1 Y.O. Laptop - suspected hard drive failure - help needed  

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  1. ArthurDent
    Posts : 338
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1766)
    Thread Starter
       New #31

    Try3 said:
    No. If Windows is installed on the M.2 then it needs the M.2 to boot.

    Denis
    My thoughts exactly. If the m.2 has gone south and contains the OS, this explains why the pc won't boot.

    Art

    - - - Updated - - -

    Try3 said:
    If Windows is installed on the M.2 then it needs the M.2 to boot. So your diagnosis is probably correct.

    Please confirm that it is not on the HDD by checking the folders on the HDD. Are they only the folders you have created or is there also - Program folders, [possibly] Program folders (x86), Windows, PerfLogs, Users?
    Didn't recall seeing and Windows\System 32 folder etc on the Seagate drive.

    Can't check now as lappy has gone back to retailer

    Windows 10 Home is at least 14GB but it is impossible to be more precise because hardware drivers can vary in size.
    Didn't realse that Windows had become so bloated!

    People with 32GB drives can just about get away with Windows running but they often experience problems.

    On my simplest computer Windows and my applications take up 20GB.
    On my main computer they take up between 40-50-60GB depending on what mood they are in..


    Art
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  2. thomaseg1
    Posts : 13,301
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 19044.1526
       New #32

    The problem with the m2 not booting is the raid .
    Raid makes two (or more) appear as one drive.
    If as you say windows was on the M2 it would not boot without the Hdd.
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  4. ArthurDent
    Posts : 338
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1766)
    Thread Starter
       New #33

    thomaseg1 said:
    The problem with the m2 not booting is the raid .
    Raid makes two (or more) appear as one drive.
    If as you say windows was on the M2 it would not boot without the Hdd.
    The bottom line is Thomas, I don't know how this laptop is configures and a quick look in the BIOS wasn't much help either.

    Where would the RAID array be configured?

    As I could access everything when the 1Tb drive was connected to a different laptop as an external USB drive, I'm assuming that the m.2 drive had failed.

    I thought a RAID array only worked when both drives were the same size?!

    EDIT: Because the system has a small (16Gb) m.2 SSD and a large mechanical hard disk, surely this is a RAID 0 configuration (if indeed the system is configured as a RAID array) as RAIDs 1 - 6 allow for a system to continue to function with a failed drive. RAID 0 allows for no such protection. Indeed, if the small m.2 SSD contains the system drivers and, being a consumer laptop it is unlikely that the mobo has a dedicated hardware RAID controller but instead this is implemented in software (much like Intel's Matrix RAID), failure of the m.2 drive would not allow the system to see the larger mechanical drive and so Windows and the main boot loader could not be loaded into RAM. I don't know enough about modern implementations of RAID but if the first drive in an array fails, then a first-stage boot loader might not be sophisticated enough to attempt loading the second-stage boot loader from the second drive - hence the machine doesn't boot at all.

    This would also explain why booting into Linux from a bootable USB flash drive, Linux couldn't see the mechanical drive either.

    Art
    Last edited by ArthurDent; 08 Feb 2020 at 17:36.
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  5. thomaseg1
    Posts : 13,301
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 19044.1526
       New #34

    Raid is in the Bios , it is how computer "one" sees the drive.
    you can access drive by plugging the drive to another computer.

    You must change the SATA heading to ahci from raid in computer "one" to see it as a separate drive.
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  7. ArthurDent
    Posts : 338
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1766)
    Thread Starter
       New #35

    thomaseg1 said:
    Raid is in the Bios , it is how computer one sees it.
    you can access it by plugging the drive to another computer.
    You must change the SATA heading to ahci from raid.
    Thomas,

    I couldn't see any mention of RAID or AHCI in the BIOS as far as I remember. Only UFEI and PXE Boot (but I thought that was for booting a machine over a network?)

    Art
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  8. thomaseg1
    Posts : 13,301
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 19044.1526
       New #36

    ArthurDent said:
    Thomas,

    I couldn't see any mention of RAID or AHCI in the BIOS as far as I remember. Only UFEI and PXE Boot (but I thought that was for booting a machine over a network?)

    Art
    updated

    I should be under SATA Controller Mode
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  9. thomaseg1
    Posts : 13,301
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 19044.1526
       New #37

    this may help it is a link to a Lenovo site

    Step by Step Replacing Intel Optane with SSD Nvme in Lenovo Legion Y530 - Lenovo Community
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  10. ArthurDent
    Posts : 338
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 (OS Build 19044.1766)
    Thread Starter
       New #38

    thomaseg1 said:
    updated

    I should be under SATA Controller Mode
    Don't recall seeing RAID there either.

    Knowing what RAID means, it would have piqued my interest.

    That's why I don't recall seeing it.

    Anyhow, the point is moot at the moment as I don't have the machine to study. It was under warranty and was returned to the retailer this morning. Apparently, it will go off th Lenovo UK for repair and I should have it back in 10-14 days.

    Is my uderstanding in the edited section of my post #33 above correct?

    I last studied RAID arrays back in the year 2000 when studying for the MCSE.

    Art
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  11. Porthos
    Posts : 923
    Win 10
       New #39

    Can't check now as lappy has gone back to the retailer
    Then what are we discussing? Is the retailer fixing it??
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  12. thomaseg1
    Posts : 13,301
    Windows 10 Pro (x64) 21H2 19044.1526
       New #40

    Porthos said:
    Then what are we discussing? Is the retailer fixing it??
    Good point. We have moved off topic quite a bit. Thanks Porthos.
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