Disk utility help (in reference to my grey screen question)

i couldn't boot in safe mode so i put in the software installer dic 1 and held down c at start. it booted up to the disk and came to an install screen. i got to disk utilites, click macintosh hd, clicked first aid and then repair.
after it finished at the bottom it said:
1 HFS volume repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
after scrolling up i saw:
volume bit map needs minor repair
invalid volume free block count
(should be 10867732 instead of 10863920)
then i click info and this is what came up:
disk identifier : disk0s3
mount point : /volumes/macintosh hd
file system : mac os extended (journaled)
connection bus : ATA
io content : apple_HFS
device tree : pci2/ata-6@d/@o:3
writable : yes
capacity : 74.4 gb
free space : 41.5 gb
used : 32.9 gb
number of files : 239,858
number of folders : 58,448
permissions enabled : yes
can turn permissions off : yes
can repair permissions : no
can be verified : yes
can be repaired : yes
can be formatted : yes
bootable : yes
so i thought i was done and went back to the install screen and quit. it restarted my mac but still wouldn't get past the grey screen.
do i have to install osx again, and if so will i lose all my music, photos and other stuff i have saved on my hd?

Hi! If the stuff is important your best shot is to get Diskwarrior and try it. OR you could use the archive and install feature to try and install a new system but beware any time you are having disk problems there's a chance of losing everything...that's why you back stuff up..for times like this. Tom

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I have an external hard drive that shows up in disk utility but Verify and Restore are greyed out.

I have an external hard drive that shows up in disk utility but Verify and Restore are greyed out. I am trying to determine what is wrong with the drive.
I need the data on the drive and it won't show up in Disk Warrior. I have tried different Mac's and different USB cords only to find the same outcome. When selected in Disk Utility the information read as such...
Disk Description : WD Elements 1023 Media                      Total Capacity : 500.11 GB (500,105,740,288 Bytes)
Connection Bus : USB                                                               Write Status : Read/Write
Connection Type : External                                                     S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
USB Serial Number : 575837314135304D36373132        Partition Map Scheme : Unformatted
As the drive shows in Disk Utility there must be some life left in it surely. There is a possibilty that the physical connection between the USB cord and the external drive is damaged but since the drive shows up I believe it's unlikely... before I give it to the pro's is there anything else I can do to diagnose the issue?

Hello,
I have just experienced the same thing!
Although my external drive shows in Disk Utility, it does not show in Finder.
And the Verify/Repair buttons are also greyed out.
Also, although the drive is 2TB. DU shows it as having Total Capacity of only 4.14GB! (Which should be the Free Space).
I was wondering if you solved your problem, & if so, would you share your solution.
I´m afraid to Erase in case I lose all my Data on the drive.
Thanks in advance for your reply!

Drive has reported a fatal error to Disk Utility, HELP ME PLEASE!!!

I'm a little worried my Macbook Pro has become an overpriced paperweight.
Here's what happened:
I had a spare 512MB RAM, which was taken out of my 24" iMac Intel Core 2 Duo when I replced it with a 1GB RAM and, after checking several sources on the web, successfully installed the extra RAM in the MBP.
I restarted the MBP and the new RAM was registered after checking in About this Mac. I then began using the MBP as normal and wrote and saved a Word document. I clicked on the email and Safari icons in the dock and they just kept bouncing in the dock without launching. Pressed Power button - nothing. Took out the battery and replaced it after 30secs and pressed power button. All I got was the grey screen with the Apple logo and the winding circle which stayed like that for 20 minutes.
First reaction was to remove the RAM and restart. Same endless grey screen and winding circle.
Rebooted from CD, checked disk and repaired and said everything was OK. Restarted without CD still nothing.
Tried Archive and Install and came back with an error during installation.
Tried Erase and Install - same error.
Tried to select startup disk and it no longer could find my HD yet Disk Utility could find it and told me everything was OK. Tried resetting PRAM nothing.
Tried to erase the HD and nothing happened. Erasing a HD takes some time, but everytime I hit erase 10 seconds later it was back to the same point where I began
Next tried to create one single partition and struck the message Drive has reported a fatal hardware error to disk utility. Even the lettering for the main drive is now in red.
Do I need to replace the hard drive altogether or is there a solution to this problem. Was it the RAM that brought me undone or was that just a coincidence?
PLEASE HELP ME!!!

make sure that you haven't used it yet as RAM can only be used in one machine, not transferred to another one (like you did).
Sorry, but that's completely untrue, and I don't know where you might have read or heard such a fallacy. RAM has no registration that even tells a system that it's been used, much less a key that would make it work only in one system. As long as the RAM is properly compatible and precautions are taken not to shock a system with static electricity while removing or inserting the component or causing mechanical damage, a RAM module can be swapped between systems as often as desired.

