Hard drive clicking and disk utility can't repair

I have an iBook G3 that recently started making a clicking noise from the left side of the computer. At the same time it froze up and now it won't start up. I tried to start it in safe mode and it didn't work. I was able to start the OS X install disc and start the disc utility, but I get an error: Invalid Sibling Link, Volume Check Failed.
Does anyone know if there is anything else I can do to try to repair the hard drive myself? If not, how do I find someone reputable to get the data off of the drive (no I didn't back it up... ever) and install a new drive?
Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
You could buy DiskWarrior and see if it can repair your hard drive. It can often repair a hard drive when Apple's own Disk Utility cannot. No guarantees that it can do it for yours, but DiskWarrior has saved my hard drive several times.
If you are able to get it up and running, be sure to back things up right away.

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Macbook pro won't boot and when I tried to back up the hard drive I got "disk utility can't repair this disk backup as many of your files as possible"

My macbook pro froze and initially would not even recognize the power chord. Now it charges, but will not load up. I opened in in disk utility to try and back it up so that I could take it to apple to have it fixed but I got the message that said "disk utility can't repair this disk backup as many of your files as possible". How do I back up the files???

Nichelle215,
you can try the method described on this Apple page, in the “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility” section. (You can skip step 6, since you already know that your disk is irreparable.) Note, however, that this method is not guaranteed to work. Once you get your disk straightened out, you might consider purchasing an external hard disk for use as a Time Machine backup destination, so that a similar problem in the future won’t wipe out the only copy of your files.

Something's wrong with my hard drive, and disk utility can't repair it...

Lately my MacBook Pro has been running really slow, so I ran Disk Utilities to see if it could fix it. However, when I ran it, the following is what I see. Would someone help me interpret what's going on? Thanks.
Verify permissions for "HD”
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/load_hdi" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskManagement.framework/Versions/A/Resources /DiskManagementTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/Locum" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versions/A/Resources/runner " has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/readconf ig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/writecon fig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/authopen" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/OwnerGroupTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/at" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/atq" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/atrm" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/batch" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chfn" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chpass" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/bin/chsh" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions verification complete
Verifying volume “HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Incorrect number of file hard links
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.

Two things. First for the permissions check, reinstall the 10.5.2 COMBO update and repair permissions. That should fix things. Alternatively, search these forums for ACL, sort by date, and read the responses and the article Apple posted three months ago: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306925
Second, for the *Incorrect number of file hard links* error, follow smithrj's advice. If DU can't repair the disk, you'll need something stronger, such as DiskWarrior.
BTW, please update your *My Settings* profile info. It still shows that you're running Tiger.

Hard drive disappears and Disk Utility is not finding it

I woke my computer up from sleep this morning, launched Final Cut Pro and it threw me an error. It said there was a permissions error for one of the volumes FCP was using, then my hard drive disappeared.
It does not show up in Disk Utility, nor does it appear in System Profiler.
I took the SATA drive out of my Mac Pro and tried to mount it using an external SATA to USB dock. It spins and sounds ok, but still won't mount.
Anything I can do to revive this drive?

all of this pretty clearly indicates that the drive is dead. get a new one.

DiskWarrior and Disk Utility can't repair volume after 10.4.6 upgrade

I appreciate any advice on the following problem:
After installing the 10.4.6 update On April 4 (which installed just fine), I did my usual post-installation system maintenance including repairing permissions, running CRON scripts and cleaning the caches. I got a strange Apple Script error that flashed on and off the screen (too quickly for me to document) while I was cleaning the caches, then the process finished. Then when I used DiskWarrior as part of my usual maintenance, it "stuck" while saying that the process was slowed because of a disk error. I waited for an hour, and it never completed. I then restarted using the OS install disk, called up Disk Utility and selected Repair Disk. This is what I got:
Verifying volume "Macintosh HD"
Checking HFS Plus volume
Checking Extreme Overflow file
Checking Catalog file
Invalid node structure (in red font)
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired (in red font)
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit (in bold red font)
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair (in bold red font)
I cannot repair this problem using either DiskWarrior or the OS installer disk with Disk Utility. In addition, I was unable to archive & install the system while using the OS install disk! I have tried repairing permissions and using DiskWarrior and the OS Installer disk again with no success.
I am able to work on my Mac, but things seem slower and I get occasional oddball errors that make no sense. A few times, applications have quit unexpectedly when they weren't before.
Am I going to have to initialize the hard drive and reload everything?
Many thanks!
--Melissa
Mac G5 (dual 2GHz) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I had a similar experience after installing 10.4.6.
The messages I got in Disk Repair were:
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name (in red)
Illegal name (in red)
Keys out of order (in red)
The volume Rich's HD could not be repaired. (red)
Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit. (In red)
After a long time on the phone with Apple, we decided to reinitialize the hard drive. I have reinstalled the OS and am in the laborious process of restoring my user files and non-Apple applications. What a hassle! And I am not even sure all will be restored to proper functionality.
Don't know if either yours or my disk failure are related to 10.4.6 but Apple better watch closely for user feedback. These are potentially disastrous problems for users if they have not backed up.

