Invalid B tree node size- Computer won't start up anymore

Get the kernel panic/restart messsage - when I restart same thing.... Tried all of the solutions Apple suggest- re-setting PRAM, holding the "X" key, holding the "option" key... nothing seems to work. Ran the OSX install CD and went to utilites, tried to repair the disk that way- but get the message- " Invalid B Tree node size, volume check failed. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit. IHFS Volume checked - Volume could not be repaired beause of an error.
CD would also not let me re- install OS X
Currently using OS X 10.4.9 on a G4 iMac

Owen:
Thank you for posting back with an update of your situation. I am glad you were able to work your way through your issues and secure your Users Folder. Data Resuce II is a great tool.
I have been using different versions of TechTool Pro since OS 9 and have found it to be a great tool. It has saved me from disaster several times. I use TechTool Pro 4.5.2 on Tiger. I am not sure what version you were using, but if, indeed, TTP damaged your data, and I have serious doubts about that, it could be that you were using the wrong version.
Having a good backup strategy is very important. You will find some good hints in Dr. Smoke's FAQ Backup and Recovery. My main difference with Dr. Smoke is the he insists on using Retrospect as his backup software, whereas I have never been able to get it to work. Besides, you will find that SuperDuper is much friendlier and efficient. Indeed, SuperDuper was rated the best backup software in tests. And no need to wait for Leopard to do scheduled backups. SuperDuper will do that, too.
Again, I am glad your issue has been resolved. Use Disk Warrior regularly to rebuild your directories and follow a regular maintenance schedule such as the one Gulliver suggests in his article Mac OS X System Maintenance.
Happy Mac Computing.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

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Volume won't boot: Invalid B-tree node size

My OS 10.4 volume on a G4 tower will no longer boot (I can mount it from another volume on the same machine, though).
The problem started with trying to read from a damaged CD. I powered-off the machine when it hung trying to copy a file. After I could no longer boot. Disk utility said bad leaf record count (I think). The utility could not do the repair, fsck didn't help.
I have a copy of Techtool deluxe (that came with a Tiger-loaded G5). I ran that. It found, and claimed to have repaired, the problems (though it took a looong time). Techtool now finds no errors.
However, I still cannot boot. Running diskutility get me:
Invalid B-tree node size
Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)
Trying to boot in single-user mode gets a nasty panic.
I guess my question is: Is it worth trying to run another repair utility? If Techtool thinks everything is OK, is there any point doing more? Did I mess this up by using the Techtool that came with a G5 on my G4? (not sure I want the answer to that last question.)
Thanks for any pointers.
g4 tower Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Thanks for the tips. I could have swornTechtool deluxe came with machines loaded with Tiger, but I guess not.
Before I messed things too badly with Techtool delux I made an image of the volume. It still has the bad leaf count, but at least it could mount.
I'm going to erase the volume, reinstall the system software and then copy all my files off the diskimage. One more question: If I want to copy applications from the diskimage should I copy anything besides the stuff in the Applications folder? something from the Library?
Thanks again.