Confused - Mail - Disk Utility - HELP

Mail is slow to respond or will not respond at all leading to a forever spinning ball. Attempted to find an answer in mail thread. Was lead to Disk Utility. I do not understand this at all. Used Verify Disk, it states Invalid node structure The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit. Repair disk is greyed out. I started up from disk. Repair disk is still grey. Other person who was trying to help become obviously frustrated with me and said they give up and to get help elsewhere. Please help.

Hi Cherryblossom,
Let's take this one problem at a time and the most important after reading your post is your internal disk. When you say you, "started up from disk", do you mean you started up from your Tiger restore disk? You're running 10.4.9, on a PBookG4 so you must have the Tiger disk. Running Disk Utility from the Applications/Utility folder on the drive can't repair the hard drive. Only booting from the system restore disk (Tiger in this case) can do the job.
If Disk Utility can repair the hard drive here is how to do that.
Make sure your PBook is shut down. Now, while holding down the C key, press the power button and insert the system disk all at the same time. You can let go of the C key when you see the Apple logo on the screen. Now, an Installer window will open by default. Quit the Installer from the Menu and instead click Utilities in the Menu, then click Disk Utility. When Disk Utility opens, select MacintoshHD in the panel on the left. Then click the Verify button. DU will scan the drive, report errors if any. Then the Repair button should be available at this point. If DU reports errors, click the Repair button. Disk Utility will advise one way or the other if it can repair the disk. If it can't, your options are this. You can purchase a great disk repair such as DiskWarrior from www.alsoft.com, OR, locate an Apple store or Apple reseller in your area.
As for Mail. Try this: Locate this file: com.apple.mail.plist
it's located here: MacintoshHD/Users/YourName/Library/Preferences. Open the Preferences folder, locate that file and drag it to the Trash. Now, try to launch and use Mail and see if it cooperates. You will have to reset your Mail/Preferences but if this works, it's minor in comparison to dealing with the spinning ball.
I sure hope something helps and you can always Reply for more help.
Carolyn

Western Digital drive not showing up in disk utility--Help please.

Hello all. This is my first post. I am having trouble with my WD 500GB external hard drive. It is not showing up in disk utility when connected either via the firewire or USB ports. I purchased the drive about 8months ago, brought it home and set it up as my Time Machine backup drive. It worked great for several months, until it got full. Then it stopped showing up on the desktop for no apparent reason. I discovered through reading support documents on the Apple web site that when I set the drive up initially I should have changed the partitioning protocol from master boot record to GUID, but I did not. I followed the apple web site instructions for making the change expos facto, but was instructed to press buttons that were "grayed out". As such, I couldn't do it. Perhaps foolishly, I thought that I would just start all over by reinitializing it, formatting it correctly (with my new found knowledge) and then do the time machine backup fresh. However, the drive no longer shows up in disk utility no matter how or in what order I connect it. When the drive is connected by firewire there is evidence of some recognition of the drive in system profiler, but it is listed as "External HDD Buttons and Lights". There is also evidence of the My Book showing up at a minimal level (eg. the firmware revision and a few other details are listed). On the front of the drive is a ring of blue lights that progress in a clockwise direction as soon as a connection is made via either firewire or USB. Before that it is solid blue. I have read through all the info that I can find on this site, and all the suggestions require the drive being recognized in disk utility. Without that, I am stuck. I know this must be a solvable problem, because the drive just a bucket of parts before it was manufactured. I just don't know enough to solve the problem or even know what qeustion to ask. I would really appreciate some help. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.

If you can't boot from an OSX DVD, it sounds bad. Yet I think you said you were running Disk Utility from the DVD?
I got an external Firewire drive enclosure for 2.5 inch IDE drives from Other World Computing (OWC)
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGFW400/ but similar items are available from many vendors like Newegg. About $60 for the basic model. More money can buy additional interfaces on the enclosure like FW800 and USB2; an AC adapter instead of letting the firewire bus power the drive (usually OK).

"revert" deleted hard drive name in disk utility HELP!!

I booted my wifes macbook pro 10.4.11 in target mode and connected it to my computer, macbook pro 10.5.6 and went into my disk utility to create a partition in the other computer. I used my disk utility from 10.5.6 because for some reason it got erased from the 10.4.11
so I started to do 2 partitions. It said there was not enough room so I clicked on "revert" and for some reason the name of the "macintosh hd" disappeared and I ejected the computer in target mode. Then when I tried to start it up, it just kept flashing a folder with a question mark. I booted again in target mode but still no "indented" "macintosh hd". it seems like it came unmounted maybe?
I have tried starting from x key, resetting pram, trying to load from install disc (which gets to the point where it asks where to install the OS and no HD shows up to choose) and even taking it to the apple store where they said the HD is damaged and/or corrupt. Before trying to reclaim the files, if I can, I wanted to see if anyone had this same issue and if it was solvable. I cant believe that I hit "revert" and it erased my hard drive name and it automatically made my HD corrupt or damaged?
PLEASE help anyone!
or if this is a lost cause, is there a good file recovery program where I can get my WIFES files back! Yeah, I am in trouble.
Thanks!

