Can't repair disk using Disk Utility

Hi, my MacBook (10.7.6) was freezing frequently and I was not able to use Command+Option+Esc to safely force quit. I would only be doing light Internet surfing whenever the laptop froze. No new software or hardware installed recently either to cause the problem. Anyone encounter this problem too?
Tried using Disk Repair and this is the message I get: disk utility stopped repairing macintosh HD. Disk utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk and restore your backed-up files.
Under the details of the disk repair process, the following items were highlighted in red.
1. Checking volume bitmap: volume bitmap needs minor repair for under allocation
2. Checking volume information: the volume macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Volume repair complete.
3. Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: disk utility can't repair this disk...restore your backed-up files.
Appreciate any help you can give on what the underlying problem could be and how to reformat the disk now.
Thanks in advance!!

You have OS X Lion, so you don't need a DVD, just start from Recovery.
1. Press Command and R keys while your Mac is starting and open Disk Utility.
2. Select Macintosh HD in the sidebar and repair the drive.
If it can't repair the drive:
1. Make a Time Machine backup.
2. Press Command and R keys while your computer is starting, open Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD in the sidebar, select Erase tab, erase the drive and close Disk Utility.
3. On OS X Utilities window, select the option to restore the backup and follow its steps

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See mount section in 1st linked article.
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Disk utility can't repair disk, back up and restore files......I need help, I'm worried I'll lose all my photos, files etc

Mac started hanging up while streamlining a kids show. Restarted and got the screen with the apple and the circle. restarted with control-option p and r. Ran disk repairitem got the following results;
invalid index key,
it rebuilds catalog b-tree,
volume repair complete,
updating boot support partitions for the volume as required,
Error disk utility can't repair disk
I'm then prompted to back up all files, reformat the disk and restore backed up files.
Obviously need help here as I think I'm in danger of losing my files, photos etc if I don't do this right.
Can anyone help
Steve

You might want to back up the disk as soon as possible, do the repair, then back it up again. First time will have the issues that Disk Utility can't fix, however, you'll have the data saved. Then, once you get things repaired, make a new backup, and go from there.
If you're going to use a hard drive directly connected to your iMac for backup, this is what I mentioned earlier: http://twelvesouth.com/products/backpack/ Great way to use space behind the iMac without adding something else to the desk top. You can buy it through Apple online/stores or Amazon, and there are probably other sources too.
For external hard drives, I like those sold by OWC at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/ as many of them use Oxford chip sets, wihch work well with macs (I've used several for years with no issues). Most pre-packaged drive/cases have a 3 year warranty, although you can buy a case and add your own hard drive. I like Western Digital Scorpio Blacks that have a 5 year warranty.

How can I repair disk permissions

How can I repair disk permissions on a non boot drive? I have a SSD as my boot disk and a HD as a storage drive. The permissions are not correct on th HD and in disk util the option for fixing the permissions is ghosted out. I really would hate to do this one folder at a time.
Thanks

FYI, BB
Below is a quote from Apple describing what Disk Permissions deals with.
If you still need assistance, please describe what problem/issue you are trying to solve.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452
"Many things you install in Mac OS X are installed from package files (whose filename extension is ".pkg"). Each time something is installed from a package file, a "Bill of Materials" file (whose filename extension is ".bom") is stored in the package's receipt file, which is kept in /Library/Receipts/ in Mac OS X v10.5 and earlier. These files don't take up much disk space and you shouldn't put them in the Trash. Each of those ".bom" files contains a list of the files installed by that package, and the proper permissions for each file.
Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?
Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created."
Is this what you want to "fix"?

Can't log in with valid password, can't boot from disk, can't access disk utility, in single user mode can't reset password as appears locked in caps mode with '?' for forward slash, can anyone help?

Can't log in with valid password, can't boot from disk, can't access disk utility, in single user mode can't reset password as appears locked in caps mode with '?' for forward slash, can anyone help?

