VIA VT6421 RAID Controller

[kxeuds]

Hello all,

I am running HDS-4.6 on w2k8 and I am using VIA VT6421 RAID Controller. I am also have configured and working in Raid Bios, 2 disks in one raid 1 array. Those disks are Seagate (160Gb and 250GB) and resulted raid 1 array has 150GB.

I've check on HDS FAQ and saw that this controller is 100% supported:
http://www.hdsentinel.com/compatibility ... ollers.php

VIA VT6421 Yes Provides details about all SATA hard disks
(standalone and configured as RAID arrays)

On my side, HDS is displaying strange information, just about one disks (capacity 160GB)!!! The second one disk (250GB) and also resulted raid1 array is not displayed or monitored at all!!!

See picture attached.

Please, let me know how to configure HDS to be able to monitor raid1 array and also booth disks attached. Thank you.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for your message and the images, however, this is not a bug / limitation of Hard Disk Sentinel, but related to the current driver of the RAID controller.

With older drivers, yes, exactly as you can see, only partial (and sometimes even incorrect) status may be detected.
This is not surprising, as older drivers do not have the proper functions. This is true for other RAID controllers (eg. Intel, AMD, JMicron, Dawicontrol etc...) not only VIA.

This is exactly why the Support -> Driver Zone page is available: http://www.hdsentinel.com/driverzone.php
where it is possible to download the recommended drivers for various controllers.

Please check this page and locate the VIA specific driver package:
http://www.hdsentinel.com/driver/via_v- ... _v5.80.zip

After installation (and restart) complete status information should be detected and displayed.

I'd recommend to use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option after the update.
This way it is possible to check the actual situation: the developer report would confirm if the status is properly detected - but if not, it can help to investigate the situation.

[hdsentinel]

(I sent some private messages, not sure if you noiced them).

[kxeuds]

I cannot see any reason to not display my messages. If you want to be transparent, display it for everybody in order people to be aware that something is wrong and HDS is not working as expected. That's the reason I post in a forum and did not contacted on private.

On the other part, Report -> send to Developer mean that server on which is running HDS is connected to internet, which is not my case. That's the reason I've attached report here!

I've granted somehow access to internet in order that report to be sent. In case you did not receive it, I am attaching here now.

It is exactly as described, even installing via_raid-5.8 and latest trial 4.7.1, HDS does not see discs, just only one. So, consider it as a bug report, no matter if is full version or trial, starting from 4.6.x version (tested by me), HDS does not seems to see all discs.

And also, I cannot see any offensive words ... It is just the truth, HDS does not work. You should accept it as pure truth and make it working as advertised.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for your message and the developer report.

There is nothing to hide. If things do not work as expected, it can and should be corrected of course.
I just did not allow posts of an user who was unfair. Sorry for that.

Previously you did not send developer report. You posted here a simple HTML user report, which is excellent for the user as it contains all details of the hard disks. But has no information about the "raw" communication between the controller and the software.
This is exactly why I asked a developer report - which designed exactly to verify the detectuibs, check possible errors reported by the contoller, generally investigate what can be wrong and how things can be still improved.

I do not want to argue of course, instead focus on the real issue.

I'm trying to reproduce, examine with more details on similar configuration, similar controller and OS version, because this controller previously tested with other OSes, not Win2008 R2 x64 you use. It seems on your system the controller works differently than on others tested previously, that's why only one hard disk detected from the configuration.

I'll provide any news and updated versions for testing as soon as possible.

Thanks for your attention about this controller and OS combination.

[hdsentinel]

Can you please check the following:

1) completely close Hard Disk Sentinel by File -> Exit

2) Then you'd need to start HDSentinel.exe with /FORCERAID command line parameter. According the report, on your system, the VIA RAID specific detection seems not started at all. Due to the driver version Hard Disk Sentinel do not attempt the detection if the driver may not support the functions properly.

For this, please open an elevated command prompt by starting CMD.EXE and select "Run as administrator".