If anything can be recovered at all, you should quit using the computer asap. The more you use it the more OSX will write over those spots where the files were.
Data Rescue II...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
Or FileSalvage...
http://www.subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?%20mainpage=product_info&productsid=1
to recover what you can.
BUT, you'll need that other Mac with this one in FW Target Mode
BTW, don't use Leopards Disk Utility to do anything to a Tiger Hard Drive.

Partitioning my iPod using Disk Utility help?

Hi there.
I'm trying to partition my iPod so I can back up some stuff (I lack an external HD) but every time I click on the partition tab I get "Disk Utility has lost its connection with the disc management tool and cannot continue"
Yes, I've completely deleted iTunes and all those pkg. files, still doesn't work. I've honestly no idea what to do next! It's driving me mental.
Please help, thanks!

I don't know if you are aware that partitioning the iPod means it loses it's ability to play music?
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA26466?viewlocale=en_US
You can store files on the iPod without the need to partition by simply enabling disk use. Although I would caution that the iPod is not really a reliable enough device for long term back up purposes.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1478?viewlocale=en_US

Disk Utility Help! There is no Mac HDD shown under my Hard drive. Repair disk is grayed out.

I can't repair my Mac HDD in Disk Utility. Nothing is popping up under my Hard Drive. Please Help!

Yes, it matters. You need to repair the hard drive with the Install disc of the version of the operating system which is installed on the hard drive.
Try starting up in Safe Mode as an alternative to using the OS Install DVD in order to repair the hard drive.
Once started up in Safe Mode, you can click on the Apple logo in the upper left of the display and choose "About This Mac" to find out important information about the MacBook. What information is listed there?
After starting up in Safe Mode, try starting up normally and then go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and repair permissions on the named boot volume.
I suppose you are having problems, or you would not be needing to repair the hard drive? You may want to let us know what problems you are experiencing.
Please include the exact model of the MacBook. You can choose from this list:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook/index-macbook.html
Also, which version of the OS is installed, how much RAM is installed, and what it the hard drive capacity and how much space remains available on it?

Disk utility help

Disk utility will not erase free space it gets almost to the end and starts creating a temp file. The hard drive then fills until there's no space left.
I've tried the same in terminal from the admin account with the same result.
I've tried in single user mode but the command doesn't seem to even start...left it for a long time.
running fsck -yf from S u Mode and mounting the drive has returned the disk to the expected free space but the same error occurs each time.
In S u mode I'm using: diskutil secureErase (squarebracket)freespace(squarebracket) 1 /
thanks

Neil
Thanks for the explanation.
I get the same behavior each time. ie a full disk (disk full warning) and disk utility stops. Standard & admin accounts.
fsck worked the first time and found orphand files which appeard in the trash on reboot into the admin account but then this stopped.
I've also used CliX in the admin account to purge 'tmp' and also force empty the trash. which 'may-be' why I've got back some space? At present about ten GB are still missing.
CliX nor terminal were working from my standard account it kept saying password incorrect try again hence the attempt at using Single-user-Mode.
(having run disk utility from the standard account I'd need to purge the temp file from there?)
In any case Disk utility app has now stopped working altogether. Even the icon has turned generic.
I've tried re-installing it from pacifist but this had no effect. The generic app icon bounces once in the dock and then nada.
It would be helpful if someone could tell me if I've got the SuMode command right as when I use it it just seems to hang and I've left it with fans and all for over 2 hours with nothing happening.
I'm using
diskutil secureErase [freespace] 1 /
also
diskutil repairPermissions /
with the same behaviour, the cursor moves down one line and stops.
(25670) back at ya.
Bob

Bootcamp/Disk Utility Help

Hi everyone,
Yesterday I tried deleting the Windows partition I had on my Macbook Pro. I tried deleting the partition using Bootcamp assistant, but I got an error message. I don't remember exactly what the error message said, but essentially it was unable to join that partition to the existing OSX partition. The Windows partition was deleted, however, since when I open disk utility, there is no Bootcamp partition listed.
I tried going into the disk utility, clicking on my hard drive and dragging the OSX partition box down to reclaim the hard drive space allocated to the windows partition and clicking "apply", but this gave me the following error message: "Partition failed with the error: Couldn't modify partition map because file system verification failed". I tried doing what the following article told me to do:
http://osxdaily.com/2012/03/05/fix-p...led-error-mac/
However this has not helped, as the next time I tried to reclaim the partition space, I got the same error listed above.
My ultimate goal in all of this is to reformat my macbook pro since it had slowed down significantly. I have installed OSX Mavericks on a USB stick to install the OS once I can figure this mess out. I'd greatly appreciate any help you guys could provide. Thanks!

