IMac Won't boot...Invalid Node Structure

My iMac is just...screwed up. It is a 2008 intel iMac that had worked fine for the last four years until lion. Everytime there was and update or I rebooted, my Mac would freeze at some point of the login. A permission repair or just repair disk would solve the issue an everyone and a while, a restore from backup. Recently my Mac started to slow down to the point it froze for several hours and force quit would never open. I held the button and since then I have been in trouble. The repair permissions had a ton of errors but successfully repaired. But when I repaired the disk, it's hit a couple of errors but ultimately failed right after "Invalid Node Structure" that error has been consistent every time I have attempted a fix and it failed.
I tried restoring from a backup to no avail. Then I wiped the drive and installed Lion (after a convienient 5 hours download) an it booted. I tried using it but it was extremely slow, let it sit over night and came back to it frozen. I had assumed it was slow due to indexing but after 12ish hours this didn't solve the issue. I clicked the apple button and it took a while to finally show up an restarted. Fro
There is wouldn't complete the boot. Froze at the apple logo or white screen with spinning mouse. Left that for several hours and stayed there. Tried repair and same issue. "ivalid node structure" redtating aftet that it just reboots and turns off a little bit after the chime. I have tried everything I could find on different forums without any success. I tried single user mode with the fsck commands and that failed also. I downloaded lion and made a recovery flash drive from another computer. I have since installed several new installations of lion after an erase and repartition. I took it to the apple store and they installed a fresh install of lion and it worked for a day then slowed down and froze. I would like to try everything possible before claiming the hardrive dead. Any other suggestions? (
I forgot to mention I have done PRAM resets in between the events I described as well as the SCM i think reset by unplugging. I have left it unplugged for over 12 hours, also have taken out all peripherals minus keyboard and mouse.

Oh I forgot to add, don't restore from TM or reverse clone, your data might have been messed up, rather cherry pick your good files from backup.
About much would a fix/Harddrive replacement cost?
You might want to get a estimate from Apple, while inside they can clean the filters and run a check.
If it's too much for you, then there are online services
OtherWorld Computing can replace the drive in iMac's
the new 2011's have the certain Apple drive heat for iMac software, not 2009, my mistake.
http://blog.macsales.com/10146-apple-further-restricts-upgrade-options-on-new-im acs
you might find a local service, Apple reseller might do it too, save the shipping costs.

Similar Messages

  • Startup partition dies in the middle of booting, Invalid node structure?

    Hi! In the last few weeks, possibly since I last upgraded Lion and Safari, my iMac has been performing very badly. It's been sluggish, Safari and Finder repeatedly freezing and crashing/rebooting. Last night it escalated, and I launched Disk Utility to repair permissions. Ten hours later and no problems found. Not ten minutes later, the FInder crashes badly and I have to force a shutdown. When restarting, I get the grey progress bar, but it only reaches about 10%, then the hard drive whirrs and clicks a few times, and the computer shuts off. This happens every time I try to restart.
    So instead, I boot into the recovery partition, and launch Disk Utility from there. Repair disk says the boot partition has an invalid node structure and I have to backup and reinstall. Now, I do have a Time Machine backup (a few days old since I don't have my Drobo on all the time due to the noise it makes), but since it's 800 GB of data I'm a bit reluctant to commit to that, hoping there is a simpler/faster solution. I'll see if I can try Disk Warrior. Or do you think I'd be better off to just nuke the entire drive and start from scratch?
    The strange thing is that I have a Bootcamp partition with Windows 7, which works fine and actually can browse the files on the Lion partition. What does that mean? Can I use that to my advantage? If I do restore from Time Machine, will that affect my Bootcamp partition?

    Disk Warrior confirmed that there were problems, but couldn't repair the node structure, possibly because of bad blocks. Support at the local Mac store (we don't have Apple stores here) said I should just try reinstalling the system, so that's what I did. It didn't work the first time, but then I reformatted the partition and since then everything has worked allright. I have now restored everything from the TM backup (which took about a day). I'm now guessing that the whirring was not actually some mechanical problem with the drive, but on the other hand DW wasn't too happy about the drive, so maybe I still have to replace it? I'm using it now and it seems better than before, but I won't do any serious work on this computer until I have a new TM backup in place.
    (On that note, is it possible to "link" the restored system to the old TM backup that it was restored from? Or do I have to start over with a completely new TM backup, losing all the versioning of the old backup?)
    UPDATE: Just ran Disk Utility, which now reported an erroneous block count in a file. Crossing my fingers hoping it's nothing critical adn that DU can repair it ...

