Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme Waterforce Raid Mirror 1 will not initialise

[Memory Man]

I have a  Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme Waterforce MoBo, with 64GB of memory overclocked to turbo speed with an Intel i9-9900k @3.60GHz overclocked to 4.5GHz. The O/S is Widows 10 Pro Version 2004 running at 64bit, it is installed on two Samsung PCIe SSD’s on slots M2M and M2A of the MoBo configured in Raid 1 mirror.

I have all the current Intel Raid drivers from Gigabyte which are compatible with Windows V 2004, I am also running the most current Intel Memory and storage management software to manage all raid arrays. I have also installed an up to date version of Intel Memory and storage tool GUI. I have also installed the Intel Driver & Support assistant to keep the complete MoBo and its Intel drivers and software up to date, this is checked weekly and all intel drivers and software are up to date.

The system is extremely fast and very stable and has been in this condition since build July 2019. The Two O/S Samsung PCIe SSD’s on slots M2M and M2A configured in Raid 1 mirror give no issues are stable, initialised, and verified.

If the two slots M2M and M2A are utilised for in Raid with SSD’s then only the remaining raid ports SATA 0,I,2 & 3 on the Z390 chip can be used for Raid, ports SATA 4 and 5 due limited number of lanes on the Z390 chip cannot be utilised for raid and because of these limitations I do not use ports SATA 4 and 5.

On SATA ports 0 and 1 are two 1 TB Gigabyte SSD’s configured in raid 1 mirror, they give no issues are stable, initialised, and verified.

On SATA ports 2 and 3 are two 2 TB Seagate 3.5 Firecuda hybrid Hard Drives configured in raid mirror, one drive reported a failure, I exchanged the drive under 5-year warranty and re-installed. Configured the two drives in Raid 1 mirror in Gigabyte Bios “Easy Raid”, booted PC formatted to NTFS and allocated the drive letter in Windows 10.   

Intel Memory and storage management software then sees both drives in Raid Mirror format but, of course they are not initialised. Verify is not available because they have not been initialised.   I click initialise and because it is a pair of 2TB HD’s i.e. 4TB it takes a while to complete initialisation.

However, they do not, will not initialise, I have made about 7 attempts reaching at it lowest 30% initialisation and 70% at its highest. Each time it terminates it reports a failed HD, I delete the raid array and check both drives in Seagate Disk health check they are both OK and in good health.

I am loath to make an eight attempt in case I am missing a fundamental step or just being stupid, any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated, thanks in anticipation of your assistance.

Thanks Memory Man 
   
   

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
Seagate does not recommend FireCuda's for RAID (Any level). 

IronWolf Drives should be used for RAID.

All of your other data regarding lanes, port availability, etc is correct.

Any attempts to RAID these disks will likely result in a failure.  If you do get them in RAID, the chances of one dropping out is extremely high. 

Switch drives or use ones from another manufacturer.  Be sure to check if they are recommended for RAID.

Good Luck

[Memory Man]

Hi Shadow Sports,

Thanks very much for your response.

To quote the words of Forest Gump "Stupid is a stupid does", and how stupid am I?

I thought I had checked that, obviously not, phew wrong HD's specified, dumb ass, I just ordered a pair of Iron wolf's as you recommended, I have now got to go back into the Stupid ass coroner  .

Cheers bud take care Grandmaster Splash and his not so Furious Hard drives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Memory Man]

Update

For the benefit of those who may have had the same experience please find update below.

As correctly advised by “Shadowsports” I swopped out the Two X 2TB Seagate Fire Cuda’s for Two X 2TB Seagate Iron Wolfe bespoke NAS drive HD’s. As “Shadowsports” pointed out the Fire Cuda’s are bespoke games legacy HD’s not good for Raid arrays. I am well and truly wearing my largest dunce’s hat on that one but, as The Rag & Bone Man sings “ I am only Human after all so don’t put the blame on me” only joking of course I feel a right prat!

