Disk utility can't unmount disk

Hey there,
A few days ago, my mac began to start up incorrectly; with a black screen right from the beginning.
I ran the disk repair with the disk utility program and it told me, that my hard drive couldn't be repaired. So I booted the mac in recovery mode and tried to erase the hard drive. After a while, an error appeared, telling me "cannot unmount disk".
I tried to "force unmount" via terminal, but that didn't work as well.
Does anyone has any tips for me, before I'm going to the apple support.
Thx in advance.

It sounds like the hard drive is failing. The only real advice here is to make sure you have a good backup. If it's under Applecare, Apple will replace the drive but you'll probably lose your data. The other thing you can do is replace it yourself if you're outside Applecare. Look up the specific procedure for your model at ifixit.com.

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try this: open system preferences/spotlight/privacy and drag that external into spotlight privacy then try Disk Utility.

Disk Utility - Restore can not unmount target drive

Just got a brand new MacBook Pro with Lion. As usual there are "issues"..
I wanted to move my old TimeMachine backup (250 GB) to a larger Firewire drive (500 GB) and found a lot of instructions on that.. Problem is they don't work on Lion. (Both are Iomega drives with Firewire)
The instructions suggest that using Disk Utility to "restore" the new drive from the old will work but I always get the Error "Can not unmount target drive..." and I can see that the source drive is unmounted but not the target. I did all of the "First Aid" stuff to both drives.. (and the target drive was turned into a MacOS partition and verified..)
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Thanks for any feedback..
John..

Is the new drive prepped?
Drive Preparation
1. If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then 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. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, 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. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
In Disk Utility you clone as follows:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the new backup drive. Source means the old backup drive.
If you still have a problem then boot into the Recovery HD:
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.
Choose Disk Utility from the main menu then click on the Continue button.

Disk Utility can't repair Macintosh HD. What should I do?

Here is a "quick" synopsis of what has happened thus far:
About one month ago, my computer started getting very sluggish (ie, it would take forever to startup, would always freeze after sleep, etc.) I lived with it for about two weeks, since it would always run quickly after waiting ~30 minutes after starting/waking up. Eventually, this grew old. I browsed the internet and did multiple suggested fixes (reset PRAM, run Disk Utility, ran in Safe Boot Mode, etc.). Nothing seemed to work. I opted to zero out the harddrive and reinstall Mountain Lion after making a backup. That was about two weeks ago.
Everything worked fine, up until yesterday. Once again, things started getting slow. I decided to shut down my computer for the night and would check it in the morning. When I turned it on this morning, it wouldn't startup correctly. I could login, etc., but it was frozen and I couldn't open any applications without getting the spinning beach ball. I waited about an hour, but it was still slow/loading. I shut the computer down and booted it in Verbose Mode. I ran the various commands to check the conditions of my disk, but when I ran the "fsck -fy" command, I got an "I/O Error." I then tried rebooting my Mac, but it would get to the gray screen with the apple logo and the spinning wheel, and then the progress bar would appear. Before the progress bar did anything, it would shut itself down.
I then started the computer up and directly went to OS X Utilities. I went into Disk Utility and tried to check permissions and repair the disk. Only this time, Macintosh HD was grayed out and seemed to be unmounted. I couldn't get it to mount. I went into the Apple Store to have them run their own diagnostics. However, the apple store employee was unable to get the test working, so that was basically a bust. At this point, the computer still didn't turn on.
I got home and, just for kicks, held the "N" key while booting up my computer. For whatever reason, my computer started up (though it took a long time and there was a progress bar). Now, I made another backup of my disk and am wondering what to do. I ran Disk Utility again to repair my disk, but it says that Macintosh HD is not able to be repaired. When I checked permissions, there were tons of Input/Output Errors. Based on my research, it would appear that I have two solutions.
I can either purchase DiskWarrior and use that to try and solve my problem, or I could just get a new hard drive (and I would upgrade to a SSD or SSHD). DW is about $50 if I just download it, and the hard drive would cost me $150 or so. Since I don't know exactly what is wrong with the disk, I don't know if DW would be able to fix it. That being said, if the hard drive isn't the problem, there would be no reason for me to purchase a new one. I guess I would just like some advice, as to what you would do. I apologize for the long post.
TL;DR: Disk Utility can't repair Macintosh HD. Should I get DiskWarrior or a new harddrive?
Thanks in advanced!