Then navigate to the folder of the software by entering

CD "C:\Program Files (x86)\Hard Disk Sentinel"

and then enter

HDSentinel.exe /FORCERAID

Let's see what happens. Hopefully both hard disks will appear with their complete status. If so, then Hard Disk Sentinel would only need to automatically attempt the detection even in this controller + driver + OS combination.

The best would be if you can use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option in all cases: if things are perfect, this would confirm the situation but if not, the developer report may help in further researching.

Thanks!

[kxeuds]

This is the correct attitude, focus to solve the issue.

Using /forceraid switch help to detected second disk (see attach), but it is presented as not supported.

[hdsentinel]

Yes, I'm afraid this is the case: the problem with the driver.
When I tried to reproduce the situation yesterday, I found that with the /FORCERAID parameter both hard disks are detected, but the status of only one of them can be accessed. While we can see the identification information (model ID, firmware version, features etc.) of the second hard disk, its status is missing.

This is _exactly_ why I asked to use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option again, to check if you have 100% same results, verify how your controller works and responds with the current driver version.

The functionality heavily depends on the driver - and this is why it is important to verify how / what the driver responds on the detection and check if other driver version(s) may work differently (hopefully better).

Previously on older systems (XP, Vista) with the recommended 5.80 driver the status of both hard disks detected, so it is good idea to check possible other driver versions now.

[kxeuds]

1. report has been submitted again to your developers (please check).

2. I do not believe that via_raid driver is the root cause of the problem. As previously and already mentioned (but my post has not been approved to be displayed here) I've tested also via_raid6.10a (latest version) and the same behavior. As time using native via_raid tools I can see/check everything related to all disks I can bet that is a HDS problem. Also, this server IT IS NOT A TEST SERVER and I've already made a lot of exceptions (grated access to internet, reinstalled 2 versions oh HDS, etc). If this problem will not be solved, I will remove completely HDS from this machine.

So what I can suggest, is to test in your lab with whicever via_raid drivers you consider. If required, release a patch to fix actual issue or release a new HDS version working fine with via_raid controllers on Windows 2008 R2.

[hdsentinel]

1. Thanks for the report, yes, I checked and see.

2. I'm afraid yes, this is a driver problem, not really related to Hard Disk Sentinel.

You mentioned that you can see "everything" in the VIA RAID tools.
Can you please send an image / screenshot about the self-monitoring data you can see about the drive where the status is missing in Hard Disk Sentinel?

Just because I see 100% same behaviour in V-RAID tool and Hard Disk Sentinel: the S.M.A.R.T. information is completely missing for one hard disk.
I tried different driver versions (both the 5.80 and 6.10 and also newest driver supplied with Windows 10 x64) and the situation is the same: while both Hard Disk Sentinel (and the VIA RAID tool) can identify all hard disks and show their details (model, firmware version, serial number, features, etc.) the self-monitoring status is missing for one of the drives.

So if there is a "bug" in Hard Disk Sentinel, then the same "bug" is in V-RAID tool. I do not really think ....


I open the VIA RAID tool, and click on "Check All Disks" button:



Then enable "Advanced" and click "Next". A small window appears (while the tool detects status) and then I can click "SMART History" button to get the "raw" S.M.A.R.T. data.



The VIA tool does not interpret / display the details, but we can inspect the raw self-monitoring status this way.

For one of the drives the S.M.A.R.T. data is completely empty, only zeroes displayed:



For the other drive the S.M.A.R.T. data is filled as should:



This completely matches with Hard Disk Sentinel:



As you can see, the status of the Toshiba hard disk detected in both Hard Disk Sentinel and in the Via tool.
And the status of the Seagate hard disk is not detected in both Hard Disk Sentinel and in the Via tool.
(this is independent from the hard disks, tried with other drives and all detected in Hard Disk Sentinel elsewhere. I just selected these completely different models to illustrate the current situation).

