Intel Rapid Storage Technology removed my HDD from my Acer Nitro AN515-52

I have two disks: 240GB SSD one and 1TB HDD one. Using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology tool I created a recovery volume on the HDD disc which made the HDD disappear from the system (only SSD with system installed shows up in 'This PC'.) I've tried a few solutions already but, unfortunately, none of them worked:

Deleting the volume in Disk Management - when I right click the volume, only 'help' option shows up which leads to googling 'Disk management in Windows 10' when clicked;
Looking for a 'delete' option in Intel RST - I failed to find any;
Using Raid Tool and the IronFly's accepted solution from this link - my command prompt could not execute 'CD Raid_tool' command;
Switching SATA Mode in BIOS from RST w/ Optane to AHCI which caused a BSOD;

SN: NHQ4AEP001XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The screens I attached are sequentially: disk management, HDD disk (note its use: recovery disk), the volume (once again, type: recovery) and the matrix.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/o7/z3g2nvlwhe85.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/gh/re9ninwi5q5f.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/n4/uotkuy0g34ek.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/55/vjitklp4pgd1.png

[Post edited to remove inappropriate or personal content -Acer-Manny]

Comments

Commodore_1995#

Maybe it's in mbr format!

Try converting to gpt format (only this format works in uefi mode)! To do this, enter cmd as administrator and enter these commands giving enter in each: diskpart, list disk, sel disk x (x is the hd number, see if the hd appears), clean, convert gpt , create partition primary, format fs = ntfs quick, assign!

notonmywatch

egydiocoelho said:

Maybe it's in mbr format!
Try converting to gpt format (only this format works in uefi mode)! To do this, enter cmd as administrator and enter these commands giving enter in each: diskpart, list disk, sel disk x (x is the hd number, see if the hd appears), clean, convert gpt , create partition primary, format fs = ntfs quick, assign!

I've just tried it but having entered the 'list disk' command only the SSD one appears as shown below.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/0y/a31c271xca4a.png

notonmywatch

Apparently, my HDD is recognised only by Intel RST and BIOS.
Any idea how could that be fixed?

Commodore_1995#

Is it appearing in the device manager?

Commodore_1995#

Try this! Press windows + r and type msconfig; on system startup, select safe boot and restart; when restart, press f2 and change from rst to ahci and press f10 to save when exiting! As the notebook will enter windows in safe mode, this change will not cause the blue screen! In safe mode, see if your hd is identified! If it is identified in ahci mode, switch back to rst on bios and see if hd is also detected in safe mode! If it is, just uncheck the safe boot to boot windows normally!

notonmywatch

egydiocoelho said:

Try this! Press windows + r and type msconfig; on system startup, select safe boot and restart; when restart, press f2 and change from rst to ahci and press f10 to save when exiting! As the notebook will enter windows in safe mode, this change will not cause the blue screen! In safe mode, see if your hd is identified! If it is identified in ahci mode, switch back to rst on bios and see if hd is also detected in safe mode! If it is, just uncheck the safe boot to boot windows normally!

In safe mode with ahci the 2nd disk didn't pop up in 'My PC' but it did show up in cmd using diskpart and list disk as 'offline'.

However, in safe mode with rst it did not. Moreover, it caused disk scanning and checking during a boot.

When I switched off the safe mode (and left the rst), the notebook wouldn't boot at first. After a reset it did but now I can't connect it to the Internet and the audio for some reason.

notonmywatch

notonmywatch said:

egydiocoelho said:

Try this! Press windows + r and type msconfig; on system startup, select safe boot and restart; when restart, press f2 and change from rst to ahci and press f10 to save when exiting! As the notebook will enter windows in safe mode, this change will not cause the blue screen! In safe mode, see if your hd is identified! If it is identified in ahci mode, switch back to rst on bios and see if hd is also detected in safe mode! If it is, just uncheck the safe boot to boot windows normally!

In safe mode with ahci the 2nd disk didn't pop up in 'My PC' but it did show up in cmd using diskpart and list disk as 'offline'.

However, in safe mode with rst it did not. Moreover, it caused disk scanning and checking during a boot.

When I switched off the safe mode (and left the rst), the notebook wouldn't boot at first. After a reset it did but now I can't connect it to the Internet and the audio for some reason.

Sorry, I forgot to add an image of the cmd lines with safe mode+ahci configuration.

