Blinking "?" mark folder icon at boot, Safe Boot Mode doesn't work, Disk Utility doesn't see drive

[maccer99]

I agree that my backup solutions were a little shoddy; I should have been doing automatic Time Machine backups instead of just dumping to an external hard drive now and then. I'll be doing so in the future, but I have face past mistakes and deal with this PCIe card right now.

Disk Warrior, despite being said to work by commenters with likely the same issue (the 2 links in my previous post) of the Accelsior E2 card, does not work for me. The drive won't show up in it. The application seems a little too basic if you ask me for it's price. Almost nothing to do there except rebuild if something shows up.

I tried a little workaround with an app called Disk Arbitrator mentioned on the below link:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=2013061615582688
But no luck again. Drive does not show up in that app nor will it in Disk Warrior/Disk Utility after launching it.

Can confirm that the card is active and receiving power. Upon connecting it while the Mac Pro was powered on, the computer switched off (not smart to do I know, but it confirms the card is being driven and has power). The card is also hot to the touch after being connected for even a few minutes.

It also shows up in Target Disk Mode as Unknown Device, and shows up in System Profiler/System Information. Below you can see it highlighted:

So what do we do from here?
It's not "dead" and something may just have went wrong with it's driver or the copy of OS X on it's system files, and it's not being seen as a storage/boot drive anymore, instead only an AHCI controller. I don't know what this means precisely but it has something to do with the card that powers the 2 SSD blades in the RAID 0 card. Does this mean it's only picking up the main card controller and the blades aren't being sensed?

This following link says that the AHCI Controller in the type field is actually normal, and that may mean even further proof the card is not dead.
https://www.lifewire.com/owc-mercury-accelsior-e2-review-2260420

The fact that the internal RAID 0 SSD and external eSATA ports are all bootable without installing any drivers, and that the Mac Pro sees the card as a standard AHCI controller [...]

That brings me to another idea. The eSATA ports...since the card can't be put in a conventional external enclosure, maybe there is a way to connect some kind of enclosure, drive, or reader to it via the eSATA ports? Maybe an external hard drive and some way, maybe via Terminal, to clone the PCIe card to it?
Yet another idea is to buy a brand new card and put the old blades into the new main card and give it a try, but that's a big chunk of money for just a gamble. I have no idea if it's the blades or the main card that fails in this product most cases. Plus, no one is telling me how to remove the plastic pieces holding down the blades.

 

[maccer99]

Please tell me what you think of my ideas in the latter part of the previous message, if you do not know what to suggest.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Please tell me what you think of my ideas in the latter part of the previous message, if you do not know what to suggest."

Well -- I think the card is effectively dead and that your data is gone.

Probably the best shot is to buy another, identical, card, and swap the drive blades.
How much are you willing to spend, for something that may not help at all?

As Clint Eastwood said, "do ya feel lucky...?"

Have you consulted with any professional data recovery firms?
They might have the best shot at retrieving the data, if there is any to be retrieved.
But... are you willing to spend $2,000 for this?

 

[Ebenezum]

OP:

After reading the thread I agree with Fishrrman, your data is likely gone.

At this point I would recommend professional data recovery service. It will be costly because of the complexity (RAID-0) but its likely your best option.

Maybe if you can borrow/rent identical card and insert drive blades it might work but I wouldn't bet on it.

I would also strongly recommend planning solid backup strategy so you don't find yourself in similar situation in the future. Time Machine can be part of that strategy but I also recommend some other software in addition to Time Machine since it has had its share of bugs in the past.

 

[chown33]

Yet another idea is to buy a brand new card and put the old blades into the new main card and give it a try, but that's a big chunk of money for just a gamble.

At this point, everything you could possibly do will be a gamble, with unknown probability of success.

Sending the card for data recovery will be a gamble, and since SSDs are involved, success is far from predictable, and RAID-0 only complicates the situation. SSD failure modes are quite different from spinning-platter failure modes, as are the potential means of recovery.

At the very least, you should set a budgetary limit for what you'd be willing to pay for recovery. That limit can include a time window, like 2 months and $2000.

I have no idea if it's the blades or the main card that fails in this product most cases.

Only a person with technical skills and spare parts will be able to answer this. Or someone with a test fixture for the card or blades. The latter (a test fixture) seems pretty unlikely to find, as it's something I'd expect mainly manufacturing plants to use.

Plus, no one is telling me how to remove the plastic pieces holding down the blades.

Again, someone with technical skills will be needed for that. You should expect that to cost money.

I can't predict the cost, only provide an expectation. Since a dual-SSD configured for RAID-0 seems to me like a very specialized item, intended only for extremely high-performance situations, I don't foresee a large number of technicians with those skills, simply because the market for such skills is small and specialized. "Small and specialized" technical markets typically implies a high cost.


And I fully agree with the post that recommends planning a backup strategy. In fact, I'd say a solid contingency plan would be worthwhile. That means more than just making and verifying backups, it also means having pre-selected and evaluated vendors to provide recovery services, setting budgetary limits, having fallback equipment ready to go, planning for equipment testing and rotation, etc.

 

[Fishrrman]

Post above says it all.
At this point, with the completely non-standard drive/card you have, you're "up the creek without a paddle".

Save your money on attempts at recovery which have a very high probability of failure.
Write this one off to experience.
Use "simple" drives next time.
And get with some kind of backup plan.