Comments for befok! http://www.befok.net Tech | Rant | Music Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:06:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by ek.is.befok http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-1012 ek.is.befok Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:38:38 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-1012 @Malam Glad you got things working and thanks for the feedback! @Malam Glad you got things working and thanks for the feedback!

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Malam http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-1008 Malam Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:49:42 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-1008 Good News ! Attribute my problems to "operator error". The unit works fine, the Raid 1 set-up is ok. Here is what I think happened. When the system went into a "rebuild' mode, I expected the rebuilding to be as fast as disk copying. Each time I interefered with the disk, the rebuilding gets reset. Eventually, I left the unit alone. The rebuilding phase was completed, but the lights on the enclosure were still "on" indicating disk activity. This morning, I left the unit alone and fired up SteelVine Manager to check the status. It indicated that the rebuild was completed successfully, but needed to "Verify". So, again, I left the unit alone to complete the verification. SteelVine now indicates both volumes are ok. You are correct the purple color indicated the system rebuilding process and both drives now have the color purple to indicate SAFE mode. Just to check, I copied a small file to the main drive and saw the second drive's activity light went on to mirror the copy too. I expected the e-SATA port on my ASUS P5Q motherboard which has ICH10R chipset to be compatible, but for some reason, it was not. Intel claims that this chipset supports port multiplication function. Maybe, I need to install the chipset driver? I am using the JMicron e-SATA Port and is working fine. Thanks for your help - it is appreciated. Good News !
Attribute my problems to “operator error”. The unit works fine, the Raid 1 set-up is ok. Here is what I think happened. When the system went into a “rebuild’ mode, I expected the rebuilding to be as fast as disk copying. Each time I interefered with the disk, the rebuilding gets reset. Eventually, I left the unit alone. The rebuilding phase was completed, but the lights on the enclosure were still “on” indicating disk activity. This morning, I left the unit alone and fired up SteelVine Manager to check the status. It indicated that the rebuild was completed successfully, but needed to “Verify”. So, again, I left the unit alone to complete the verification. SteelVine now indicates both volumes are ok. You are correct the purple color indicated the system rebuilding process and both drives now have the color purple to indicate SAFE mode. Just to check, I copied a small file to the main drive and saw the second drive’s activity light went on to mirror the copy too.

