Disc Utilities

Sure the Disk Utility program that comes with all OS's is grand and does the day-to-day maintenance for a Mac just fine, for more serious problems I have been using Tech Tool Pro.I am curious to know the following...
1. Are there any pitfalls related to installing an eDrive on a hard drive?
(True Tech tool Pro users will know what I am talking about here)
1.2 How does one delete an eDrive or re-partition it if the contents of the eDrive have been deleted? Is the only way to re format the entire drive?
2. Why do hear from full-time technicians that installing any such programs, be it Tech Tool Pro or Disc Warrior etc, on a hard drive a bad idea to do so?
Is it because one program may interfere with another if one was attempting to solve a problem with a specific utility program?
Thanks to all who join this discussion.

stuckless:
I am wondering what exactly do you mean by "backed up/CLONED on my external firewire HDD"
PowerPC platform Macs will boot from firewire external devices. I use a 250 GB external firewire HDD for backups. I have it partitioned so that I have one partition approximately the size of my internal HDD and one the size of my wife's Pismo's internal HDD. I back up my computer to the partition on the external firewire HDD making a bootable clone using a registered copy ($8.95) of SuperDuper. Registering allows me to take advantage of the SmartUpdates (cumulative updates) feature of SuperDuper.
Once your external firewire HDD is formatted Mac OS Extended before partioning (I can give you directions for this) SuperDuper makes a bootable clone. The clone means exactly that, an exact copy of the internal HDD. You can boot the computer from the cloned partition on the external HDD and run Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, Tech Tool Pro or whatever. It is even better than booting from the CD as the version of TTP on the clone is updated. That is why I no longer need an eDrive because my the clone of my internal HDD on the external firewire partition serves as a backup, an emergency boot drive, and a drive from which I can run maintenance routines, diagnostics and repairs.
For my Utility Disk, I have placed a 10 GB HDD that I had swapped out of my Pismo, in a firewire enclosure. I then connected it to my computer via firewire and installed and updated Tiger on it. Then I installed and updated TechTool Pro, Disk Warrior, Data Rescue II etc. It is the size of a passport (a bit thicker) and fits easily in my computer bag. I travel with this and can boot my computer from it and run diagnostics and repairs from the utility HDD in the enclosure.
OK, I'll stop here for now and let you ask questions for clarification, then we can continue.
Good luck.
cornelius

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My external HD will not show up on my desktop anymore. I'm on macbook pro 13", OS 10.7. It doesn't show up in disc utilities, nor on another mac, nor on that mac's disc utility. I happened to restart the comp while the HD was connected.

My external HD won't show up anymore on my desktop nor does it get listed in disc utilities. I tried to cennect it to another mac but it doesn't show there either nor in that mac's disc utility. I happened to re-start the computer while the hd was connected and now it doesn't show up anymore. I use it for back-up via Time machine. I could re-format and do the back up all over again but then I need to find it first. Please, does anyone have any solution to this problem?

It sounds as though the external drive may have failed. There's nothing at all wrong with restarting your computer with the external drive connected -- that's a perfectly reasonable and normal thing to do, done by countless users every day without any ill effects.

My iMac goes to disc utilities on startup, repair disk doesn't cure it and I can't reinstall Mountain Lion because I don't remember my I'd and password at the time I bought the software. Currently working abroad and at a loss can anyone help please?

My iMac goes to disc utilities on startup, repair disk doesn't cure it and I can't reinstall Mountain Lion because I don't remember my ID and password at the time I bought the software the system isn't accepting my current details and Apple isn't recognising the answers to my security questions. They don't even seem to have my correc date of birth so I can't progress the reinstallation. I'm currently abroad and have my iMac with me but with no way of contacting Apple that I can find, I'm at a loss and very reluctant to pay £35 to try and get my ID and pasword sorted out given that their system recognises my current details. can anyone help please?
AG

when they gifted me the mountain Lion software several years ago.
Mountain Lion was introduced in July 2012. Did the people who gifted you possibly use their Apple ID for the purchase of your OS? If you used your own Apple ID, you should have simply used the one you use for all things app store. The problem with any purchase at the app store is: whatever Apple ID was used to purchase, it willl stay tied to that Apple ID forever. And, purchases from the app store are not transferable.
So, you can check with the person(s) who gifted you or spend $20 to buy it - or, if your hardware is compatible with the new OS Mavericks, you could download it and associate it with your Apple ID.
FWIW, according to the licensing agreement, the OS remains the property of Apple and you are only granted a license to run it.

