The method you describe is called a "retag", and it is designed to recover a RAID array whose configuration has become corrupt or deleted.  The problem with this - particularly and especially when you start talking about multiple VD's on the disks - is that you MUST configure RAID to the exact same settings as originally set up (size, disks, stripe size, etc.) or everything will magically disappear.  The problem with a retag across multiple VD's is you MUST know the EXACT size of each VD for it to work.  Even if you know the exact size and settings for each VD, just like rebuilds across multiple VD's occasionally fail, so can retags. This is how this situation "should" have been handled: is the data critical?  Do you have a backup, in the event of a worst-case scenario?  If not, then data recovery professionals should be consulted before attempting a retag, as it will complicate any recovery efforts.
Hi All Have a PERC 6/i controller with a BBU and 8 x SATA HDD's attached which is configured with several RAID 5 virtual disks and has been working well for a few years now. Last week however I found that I was not able to access any of the VD's and upon closer inspection found that two disks had been dropped from the array and were being listed as foreign. I imported the disks and everything started working again as it should, but these same two disks dropped out again 48 hours later.Since then I've been trying to import these disks as before, however this time I am getting an error message saying "Failed to import: 0xC". From other forum posts around the web the "fix" for this appears to be to delete the Virtual Disks from the PERC 6/i BIOS and clear any remaining foreign configs, then recreate each Virtual Disk without initialising them. All going well this is meant to recreate the VD information without destroying the data. Is this the correct/only way to recover from a corrupt VD configuration? If so will this still work when there are multiple Virtual Disks in play? The only forum thread I've found where the above recovery method has been reported back as worked is where there was a single RAID 5 VD.  Any input greatly appreciated.
PERC 6/i unable to import foreign disks