HELP!!! bricked my Z2! :(

Hi there!

After rebooting my Z2 it wasn't able to boot any more. Windows couldn't be found. So I've tried to use a bootable USB stick with Windows7 on it and try the repair optoins, but as it turns out, no local drives could be found, except the USB storage!
So I wasn't able to execute any repair functions nor was I able to format the local drive and reinstall Windows again (obv. if no local drives are found).

I've also tried the rescue media I've created with Vaio Care, but none of it's options worked either.

After turning the machine on, I get this screen:


After a few secs this appears:

Operating System Not Found_


I really have no idea what to do right now.
Only thing I can think of which might have caused this, is the fact that I've updated the Intel Raid driver through Microsoft.com yesterday (or maybe it was even Friday).

HELP!!!

 

Do you have a 2x raid or 4x raid config?

 

Seems like a 2x, with the RAID config screwed up.

Recreate the RAID volume, and boot on the usb stick. I dunno if data is recoverable though (don't think so).

 

For RAID, it's almost impossible to get data back.

Might want to break up the RAID volume, format both, then reform the RAID volume and then install Windows.

 

It looks like 2x but I'm asking so we no for certain that it's not a 4x with 2 drives missing. Anyhow....looks like a reinstall is coming.

 

Thanks for the fast responses!

Yeah, it's a 2x64GB setup. I don't really care about data loss, most of it is backed up. Thing is I don't know how to perform a fresh setup of RAID0, I'm kinda a newb regarding RAID. It's the first time I'm facing a RAID configured machine.
Would be great if someone could guideline me through the process of setting the RAID config up again. I really don't wanna have to send my machine in to SONY.

 

After playing with the Intel option ROM on my Z1 for quite a long time, I would like to share a possible fix without data loss (no guarantee but it worked for me when I accidentally broke my setup). It is worth a try if you already decided to delete everything and do a fresh install anyways:

1. Reset both SSDs to non-member in Option ROM (Ctrl+I when prompted). It says that all data is lost but thats BS. It does not delete any data.

2. Create a new RAID 0 array with same settings as the broken array (also same drives order, top to bottom).

3. Get TestDisk from http://www.cgsecurity.org and prepare a Bootdisk to run it (can be CD or flashdrive).

4. Run TestDisk and it will find the lost data partitions. If not go back to square one and recreate array with different drive order.

5. Let TestDisk correct the partition table. Reboot.

6. Should work again now, data should be accessible through bootdisk and machine should boot. If it does not boot, a "fixmbr" helps.

 

^Excellent advice.

 

Yeah, i've got this something maybe same problem once or twice... except I have a Z1. I didn't loose my data though. What I had to do boot with windows 7 dvd in the drive and enter recovery console, and do a fixmbr.

It kept saying operating system not found when i reboot until it was the 2nd or 3rd time i let windows try to repair the boot sector, then it worked.. and i got right back into windows without any formating or raid rebuilding etc.

 

Could you please link the driver that you installed? What has happened to your Z2 is scary stuff!

 

^As the setup.exe is on the Notrbook, I can't tell you the exact version I've downloaded, but if you go to Microsoft.com driver support&download you can have your machine checked for driver updates. And that's what I did. You check for yourself.

@pyr0
Thanks! I'll try that asap.

But if it does not work, how can I fix my mbr? I've always done this with a Windows CD, but as I said, the repair functions do not work.


And just for the sake of curiosity:
What can I do to prevent this happening again? Are we certain that the driver update caused this? So no driver updates in the future?

 

Well, new "problem". How can I start TestDisk? I've downloaded v6.13 and extracted al the files to an USB stick.
To get to CMD I've attached the Win7 USB also and tried to start it testdisk_win.exe there. Didn't work.

 

^Just download Hiren's bootcd.

 

Sorry guys, seems so that I'm a newb after all.
What do I have to do with TestDisk? There seem to be a lot of options. I couldn't figure out one which solved my problem.
Would be nice if one could guide me through what I have to do. Thanks!

 

^Just use hiren's bootcd and use one of the other 10+ paritition recovery programs that come with it. Do that, of course, AFTER you recreate the RAID array.