Simpletech 160g external drive how to install, i have it plugged in but it does not show up in disc utilities?

I have a Simpletech 160 g, USB hard drive, I plug it in and the instructions say it will need to be formated and to go to disc utilities. It isn't there. Tried rebooting? Please help? New iMac for Christmas

If you are going to use the EHD as a storage drive for files or backups then Thunderbolt will provide the fastest performance possible. However you need a mid 2011 iMac to use it as these are the first iMac's to have Thunderbolt! I don't believe you have that new an iMac! The EHD's I normally suggest are:
G-Tech G-DRIVE series
LaCie d2 Quadra series
OWC Mercury Elite Pro series
All are similar in features and build quality. They all have Firewire & Firewire 800 connections which for pre-2011 iMac's is the quickest bus there is for EHD's. You need to check the specs on your iMac to see what connections it has. If you don't even have FW800 then while these EHD's would work fine they may be slight overkill however they will prepare you when you upgrade to a newer Mac.
Personally I own 4 of the LaCie's however any would be welcome on my desk. I have 3 daisy chained together via FW800 on one machine and the 4th is a TM backup for my MBA.

Optical drive on iMac at work, barely one year old, won't read CD's....disc utilities shows disc unavailable! Rarely used and out of warranty, what a rip off!! I have been on MACS since the 80's and things are getting more and more difficult

Optical drive on iMac at work, barely one year old, won't read CD's....disc utilities shows disc unavailable! Rarely used and out of warranty, what a rip off!! I have been on MACS since the 80's and things are getting more and more difficult to deal with. Why did it quit after barely being used? Any help from Apple?

It depends on what you mean by "barely one year old". If the iMac is only a couple of days out of warranty, Apple's been known to make exceptions and extend the warranty, though it's by no means guaranteed. If it's several days or more out of warranty, then Apple will fix it, if it's a hardware problem, but the repair won't be free. This is no different now then it would have been with a Mac purchased back in the 80s.
Why the drive failed, if indeed it has, is impossible to say. Could have been a static shock, a weak component that failed when power was applied, or a mechanical fault in one of the tiny parts used in optical drives and hard drives that finally broke.
Regards.

Mac Pro early 2008 2 x 2.8GHz Quad Core 10.7.5, replaced 4 x 500ghds with 4 x 3Tb and Raid card Raid5 them OK but can not load time machine back up as it does not see any of the 4 drives, neither does disc utilities, any thoughts?

On my Mac Pro, early 2008 2 x 2.8GHz Quad Core 10.7.5, replaced 4 x 500ghds with 4 x 3Tb. The Raid card Raid 5ed them OK but can not load time machine back up as it does not see any of the 4 drives, neither does disc utilities, any thoughts?

You don't see drives when using a hardware RAID only the volumes.
WD Green are not suitable for hardware RAID (or software RAID for that matter).
USB2 and TimeMachine are a disaster waiting to happen. I've used SATA (internal) and eSATA (using SATA PCIe cards) trouble-free.
I can't say I begin to understand your use or "choosing the install drive for the backup"
Install what?
You don't load TimeMachine. Maybe seems minor but that is not how to describe the behavior of software.
You read FAQ and How To http://www.apple.com/support/timemachine
Time Machine’s Gory Details:
https://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/
TimeMachine 101
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
Lion Recovry & TimeMachine
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/
http://www.apple.com/support/lion/
How To Restore Your System
http://pondini.org/TM/14.htmlMac OS X v10.7 Lion
Pondini's Blog: Time Machine - Troubleshooting -- B5. Would you like to inherit (or re-use) the backup . . . ?

Fixing partitions with Disc Utilities?