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

How do I repair a damaged dmg that won't mount and Dick Utility can't repair?

Apple Care gave me wrong instructions on how to create a disc image of my internal HD then erased it. Now I have a .dmg that has the same gigs as the HD but won't mount and Disk Utility can't repair. Tried to recover files with Data Rescue 3 but that isn't going so hot. Any suggestions?
Thank you

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
I guess that it's a moot point to ask if you didn't test the dmg before you erased the drive. Do you have a Time Machine or other type of backup?
If not, it's a hard lesson to learn, but I would guess that unless you are willing to pay for expensive outside data recovery service, all is lost and you are starting over.

External Hard Drive Disk Utility Can't Repair the Disk

Hi,
I have a Seagate 1 TB Backup Plus Drive which was working perfectly fine until I plugged it into a USB hub. It detected it while in the hub and I was able to get files off of it, but when I ejected it from the hub and put it back into the USB slot on the computer it was not detected by finder. It shows up in the disk utility and I clicked verify and repair and it says:
Verify and Repair volume “Seagate Backup Plus Drive”
Checking file system
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
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.
Is there any way to get this to work properly again? Or if not is there a way for me to recover my files on the external hard drive?
Thanks
I have a Macbook PRO late 2011 running OS X Mavericks.

Use a more powerful utility such as DiskWarrior, or a product such as those listed here.
(108710)

Disk utility can't repair a partition on external hard drive

I have a 1TB Western Digital external FW drive that's only a couple years old (2 or 3, probably). I have it split into partitions, one of which I'm using for Time Machine. The non-Time Machine partition checked out fine with DIsk Utility, but when I ran Disk Utility on the Time Machine partition, I received this message:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." 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.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing? I erased the Time Machine partition and recreated it through Disk Utility, and then I verified it. Everything checked out okay, but I want to make sure, especially since I'm hosting my iTunes music in the other partition (it's backed up to a 2nd external drive, so if the drive does die, at least I don't lose everything).
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off. I unplugged the drive and plugged it back in again a couple times, but nothing happened. Finally, the light went back on after plugging it back in for the 3rd or 4th time, but I'm wondering if the drive could be going bad, which would surprise me since it isn't very old.

Brad Cook wrote:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." 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.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing?
Possibly, but not necessarily. The File System on the disk was so badly corrupted that Disk Utility couldn't fix it. That might indicate a problem with the drive. It's not unusual for consumer-quality (ie, inexpensive) drives to fail after 2-3 years, although many will run for several years. It's a bit of a crapshoot.
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off.
Whatever caused that is another good possibility -- if a drive is improperly disconnected, OSX can't "close it out" properly, and that can cause damage to the file system. Sometimes Disk Utility can fix it, sometimes it can't. And sometimes heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair apps like DiskWarrior can fix things Disk Utility can't.
A power dip or spike could have caused it, or an overheated electronic component, etc. If it has it's own power supply, be sure it's on a good (ie, not cheap) surge protector or U.P.S. system.
Otherwise, keep an eye on it. If you don't have "secondary" backups, this would be an excellent time to get another drive for that purpose. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions.
Bottom line: personally, I'd not trust my only backups to that drive.
(But then, I'd never trust my backups to any single drive, no matter how new or high-quality.)

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.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         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
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (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
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
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.

"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.

Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backuped-up file.

Computer got uber slow.
I started to worry.
Now computer won't start.
VERY worried.
Tried to repair disk. Received error message above.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sulaver wrote:
Computer got uber slow.
I started to worry.
Now computer won't start.
VERY worried.
Tried to repair disk. Received error message above.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You can't have received an error message "Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backuped-up file." since that is pure gobbledegook and isn't even good English.
What may have happened is that
(a) your hard drive has become so full that the operating system can't find any space in which to.... operate.
(b) as macjack says, it has crashed - possibly as a result of (a).
(c) you have been allowing Time Machine to back up to your internal hard drive instead of to a backup disk, which has caused (a) to happen.

Disk utility can't repair disk, back up and restore files......I need help, I'm worried I'll lose all my photos, files etc

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

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

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.

Hard drive clicking and disk utility can't repair

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