I have another question: is it safe to perform a clean install even when only one of the discs is visible by the system? Here are the partitions I was viewed when I tried to perform a system format.

Commodore_1995#

On the disk that was identified as offline in safe mode, enter the following commands in cmd as administrator: diskpart, list disk, sel disk x, (x is offline disk number), online! See this link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2003/cc786948(v=ws.10)#BKMK_CMD
If you can not get into safe mode, do this in the installation of windows 10 by pressing shift + f10!

Check this before installing windows 10 to see if hd appears! If you want to reinstall windows 10, just do not delete the "push button reset" partition which is the acer recovery partition! The others can be deleted!

notonmywatch

egydiocoelho said:

On the disk that was identified as offline in safe mode, enter the following commands in cmd as administrator: diskpart, list disk, sel disk x, (x is offline disk number), online! See this link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2003/cc786948(v=ws.10)#BKMK_CMD
If you can not get into safe mode, do this in the installation of windows 10 by pressing shift + f10!
Check this before installing windows 10 to see if hd appears! If you want to reinstall windows 10, just do not delete the "push button reset" partition which is the acer recovery partition! The others can be deleted!

I activated the offline disk as you said and now 'This PC' displays two very same disks (SSD ones). Could a clean installation fix this problem?

Also, what about this lack of internet and sound? Should I change any of the options in ms config?

Commodore_1995#

You have put the command sel disk 1 (1 is the hd number and not the ssd)!

Commodore_1995#

See if activated using diskpart, list disk, sel disk 1, online command! Then check that hd is present in the device manager! If so, it is possible that now it is only without the letter on the unit! Also go in Disk Management and see if HD is Shown!

Commodore_1995#

in msconfig put on normal startup to see if it connects to internet and sound!

Commodore_1995#

Try using the diskpart, list disk, sel disk x, online command using rst mode in safe mode! What is the default mode that was set in bios, rst, or ahci?

Commodore_1995#

Look at this site, be in Portuguese but you can use google to translate into English or Russian https://gerati.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/reativar-um-disco-dinamico-ausente-ou-off- line

notonmywatch

egydiocoelho said:

You have put the command sel disk 1 (1 is the hd number and not the ssd)!

I did activate disk 1 because it was the one that was offline, right?

egydiocoelho said:

See if activated using diskpart, list disk, sel disk 1, online command! Then check that hd is present in the device manager! If so, it is possible that now it is only without the letter on the unit! Also go in Disk Management and see if HD is Shown!

As you can see both disks are activated but they switched places for some reason (now hdd is 0 and ssd is 1). In disk management I'm pretty sure they got cloned? How would you describe that?

egydiocoelho said:

in msconfig put on normal startup to see if it connects to internet and sound!

I did but nothing changed.

egydiocoelho said:

Try using the diskpart, list disk, sel disk x, online command using rst mode in safe mode! What is the default mode that was set in bios, rst, or ahci?

RST is the default one. When I do it, it says that both disks are online

Commodore_1995#

Me tira uma dúvida: esse notebook veio de fábrica com o ssd ou hd?

me parece que pelo fato de você ter uma mídia de recuperação, ao colocar online o hd, ele clonou os arquivos do ssd! é estranho mas realmente parece ser um clone! Mas agora ele está aparecendo! Agora a partição de 707,94 gb está sem letra! Para colocar uma letra nessa unidade, faça como nas fotos

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/lf/33qn3zic0xj5.png

Commodore_1995#

Check if updating the drivers with the driverbooster it starts connecting the internet and the sound!

Commodore_1995#

It is possible that it has changed the order of ssd and hd, so maybe hdd is first in the bios boot section! Check it out! But before I would like to know the notebook came with the hd or ssd from the factory, so you can delete the partitions that have appeared!

notonmywatch

Thank you so much!! I finally managed to solve the problem thanks to your invaluable support!
I didn't realise that these clones were just HDD partitions so I performed a format and a clean install (due to some drivers problems that occured, anyway). If the problems didn't appear I could just create new paths as you advised. Once again, a big thanks!

Commodore_1995#

My friend! Glad you could solve your problem! If you were to take in a technician, he could condemn the hd and make you spend more money! However sometimes, a problem that is apparently "serious" has a solution with just a little software knowledge!

Glad you could solve the problem! Do not forget to click promote and put the topic as solved!

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