Most importantly, youve already backed up all the data. All else is cake.
A new HD would cost you only $20 more than disk warrior,....theres no reason to repair a worthless crippled HD, .....new HD 1TB is $70.
Once you back up all the data on a failing HD, further diagnosis has no meaning,....not anymore.
Grab a 1TB or 750GB Toshiba/Hitachi (both used by Apple inside their Macbook Pro nonRetina,...both are made by Hitachi) 5400RPM SATA HD.
Forget the repair,.......repair only serves to bring a HD to a point of BACKUP.....since youve already done that, its now just wall art or trashbin fodder.
These are the same HD used by Apple in their Macbooks
http://www.amazon.com/MQ01ABD-2-5-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B0077CV2RO/ref=sr_1_1?i e=UTF8&qid=1376281905&sr=8-1&keywords=toshiba+1tb+2.5%22
In the future ALWAYS remember to have 2 backups for everything. 2 backups is 1, and 1 is none.
That way when something crashes (and they all do).....its no worries.

Disk Utility - get errors and disk utility can not repair, even start ext.

Hello
I am using Mac OS X 10.5 on a MacBook Pro intel 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, Intel and Boot Camp / Win XP installed.
To check my user rights and repair the main HD I have installed 10.5 on my external 500 GB USB 2.0 HD. Started from it and started the disk utility trying to check and repair the Macintosh HD Partition (not win xp). I got following error messages:
2007-12-01 10:47:12 +0100: „Festplatten-Dienstprogramm“ wurde gestartet.
2007-12-01 10:47:20 +0100: Zugriffsrechte für „Macintosh HD“ reparieren
2007-12-01 10:53:51 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „usr/libexec/load_hdi“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:53:51 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskManagement.framework/Versions/A/Resources /DiskManagementTool“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:53:51 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/Locum“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:53:52 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versions/A/Resources/runner “ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:53:55 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „private/var/root/Library/Preferences“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:53:55 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „private/var/root/Library“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:53:55 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „private/var/root“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:53:57 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/readconf ig“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:53:57 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/writecon fig“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:54:00 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „usr/libexec/authopen“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:54:01 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/CannedSearches/All PDF Documents.cannedSearch/Resources/version.plist“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:54:01 +0100: Warnung: Die SUID-Datei „System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/OwnerGroupTool“ wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert.
2007-12-01 10:56:07 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „Applications“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:56:07 +0100: Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste wurde gefunden, jedoch nicht für „Library“ erwartet.
2007-12-01 10:56:11 +0100:
2007-12-01 10:56:11 +0100: Reparatur der Zugriffsrechte abgeschlossen
2007-12-01 10:56:11 +0100:
2007-12-01 10:56:11 +0100:
Translation: wurde geändert und wird nicht repariert. = was changed but was not repaired.
Because it can not repair the errors I have started "repair disk". It says "can not unmount Macintosh HD". Even if I have started from the external disk?
So I get my install CD (Mac OS X 10.5) and started from that. I got the same errors with that disk utility.
Can someone tell me, if this are "right" errors or do I have to try more to repair this errors? My computer is running fine.
I am a bit irritated now.
Best regards
arjello
Message was edited by: arjello
Message was edited by: arjello

Way back in Jaguar Disk Utility would pop up dozens of "advisory" messages of no interest nor meaning to anyone except possibly some programmers. This needlessly alarmed regular users. The same thing is happening again in Leopard. The SUID messages are not meaningful nor are they errors, in effect they are announcements that some list being consulted by the utility says one thing, the actual files say something else, Disk Utility is going to assume there is a reason for actual setting and not going to change it, but you (it's kind of assuming you are the programmer) should know this. If the "Die Zugriffssteuerungsliste" is German for ACL (Access Control List) it is the same deal: an ACL was found, but no one told Disk Utility there was suppose to be one.
If the messages bother you download the whole 110MB 10.5.1 update and run it. It quiets down the output for all the SUID statements save one. Might even shut down the ACL advisories--don't know because I haven't bothered to download 110MBs of updater, I just ran the patch update.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Disk utility will not unmount my external HD to make repairs