The two X 2TB Seagate Iron Wolfe bespoke NAS drive HD’s give the same result as the Fire Cudas, i.e. the MoBo will not initialise this pair of HD’s in this Raid Array format i.e. Raid 1 Mirror.

Not sure what was going on I feared the MoBo was in trouble but, was relived in another sense because each time it failed it would fail on alternative SATA ports. So where are we now, I had a spare pair of Western Digital RED Two X 1TB NAS drives.

Hooked these on and bingo they are up and running, formatted, Initialized, and verified, seen by Intel Raid software are happy and running well on the system.

Conclusion: -
I cannot be sure of any of my assessment of the situation as it is all based on supposition and zero hard physical evidence and diagnostics.

•   Maybe these MoBo’s do not like Seagate
•   Maybe it will initialise on Two X 2TB in Raid Mirror and above provided it’s an SSD and a not legacy HD’s.
•   Maybe it will only initialise in Raid Mirror below 1TB on legacy HD’s
•   Maybe it will initialise on Two X 2TB in Raid 0 only and not Raid1 Mirror.
•   Perhaps these MoBo’s only like Western Digital legacy HD’s

Who knows however, in any event lets hope my shared experiences will assist others going down this path?

[shadowsports]

Greetings,
Certainly helpful information.

The QVL does list the FireCuda's as compatible:

Seagate SATA3 FireCuda120 ZA2000GM1A001 2TB

But does not state anything about RAID and the QVL doesn't mention IronWolf's at all so it only covers disks in standalone configuration.

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/SSD/mb_ssd_support_200819.pdf

For RAID, I use Samsung SSD's or m.2.  I use Red's in both of my NAS devices, but of course they have a different controller.

One other thing that was not explored is BIOS revision.  Which are you running?

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z390-AORUS-XTREME-WATERFORCE-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios

F2 & F3 have iRST updates.  F7G adds (enhanced In Card) compatibility.  Don't upgrade to F7G.  I don't recommend beta BIOS unless they absolutely address a specific issue.  Your root cause is still undetermined.  Brand is certainly a possibility. 

[Memory Man]

Hi again Shadowsports,

Thanks once more for your interaction it is appreciated.

All points noted, yes I too did not see Iron wolf in QVL list, so it maybe it is an HD Brand issues.

BIOS version I am running F3 however, I am loath to update BIOS when I have stability other than issues referenced in post, I feel confident now that they are resolved thanks to your input. I only tend to update BIOS for a new build or if I am installing a new O/S other than that I avoid BIOS update like the plague or unless it is absolutely unavoidable and essential to resolving an issue.

I am running two X Samsung 1TB PCIe SSD's on the M2M & M2P for O/S and two X Gigiabyte 1TB SSD's off SATA ports O & 1. Needles to say they are faultless and running perfectly stable. 

Take care Grandmaster Flash

[shadowsports]

Memory Man,
You did all of the sleuthing.  So you get the credit for that.  I'd stick with F3, as it seems to be the best option for your situation.

Like you I typically perform my BIOS updates at purchase and prior to a system build.  This is more important now since The RAID BIOS is now embedded in the standard BIOS.  Meaning if you upgrade, you will need to have a back up of the array data since the RAID is broken when the BIOS is updated.

I have been thinking about your IronWolf issue.  Check for FW updates.  Its a long shot, but worth investigating:

https://apps1.seagate.com/downloads/request.html

You'll need serial numbers  to search.

Something else to try.  With the disks connected and marked as array members, boot into windows.  Now use diskpart from an admin command prompt.

list disk

select disk x

clean

covert gpt

Then attempt to initialize in disk management

This may result in another failure, but you will have been thorough. 
   

[Memory Man]

Hi Shadowsports,

Thanks for advice and guidance it is very much appreciated.

Pleased to learn that others like are you have made the same deductions with BIOS updates.

The Iron Wolf's have been returned, the Firecuda's are on Ebay for sale, I will avoid Seagate like the plague with this MoBo, I have no time or the inclination to do any further investigation, I have already wasted too much time fixing this.

However, I am pleased that all is now well thanks to your input, take care.

MM