I managed to gain access to
ALL data (files, music, movies, etc.) from a completely dead lacie bigdisk 500 gb case, with 2 Raid 0 250 gb disks inside.
It works ! I just finished copying 240 Gb from the "unmountable" lacie bigdisk 500 to a newly bought 500 gb usb drive.
It will work IF both hard drives are physically ok. If one of them is physically dead, sorry, you have lost your data.
Here is how I did it :
- 1. open the case [it void the warranty]
- 2. remove the 2 disks
- 3. connect them both in a PC (desktop with 2 free 3.5 IDE connectors), on IDE cable (with jumpers properly configured)
- 4. boot the pc [IF windows asks to initialise newly connected disks DO NOT D O IT]
- 5. find the following 2 softwares : http://www.runtime.org/raid.htm AND http://www.runtime.org/captain-nemo.htm
- 6. watch this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWNq5rAhZ9Y (or search for "raid reconstructor tutorial" on youtube. This video explained me exactly how to get it back to life, as the soft is not completely trivial.
- 7. open raid reconstructor
- 8. select both hard drives
- 9. "open disks"
- 10. analyse
- 11. put 5000000 in sector to analyse (instead of 100000 wich is not enough)
- 12. if there is a clear suggestion, select proper settings
- 13. back to main screen
- 14. create a VIM virtual image, and save it somewhere on your PC (ex : in my documents)
- 15. open "captain nemo"
- 16. click on "image", sleect the .vim file just created before
- 17. VoilĂ ! you have access to your data !
Good Luck if you are trying to get back part of your electronic life...
One important reminder : Do NEVER use Raid 0 hard drives to store/backup any data. It is ONLY useful for performance. Not for safety. Raid 1, n is of course ok.
Jack