Hold down Option command and R to boot into internet recovery.
Or boot from the USB if its capable.
Erase the top level hard drive, then re-install OS X.

MacBook Pro start up disk full. Will not pass the grey screen

Hi
I didn't realized how close I was to fill the start up disk and now my mac pro will not boot.
I have read many entries and try a few things but nothing has worked.
I have the late 2011 MacBook Pro running Mavericks 10.9
Of the 499.25 GB I only have 176.1 MB available.
I tried reinstalling the OS X but I don't have enough space to do it.
On the disk utility I selected the volume Macintosh HD disk and clicked on Verify Disk. After 10 minutes the message read: The Volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
I also clicked on Repair Disk and after another 10 minutes the message read: Volume repair complete.
Updating book support partitions for the volume as required.
At this point I don't know what else to do.
Ideally I would like to be able to access my hard drive to delete the junk I don't need and safe the things I need.
I don't want to loose my files and have to format the whole thing.
Is the a way to save my files?
Thank for all the help.

Do what arthur suggested but have an external HD on hand, formatted OS X Extended (journaled) to move files from your MBP to it so as to clear out some free space.
It's recommended that a minimum of 10-15 GB of free space be maintained for optimal system and application performance. If you use iDVD make that a minimum of 20-25 GB free space.
OT

Help! Stuck on white/grey screen apple logo spinning wheel

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me?
I have a MacBook pro snow leopard 10.6 It won't start up it freezes on the white/grey screen with the apple logo. I have tried it in safe mode it has the bar underneath as it loads up to half way it goes off & the spinning wheel just carries on spinning forever!
I have tried cmd & v typed in a few things that I saw other people do then on the black screen white text the page is full of Disk0s2: I/O Error   tried rebooting but same thing happens doesn't start up.
Then I put my mac os x snow leopard 10.6.3 installation, features and refinements disc in but still nothing! I'm stuck anybody know what to do?
Thanks in advance if you can help me.

If it won't boot with the just the c key held down off the disk, it could mean there is a firmware password set.
If it won't boot off the disk with just the option/alt key held down, that means firmware has been wiped if all you see is a white screen.
If it has a firmware password, it should have asked you for it with a screen with a lock icon on it.
However it also could mean there is a hardware problem or the 10.6 disk is dirty, scratched, defective or not from Apple (warz).
Or your keyboard is bad or your using a external one and not the built in keyboard.
I think you might have to look into the possibility your EFI firmware has been hosed.
See this section of my User Tip here: ..Step by Step to fix your Mac
Need machine/operating system identification help?
Find the serial number, thus the model number and thus gives the operating system that originally came with the machine. However gives not what operating system version the boot drive was later upgraded to. Do not use older OS X verisons to repair newer verisons. It is possible to use the original operating system version installed on another boot drive to recover files from a later operating system non-booting drive.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159#MacBook_Pro   https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1559   http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
If the computer just ignores the at boot key commands (without showing the firmware password request) especially if you boot to a white screen (no initial boot screen), it might be your EFI firmware stored in NVRAM memory has been wiped. EFI is like a powerful operating system type firmware that loads before OS X or Windows in Bootcamp loads, programs can be installed in EFI, even malicious ones. (why it's very important to trust the source of your instaled software)
To restore EFI you need to use the identification links above to find the exact model of your machine. Then use another computer to download the correct EFI firmware from this Apple.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1237
Then follow these instructions to burn it to a cd or USB (untested) and apply it to the non-booting Mac. It likley will take 2 reboots for it to take hold and return the at boot key commands.
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT2213
..Step by Step to fix your Mac

Can't use this version of Disk Utility.app with this version of os x question

can't use this version of Disk Utility.app with this version of OS X 10.9.2

Hi barcolana,
If you are having issues using Disk Utility on your Mac running OS X Mavericks 10.9.2, you may want to make sure that you are booting to Recovery before using Disk Utility; you may find the following article helpful:
Apple Support: Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1417
Regards,
- Brenden

Grey screen, question mark folder flashing.

I have G4 powerbook with a grey screen and question mark folder flashing. I also have the Leopard dvd stuck in the slot. I tried the eject, and holding down mouse unsuccessfuly ejecting dvd. Any suggestions.

The flashing question mark means the system can't find anything to boot from. See this on the gray screen.

Start up problems/grey screen/question mark

Reset the NVRAM and remove all power for 5-10min.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

What to do if you get a flashing question mark when you start your Mac.

Disk utility help (in reference to my grey screen question)

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