 

well, for recovery, there's only the "TestDisk" and "PhotoRec".
And I couldn't find any other programme.


*edit1*
I finally made it to boot the system again! Don't ask me how though. Now backing up all the files, making a system backup and image. Then I'll try to make some test boots.

If it runs normal again, what should I do now?
Install the old Intel Rapid Storage Driver again? I mean, what can I do to prevent this from happening again?

(the driver I'm talking about is "iata_cd_10.8.0.1003.exe")


*edit2*
Well, sh*t.
Still not working. I still get the "Operating System Not Found_" error. I'm able to boot windows only via Hiren BootCD "Start Windows Vista/Seven..." (or how that entry is called).
Do you have an idea what could be wrong? Maybe MBR? (windows repair functions were not able to repair that)


*edit3*
After doing some reboot cycles and trying the repair function of Windows7 DVD it doesn't show "Operating System Not Found_" any more, but it shows this screen all the time instead:



Now I can't boot Windows any more, not even with the Hiren BootCD like I described before in edit2.

bootrec /FixMbr and /FixBoot didn't change anything either


What's odd is that in CMD it seems like the Windows partition is on D:\ instead of C:\

 

I seriously need some help here guys! :S

 

Try

MBR - Restore Windows 7 Master Boot Record - Windows 7 Forums

and eventually
bootrec /RebuildBcd

There are many MBR and partition table tools on Hiren's BootCD as well perhaps those may help. If anything does not help, be happy that you actually recovered your data from a formerly presumed dead array - this is already an impressive breakthrough for all Z owners that worry data loss with their RAID 0 arrays!!!

 

^I was already selecting the disk to format for a new clean install and thought, well, let's check NBR again. Now I've tried the bootrec /nt60 SYS /mbr command and it worked! Thanks pyr0! And thank you beaups as well of course!


And again:
How can I prevent this from happening again? I mean the system is the same as it were before the crash, so it's not unlikely that it could happen again.
Do you think the Intel Rapid Storage driver update could have caused this? (still got no comment on this one)

 

Go to disk management and change the drive letter from d: to nothing.

 

Actually I don't think there are explicit ways to prevent this. Such corruptions may occur after a power-failure, virus, bad drivers, software issues, physical failures (such as bad NAND cells, controllers or cables) etc etc.

I have installed half a dozen RST drivers on top of each other since the first clean install of windows 7 and I never got such an issue.

Do regular backups, apply the vaious SSD tweaks, run chkdisk with a complete scan.

If you are too scared, you can lower the risk by breaking the RAID array and running on AHCI mode but again, I run my Z for over 1.5 years in a 4SSD-RAID without ANY issue or any need to reformat so far - I think for that it is absolutely worth to take good care about software and driver configuration. I don't install every crappy tool, I use VMs as sandboxes.

 

^thanks again for all the help!

 

You are always welcome - Grüße in die Alpen!

 

So, it's that Alps air - or lack of it! - that makes you so brilliant! I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Sie sind die besten, Pyr0; ein wahrer Schatz! (pardon me if Google translate is sloppy!)

You are a treasure to this forum and the countless members you have helped. You should feel very good about this and know that you not only help so many out of problems, but you help us get more from our Zs than we would without your ingenious hacks and knowledge. I was toying with starting a thread to salute you, but I felt it would embarrass you.

What can we do to give back to you?

 

This thread serves as a nice reminder to always backup your data.
With my Z2 and 2x 64 GB Raid-0 I've had the "operating system not found" message two times now (after a power loss and a hard crash). So far it has always booted on the second try, but don't want to leave it to chance...

 

+1 on that, I'm off to do another backup right now!

 

I've got another small problem, yet it doesn't deverse it's own thread imo.

Sometimes after booting, the logon screen is missing. Only this greenish background is there, but no user-avatar, no fields to enter username/password. Not even the button to shutdown or reboot. So only thing I can do there is force the Notebook to shut down by pressing the shutdown button for a few sec. (simply just pressing the shut down button doesn't work).