Disk Utility says HD needs repair-how to boot from original disk?

Hi,
My iMac has been acting up badly. Finally on Friday, it had trouble turning on and a burning smell arose from the top. Came on but with the blinking folder with question mark. So turned it off and tried again to turn on: no chime and couldn't turn it on.
Went to Genius bar this a.m. Tried different cord. It turned on. Everything came up fine. Genius ran special test. Everything came back with green check. But he said the internal hard drive could very likely be starting to fail.
Back home. Just ran the Disk Utility to "Verify." It couldn't continue verification. Got these messages:
Invalid volume directory count.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Questions:
1) Can I repair using the First Aid utility (or is it more about getting a new HD)?
2) If so, can someone remind me what keys to press on startup to boot from the CD?
3) I have 10.5.8 right now. Can I still boot from the original Tiger installation CD and use that Disk Utility?
Thanks for your urgently needed help!

If you're on 10.5.8 have you not got that disk as that would probably be the best one to use? If not, the disk that came with your Mac should still boot up. Disk in drive and restart holding down the 'C' key. Hopefully it'll boot - albeit slowly. At the multi-language screen choose your language and at the next screen from the menu bar select Utilities>Disk Utility. Select Macintosh HD on the left and 'repair disk'. Hopefully it'll do the necessary repairs. If it fixes anything click 'repair disk' again until you get a clean pass and then from the Apple menu restart as normal.
If you haven't got a backup make sure you make one ASAP.

Similar Messages

Disk Utility says volume needs repair, tests failed. Now what?

What exactly does this mean? Unfortunately, I bought this TiBook from a classmate, and he didn't have his Tiger DVD, so all I have is 10.0 and a 10.1 upgrade. Do I have to use this to re-install?
Thanks!
Jim

Hello James:
Since you do not have the Tiger DVD you have a few choices (none particularly good). You should ALWAYS have the software install DVD - I am not sure what will happen when you run repair disk from an older software install CD/DVD. You will be unable to reinstall Tiger unless you have the proper DVD. I would return the iBook and get my money back from your classmate unless that person produces the proper software.
Incidentally, if Apple's repair disk (run from the CD/DVD) is unable to repair problems, DiskWarrior is the next option. DW is the 'gold standard' of directory repair, but it is pricey at about $90.
Barry

Disk utility stopped verifying; need repair... over and over and over

I've gone through the restart, Command+R drill 4 times. Repaired the disk using "Disk Utility." Restarted after repair, ran disk utility to verify the repair and BAM disk utility stops verifying and instructs me to restart ... etc.
The errors have been consistent: orphaned blocks, invalid volume free block count. But when I use utility disk after restarting and pressing command+r, the "repair disk" does not appear to do anythign beyond "Load and Verify" freespace summary and block accounting. Am I missing a step?
Any suggestions appreciated.

That article does not pertain to the OS you are running. "This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple."
It pertains to using fsck not Disk Utility for:
Products Affected
Mac OS X 10.3.9, Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X Server 10.2, Mac OS X Server 10.3, Mac OS X Server 10.4, Mac OS X Server 10.4.7, Mac OS X Server 10.5

I have an old iMac that won't boot up anymore. I have the OS X install disks but I can't get it to boot from these disks. No need to save anything. Any suggestions?

I have an old iMac. Not sure of the operating system but the install disks say OS X. The computer will not boot anymore and all I keep getting is to restart and when I do I keep getting the same message. I do have the install disks but I can't get the computer to install, or for that matter, read the disks. I would like to rebuild the computer from these disks so that I can continue to use this computer. There is no need to save anything on the computer as I backed it up months ago. Any suggestions as to how I can save this computer and not have to recycle it?

Really need to know what version of OS X it is currently running, and what version you are trying to install.