  • Problem when booting - Invalid Node Structure

    Hey!
    I decided to put my MacBook G4 up to date. So I installed several updates of my software. So far so good. Then I tried to check with Disk Utility wether there were any problems on the file system. I ran "repair Disk Permissions" and some errors where found and corrected. I tried "Verify Disk" and it announced there where some errors namely "Invalid Node Structure". As I couldn't repair the disk as it was the current boot disk I decided to run Disk Utility from a CD. Unfortunately I didn't have my original cd so I asked a friend to use his. He gave me his "MacBook Pro - Mac OS X Install Disc"s (Mac OS X 10.5) and I ran it on my PowerBook G4 (Mac OS X 10.4 installed). It gave the same result like when I ran it from my hard drive. When I tried to repair it, it started and stopped after some seconds (between 20 and 40 seconds) saying it was unable to repair it.
    After that the computer does not mount from hard drive (10.4 installed) anymore, only from cd. I tried booting in single user mode and executing /sbin/fsck -fy but I had the same result ("disk0s10: I/O error. Invalid node structure (4, 7698) **Volume check failed.").
    I think I can resolve the problem by starting my mac in firewire mode, backing up my data and reinstalling Mac OS X (would a repair from 10.4 Disk Utility work?) but I would be happy if there were any faster / more elegant way to do so as I cant use my install cds for 10.4 right now as I am in an other country for some time.
    Any help?

    Hi Ja!, and a warm welcome to the forums!
    Unfortunately DU & fsck can't fix all that much, your best bet is DiskWarrior, you need the CD though.
    http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/
    If DW can't fix it, you might try 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.
    PS. Don't use Leopard Install Disk to work on Tiger Hard disks, it's always messed up my Tiger Disks ehen I did.
    Also, not a good idea to even Repair Permissions if there are Disk problems like you have, you don't want to write anything to a disk that has problems, that means even trying to boot off it until you fix it.

  • IMac (March 2009) - Invalid Node Structure problem

    Hi All
    I was using my iMac as normal yesterday, when suddenly the system ground to a halt (something I never seen since using OS X). As I had work to do, after about an hour, I restarted, expecting it to be an app misbehaving or something straight forward, but on restart the same thing happened almost straight away.
    So, I restarted again, only for the iMac to get stuck on the blue screen which follows the grey 'cog' screen. After looking through these discussions, and some other Mac forums, I booted from the installer disk, tried to run Disk Utility, which found issues and couldn't repair the disk.
    I then tried Safe-User mode and fsck, which reported the aforementioned Invalid Node Structure problem. After checking a few more forums, I thought I would try to Erase the disk and reinstall Mac OS. I restored from my Time Machine backup, and finally got it to start, but the system moved at a snail's pace, and wouldn't open any apps or files.
    I've tried again with fsck, and also fsck_hfs -r /dev/disk0s2 but all I get is the same error message:
    disk0s2: I/O error.
    Invalid Node Structure
    (4, 38403)
    ** Volume check failed.
    /dev/rdisk0s2 (hfs) EXITED WITH SIGNAL 8
    So, does anyone know if there is anything I can do to save the iMac? Or does it need a new HD? It is my primary work computer, so I really need to get it back, and after buying it in the UK, am now in France for 6 weeks, so it's difficult for me to take it to an Apple specialist.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance,
    Daniel

    As the last user stated, Disk Warrior maybe able to correct it, however if you search the net, you will see there are more than one user with this problem. I had the same problem, however, my machine is out of warranty, It started like you are saying, I RAN disk warrior which corrected the problem long enough to boot the system. In a matter of 10 minutes or so, the system started pausing (apps hung, but in a matter of seconds recovered). I was checking the disk with fsck_hfs and fsck while booted from a USB drive with a maintenance install of 10.5.6. After running fsck the 5th time with different options suggested from the internet, I rebooted with my disk warrior DVD only to find the drive NOT mounted, Drive utility see's it (even can attempt to run disk repair, but it locks up the system when trying this). Disk Warrior doesn't even see the disk to run a directory repair, although in the "check s.m.a.r.t status it sees it as a sata device, and SAYS ITS NORMAL).
    Since my iMac was out of warranty, I followed the online instructions to replace the hard drive (not too difficult) and everything is fine now.
    The old drive still wont mount, but another utility I bought (data rescue II) has been able to quick scan it and access all the data, even though it wont clear a fsck fsck_hfs or disk warrior, anyways, get it back while you can, IT IS THE hard drive itself, and lots of other iMac users online with the same issue (can you say WHY is my iMac SOOO HOT on the apple in the back (right where the drive is and not sufficient cooling in my opinion, but hey, some people might want to lay their computers face down and fry eggs on the it or something... ))
    -SD

