VPCZ2 how to get into RAID BIOS menu?!?

Well my relatively new VPCZ2 which I'd been absolutely loving seems to have spit a SSD. Had had a couple of BSOD's but sadly wasn't paying attention to the rate at which these SSDs have been going t1tzup. Got the RAID error once last night and now just Operating System Not Found.

Now at first it gave me the RAID ctrl-I option to get into the RAID config - but now this isn't appearing at all. I can F2 into normal BIOS no problem. Show RAID is configured on in the BIOS.

Any hints as to how to force it into RAID config on POST? I just want to see what it says about the disks - the one time I got in there it was showing only one of them (I think I should have 2x256 = 512 RAID0)..

TIA for any help - I've searched the threads but most say hit ctrl-I when prompted and I'm not getting any prompt anymore.

 

You can kill the RAID with the hacked bios from Pyro!

 

Sigh. And this means?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/641483-sony-vaio-z2-2011-advanced-menu-bios-hack.html

Install this!
READ INSTRUCTIONS!

 

Yeah OK sounds like more typical interwebz screaming
"YEAAAHHH BIOS HACK ROCKZZZ!!!! EYAHHHAAA?" kind of not-paying-attention BS.

Valnar. Bro.

How does that help me. If you can splain it I'd be thrilled. Then I'd be happy to try it. C'mon dude - just a few sentences. I'm sure you can do it. "You can kill the RAID" is not something that helps me, nor does anything I see from having done the "READ INSTRUCTIONS".

My problem: "One of my SSD's has disappeared AND I can't get into the RAID config menu".
My question: "How can I get into the RAID menu that you are supposed to get into through CTRL-I at boot time?"

Yes yes I see that pyr0's BIOS hack looks super super kewl and I'm quite sure it rocks. In fact had I stumbled on it before this week I'd probably have been psyched to play with it.

However I don't see where it helps me get into the RAID config, or mess with the RAID. If you give me anytting more than "READ INSTRUCTIONS!!!! HAX0R BIOZ ROCKXZZZZQ!!!!!!" it would be much appreciated

If you CAN explain that I'll be more than happy to give it a try, in the meantime I'm lookin fer some more tangible help with actual words that convey actual explanations and information.

 

Why don't you just enter BIOS when powering on your laptop (press F2) and enable the RAID console? Then you should get into the RST console with Ctrl+I when prompted. You can also manage your RAID volume in RST control panel in windows.

 

Thanks for responding pyr0 - Yea that's the weird thing - I DID enable 'Show RAID' but I don't get the prompt on boot. I got it once when it first found the RAID error but now there's no prompt at all and pressing CTRL-I during POST does nothing... Because my RAID array is borked of course I can't boot Windows at this time (unless it was from an external USB or something I guess).

I was hoping to be able to partially recover some of my data from the SSD dropping out but I'm afraid I'm giving up and sending it in for replacement, meaning I've lost a few months of stuff (just found out my backup routine wasn't working for some reason since January - that's always a nice surprise...) aaarrrgggh. I love those SSD for speed but don't like them dying that's for sure...

 

^We've seen this before. IIRC when the controller only sees one working SSD it disables the raid menu.

 

Kewl thanks for the confirmation - that makes me feel WAY better - even if its frustrating at least it explains why I couldn't get into the menu and that I wasn't being stoopid.

Any reports on longevity for these SSD's? Should I expect the new one they send back is going to die any day too?

My VPCZ2 was only 4 months old when it puked this one!! Man I was lovin that computer too... It did give me BSOD's intermittently and now I realize that was probably the sign of impending doom...

 

^Can't get you a meaningful failure % but we don't see too many failures here. All you can do is backup regularly and and enjoy the insane speeds...and hope

 

what does it mean??
I have the same problem with my laptop.
Can't enter to Raid menu. In BIOS i change option to SHOW Raid menu but nothing coming up.
How to enable raid menu. Anyone can help??

 

You can only have a RAID if there are several disks ( more than one). If one of your two disks has died, you only have one working disk left. So you can't have a RAID. Therefore the RAID configuration panel is hidden from you.

Annoying, I agree. The RAID configuration panel should always be there, showing that only one disk is being detected. But that's the way it is, and you're stuck with it.

 

Hi all
i have a problem with my sony vayo z raid configuration . for some reasons still under investigation yesterday the notebook don't boot anymore ... apparently the raid configuration was lost . looking inside the raid panel with CTRL+I i see the two disks like "non raid" . now , there is a way for recover the data on the disk? for my point of view they must be ok
i'm supposing something like "fix" the previous configurations leaving the data safe

 

Hello all. Im still looking for help with my problem. I know raid is working with more than one disk. They both working fine. I can see them both in bios menu but i dont have raid menu at all.