How to boot from rescue disk

Hi,
I am running Macbook Pro, snow leopard 10.6.8
My resuce disk is based on 10.6.4
I tried to boot from rescue disk to repair the main disk.
I failed to boot from the rescue disk as my rescue disk (from CD) is not being recognized. I tried multiple options such as holding down "C", "c", "option" key etc while the system is restarting. Only the main disk was being shown as the bootable option (while holding down the option key when restarting) but not the rescue disk.
I verified that my rescue disk is good. Infact, I could boot a Lion MacBookPro using my resue disk.
Any inputs are appreciated.
Thanks
gb

It was 10.6.4 (Snow Leopard). It was the same as the rescue disk version.
thanks
gb

Disk Utility says HD, "needs to be repaired" Options?

Using Disk Utility to Repair Permissions has worked fine, but when I "Verify Disk" I get this:
"Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit" among other text. It says that our HD "needs to be repaired".
How do I do this best? What do you all recommend?
Is Disk Warrior the only/best option?
Is there another app that I should use first?
Is there a free option, using a built-in utility?

On an intel mac you cannot run OS 9 or classic so there is no need to worry about OS 9.
If you have the same problem and Disk Utility cannot repair the drive and you decide to do a reinstall you can either do a archive and install, which would not remove your old data and files but would just replace the system with a new one. Chances are that will not fix a problem with the disk directory.
If you want to reformat the drive and reinstall the everything will have to be reinstalled from scratch as it will all be erased.You system restore disk can be used for this and then any third party apps you have will have to be reinstalled.
Before doing either, I would recommend that you do a complete backup to an external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper or some other backup application.

IMac won't launch, disk utility says I cannot repair my Macintosh HD, back up files, reformat the disk and restore backed up files. How do I do all that? Help!

iMac won't start up, disk utility tried to repair disk it shows "keys out of order" error message in red and advises me to back up files, reformat disk and restore backed up files. I have no idea how to back up and restore etc... Help! Please!

Get an external drive of sufficient capacity to hold everything on your internal drive.
Partition and format the external drive.
Drive Partition and Format
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 GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply 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.
Clone your internal drive to the external drive.
Clone Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
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.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     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.
Boot from the external drive.
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
      "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the external disk icon from which you want to boot.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.
Reformat the internal drive and install OS X.
Install or Reinstall Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
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.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
      the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.
Open Startup Disk preferences and set the internal drive as the startup volume, then click on the Restart button.
Restore your data from your external drive backup.

Disk Utility says I need to repair disk

My computer is running a little sluggish so I went into the Disk Utility and selected verify disk. I got the message below. I inserted the OS X disk but the repair disk option wasn't available. I bought the computer with Panther and got Tiger later, unfortunately I don't have the Tiger disk. How do I fix this problem?
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
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.
Macintosh HD
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair

If you are running Tiger, you need the Tiger install disc you purchased in order to run Disk First Aid repair.
And withhout your Tiger install disc, you cannot perform an Archive & Install retaining Tiger, etc. so bad move not keeping this in a safe place.
Your only other option is running fsck.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

How do I fix a volume if Disk utility says cannot be repaired?

Greetings all,
Am having some annoying issues with my PowerMac G5 hard drive, nothing very specific, just lots of small issues like crashes and hangs and the fan going into hyper-drive every now and then. Started up from my system disc/Disk Utility and ran repair permissions and repair disc.
On repair disk it gets to the end then says:
1 HFS volume repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
I cannot find out what this means so can anyone advise?
I also run repair permissions over and over and it never stops finding something to repair.
Any advice much appreciated.

Started up from my system disc/Disk Utility and ran repair permissions and repair disc.
Do you mean the System install DVD? - that's what you should do as you cannot repair an HD you're booted from.
On repair disk it gets to the end then says:
1 HFS volume repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
This is a little odd: is there another hard disk connected? Or possibly it was trying to repair the install disk as well?
I also run repair permissions over and over and it never stops finding something to repair.
Repairing permissions does thrown up a lot of things which can't be repaired: this is a bug arising from a system update and is harmless: you can ignore it.
You could try downloading Applejack which you run in single-user mode and provides an easy way of using the built-in disk repair procedure: this is quicker than starting from the DVD and you won't get any confusion with the DVD. It's quite safe: it doesn't do the check itself, just invokes the repair that you would get by typing arcane Linux codes. But note that you must run it only in single user mode (starting up and holding command-s while booting), never while booted normally.