I'd more than happy if this would be a bug in Hard Disk Sentinel. Then I'd immediately give a solution (or even, this conversation would never happen as it would be already fixed).
But as you can see, the driver does not report the status - even to the VIA tool.

So I wonder what do you mean "using native via_raid tools I can see/check everything related to all disks".
Please send an image - as maybe your VIA tool works differently and may display something (even partial) information which can help.

To be honest, personally I'd much more recommend to use Windows software RAID in this situation: create and manage the RAID array by Windows Disk Management, instead of the VIA RAID controller BIOS. This way all drives (with complete status) appear in Hard Disk Sentinel because then it is possible to access their status (technically they'd work as standalone drives on the RAID controller).

[kxeuds]

I mean that I can see booth disks and check as it is displayed by via_tool. Nothing more.

And coming back to our problem, I can confirm, following your steps I have the same like you, one zeroed report for one of raid disks. Your assumption is correct.

So indeed is a bug, but not in HDS. It is in via_raid driver and is present at least on 5.8 version and also on latest driver 6.10a. I will open a bug report on viatech.com. Hope to get a fix for it.

And finally no: software raid using windows does not represent an option. Thanks anyway for suggestion and you efforts.

For sure this thread will help other people too, that's good it happen here and is public available.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks!

Yes, I agree: it seems there is a bug in the 64 bit VIA RAID drivers.
I did further testing and can confirm that things work with 32 bit Windows and drivers: complete hard disk status of all hard disks (configured as RAID) detected by Hard Disk Sentinel.
But with 64 bit OS, when the 64 bit drivers installed, the driver provides complete status only of one device.

I hope there will be an updated version available, if so, it will be surely added to the Driver Zone page.

[kxeuds]

Yes, will be continued. Already submitted this thread in attention to viatech.com and got the following reply:

"Thanks for the report. We are following up internally and will let you know the
next step."

Regards,
Alx

[kxeuds]

And today, viatech answered. See below:

[snip]
Hi,

Thanks for pointing us to the forum discussion. It looks like the issue is not
a bug, but it is because the operating systems moved on since the driver for
VT6421 was made. Unfortunately VT6421 is an legacy, end-of-life chipset and
will not receive any software update anymore.

We are really sorry for the inconvenience that causes!

Best wishes,
VIA Tech.
Taiwan
[end snip]

So this controller will not work correctly on w2k8r2-64 bit.

Strange is that according to their website:

http://download.viatech.com/DriverDownloadSubmitAjaxSvl

OS supported: Windows XP,Windows 2000,Windows ME,Windows NT,Windows 98SE,Windows Server 2003 x64,Windows Vista 32-Bit,Windows 7 32-Bit,Windows 7 64-Bit,Windows Server 2003,Windows Server 2008,Windows Vista 64-Bit,Windows XP 64-Bit

So: Windows Server 2003 x64 and Windows Server 2008 are supported.

I am wondering if is really true ... Normally, if working on w2k3-64 bit version, it should work on w2k8-r2-64 bit ... and which version of this driver will work.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for the news.
To be honest, I'm not surprised ....

Generally the problem is not (only) Win 2008 x64, but all 64 bit Windows OSes, as the controller would use the same driver on 64 bit OSes (for example Win7, Win8.1, Win10 and Win2008 Server x64). So the behaviour is 100% same under these systems.

Yes, "Supported" usually mean that there is a driver which can at least provide basic functionality, for example the disks can be read / written.

I'm still investigating the possibilities and do the best, but not sure if we can have a solution without the driver update - which will never happen, according the official response about the end-of-life status of this controller.

[kxeuds]

Hi again and thanks for answer. I did not give up too, but I was to busy today to focus in this direction.

As I already said, as time exist a driver "claimed" to work for w2k3-64 bit version, we should give it a try. And unpacked today v5.8 and v-6.10a driver and saw that we have this driver already in place, in a separated directory, very easy to distinguish versus other os drivers. Also when saw viatech answer, an idea cross my mind: to use old w2k3-64 bit driver on w2k8r2.