  • Invalid node structure and Boot Camp 1.1.2

    I downloaded Boot Camp 1.1.2 and during the installation of Mac Drivers I kept getting dialog boxes that the software i'm installing did not pass Windows Logo testing- I just ignored it.
    After that Windows XP didn't recognise my keyboard, airport, ...
    I prepared a new instalation with Boot Camp Assistant and i had an error message when the disk partition was processing.
    I run Disk Utility from my Mac OS X install disk DVD and I got the following:
    Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
    Checking HFS Plus volume.
    Checking Extents Overflow file.
    Checking Catalog file.
    Invalid node structure
    The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
    Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
    1 HFS volume checked
    Volume needs repair
    Please give me some help to repair my disk and to understand what happened.
    MacBook Pro 2 GHz   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    If you are unable to repair the drive you will need to repartition and reformat the drive.
    I recommend a cloned backup to an external FW drive. You can use this procedure:
    How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
    1. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Set Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only.
    2. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
    3. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
    4. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button.
    5. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
    6. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
    7. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
    8. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
    For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.
    You will only have to reinstall your third-party applications. All standard OS X applications will be reinstalled except for bundled applications such as iMovie, iDVD, Garageband, etc. These can be reinstalled using the Bundled Applications installer on the OS X Installer Disc.
    If you make a cloned backup all your data will be on the backup. You can restore it afterwards by copying the folders to their respective locations on the startup volume.

  • Macbook Leopard 10.5 is not booting up and not even getting Verified Error : Invalid Node Structure

    Hey, I am using Macbook Leopard 10.5, Yesterday while i was working it was on low battery i thought to connect it later, but all of a suddent its stopped fucntioning and everything goes blank. I thought it might be a Battery problem, but even after connecting charger for 2-3 hours, its not booting up. Only the Apple screen comes and then it goes shut down automatically.
    I even tried to fix it using Apple CD, Disk utility, When i tried to Verify the disk It shows following error :
    Disk cannot be repaired or verify.
    And details : Invalid Node structure
                        Volume needs to be repaired error : Filesystem verify or repair failed.
    I have very important Data on this disk, so i cannot even erase it.
    Suggest me somehting. It have enough space to install new OS but System shows you need erase it.
    I have tried to use Apple Hardware test by Holding D key, But its not working.

    Helloi
    http://supportdb.alsoft.com:591/FMPro?-db=alsoftsupport&-lay=main&-sortfield=Dat e&-sortorder=descend&Keywords=node&Product=%22%22&-op=lte&Date=%2F%2F&-max=15&-f ormat=AlsoftSupport-qa.html&-script=counter&-token=177&-Skip=0&-find

  • IMac Won't Boot - Won't Repair - Even after Erase and Install

    One day my iMac acts weird. Apps bounce but don't open. I restart. I get greyscreen and spinning gear for 1.5 hours. Uh-oh.
    Disk Utility run from OS X disk: cannot repair - "Invalid Node Structure" and "Invalid Key Length" - multiple instances.
    So I erase volume and install. All goes fine. Install Tiger. Use upgrade to Leopard disk. Leopard boots and apps work (I try Safari and web connects) so I do software update thinking it's fixed.
    Huge software update to 10.5.7 plus sundry others. After update reports "Could not install updates" - then it lists a load of updates (keynote, iwork etc) that it cant install.
    Say's it'll restart. You guessed it: grey screen and spinning gear for 1.5 hours. Won't boot after forced restart either.
    Run disk utility from OS X disk again: same errors, "node"; "key length" etc.
    What now? Is 10.5.7 the problem? I have apple care so no major sweat but I need to get this thing operating baby.
    PS - my boot camp partition that I have had for months and months still boots. So the HD isn't totally dead. At least can rule that out.