Which keyboard layout you were using? German, French ... I suppose your layout is reset to the default: US and you are unable to find the "?" or "/" ...
Please have a look into the keyboard viewer, to see how the layout of your keyboard is actually.
marek

Can't get disk utility to work with leopard - iBook running super slow

I have an iBook G4 and it's running ssuuppeerr slow but I can't get disk utility to come up after I press C down. I don't know if I'm pressing it at the wrong time but I restart with the C pressed and it gets to the apple screen and it won't go anywhere else. It will restart normally but not with the C key. I've been trying for an hour and I can't get it to get to disk utility!
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Annie

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Do you want Disk Utility on your iBook or do you want Disk Utility on your install disc?
For Disk Utility on your iBook, go to Finder>Applications>Utilities and look in the Utilities folder. You will find Disk Utility there, and drag it to your dock where it will be handy to have it.
For Disk Utility on your install disc, insert the install disc and then restart and hold down "C" as you boot up so that you will boot from the install disc. Then choose your language, and then look for Disk Utility in the menu bar--I don't remember if it says "Utilities" or "Disk Utility". If you need to repair your startup disk (i.e. your internal hard drive), you would boot up from the install disc to do this.
However, I am wondering if you have enough RAM to run Leopard. You will get a big boost in performance if you max out your RAM. Leopard will run best if you can put a 1 GB RAM stick in your RAM slot.
If you want to repair permissions after installing and updating Leopard, you can do this with Disk Utility on your iBook. Repair permissions until there is nothing left to repair.
If you have more questions, please post back. Also, which ibook G4 do you have?
Good luck!

Network Installer: Can't run Disk Utility

Hi, all.
Just created a net install image. SIU's log did not report anything out of the ordinary, however for some reason I can't run Disk Utility, and I need to as the automated installation options frequently don't work.
I select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and nothing happens.
I run the Terminal and try hdiutil and get
dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib
Referenced from: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskImages.framework/Versions/A/DiskImages
Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT Trap
Now, if we mount that image on a running Mac we can see the following
bash$ ls -l /usr/lib/libbz*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138436 Nov 1 11:33 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.2.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138444 Mar 4 10:19 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
If we run the same command on the netbooted machine
bash# ls -l /usr/lib/libbz*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138436 Nov 1 11:33 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.2.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
So it looks like libbz2.1.0.dylib is symlink'd to libbz2.1.0.3.dylib, except libbz2.1.0.3.dylib doesn't exist in the netbooted image. But it does exist in the image when it isn't netbooted! Yes, they are the same image!
I also have two "Help" menus, just for kicks.
Does anybody know what's going on? I guess I'll re-create the image, but it'd be nice to understand what's going on and know if it's something I can somehow avoid in the future.
On the lighter side, this is the first time in nearly a year I haven't had to manually insert the CoreVideo.framework to get the image to boot!

Ah, forget what I said about it being the same image. I didn't notice that my chroot hadn't worked when I was checking... I was checking the live system instead. Good thing, too, 'cause that was just TOO weird.
Still doesn't explain why there's a link to a non-existent file. To test I created a symlink for libbz2.1.0.3.dylib which just points at the previous version. Guess what: Disk Utility works now.
I'm re-creating the image anyway and we'll see if the problem exists on that one as well. If it does, I won't be pleased. That'll be two repeatable bugs that break the NetInstall function for me in a year. Not cool.
Anybody else getting weird output if they type hdiutil in to Terminal at the Network Installer? Or do you have a non-working Disk Utility?

Can not repair disk using disk utility

I tried using disk utility to repair the main drive of my imac 24" (2007) model and it says that the number of files are off by 1 from the total number that should be there so it could not be prepared it said to start up using the install disk but that was crack in a recent move. We tried disk warrior and it would not repair the main drive because thats where disk warrior is so i did a graph and it said 950,000 (ball park) files are out of order and could not be graphed. The only reason i could think that files would be out of order is my 3 year old he has a game on here and learned the awesome concept of click and drag so before we put a lock on it he was dragging things from the dock and putting them in the trash so he may have rearranged things without knowing. the computer has been extra slow recently and the "white screen" when you restart stays for about 2 mins before the apple timer appears. We have an antivirus so the drive is clean as far as that goes. Please if anyone could help respond back!!
Thanks
Luke

you can not repair a boot up drive while you are booted from it. You really need to get your leopard install DVD replaced. You need it just for these kinds of situations.
You can repair the drive from Single user mode
restart the computer and hold command+S at the chime. a black screen with white text will come up. at the prompt enter
*/sbin/fsck -fy*
that's the drive repair command. wait for the repair to finish. If there are any errors, run it again till no errors are reported.
Once done, enter
reboot
to restart normally.