Disk Utility - Partition map needs repair because a data partition needs loader space.

I just finished setting up both my OSX and Windows installs from scratch after fitting an SSD, which in-turn was right before my logic board died and Apple replaced it, now it looks like I have some sort of hard drive issue brewing.
This was my plan for the SSD, and how it currently displays in Disk Utility although that wasn't the case earlier:
And in Terminal:
My intention was to have two boot partitions for each OS, 'Macintosh HD' and 'Win 7 Pro' and a third shared data partition 'Projects' on the SSD, which I made in Drive Genius after installing Boot Camp. I don't want Macintosh HD accessible from Windows because I'll be using Paragon HFS+ or MacDrive to give write access and don't want OSs stomping on other OSs turf, hence needing three partitions. Everything looked fine until I just checked Disk Management under windows and realised it couldn't see the Projects volume. Even though it's fine in OS X, it was just marked black/unallocated space.
So I booted back into OSX, all my files look fine so I ran Disk Utility and the Partition tab looked really odd - unfortunately I didn't get a screenshot. All volumes reported their size correctly but visually, Macintosh HD took up most of the drive. I could see 'Windows 7 Pro' under this, but the Partition Layout section had a scrollbar, which if I scrolled down showed 'Projects' squished into a tiny gap at the bottom. I ran a Verify, which reported no problems, and at some time since the Partition Layout has reverted to how it should look (as in the screenshot above), with 'Projects' book-ended by "Macintosh HD' and 'Windows 7 Pro'.
Now when I run a Verify on Macintosh HD or Projects volumes, it says there's no problem, but if I run one on the drive, I get this message:
Volume Macintosh HD on disk0s2 has 0 bytes of trailing loader space and it needs 134217728 bytes
Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting
Error: Partition map needs repair because a data partition needs loader space.
I've only managed to find one other mention of this error here, but the fix is not relevant to me because I don't have Sophos installed. I've tried Single User/Safe Mode but it just boots into normal mode, so I can't do a fsck -fy.
** /dev/rdisk0s2 (NO WRITE)
Can't open /dev/rdisk0s2: Permission denied
That value in bytes is exactly 128mb, so I suspect the problem lies with one of the invisible partitions that show up in iPartition and Disk Management under Windows, but not in Disk Utility. I have backups and I suspect the root of the problem is partitioning in iPartition after installing Boot Camp, but I've never had issues with this approach in the past so I'm wary of just giving up and reinstalling Windows again will be massive hassle because I no longer have a SuperDrive and last time it refused to install from USB.
Anyone have any idea what's going on? It seems like the sort of issue Disk Utility should just handle, at least in Recovery mode, but it's not playing ball. It also doesn't seem like a massive problem since my files all look fine and performance is OK, so I'm reluctant to do anything major.
I'll update with a shot of the drive in Disk Management from Windows in a few minutes, in case that sheds light on anything. Thanks!

Similar issue here. I manually partitioned my hard disk for triple boot (using Gparted on Linux), then everything was just fine until I ran bootcamp, to do something as simple as create a boot USB.
I get the same error as a result and have to work my way into booting, by resorting first to a Linux live USB, then restarting from the live USB, to finally reach my rEFInd boot manager, or whichever boot manager should be initialized at startup.
I suppose that the cause in my case is that some operation "scratched" the protective MBR. See this:
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.23/23.03/APMtoGPT/index.html
I am hoping to fix it using an external Yosemite installation media: see this guide -
http://www.macworld.com/article/2367748/how-to-make-a-bootable-os-x-10-10-yosemi te-install-drive.html
And as a last resort to reinstall.
I'll admit I am negatively surprised. I need this computer for professional reasons, and for the sake of "preserving the integrity of OSX", measures defined by Apple instead tend to make partitions far easier to damage. And this problem seems to affect a number of users.
As for what I have to go through to fix it: a 5GB download, during which I have to register my credit card to the Apple Store. "Pay first, get your free software next."
IF Disk Utility can fix it, from the external media, then fair enough. The hassle is unpleasant but it files as "a choice".
Otherwise you can file it safely under software design calamity.