    Suggest you do the following:
    Extended Hard Drive Preparation
    1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
    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.
    4. Select the OS X volume (sub-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 Options 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.
    See if this fixes the problem. If it doesn't then there is some corruption in the directory block that reformatting or zeroing is just not able to fix. In such a case the resolution would be to repartition the drive from scratch. However, this will result in the loss of the Boot Camp partition as well.
    Unless your Leopard disc is an upgrade-only disc, then you can install Leopard directly - no need to install Tiger first.

  • Kernel panic/invalid node structure; please help retrieving my files!!

    Hi everyone, thank you for your time in advance... if anyone has ideas about how to solve it, I appreciate this very much!
    OK, here is how it began: while I was working on the airplane using PowerPoint, the gray spinning wheel appeared after which PowerPoint stopped working. I pressed the power button to exit (all applications froze). (So much for trying to get more work done...)
    Next, I powered up the computer but it would not boot up, with only gray spinning wheel showing.
    Next, tried to boot up while pressing power button and holding shift key. After some time (10 minutes), an error message appears. Researching it on discussion forums, I found that it is called “kernel panic”. Here is beginning of the message:
    panic(cpu 1 caller 0x47f5ad): "Process 1 exec of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 8\n"@SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1504.15.3/bsd/kern/kern_exec.c:3145
    Debugger called: <panic>
    [additional information here]
    Also, message “You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button until it turns off, then press the Power button again” is shown transparently in the middle of the screen over the “panic” message output.
    I turned on and off the Power button many times, but I get the same error message.
    I also tried Apple Hardware Test but it did not work (it did not generate any messages).
    Next, I tried to use the Disk Utility using the Installation Disk that came with the computer. After I clicked “Disk Repair”, here is the log:
    Verify and Repair volume “Macintosh HD”
    Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
    Checking extents overflow file.
    Checking catalog file.
    Invalid node structure
    Rebuilding catalog B-tree.
    Invalid node structure
    [many repeats of “Invalid node structure”  ~ about 400 repeats]
    Rechecking volume.
    Checking Journaled JFS Plus volume.
    Checking extents overflow file.
    Checking catalog file.
    Missing thread record (id=18)
    Missing thread record (id=110)
    [many instances of “Missing thread record” ~about 200 repeats]
    Checking multi-linked files.
    Checking catalog hierarchy.
    Checking extended attributes file.
    The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely.
    Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk…disk, and restore your back-up files.
    At the end, a window presented over the error log stated :
    “Disk Utility stopped repairing “Macintosh HD”
    Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your back-up files.
    I need to retrieve my recent files!! Please Help!! Argh!! I promise that I will promptly back up my files now! I did not use Time Machine, and only some of my files are backed up.
    From what I read on the discussion forum, I will probably need to erase the disk and then do a fresh installation, but could someone please guide me with regard to how to back up the data / retrieve the files? I may have access to another mac so I’m thinking that the FireWire Target Disk Mode may work. I also have spare external harddrive (formatted for mac) (not partitioned). Also, how do I retrieve the files from the other computer if the FireWire transfer works?
    Also, the second step is to do a new installation, but is there any reason why “Archive and Install” using Disk Utility won’t help? I have some additional programs installed (Illustrator, Photoshop) so this means if I do a new installation, I will need to re-install those as well?
    I did some investigation, and it looks like this problem is similar to this:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/18098343#18098343
    But my main issue now is to retrieve the files!
    Also, how do I investigate whether this problem is due to a failing hard drive or a natural file system corruption ? (so should I get a new harddrive or do a new install).
    http://forums.macnn.com/t/459376/heart-attack-invalid-node-structure
    I don’t know what is the OS version;  it is Snow Leopard OS X ……. I bought it in September 2009.
    I appreciate any help, thank you so much for your time…

    Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
    Step by Step to fix your Mac
    Most commonly used backup methods