Okay, so I have been dual booting Xubuntu Linux and Mac OS X on my powerbook G4 for a couple months now. I recently got a netbook that I run linux off of, so now I want my powerbook G4 to only have os x again. How would I go about using disc utilities to fix my partitions and also resize my OS X partition back to it's full size, using the entire hard drive? Here is my current setup (which btw, all of the volume schemes say, "This disc contains the startup volume and can't be partitioned." However when I click on each icon to the left, you can "erase free space"?):
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here's the same breakdown of my partitions using the linux program "Gparted":

You can have free space.
Look here:
Mac OS X - Nondestructive Partitioning
Nondestructively Resizing Volumes
http://discussions.apple.com/post!reply.jspa?messageID=11438193
mac $ sudo pdisk -l
Password:
Partition map (with 512 byte blocks) on '/dev/rdisk0'
#: type name length base ( size )
1: Apple_partition_map Apple 63 @ 1
2: Apple_Driver43*Macintosh 56 @ 64
3: Apple_Driver43*Macintosh 56 @ 120
4: Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh 56 @ 176
5: Apple_Driver_ATA*Macintosh 56 @ 232
6: Apple_FWDriver Macintosh 512 @ 288
7: Apple_Driver_IOKit Macintosh 512 @ 800
8: Apple_Patches Patch Partition 512 @ 1312
9: Apple_Free 262144 @ 1824 (128.0M)
10: Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_1 2254440 @ 263968 ( 1.1G)
11: Apple_Free 262144 @ 2518408 (128.0M)
12: Apple_HFS Apple_HFS_Untitled_2 146538496 @ 2780552 ( 69.9G)
13: Apple_Free 6982440 @ 149319048 ( 3.3G)
Device block size=512, Number of Blocks=156301488 (74.5G)
DeviceType=0x0, DeviceId=0x0
Drivers-
1: 23 @ 64, type=0x1
2: 36 @ 120, type=0xffff
3: 21 @ 176, type=0x701
4: 34 @ 232, type=0xf8ff

Patriot usb stick refuses to erase or reformat under apples disc utilities

i can no longer copy to or from a patriot usb stick that up until last week was working just fine. do these items go bad? i too have the 2 partitions on it btw. in addition some of the files are now corrupted apparently. will i need a windows platform to erase it? or is this usb device now history? apple's disc utilities will not reformat this device any more and the erase tap is grayed out. when i hit repair .... the repairs go on indefinitely even though it's only a 512 MB stick. any suggestions short of buying a new one?

Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to MBR then click on the OK button. Set the format type to MSDOS. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
Now take it to your Windows notebook.

How to reinstall disc utilities?

I deleted by accident the disc utilities and looking for a way to reinstall it on OS10.6.8 

Use Pacifist to extract it from your Mac OS X 10.6 DVD and then run the Mac OS X 10.6.8 combo updater.
(115884)

Disc Utilities not seeing ata drive

Hi,
I just bought a seagate barracuda 300 gig internal hard drive. I opened my mac pro and put it in bay 2 just like you normally would. When I start up my computer and open disc utility it doesn't even recognize that anything is even there. Any idea why this would be???

fikustree:
How large is the HDD and how much available space do you have? You need to have at least 10% to 15% free disk space.
Before you respond to this, go ahead and Repair Disk:
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel, and report if it says anything but Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
If DU reports errors it cannot repair you will need to use a utility like Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior
If any repairs are needed please note what they are and include them in your response.
Good luck.
cornelius

Disc Utilities..is less..more?

I'm about at the end of my rope trying to solve constant freezing of my MDD. I have run Disc Utility, Onyx, Cocktail, DiscWarrior, and TechTool Pro, just to name a few..and I have run them often (I routinely run Coctail every morning, at start up)..knowing that the machine will freeze-up in a matter of minutes, and I'll have to shut it down with power button. Is there such a thing as overkill with these utilities? Disc Warrior gives me a message that the "Original Directory is too severely Damaged and cannot be rebuilt. Disc not modified 2155-2179"..so I then just run TechTool, and it rebuilds it for me. Would anyone recommend installing new main hard drive and try a new, clean install of Tiger? That's my latest thought. I live in extreme southern Mexico, very remote..Mac service is out of the question and parts take forever to arrive, so I have to be a little creative. Any help/advice appreciated.
Dave in Xcalak
G4 Desktop Dual 1Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2GB ram, 9800 MacPro video card, Verax fans
G4 Desktop Dual 1Ghz Mac OS X (10.3.9) 2GB ram

