machine would not know how to boot without SATA drivers - a Windows Repair and add drivers with F6 may have got it working I suppose.

    Regarding Clusters - far as I know I've always been on the default 4k NTFS cluster size so this issue is unlikely to affect me but it's well worth knowing about - could you possibly provide a link to that guys posting please?

    Thanks again TheQuest, all interesting stuff!

    Fedorov.
     
  9. TheQuest

    TheQuest Registered Member

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    Hi, Fedorov

    If you have never changed your cluster size then you are on 4k.

    Yes, here is the link to it on Abits Forum, the second post on page two of this thread:- A disk read error has occurred press ctrl-alt-delete to restart

    Take Care,
    TheQuest :cool:
     
  10. Fedorov999

    Fedorov999 Registered Member

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    Thanks for the link, worth remembering that one! :)
     
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