I expected the e-SATA port on my ASUS P5Q motherboard which has ICH10R chipset to be compatible, but for some reason, it was not. Intel claims that this chipset supports port multiplication function. Maybe, I need to install the chipset driver? I am using the JMicron e-SATA Port and is working fine.
Thanks for your help - it is appreciated.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by ek.is.befok http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-1002 ek.is.befok Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:20:15 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-1002 @Malam. I assume the drive is attached via eSATA? Have you tried disconnecting the enclosure from the eSATA port before rebooting? It might be that which is causing the rebuild. Your motherboard is not going to be able to detect RAID that has been setup on the enclosure for obvious reasons. @Malam. I assume the drive is attached via eSATA? Have you tried disconnecting the enclosure from the eSATA port before rebooting? It might be that which is causing the rebuild. Your motherboard is not going to be able to detect RAID that has been setup on the enclosure for obvious reasons.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Malam Ilia http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-1000 Malam Ilia Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:32:10 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-1000 The rebuilding was done overnight. This morning the two drive had blinking blue lights on the enclosure. After a reboot of my system, the Raid went into a rebuild again ! Its about halfway done now. But how often does it need to go into a rebuild ? Is it supposed to be rebuilding all the time ? I am using Jmicron on my ASUS motherboard. During post, the JMicron finds the enclosure, but reports just one drive and says - 'non-Raid'. Is this because the raid is built-in with the enclosure ? Thanks. The rebuilding was done overnight. This morning the two drive had blinking blue lights on the enclosure. After a reboot of my system, the Raid went into a rebuild again ! Its about halfway done now. But how often does it need to go into a rebuild ? Is it supposed to be rebuilding all the time ? I am using Jmicron on my ASUS motherboard. During post, the JMicron finds the enclosure, but reports just one drive and says - ‘non-Raid’. Is this because the raid is built-in with the enclosure ?
Thanks.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Malam http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-999 Malam Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:50:20 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-999 It completed the rebuild overnight - so I think. But its rebuilding again ! Does it rebuild every time I turn the enclosure on ? I don't plan on leaving it running all the time. I'll let it complete the rebuild again, and leave the system running - just to see what happens. During system boot, the Jmicron finds the 1st drive and reports the size, but also says "non-Raid". In the bios, I checked the reported drives and it has one drive reported as "raid". Is the Jmicron reporting a "non raid" drive because the raid engine is in the enclosure ? Thanks. It completed the rebuild overnight - so I think. But its rebuilding again ! Does it rebuild every time I turn the enclosure on ? I don’t plan on leaving it running all the time. I’ll let it complete the rebuild again, and leave the system running - just to see what happens. During system boot, the Jmicron finds the 1st drive and reports the size, but also says “non-Raid”. In the bios, I checked the reported drives and it has one drive reported as “raid”. Is the Jmicron reporting a “non raid” drive because the raid engine is in the enclosure ?
Thanks.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by ek.is.befok http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-998 ek.is.befok Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:46:41 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-998 There are only two slots and it makes no difference if you are installing two drives, so the slot warning is incorrect. Considering that your drives are rebuilding it's more likely that the purple colour indicates a rebuild. I would wait for the rebuild to complete and check the status in SteelVine again. There are only two slots and it makes no difference if you are installing two drives, so the slot warning is incorrect. Considering that your drives are rebuilding it’s more likely that the purple colour indicates a rebuild. I would wait for the rebuild to complete and check the status in SteelVine again.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Malam Ilia http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-994 Malam Ilia Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:09:44 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-994 I am glad I found this blog. I was going balistic with the installation of a Raid 1 with the Nexstar MX and wasn't sure what was going on until I read this blog about the reset button. Seems to be working now, but the SteelVineManager is showing a "purple" color for one of the drives (Drive'0'). The Steelvine manual indicates that the color means the drive is in the wrong slot. I have 2 brand new drives, so they should both be OK. I am new with Raid and just wanted to make sure - do I ignore this or should I stop the rebuilding and swap the location of the drives? Thanks. I am glad I found this blog. I was going balistic with the installation of a Raid 1 with the Nexstar MX and wasn’t sure what was going on until I read this blog about the reset button. Seems to be working now, but the SteelVineManager is showing a “purple” color for one of the drives (Drive’0′). The Steelvine manual indicates that the color means the drive is in the wrong slot. I have 2 brand new drives, so they should both be OK. I am new with Raid and just wanted to make sure - do I ignore this or should I stop the rebuilding and swap the location of the drives?
Thanks.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Colin Sewell http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-980 Colin Sewell Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:54:44 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-980 FYI: The SteelVine firmware update won't install, the message is it is incompatible. I have 2 of these NexStars, one purchased a year ago, one purchased a week ago. The SteelVine Manager reports different firmware versions in each, the most recent NexStar has a firmware version even newer than the one posted on the Silicon Image site. The new NexStar works perfectly no matter what eSATA port I plug it into in my rig: a PCI-E card based on the Sil3132 chipset, the Intel ICH10R chipset, or the JMICRON JMB36X chipset. The old NexStar box only works properly if plugged into the JMICRON eSATA port. If I plug it into any other port, it is either not recognized at all, or it causes my machine to become sluggish and freeze while it logs hundreds of drive and controller errors and timeouts in the system event log. FYI: The SteelVine firmware update won’t install, the message is it is incompatible.

I have 2 of these NexStars, one purchased a year ago, one purchased a week ago. The SteelVine Manager reports different firmware versions in each, the most recent NexStar has a firmware version even newer than the one posted on the Silicon Image site.

The new NexStar works perfectly no matter what eSATA port I plug it into in my rig: a PCI-E card based on the Sil3132 chipset, the Intel ICH10R chipset, or the JMICRON JMB36X chipset. The old NexStar box only works properly if plugged into the JMICRON eSATA port. If I plug it into any other port, it is either not recognized at all, or it causes my machine to become sluggish and freeze while it logs hundreds of drive and controller errors and timeouts in the system event log.

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by Reinhard http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-979 Reinhard Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:37:33 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-979 I got mail from Vantec! Please read what they say about the mysterious third switch on the board inside the cabinet, perhaps somebody wants to know too: "Dear Valued Customer, The switch is not in use and it is only for softwre RAID mode. If you have any further question, please don't hesitate to ask and we will do our best to answer them. Regards, Technical Support Vantec Thermal Technologies Tel: 510-668-0368 Fax: 510-668-0367 www.vantecusa.com" I got mail from Vantec! Please read what they say about the mysterious third switch on the board inside the cabinet, perhaps somebody wants to know too:

“Dear Valued Customer,
The switch is not in use and it is only for softwre RAID mode.

If you have any further question, please don’t hesitate to ask and we will
do our best to answer them.

Regards,

Technical Support
Vantec Thermal Technologies
Tel: 510-668-0368
Fax: 510-668-0367
http://www.vantecusa.com“

]]> Comment on Things you need to know about the Vantec NexStar MX and RAID by ek.is.befok http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/comment-page-1/#comment-965 ek.is.befok Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:06:23 +0000 http://www.befok.net/2008/10/08/things-you-need-to-know-about-the-vantec-nexstar-mx-and-raid/#comment-965 @Axel: If the one drive is flashing the RAID volume could be offline. Install SteelVine and check the status. @Axel: If the one drive is flashing the RAID volume could be offline. Install SteelVine and check the status.

]]>