Invalid B-tree node size error & updating OS

I was toying around with the idea of updating my OS to 10.4 and increasing my storage capacity. A welcome upgrade to an old system that has been very good to me....until now.
The short version is that I am experiencing quite a bit of directory damage (for the full story, read below). After researching hundreds of posts here, I think my best bet is to purchase Disk Warrior. My question is, which version should a purchase? As a result of the work I've explained below, my system is currently running the version installed from my OSX Install CD. I'm not sure what version this is, but my Mac came with CDs for OS9, OSX, and an upgrade to 10.2.8. Is there a version of Disk Warrior that will support 10.2-10.4? I want to fix the current issues but still be able to use this software when (or IF) I upgrade.
I'm happy to provide any info needed and appreciate ANY help. Thanks,
On a routine startup I encountered the stalled progress indicator (spinning gear) and its been downhill from there. I've scoured the Mac forums here for possible fixes, but so far nothing has been able to completely solve my problem. Here's a brief rundown of what I have done so far:
1) Booted from OSX Install CD and ran disk utility. This verified I had catalog and node errors that could not be repaired.
2) Ran Apple Hardware test from CD. Everything was fine.
3) Ran TECHTool Pro that came with my AppleCare CD and identified similar errors but could not repair them. At this point I also got an "Invalid Sibling Link" error.
Finally I decided that the data I had saved on my HD was not crucial so I would attempt a reinstall of the OS and lose what was not backed up. So I:
5) Performed reinstall from OSX Install CD.
6) Ran Disk Utility, all was fine.
At this point I was able to run programs and boot up normally. Of course this was too good to be true, and it was, because subsequent restarts gave me even more errors! I was again experiencing the freeze at startup, although this time I was getting the Mac computer logo with smiley face icon for all eternity.
7) Again booted from OSX Install CD and ran Disk Utility. I'm now getting an "Invalid B-tree node size" error. I;ve tried all the cycles with repair utilities to no avail. I am also unable to start up in single user mode so I'm stuck.
iMac G4 Flat Panel Mac OS X (10.2.x) Purchased 2002
iMac G4 Flat Panel Mac OS X (10.2.x) Purchased 2002

Thanks! I will order DW and give it a try...
I have run the Apple Hardware diagnostic CD twice (at different points in this process) and everything has come back cleanly. I am fairly certain this is a directory issue, but we'll wait and see. At the very least I will have DW to back up any future systems.
This is sortof off topic, but what is the general service fee for visiting the Genius Bar? I consulted a Mac pro there to discuss an upgrade to my system, but there was no charge. I find this hard to believe...does anyone know? I can't seem to find anything online...

Invalid B-tree node size

So I used techtool 4 to try to improve my performance. There weren't any problems before, but I figured "Hey, I might as well." Suddenly both drives disappeared and techtool 4 told me they aren't there. I tried Disk Utility, but it gave me the error message "Invalid B-tree node size." I have no idea what that means and I have some extremely valuable information on that drive that I haven't backed up yet. I don't have $100 to throw away on Disk Warrior either. Is there any other solution that I can do to fix this problem that techtool 4 seemed to have caused.

You analyzed it with Disk Utility but it won't mount? Did you try to mount it with Disk Utility?
Try using an application such as [Data Rescue II|http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php] or [FileSalvage|http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?mainpage=product_info&productsid=1]. Both have free trial versions that let you see if the software will help before you decide to buy. You will also need a second hard drive equal to or larger in size than your first drive.
There is also this free tool which supposedly runs on OSX and does recovery of popular media and Office files. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
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How can you repair "invalid node structure and invalid b-tree node size"

I have a MacBook Pro 17" and the original install disk is Mac OS 10.4. I have an update 10.6 install CD, but I cannot use it to boot up my computer. My computer had been running on 10.6 when the problem occurred.
It seems my harddrive has crashed. It only boots to apple logo and spins. I have reset the pram. Started up in safe mode with shift pressed down and started up on the start up disk, where I did repair disk and got this "invalid node structure invalid b-tree node size". Then it said repair failed to complete. I tried booting again but it still failed. I thought doing a restore might solve the problem. I have a month old backup with time machine which is on a lacie external drive, but when I try to restore using my original 10.4 install disk, I can only choose the lacie hardrive icon (by dragging) and cannot choose the folder in the backups with the latest backup. When I tried to restore, it says my source is not a valid option. Is this because it is a 10.4 startup disk.
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I really hope to find a way to have my computer back to how it was when it started spinning and if not, at least as it was when I did the latest backup 3 weeks ago.
Please help me!!!
Rebecca

You should be able to boot to the Snow Leopard upgrade disc — you had to do so to install the upgrade in the first place. If you can't boot to it now, either the disc is scratched or dirty or your drive's lens is dirty; for the latter problem, a drive cleaning disc is an inexpensive, frequently-used and often successful remedy, available at any store that sells DVDs.
Because you're running Snow Leopard now, you should repair your hard drive directory using the Snow Leopard version of Disk Utility, not the one on your Tiger installer disc. If you aren't able to do so even after trying to clean your drive, you could buy and use DiskWarrior to rebuiild the damaged HD directory. But DW costs nearly $100, and though it would probably do the trick, that's a bunch of money. You'll have to weigh its cost against the value of the new or changed data on your drive that hasn't been backed up in the last three weeks. If you can get along without that data, then erasing your hard drive and restoring from your last backup is the no-cost, immediate (as opposed to waiting for a DW startup disk to arrive in the mail) solution.