  • Invalid Node Structure, Mac Not Starting

    *THE PROBLEM*
    My MacBook does not start. All I see when I press the power button is a gray screen with an apple logo and a spinning wheel.
    *WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM*
    I changed the input languages settings in international in system preferences to “Devnagari-QWERTY”. Then I typed my name in 'Devnagari' in Textedit and copied it. I created a new folder on desktop and pasted my name copied earlier. It worked. So I went ahead and tried renaming my startup disk (Macintosh Disk) in the same manner. I clicked on its icon, hit enter and command+v. Immediately my mac froze. Noting happened. Even commandoptionesc did not work. After a long time I pressed the power button for 5 sec and tried a restart. Now it won't start.
    *SOLUTIONS I TRIED*
    1. *Safe Boot (shift while startup):* No result, all I get is a gray screen, an apple logo and a spinning wheel appears after a minute and its stuck there.
    2. *Tried Single User mode (command+s):* Computer does not start and is stuck with the following text.
    Probe booting in single user .. do not match
    disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
    Load of /sbin/launchd, errno 85, trying /sbin/mach_init
    disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
    Load of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 85
    3. *Tried Verbose mode (command+v):* Computer does not start and is stuck with the following text.
    disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
    Load of /sbin/launchd, errno 85, trying /sbin/mach_init
    disk0s2: 0xe003005 (UNDEFINED)
    Load of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 85
    4. *Disk Utility from OS X Install disk:* Tried using repair disk. But it does not work either. All it says is
    Verify and Repair disk “Macintosh Disk”
    Checking HFS Plus Volume
    Checking Extents Overflow file
    Checking Catalog file
    “Invalid Node structure”
    Volume Check failed
    Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit.
    1 HFS Volume Checked
    1 Volume could not be repaired because of an error.
    *5. Reinstalling OS X from install disk:* I tried this as a final resort.
    a) The normal install did not work because my startup disk had OS X 10.4.11 and my install disk had 10.4.6, so it gave an error that I have a “newer version installed”.
    b) I can not do an archive and install because I have only 4 GB free space and it requires at least 15GB.
    c) I do not want to do erase and install because I do not want to loose my data.
    *MY MACBOOK*
    1. I have a first generation MacBook, Intel Core Duo 1.83 with 512 MB Ram and 60 GB HDD with Mac OS X 10.4.11.
    2. S.M.A.R.T status of the disk is verified
    3. I can browse my files on the disk if I click on new disk image in Disk Utility from Install Disk.
    4. There is no problem in mounting the disk.
    LIMITATIONS
    1. I am not at my university so I do not have any other external HDD or any other Mac for a “Target Disk Mode” for data backup.
    2. All I have is my Mac and 10.4.6 install disk.
    3. No broadband so can not download large files.
    4. I can not loose my data.
    Is there any way of fixing the Mac, given the limitations given above. Something using command line, or anything that will make it work again. How do I fix the invalid node structure. I really do not want to loose my data and I am in transit so I really need my Mac to work.
    Any help would be appreciated.

    Ambarish:
    The article Disk Utility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing a volume gives more information about the issue you are experiencing. The reference in the article to a third party utility is the utility referenced by BGreg, Disk Warrior.
    Please do post back with further questions or comments.
    Good luck.
    cornelius

  • What's an invalid node structure?

    I dropped my ibook and now it won't start correctly -- it gets stuck on the apple with the loading sign. I took it in for service where they said my hard drive was damaged and possibly my logic board too. Since that repair was going to be too expensive to be worth it, I took the computer apart myself to try and replace the hard drive. But the hard drive works perfectly when plugged into another computer. So I backed up all my files, put the ibook back together again and tried to fix it. Disk Aid says I have an "invalid node structure." Does anyone know what that means for my poor laptop?
    If I start up my computer now I get the Mac smiley faces and a folder with a question mark on it. I tried resetting PMU and PRAM but that didn't seem to accomplish anything.

    The Smiley Face with ? indicates the computer cannot find a system boot partition when trying to discover a bootable system device. Since you say the HD is AOK based on it working just fine in another computer then a good guess is that the problem lays elsewhere. Try booting your computer from your install disc by inserting it and holding C key down and starting system (press and hold power button down briefly). If this works then at least the system can find your CD-ROM disc drive and can boot up from it. It could be that the disk controller hardware has been damaged and therefore the computer simply cannot access/read the HD.
    If you can startup using the installer disc try launching Disk Utility to see if it can see the HD.
    My guess is that the severe shock to the computer when it was dropped has damaged some portion of the hardware that's necessary for the proper functioning of the HD. If this is the case only a good repair shop will be able to help you.
    Another idea is that maybe the memory DIMM or DIMMs have been damaged in the drop. Remove the top DIMM and try booting. If you have an AirPort card remove it also.
    Good luck.

