How do you disable a RAID array?

[rikytik]

I have a K7T266 Pro2-RU motherboard and am running a mirror array with 2 identical hard drives. I want to permanently dismantle the array, but, of course, without losing the data on the disks? and so that I can boot from one of the disks on the Primary IDE connector. I see from the RAID manual how to delete the array (which I understand simply deletes the array data saved into a reserved sector), and I understand that I must make the necessary change to CMOS setup so that the IDE RAID drive is no longer bootable. Do I need to do anything else? Is it then just a matter of connecting one of the 2 disks to the Primary IDE connector and booting up?

[Sephiroth]

i don't think that you can break an array without fdisking and formatting the drives first

one option you might have is ghost the array to another drive or set of disks, break the array, then ghost the image back once you're done, if it's not possible

[spe11edy]

You simply cannot break up a raid. The drives will have to be formatted and fdisked for sure. Data loss is inevitable.

[cyberm]

First, buy another hard drive that has the storage capacity of both raid drives combined. Then either ghost the raid array or just copy over the files that you want to backup. After that you would have to disable the array and format both drives like normal.

[BearCat]

In some setup's the RAID-1 ( morror ) can be "broken" in a safe way.
I think your RAID chip is based on a Promise controller, so the following might apply to your mobo.

Quote:

The simplest and easiest way to break a RAID 1 mirror on the 1200A is to have only one of the drives in the mirrored pair connected at startup time or boot time.

This will force the 1200A Raid card to believe there is a broken RAID 1 and will display an alternate startup screen that will allow the following options:

Broken RAID 1 - Critical Status - A disk member of a mirroring array has failed or is not responding. The array is still functional, but fault tolerance is disabled.

1.) Power off and replace the failed drive
2.) Destroy the Mirroring Relationship
3.) Choose a Replacement drive and Rebuild
4.) Continue to Boot

When option number two (2) is chosen, it will delete the RAID table information from the drive that is currently connected to the 1200A RAID controller. This operation will make that drive appear as a stand alone drive that was never part of a mirrored pair.

Note: This operation must be run on both drives that were part of the mirrored pair, to erase the RAID table information on each drive.

CAUTION! Do not use the " Delete array " operation through the " Ctrl+H " Bios of the 1200A, this will not only delete the array, but also delete any partition information along with all of the data on all drives. Once the delete option has been chosen there is no way to get the data back.