Receiving Invalid B-tree node size in Disk Utility

My mac mini has recently bit the dust. I did a hard shut down by holding down the power button. Since then I have not been able to bring it back. It started with a folder with a ? in it. Sometimes it sits at the apple logo, and other times it goes to a gray screen and just reboots eventually. I am running Snow Leopard, and I have booted from the install cd. I have tried running Repair Disk in Disk Utility, but I receive the following error: "Invalid node structure Invalid B-tree node size The volume could not be verified completely. Volume repair complete. Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required. Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backed-up files."
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As you can see, I received no help from this forum. I ended up replacing the hard drive after trying disk warrior unsuccessfully! I wish you luck and anyone else who has this issue.
<a href="http://www.medicare-plans.net">Medicare Man</a>

Invalid B-tree node size (3,0) error - what is it??

Yesterday I had a HDD issue on my iMac (OSX 10.5) with an 'invalid node structure' error. I eventually managed to boot into 'single user mode' and used #fsck_hfs -rf /dev/disk0s2 at the command prompt. This got OSX up and running properly again. I then repaired the permissions and the disk using the disk repair utility.
Today, I have had a complete system freeze which necessitated a cold reboot. Since then nothing has worked. I can't boot in safe mode, single user mode or verbose mode. I tried resetting the PRAM and attempted to boot from a system install disk without initial success. After about half an hour the disk icon appeared on the screen and I could boot from the install disk. I then used the terminal to try 'fsck_hfs -rf' again. This time I got the error 'Invalid B-tree node size (3,0)'. What does this mean and what do I do now?? Most forums seem to suggest using 'Disk Warrior'. Since this costs about $170 in Australia I am unlikely to take this option. Having been unemployed for more than 5 months I am more likely to attempt replacing the drive myself. However, I'd prefer to take another approach if there is one. Any suggestions?? Would it be better to give up on replacing the internal drive and try for a bootable external HDD? Too slow?

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Check out TechToolPro but they might be even more $$$.
Unfortunately, it takes a robust disk utility to repair an invalid tree node. Your best bet really is DiskWarrior
*"Would it be better to give up on replacing the internal drive and try for a bootable external HDD? Too slow? "*
You could use a bootable external drive but there again you are looking at an investment.
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Is my hard drive dead? Invalid B-Tree Node Size

When I turn on my powerbook it goes to the grey screen with the apple in the middle comes up and then it goes to loading Mac OS X which I am trying to do but when it comes to Select a Destination my hard drive is not listed. I click on utilities and go to utilities and disk utility. My hard drive is listed on the left side so i click it. I then click verify disk and it sais Invalid B-Tree Node Size and Volume needs repair. Then I click repair but the same thing comes up. What can I do? PS-I did a search but none of the info I came up with helped me at all.

they are about $100 and available from most Apple dealers:
http://alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
http://www.micromat.com/
if there are no important files on the drive, erasing the drive and reinstalling OS could possibly fix it unless it's caused by failing drive hardware.
if erase/install does not work properly, could be bad drive.
"B-Tree" message could simply be caused by messed up files and there is nothing wrong with the drive itself.