  • Hard Drive Invalid node structure - Disk Utility Repair Failed -

    Disk Utility returns
    Invalid node structure
    (4, 27237)
    Repair Failed Unable to unmount Drive
    I can still boot from the drive. So should I start looking for a new hard drive? or is the problem not that serious.
    Thanks

    SuperDuper is safe and reliable backup program to clone a drive.
    For 500GB I would go with a pair of WD RE2.
    Makes an excellent boot RAID.
    Seagate in a RAID but not for boot drive.
    10.4.6 DVD? that is the latest version. 10.4.0, not so good.
    Always have two backups. AND have one partition on another drive just for emergency.
    Once you have a good solid system, back it up. Put it somewhere safe.
    A lot of problems tend to get created and grow from cache files and folders. Fonts, system, extension cache, web browsers, even temp files left over from printing.
    Put all your updaters somewhere safe on another disk.
    Burn them to DVD.
    Don't use Software Update.
    Use standalone updates and keep them handy, then apply when you need to. Many or most can be run in succession without restarting.
    Can you install OS X to the other 250GB drive? well, maybe not until you are sure it is safe, backed up etc.
    From the DVD, Disk Utility, the Restore tab lets you select the source drive and destination drive and will copy everything over.
    Finder: Get Info on target destination, look to be sure "Ignore Ownership" if NOT selected (won't be bootable and permissions will be wrong).
    Would be nice to have a 32GB emergency boot partition (large enough for burning DVDs as well as system).
    If you had a FW drive you could download and buy Disk Warrior.

  • HELP! "Invalid node structure"

    what does this error mean?
    i booted from the install dvd and ran disk utility
    them clicked Repair Disk
    it doesn't complete because of the error "Invalid node structure"
    Bootcamp won't partition my drive because the verification fails
    PLEASE HELP!

    no, now i have a really strange problem
    i've managed to successfully image my whole hard drive onto an external FW disk
    i did this by booting from the osx install dvd and opening disc utility from the utilities menu
    but before i wiped by drive i (thankfully!) tested the restore fuction
    i can choose a source but i can't choose a destination
    it says to drag the destination disc into the box
    but when i try this, all my mouse does is selects the discs i drag on/over in the left hand panel of disc manager
    it doesn't pull them out of the panel so i can drag them into the input field
    it doesn't do this when i boot up normally and run disk utility off the hard drive
    very strange
    i think i'll wait until leopard comes out and do a wipe and full reinstall of all my software then - no big fan of upgrading, better to wipe and reinstall afresh
    until then, i'll have to use a pc to run windows!

  • Please help! Invalid node structure and invalid record count

    My MacBook Pro is about 6.5 years old. I upgraded to Snow Leopard 2 years ago and added RAM at the same time. My first problem ever occurred three days ago when my computer got super sluggish, I restarted and got the gray screen with apple and spinning wheel...no boot up. I ran disk utility from the snow leopard install disk and found "invalid node structure" and "invalid record count". After reading on here what to do...try to repair the disk and so on with no success I went out and bought Disk Warrior. Got home expecting to fix everything and Disc Warrior won't boot...I just get a file with a question mark and the disc is ejected. I tried erasing the hard drive but was only able to use the "don't erase data" option. Then I tried to reinstall Snow Leopard with no luck. Now I am stuck. Any ideas? 
    One thing to note is I am to the point of not caring about the files on the hard drive, I was a dummy and never backed them up...lesson learned!  I just want my computer back without having to spend $1000+ for a new one. Then again I am always willing to do that too as a last resort.
    PLEASE HELP!

    When you contact Alsoft, make sure you let them know that you are using Snow Leopard (10.6.8).
    Try the following in the meantime -
    Disconnect all peripherals from your computer.
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    Select your language.
    Once on the desktop, select Utility in the menu bar.
    Select Disk Utility.
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    Click Repair Disk.
    Restart your computer when done.
    Repair permissions after you reach the desktop-http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963 and restart your computer.
    Try DiskWarrarior again if it's combatible with the os system.
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  • WTFKK is "Invalid node structure"???

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    http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php
    Did you ever run Disk Utility Repair Disk?
    For memtest:
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    If you want to quit the test, just hit control-c
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    http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/03/memtest-mac-ram-test/
    Direct link for the download.
    http://cdn.command-tab.com/2008/memtest_422.zip

  • Failed Time Machine backup... Invalid node structure

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    Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
    Checking extents overflow file.
    Checking catalog file.
    Invalid node structure
    The volume MacPro Backup was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
    Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
    Verify and Repair volume “MacPro Backup”
    Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
    Checking extents overflow file.
    Checking catalog file.
    Invalid node structure
    Rebuilding catalog B-tree.
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    See Pondini's TM FAQs, for starters.

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