Disk Utility Problems - Volume Needs Repair

Hi,
I have an iMac G5 (PowerPC) and when I ran Disk Utility I get the following error:
+"Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”+
+Checking HFS Plus volume.+
+Checking Extents Overflow file.+
+Checking Catalog file.+
+Illegal name+
+Checking multi-linked files.+
+Checking Catalog hierarchy.+
+Checking Catalog hierarchy.+
+Checking Extended Attributes file.+
+Checking volume bitmap.+
+Checking volume information.+
+Volume Header needs minor repair+
+to be repaired.",1)+
+Macintosh HD+
+Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit+
+1 HFS volume checked+
+ Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume Header needs minor repair
to be repaired.",1)
Macintosh HD
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair"+
When I try to load off the Install CD to do the repair, I get an error saying something about "Kernal" and a grey box saying I need to restart.
I ran TechTool Deluxe and it did not find any problems.
What do I need to do to resolve this? I am not exactly sure what is wrong as I am not THAT technically inclined.
Any directions/help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome to Discussions - what you are having are kernel panics, see Dr Smoke's Resolving Kernel Panics and follow his directions.
Let us know how things work out,

1 HFS volume needs repair -- can't boot from OS X Tiger "kernel panic"

I just searched the support discussions and did find an answer so hopefully someone can help me. Today I ran Disk Utility on both my G4 powerbook and G5 desktop. Both have Tiger 10.4.8 on them and have been running good. To my surprise both came back with a message saying:
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair.
So I booted off my Tiger start up disk on the laptop first and went to utility and repair disk and all was good. The message came back that the volume was repaired.
When I tried to do the same thing on my G5 desktop my computer went to a gray screen and gave an error of “kernel panic” with a page long message. I shut the computer down and rebooted normally and all was fine. I then went back to disk utility and clicked on Verify Disk again to see what it said and here is what I got:
Verifying volume “MacOS250”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name_
Illegal name_
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume MacOS250 needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
So i noticed that under:
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name_
Illegal name_
came back twice. I have no idea what this means. At this point I tried to boot from DiskWarrior and the computer just sat in a state of limbo for an hour or so. I know DW can take some time but 1 hour was pushing my patients so I shut it down and rebooted normally and all was fine again except I still get the message above. I then methodically backed up all my docs, movies, photos etc to my second hard drive. I tried to boot again from Tiger and got the same “kernel panic” message. Can anyone help me?
Thanks,
Tim
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Maverick922 Before you erase, you might want to try and run fsck first even though it says you are using HFS+
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Another reason is your version of disk utility on the Tiger disk might may not match the newer version of 10.4.8 My Tiger start-up disk utility is 10.5 while the OS X version on my HD is 10.5.6.
The Finder along with other applications do not like you naming a file with a period in front of it. This turns it into a Unix dotfile and it then becomes hidden.Hence, illegal name.This may have been done by accident or with purpose.
And a little more to read up on, http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
If these don't help, sherry johnson's suggestion is probably the next step.

How to boot from FireWire disk?

I have made a copy of my main disk with CarbonCopy, using an external FireWire 800 disk. According to CC it should be bootable, but pressing Option during boot does not show the that disk as boot option. When I boot from the main disk and try to change the boot disk in Preferences, I get this message "You can't change the startup disk to your selected disk, the bless tool was unable to set the current disk".
Why am I doing this? I bought a 500GB disk to replace the 200GB internal disk. Wanted to restore the original content from the FireWire disk after swapping out the old disk. I could also restore from a TimeMachine backup I have on a USB disk, but that will take much longer and I have had issues with complete restores from TimeMachine backups in the past.
All recommendations are welcome

It sounds like that you didn't format the hard drive properly. If you want a bootable hard drive with an Intel powered Mac, you must choose the "GUID" partition scheme.
Use Disk Utility to verify whether your external hard drive is partitioned with GUID scheme or the Apple partition scheme. If the later, you'll need to reformat with the GUID scheme.