'Invalid node structure', 'Invalid B-tree node size', Disk Warrior useless

Hi everyone, I am getting sick of this, it's the second time it's happened to me in a relatively short space of time, the first time with an Iomega external 500GB drive, this time with a 1.5TB Western Digital.
I gave the Western Digital drive two partitions, (as I did for the previous Iomega drive), one for doing backups of my MacBooks internal drive, the other for random media, mostly VIDEO_TS folders.
After going away for a couple of weeks, I returned home, plugged in the Western Digital drive via USB, the Internal backup partition showed in Finder, the other did not. Obviously I ran Disk Utility which was only able to show an error report with the usual 'Invalid node structure etc' message.
I tried running Disk Warrior 4.2 (supposedly the version which works with Snow Leopard) from the DVD, (holding down the C key after restart), and..... nothing, just the grey screen and spinning wheel showing, so I gave up on that and installed DW to the Utilities folder. Now it starts up, the corrupt drive showed up, I hit the Rebuild button in DW, things seemed to be happening, but then the Beach Ball appeared and there was a (very) long hang before I decided to Force Quit.
I am assuming that if DW can not fix the drive, it is done for, and may as well be used as a door stop.
I am prepared to buy yet another drive, but can someone please give me an idea about why this has happened to me twice now, and what I can do to prevent it from happening again?

Just erase the partition. Nothing yet suggests the drive is bad. When you got the drive did you prep it correctly? Usually bare drives are pre-formatted for Windows. You might consider doing this:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
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 two and size them as you prefer. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the 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.
Repeat Steps 4-6 for the other partition. Alternatively, you can start with a single volume. After the zero data erase you can then re-partition the drive.

Invalid B-tree node and disk stuck

Last night my 2 year old iMac froze up. When I re-started I received the flashing question-mark folder. I ended up inserting my OS X install disk and attempting to run the Disk Utility. I tried to repair the disk, but got the "Invalid B-tree node size" error with "The volume needs to be repaired."
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If you have an external hard drive it would be easier to clone your system to the external then boot to the external and run Disk Warrior from there. However if your system won't boot in the first place that won't work. You could pick up a copy of Disk Warrior from the Apple store.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
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Does an irrepariable "Invalid B-tree node" = unusable HD?

Hello,
I've decided my external LaCie drive has officially "died," but I want to know if it's truly unuseable or if I can just reformat it and start over (with it) again.
The Drive: a LaCie 300GB with one 40GB scratch partition and one 260GB backup partition.
What happened: After a about a week of erratic/slow disk access to the backup partiton (I'd shrugged it off as a full and fragmented drive), it finally just screeched to a snail's pace - so I could read/write to it, but, for example, copying 5MB file to/from it took about 3mins. I quickly backed up as much as I could off of it to another drive (100GB took 14hrs) and just as it finished copying the last file, it disappeared from my sidebar (though the scratch partition was still visible). I Disk Utility and could see it was unmounted and it's "name" had been reset to "disk5s3". Running the First Aid repair resulted in a quick "Invalid B-tree node size" ... "Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit".
Flash forward three days later: After unsuccessfully running Disk Warrior and Data Rescue for 20hrs (progress estimated it would take 400hrs to complete scan) - I gave up.
Sorry for the long setup, but my question is: can I just "zero" the drive and use it again, or is it "damaged" physically and suitable for a paperweight only. If it's usuable after reformatting, is there a way to test the hardware of the drive to assure it's stable?
Thanks for your time!

can I just "zero" the drive and use it again, or is it "damaged" physically and suitable for a paperweight only
Like Dwight I doubt the drive is physically damaged but simply has a damaged catalogue b-tree. The only way you're going to find out though it to erase the drive and write zeros to it. Just be aware that everything on the drive will be lost (though I gather you know that already) if you do this.

Invalid b-tree node and the disk can't be repaired. Is it worth the reformat or is the hard drive trashed? This is a Mac mini, I've had it since 2010 and already had to replace the hard drive once.

Swapped out the monitor on my Mac mini tonight and it wouldn't start back up. Managed to boot off the install disk and run disk utility, which gave the invalid b tree node error. Wasn't able to repair the disk, suggested a reformat. Is this worth my time? Or is the disk toasted? I got it in 2010, it's out of warranty and has already had the hard drive replaced once. Thanks!
-laura

If you want to save the data from the drive, Phoenix might be able to copy (clone) it off on another volume. You can check it out at:
http://scsc-online.com/Phoenix.html
Phoenix does a file copying cloning, not block copy cloning, so a new index is generated on the drive when the copy is being made. If none of the files got lost, meaning just the index is screwed up, I would think this would work.
Regarding the hard drive an index problem isn't a hard drive problem. That hard drive may be in perfect working order, especially since it's fairly new.