Disk utility can't repair disk (1 partition) on external hard drive

I've search here some to try to find the answer to my scenario, but I really don't understand how Disk Utility got involved in my external hard drive to begin with, so here's my question.
I have a 2TB Western Digital My Book Studio FW800 external that has 5 partitions, connected to my 2011 iMac. I had help doing the partitions and don't really remember the reasoning, but one is just for my SuperDuper! backup, one is Miscellaneous, one for movie clips off my camcorder, one for misc scanned photo's and one for my genealogy research.
I back up using Time Machine to a Time Capsule and also to this WD hard drive with SuperDuper!
Recently I'm getting a pop up message that "Mac OS X can't repair the disk "Genealogy"'. And it needs to be reformatted. It's become a read only disk. When I look in Disk Utility it shows all the partitions as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" EXCEPT for the one in question. I also noticed that there are a lot of files with "date created" being the same date in 1969! These files may be letters I've written or photo's I added to that partition within the last few years.
I think I have to completely reformat the entire external hard drive to repair this, but I want to make sure. Because it's going to be a major hassle backing it all up to another external (having to get one first) and then figuring out how to make the files that have turned "read only" in that one partition, back to their original state!
Does this sound right, that I have to reformat the entire external hard drive? And how do I get the read-only files back to their original state.
Thanks, Sandy

I don't back them up. There isn't much on them, besides the one I save video files too, but those are 2-3 min snippets of school events, that are just uploaded to youtube without any editing (like titles, fade ins, etc.) through iMovie. All those vid's are on original tapes I have.
The partition that is giving me problems, I do have most of that on my iMac's hard drive, just not as organized. I guess it's just seeming overwhelming to re-created those files into the same file structure on my iMac, but I think it could be done.
I'm still not sure why my brother had me do the partitions like this. In the past I had just two partitions, one for the back up and the other for random stuff that I didn't want to take up space on my iMac.

Disk Utility can't repair disk

Hi, I just saw that the amount of memory left on my HD just dropped around 60GB, so I used the "Verify Disk" option on Disk Utility, and the output was:
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
The volume Macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
I don't have the disk right now, so is there some other way I can repair it, get another install disk, or anything else? I've been thinking of booting up with a Linux livecd, but can it access the HFS+ filesystem?
Thanks.

Try this: from http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
At the command-line prompt type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OKIf fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, typerebootat the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
If you can't find your original install disk, you could always buy another Snow Leopard disk. It's only $29.

Disk Utility can't repair disk...Can I still create a new image to back up?

Two days ago my computer died and I haven't been able to get past the Apple screen since. I've tried starting in Safe mode, etc. that did not work. I just started up using my installation disk and got into Disk Utility. It says it cannot repair the disk and that I should back up as many files as possible and reformat the disk. How am I supposed to back up if I can't start up? I am currently creating a new image of the HD to an external drive but my question is if Disk Utility couldn't repair the disk, with the external drive copy also be problematic? How can I tell before I reformat the whole thing and start over?
Please help someone! I am in a little over my head!
Thanks

I am currently creating a new image of the HD to an external drive but my question is if Disk Utility couldn't repair the disk, with the external drive copy also be problematic?
Maybe.
How can I tell before I reformat the whole thing and start over?
Run Repair Disk on the copy.

Macbook w/ whole slew of problems...Won't Start Up, Disk Utility Can't Repair Disk, Horizontal Lines on Screen, Etc.

I purchased my Macbook in the summer of 2011 and before it went berserk it was running Mavericks. 3 years later, it's finally seemed to have run its course.
It won't start up normally and it won't start up on safe boot. Attempting to use disk utility to repair the disk only gives me the message: "Disk utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible." There are also horizontal lines across the start screen (before it inevitably shuts down) and the screen looks very faintly purple-ish/off-colored.
This actually didn't come out of the blue. On Monday, my macbook suddenly froze, went white, and beeped three beeps repeatedly. I restarted it and backed up all my important work files and set up an appointment at the genius bar for Friday once work ended. It remained buggy during this process with the beeps returning an occasionally a blue screen popping up.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to back up my important photos and by the time I returned on the next day with an external hard drive to store them on, my macbook would no longer turn on.
Is there anything I can do to bring my macbook back to life? Ideally I'd like for it to last one more year before I graduate college. Is it still salvageable, and if so, is it worth salvaging?