Will it work to un-install Snow Leopard (booting from original disks) and then reinstall, then upgrade without erasing hard drive on iMac?

I have both a bootable backup exernal hard drive and the original system disks. I have read on these support pages that you cannot get snow leopard freshly installed without erasing the whole whole drive since the original installation disks are older than the current updated version. I have also read here that it is possible to get the system newly installed (though it's wise to have a back up of the rest of your files). I need to know which can work. Is there an un-install function after booting from a different source? If I can get the system filess off the main hard drive and then install Snow Leopard from my original disks, then go through the upgrades, and end up with the rest of my files intact, that would be wonderful. I have all the adobe design premium software on the system with their updates and would like to not spend hours and hours restoring it all. And since I don't know where all the little bits and pieces of the Adobe programs get installed, perhaps it won't work anyway?
thanks,
Kahty

I have read on these support pages that you cannot get snow leopard freshly installed without erasing the whole whole drive since the original installation disks are older than the current updated version.
That is incorrect. You can install an older version of the same OS over itself. With Snow Leopard and later, unless you intentionally select to erase the drive, the OS removes and replaces all remnants of the current OS and leaves all of your third party apps, personal files and settings intact.
I have also read here that it is possible to get the system newly installed (though it's wise to have a back up of the rest of your files).
That is the correct information.
Is there an un-install function after booting from a different source? If I can get the system files off the main hard drive and then install Snow Leopard from my original disks, then go through the upgrades, and end up with the rest of my files intact, that would be wonderful.
No, there is no way to remove just the OS files from a drive. At least, not in any manner you could call easy. There are thousands of hidden files and folders related to UNIX. Many apps won't even run correctly, or at all, if they're not on the same drive you are starting up to. So trying to separate your third party apps from the drive the OS is on is not a good idea.
I have all the adobe design premium software on the system with their updates and would like to not spend hours and hours restoring it all.
If your end goal is to simply get the contents of the external drive onto a new internal drive in a bootable form, you can use Disk Utility to clone the drive, or use one of two excellent third party apps; SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.

Can i & how to boot from install disk copy to reinstall os10.4

i am farly computer illerate, sorry...this is a two parter: i have an older g4 that was running 10.2 and it has malfunctioned in that it isn't showing the finder or disk or any other plugged in periphial device like my usb hub or flash drive or camera or card reader or mp3 player. i have alot of i tunes and want to save to a different g4 i just picked up that seems to operate good. it's running 10.4.11 and the guy i got it from gave me a set of copies of that software install disks.
first i can't use firewire conections because the old computer freezes up anytime i get it booted and try to acess anything...i heard that i could put the old hard drive in the working machile and copy my library. i did this (after finally figuring out to set the jumpers correctly!) and it put some of my music on but not all of it...i put the old drive back in the old machine and the complete library is still there so.
i'm currently in process of downloading those cd's i still have access to and have accepted i'm going to lose the rest...
question 1: is there some way to get them from the older hard drive when it's in the newer machine as a slave drive?
question 2: can (and if so, how do i go about it, literally) rebooting to it and reinstalling a newer software version fix my older computer, or at least recover all it's memory so i can useit as extra storage?
)0

Yes, you can format it, but honestly, with it being only 20 GB, quite old & possibly next to failing, as well as drives that are faster & 25 times as big are fairly cheap... myself, believing in Karma, would find somebody that has less & would be willing to work with it.
>Stoopid technology...
I titally agree, & anymore the tech seems only directed at Bloat, Obsolesence, if it doesn't work just buy the newest/latest/greatest until 6 monts down the line.
I'm in biz for myself and can tell you that it doesn't pay to sell things that last for 5,10, 20 or more years, give solid advice for free... I'll likely be out of biz within 2 months after 40 years & be $200K in the hole.

Disk Utility says HD needs repair-how to boot from original disk?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for