Mountain Lion update, and now computer won't start up?

Writing this for a friend, as his computer is inop at the moment. Hence this message.
He has a new 27" iMac. He upgraded to Mountain Lion a few weeks ago, and then had intermittent problems with apps unexpectantly shutting down.
Now he did a ML update this morning, and his computer won't start up. It gets to the point of the Apple logo coming up, a progress bar, and then the spinning wheel, but then shuts itself down right afterwards.
A safe boot yields the exact same result.
Any thoughts out there on what he could try to get it up and running again?
Thanks much for any and all help.

Thank you for the fast response.
He was able to get into Disk Utility with the Command and R keys, but when he tried verifying the disk, in red it said 'Invalid Node Structure, volume could not be verified completely'.
He went ahead and verified it anyway, then proceeded to repair it. Howver, it stopped repairing, said it cannot repair, and that he should back up files and reformat the disk.
How can he back up his files? He cannot see a way to do it. Is there anything else he can do besides having to reformat the disk?
This is his first Mac (after much prompting from me to go Mac), and he's afraid he's now lost everything on there.

Firmware update progress bar appears and computer won't start up

Hi,
I am on OS X 10.6 (the latest developer build, whose build number I can't remember and can't look up because my computer won't start up) and this morning when I tried to start up my computer, it chimed, the apple appeared but then a grey progress bar (like the one that appears during a firmware update) appeared at the bottom of the screen along with the customary spinner. This progress bar didn't update and after 10-ish seconds, it disappeared and left just the spinner. I left the computer in this state for 4 hours and nothing happened. It still starts up in single user mode (but I can't seem to get Open Firmware mode to load) and it starts Windows XP on another partition of my main HD.
When I start it in verbose mode, it says that my catalog B-tree has keys out of order and it is unable to repair them. Also, I get an error message from launchctl: "Bug: launchctl.c:2033 (23930):17: auditquickstart() == 0". Then later on it tells me to convert a few system plist files to launchd (all in the /etc/mach_init.d/ folder). The very last line says "launch_msg(): Socket is not connected".
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Thanks,
Kyle

Yes, they (the third-party utilities) both come on bootable DVD's. As I mentioned, since Snow Leopard was just released in its final version, the developers may be in the process of releasing updates.
Your situation is likely to be a case where the data corruption issue already existed before installing Snow Leopard, and the installation process made the problem more apparent (because something critical was installed where it was affected by the data issue).
It is a good idea to run +Repair Disk+ in Disk Utility on the startup volume before installing a major system update. Actually, I do it before any system-level update.
You should also have a backup (at least of your personal data if not the entire volume), in case something bad happens during a major system upgrade. If you were using Time Machine, the easiest recovery would be to reformat the internal drive and use the Time Machine complete volume restore utility to restore the volume back to the date/time state just before you installed Snow Leopard. Then, after restarting from that restored volume to make sure everything is working, start up from the Snow Leopard installation disc, run Disk Utility and use +Repair Disk+ (just to be sure), and run the upgrade to Snow Leopard again.
If you have a backup of at least your personal data, you may want to reformat the internal drive, install Snow Leopard and bundled apps, install your third-party apps from their original sources, update everything that needs updating, and restore your personal data.
If you don't have a backup, the best bet is to try either DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro. DiskWarrior is very specialized into repairing this type of data problem. TechTool Pro has similar capability, but it is a more general tool with other features.

Computer won't start if ipod is connected

My computer won't start when my ipod (nano) is connected. He stucks in the post screen of the motherboard. Before the pc will check what the boot drive is. So, changes in boot devices in bios won't work. What can be the problem?
AMD Windows XP Pro

mardymar: Windows may be seeing the iPod as a bootable disk....the following link talks about confusion as a network drive and could be cuaisng the same.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93499
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Invalid B tree node size- Computer won't start up anymore

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