And another question appeared too: which driver EXACTLY is using right now via-tool to grab info about controller or disks. Could be the one used for 64 bit OS (vista, win7) or ... ? Very unclear here as time this controller IS NOT SUPPORTED ON w2k8r2-64bit ... So, normally, we should be able to FORCE usage of w2k3-64 bit instead actual one ... and here I stopped... I do not have any idea how to do it, yet ... but could be a way. Maybe hdsantinel may help here too ...

[hdsentinel]

Yes, generally if we unpack the driver packages, we can find the directories of the drivers.
With Windows Device Manager, it is possible to manually install the driver if we locate the controller and select the manual installation from a specific folder.
You can check this page: http://www.hdsentinel.com/faq_amd_ahci_ ... roller.php
which shows step-by-step instructions with screenshots about how to perform manual driver installation/update. This shows for other controller (the AMD chipset RAID controller), but the steps are similar, just now you'd need to select the VIA RAID controller instead and the folder of the driver.

Personally I'd try to install from the VISTA (and thn x64) folder, not the Win2003x64 specific driver as the VISTA-driver works under Win7, Win8 too and it is generally newer, more suitable for Win2008x64 system.

But I can confirm that this driver also works similarly: only the status of one hard disk can be detected.
The situation is same under Win10x64 which installs an even newer driver automatically.

[kxeuds]

Thanks for clarifications but seems not be so simply. Entire os is installed on this raid volume, if something goes wrong when changing/updating driver, machine won't be able to boot ...

Not clear for me if you suggest to install 32bit or 64bit version of vista drivers. I've suppose you are referring to 64bit version, right? Like in picture attached?

And also which version: 5.8 (dated 2007) or 6.10a (dated 2011)?

[hdsentinel]

Yes, I agree.

Of course I refer the 64 bit drivers - as 32 bit drivers do not install under 64 bit Windows at all.

Personally I did not check under Win 2008x64, but checked all possible versions under Win7x64, Win8x64 and Win10x64
I checked the driver from both 5.80 and 6.10 package - but things worked similarly ( = not working).
So personally I do not think you'll see any difference under Windows 2008 too ....

[kxeuds]

And yesterday I've done tests. As shown in pictures attached, default has been installed version 6.0.6000.6210 dated nov. 2007.

I've started first via via_driver-v5.8.

1. installed vista-64 bit version without problems, rebooted the system and check is raid controller recognize booth disks. The answer is NO. The same, only one disk.

2. installed w2k3-64 bit driver, rebooted the system and bad luck: won't boot. Recover it using console and reverting back to last known good configuration

So, we finished here tests with via_raid driver v5.8 and declared "failed"

Continued with via_raid driver 6.10a. Even you suggested that is better to use Vista driver, I've considered that w2k3 driver, being designed for server version, it has more chances to work than vista, so I've started direct with it.

3. Installed w2k3-64 bit driver, rebooted the system ... this time OS booted normally ... and ...

... and Viiiictory! Raid controller is displaying booth disks as well as Hard Disk Sentinel See pictures attached, confirming this ... as well as driver version I am using now ...

Did not tested on W2012 Server, but probably this driver will work there too even viatech.com listed it (as well as w2k8r2) as not supported.

So what I am suggesting here to hdsentinel, is to backup this driver (via_raid 6.10a) and put a note pointing to this thread for other peoples facing the same problem like me with this controller on Winndows 2008 Server R2.

And just another mention: to make HDS working and recognize booth disks: It has been required to run in console hdsentinel.exe /forceraid.

@hdsentinel: is this possible to include this command by default in installer, instead to ask user to run it manually?

And last but not least, I want to address many thanks for hdsentinel for his dedication and his work. Thank you for your time and for your efforts, you are doing here a very good job by creating this piece of software and offering quality support for it.