Hi. Having a problem with an external 2TB HD connected to my iMac 11,2 running 10.6.8. The external was originally connected to a MacBook Pro (same OS) which failed and was replaced by the iMac about a month ago. The external has 3 partitions: Time Machine backup, Carbon Copy Cloner backup and a storage partition for image files.
I used the Time Machine back up to transfer files to the new iMac, re-cloned the whole drive to the CCC partition and added some new files to the storage partition. Everything has been fine until yesterday. I realized I hadn't turned on Time Machine yet to start backing up the new iMac. I selected the same Time Machine backup partition I had been using w/ the MacBook Pro as my Time Machine backup drive for the iMac, but all attempts to back up failed. Got this message:
Time Machine could not complete the backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder.
Now when I turn on the external HD I get a message saying that the Storage volume can't be repaired and to back up the files from it. If I run Disk Utility it cannot unmount any of the volumes and can't initiate any repairs. Trying to fix disk permissions would fail on the CCC volume until 30' ago when it started displaying a long list of error messages. it's still doing it. Most of them start off with:
Open error 16: "Resource busy" on System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/ (this part here changes for each line).
And then the others begin with:
Open error 1: "Operation not permitted" on System/Library/frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/test/test _set.pyc (with some variation at the end)
When this list started running in Disk Utility, the Console displayed the following:
Cleaning up expired diagnostic messages database at path: /var/log/DiagnosticMessages/ 2014.05.28.asl
Disk Utility just finished with a bunch of lines that start off w/ either Unable to set owner and group on … or Unable to set permissions on ...
I can still display the contents of the volumes in Finder and I'm able to access the files but I can't work w/ the volumes themselves as explained.
Any ideas anyone?

Thanks Lau for you comments.
I need to install os8 because I need to run some old apps and I am using my os 9 for another computer I have.
By the way, the HFS+ file system was suuported from OS 8.1 and after and so that is not an issue. Good idea though.
And so I am back at my original question. It would appear that my OS X install disk doesn't like my blue and white G3's internal 12 GIG ATA drive and so I cannot format it with OSX Disk Utility. I would like to know why but for now I will just use OS 9 or OS8 drive setup. And so I have two choices: OS9 drive setup or OS8.5 Drive setup. Does it matter which I use? In other words is one better than the other? I will be later installing OS 8.6 onto this drive - and maybe OS 9 in the far future. I will try OS9's drive setup first.
Yes, and so this is my most immediate question at this point:
is there a difference between OS8.5 drive setup and OS9's Drive setup? (in terms or formatting a drive to install OS 8, 9 or even X maybe one day?) I will be using HFS+.
And then my second question is my original question which is why doesn't my OS 10.1.5 Disk Utility select my 12 GIG ATA drive? (its greyed out - dimmed?)
Thanks

Disk Utility won't unmount drive

When I boot to a casper image via ethernet I will open disk utility and sometimes I can erase the drive but other times it just keeps erroring out. It says can't unmount disk even though the computer is booted to netboot. Why would this happen its very random. I think all the issues are with the 2012 Macbook Pros other macbooks don't have this problem.

To partition the drive, you'll have to boot from a different one, not from the recovery partition on the same drive. Or you can boot into Internet Recovery by holding down option-R at startup.

Disk Utility can't repair this disk (TimeMachine)

15" rMBP Early 2013 (2.6Ghz, 16GB. Mavericks installed as an update. SSD I am not encrypting my 500GB SSD HDD.
I have a WD 1 TB USB 3.0 external drive that I have partitioned half exFAT for shared storage and on the other side I use Time Machine Mac OS Extended. The other week I backed up and then dismounted the drive (or so I thought), it turned out that the drive didn't dismount and I just unplugged it. I saw an error that it was unplugged. I checked the drive's extFAT and saw that I had everything on that side but didn't try the TM machine side until tonight.
The TM partition won't mount. I ran Disk Utility after Command R boot based on what Onyx recommended and fixed issues that I never ran into before on my boot drive.
Now I can not unmount the USB drive once I plug it in and the TM partitioned is seen but not read. No details in Disk Utility and is grayed out.
Is my TM trashed? Is there anything I can try to repair that partition or do I lose all my TM back ups from the past year? It is mostly full and was removing the earlier backups from January.
Wait a sec, as I am typing this on my desktop, I tried to Verify the TM partition a 3rd time via Disk Utility. This time is said everything was ok and then the details popped up. It went from preparing backup to cleaning up backups. (I hope it isn't removing everything) . I am going to let it takes its time to see
It seems to be rising from the dead! Not having ran into this problem before, I have to know if this is something people have ran into with USB external drives before with TM? Looks like I need to find a 2nd medium for backups.

If you are using any Western Digital software such as "SmartWare" or "Drive Utility" or similarly categorized utilities, uninstall it. Such utilities are not required, and have been known to corrupt hard disk drive data or cause other trouble.
Having said that Western Digital hard disk drives have been causing trouble for many users after upgrading to Mavericks. I have not personally experienced that with any WD drives but it appears to be a popular complaint on this site.
This thread began immediately upon Mavericks' public release and continues to this day: Mavericks corrupts external hard drive
Looks like I need to find a 2nd medium for backups.
I certainly advocate having more than one backup, preferably using different backup methods, and preferably devices from different manufacturers, to preclude corruption or loss resulting from any single factor.