H David-
Sorry to say, but the DiskWarrior report reigns supreme. Any data recording being done on that drive is in grave danger of being lost or corrupted. Also, continually running a drive with a damaged directory increases the potential for mechanical failure of the drive.
You are running on borrowed time.
You could try an overwrite of the drive with zero's, (using DW) re format and reinstall your OS. If that doesn't work, all you can do is as you said, get a new drive and start fresh.
One note about TechTool-though a very good piece of software, the hard drive repair feature is not what most consider to be good. It is often said that drive repair should be left to other programs, such as Disk Warrior or Drive Genius.
G4 AGP(450)Sawtooth Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2ghzPPC,1.62gbSDRAM, ATI9800, DVR-109,(IntHD)120&160,LaCie160,23"Cinema Display

I can't find the new hdd in disc utilities

I can't find the new hdd in disc utilities

What do you mean by "the new HDD"? What drive are you booted from, what disk are you trying to access, and what are you trying to do with it?
Matt

Disc Volume failed, not repaired by Disc Utilities: What Next?

I have a Mac Mini 1.6GHz, Intel Core Duo. Currently running OSX 10.4.11. Hard drive was defragged and when I checked Disc Utility function, it found one invalid node and volume failure. Utility could not repair. I used my Tech Tool Pro and this did not work either. After booting from external drive and running TechTool Pro Volume diagnosis on the Mac drive, Mac drive crashed. No repair. I wanted to upgrade my OS from 10.4 to 10.5, but it is not working. I assume there is a relationship. Other than this, no problems with computer. What can I do?

I just worked on a mac mini that had the exact same problem.
I was able to fix it using Disk Warrior......took 5 days of continuous scanning I was able to get most of the data back for the user.
It's an expensive piece of software, but it did it's job.

Disc utilities fail with the new iPod Classic

Like with any HD based device, I always perform regular checks and maintenance on it. I frequently check my daughter's iPod Mini and repair the directory, if needed, and occasionally defrag when required. However, attempting to just check the directory structure, or view possible fragmentation without even starting the defrag process with the Classic, causes TTP 4.5.3 to crash, DriveGenius to report:
"Read error whilst trying to read the Wrapper Master Directory Block" and also tell me that the volume is not HFS+.
I don't understand why I'm not able to work with this iPod in the same way I do with my daughter's. Can anyone help?

The following is a bit more information on what happens when I try and rebuild the directory.
The iPod works and behaves perfectly. I'm really worried now.
Analyzing an HFS Plus volume.
Error : Read error whilst trying to read the Wrapper Master Directory Block
Error : Read error whilst trying to read the HFS+ Volume Header block
Error : Invalid HFS+ signature found in the volume header (0000 - (n).
Error : Invalid HFS+ version number in the volume header (0).
Error : Invalid HFS+ total block count found in the volume header (0).
Error : Invalid HFS+ resource fork clump size found in the volume header (0).
Error : Invalid HFS+ data fork clump size found in the volume header (0).
Error : Unable to get the HFS+ volume header.
I have posted this in the general 'Using OSX' as well but so far there's been no response.

Macbook Pro does not boot up. I have tried 2 operations in disc utility but to no avail.

This is what I have tried:
Plan 1:
Command & R, open up OS X Utilities
Install OSX1, Mavericks: I have 2 HD images:
    MacHD1 499 GB total, 466 GB available
    Mac HD2 499 GB total. 499 GB available
Hilite Mac HD1, but it is locked;
Return to Disk Utility, Hilite Mac HD & unmount Mac HD
Return to Install OS X, but now my Mac HD image is not showing, only my Mac HD 2 is present. If i reinstall my OS X Mavericks on this drive I fear I will loose all my data.
Return to disc utilities: hilite MacHD1, an remount MacHD 1, but unable to reinstall OS X on MacHd1 since it is still locked.
Plan 2:
Created a disc recovery system on a flash drive: OS X recovery assistant v1.0
Installed flash drive into computer, turned on, holding option key
3 images appeared: MacHd1 Mac hd2 ore recovery disk; highlighted recovery disk and then my OS X utilities comes up.
went to disk utility and selected my disk recovery flash drive
Not sure what I need to do now? If I do a restore or partition,, I well erase my MacHD1 which has my data on.

Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstalling OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If Disk Utility reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.
Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
Alternatively, see:
Reinstall OS X Without Erasing the Drive
Choose the version you have installed now:
OS X Yosemite- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
     Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
                 if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Disc Utilities

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