I hate to spread gloom, but that computer has serious problems. The only people who can diagnose the problem(s) are technicians. I would take it back to the Apple store for further testing.
Barry

Disk Utility - Can't repair Disk - Help needed :(

Hi,
I have some trouble to use Disk Utility (on my iBook G4 - 1.33 Ghz+1 GB RAM)
I run Disk Utility to verify and repair permissions, which worked, and then Verify Disk. HEre is the logged result:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aug 26 09:32:58: Disk Utility started.
Verify permissions for “E=G4”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions verification complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Verifying volume “E=G4”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume Bit Map needs minor repair
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume free block count
Invalid volume free block count
uld be %@ instead of %@)",2)
4078185
4078184
Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume E=G4 needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
Disk Utility stopped verifying “E=G4” because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I wanted to run Disk Repair, but the button would not highlight, therefore could not be started.
I retried today, and now the Verify Disk task won't even work, blocking Disk Utility (needs force quit)
(E=G4 is the name of my Hard Drive on the iBook)
I also tried TechTool Deluxe coming with Applecare protection plan, but TTD can not check the "Volume Structure".
Has anyone got any tips or sequence to solve this?
Thanks in advance
Yann
Message was edited by: ObiYann

I just ran the Disk Utility, and cannot very disk. It gives me an error message;
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
and when I run the repair, this is the message:
The volume GERRARD could not be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Prior to running Disk Utility, I have already tried DiskWarrior, and could not repair my disk. Anyway I can fix this problem??? Formatting the disk would be my last option (though I am unsure if it will fix the problem). Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I will continue to back up my file, and delete unused data and try to run it again.
Thank you all very much for any input.
Cheers,
Matt

Macbook Pro not booting after update. ''Disk Utility can't repair disk''. Help needed!

I have recently updated my macbook pro as I had some pending software updates. I left it to do the job over night and the next day I noticed it was not letting me sign in to my account session as usual.
I restarted the computer and ever since then when I boot it, it just shows the apple grey screen with a bar that loads to about a 3rd and then it turns off again. I have contacted apple but they were unable to help me with this.
So far I have tried to:
1. Re-install OS X 10.8 - but it says the disk is locked or OS X cannot be installed on Recovery HD.
2. Verify and Repair the disk and I errors but it cannot fix them. Some are:
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               ''incorrect number of file hard links''
               ''overlapped extent allocation''
          and it finally says ''the volume Macintosh HD cannot be repaired'' Error: ''Disk Utility can't repair this disk.. disk, and restore your backed up files.
I would like to know a way to back up my files so that i can completely restore the disk without any data loss as I havent backed up for a while!
If anyone has any solution to this issue it would be much appreciated!

I just ran the Disk Utility, and cannot very disk. It gives me an error message;
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
and when I run the repair, this is the message:
The volume GERRARD could not be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Prior to running Disk Utility, I have already tried DiskWarrior, and could not repair my disk. Anyway I can fix this problem??? Formatting the disk would be my last option (though I am unsure if it will fix the problem). Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I will continue to back up my file, and delete unused data and try to run it again.
Thank you all very much for any input.
Cheers,
Matt

Can't repair disk with Disk Utility

I had the spinning wheel of death on my G5 Imac so booted from instal disk and ran Disk Utility and got this message :-
First Aid failed
Disk utility stopped repairing disk 1 because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit
In the list window when it got to checking catalog file I got
checking catalog file.
-Invalid sibling link
Rebuilding catalog B-tree.
-The volume disk could not be repaired
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Any suggestions? or is this the end of the road for my Hard Disk?
Would another disk repair program be able to repair this problem?
Thanks
John

Hi
I tried diskwarrior but but couldn't get to the rebuild directory page.
When I hit the agree button the screen goes grey with a spinning wheel then Imac reboots itself.
Tech support at D.warrior suggested resetting pram and open firmware but this makes no difference I'm awaiting further suggestions from them.
Any ideas here?
I ran a hardware test which showed nothing wrong.
Just read about target disk mode can link up and access my imac from my Ibook and repair the Imac with diskwarrior through the Ibook?

Can't repair disk using Disk Utility

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