After getting the dreaded gray/blue screen, I tried to run disk repair on the internal disk. I got an error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair this disk and restore your backed-up files. The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely

After getting the dreaded gray/blue screen, I tried to run disk repair on the internal disk. I got an error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair this disk and restore your backed-up files. The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely." What do I do now? This is an iMac and I'm running 10.6.8.

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it. See below for how to clone a drive.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
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         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
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         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
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Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
You may be able to backup your data if you have an erased external drive you can use. Before you do the above but after you have opened Disk Utility you can try to clone your drive:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
       it to the Destination entry field.
5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
      the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Now this will only work if the drive is accessible and can be cloned by Disk Utility. Otherwise, you would need to access your drive from another Mac that you can connect via Firewire - Target Disk Mode.

IMac Finder cannot see external hard drive but Disk Utility can

I have a WD external hard drive and it has been attached to my iMac for a year or two. About two months ago I upgraded to Lion 10.7.5 and hard drive still worked. Then suddenly about a week ago the iMac no longer sees the external hard drive in Finder.
I have connected the hard drive to the iMac with different USB cables and into different ports and it makes no difference so deduce there is no issues with the cables or the ports. I have connected the hard drive to an old Macbook and it can see the harddrive and read some of the info but I really need the hard drive attached to the iMac as I store all my music and photos on the external hard drive.
I read another thread and someone asked if you can see the hard drive in Disk Utility. I tried this and Disk Utility can see the hard drive.
What does this mean? Any suggestions as to how to get the iMac to see the hard drive so I can access the data on it?
I dont really know how Disk Utility works therefore if that is any help to me.
thanks

Open the Finder.
From the Finder menu bar click Finder > Preferences then select the General tab.
Make sure: External disks is selected.

TS1901 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.

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.
*** ??? I need to take out the data from a WD320 that shows this error and then format the WD and put the data into again
THANKS !!!

I'm sorry, is there a question here? You seem to know precisely what you need to do…

Error disk utility can't repair this disk...disk and restore your backed-up files

I have been working on a project using an external hard disk. I used my Macbook Pro (2010) to create this project and files (about 31 GB). Now I am trying to open the disk on my iMac (2014) and it doesn't show up. I can see the HDD when I use disk utility but get this message when I try to repair/restore the disc:
"error disk utility can't repair this disk...disk and restore your backed-up files"
The funny thing is that the disk works absolutely fine with my Macbook Pro. What am I missing?
Imac :OSX 10.9.4 , 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 Gb Ram.

Nico,
Did you find a way?
This just happened to me too.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5981446
-John

Can I fix a disk with this message?-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.

Can I fix a disk with this message?
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.

Some problems can indeed be fixed this way. But working from Recovery_HD or Disk Warrior DVDs and working in the restricted environment those provide can be difficult. You can literally spend days working on this problem (while your regular work is unavailable) only to discover the old drive is unsalvageable.
There is no way to know up front whether you are facing a major Hardware failure or a minor software glitch, or something in between. Often you are forced to work from the drive you no longer trust. I continue to recommend you do this work from a different, fully functioning Mac OS X booted from a different drive.
If you have had the foresight to (as The hatter often recommends) clone your virgin install onto another drive for use in such situations, you will be able to recover from such problems in record time. If not, my previous recommendations stands:
Buy a new Drive. Or two. Install Mac OS X from scratch on a new drive, and get your Mac running again. Later, you can use the full power of Mac OS X to attempt to rescue your data, if needed. Then Zero the old drive, to see if it can hold data again reliably.
If the old drive eventually provides some needed data, and is salvageable, Merry Christmas.

"Disk Utility can't repair this disk...and restore the backed up files"

Hello, my macbook crashed a few days a go as well and after going to the recovery drive and OX Utilities tried to verify and repair disk it gives me this error "Disk Utility can't repair this disk...and restore the backed up files" is the second time that occurs after replacing the hard drive for a new SSD, i thought my problem was solved and is not. Any Ideas? the only other thing i can think of is the logic board?

Backup your files and arrange for an appointment at an Apple store genius bar for a free evaluation.
Ciao.

My computer is shutting down before fully booting up. I am running the disk utilities program and have this message: Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk . . . disk, and restore your backed-up files. Can anyone suggest what I should do next?

My computer is shutting down before fully booting up. I am running the disk utilities program and have this message: Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk . . . disk, and restore your backed-up files. Can anyone suggest what I should do next?

So, you can't Install OSX to the external?
Or you can't boot from it when you do?
You're not the only one wondering... I'm reminded of the Goose that laid the Golden Egg story.

Disk utility can't unmount disk

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