Macbook Pro not booting after update. ''Disk Utility can't repair disk''. Help needed!

I have recently updated my macbook pro as I had some pending software updates. I left it to do the job over night and the next day I noticed it was not letting me sign in to my account session as usual.
I restarted the computer and ever since then when I boot it, it just shows the apple grey screen with a bar that loads to about a 3rd and then it turns off again. I have contacted apple but they were unable to help me with this.
So far I have tried to:
1. Re-install OS X 10.8 - but it says the disk is locked or OS X cannot be installed on Recovery HD.
2. Verify and Repair the disk and I errors but it cannot fix them. Some are:
               'invalid leaf count''
               ''missing thread record''
               ''incorrect number of file hard links''
               ''overlapped extent allocation''
          and it finally says ''the volume Macintosh HD cannot be repaired'' Error: ''Disk Utility can't repair this disk.. disk, and restore your backed up files.
I would like to know a way to back up my files so that i can completely restore the disk without any data loss as I havent backed up for a while!
If anyone has any solution to this issue it would be much appreciated!

I just ran the Disk Utility, and cannot very disk. It gives me an error message;
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
and when I run the repair, this is the message:
The volume GERRARD could not be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Prior to running Disk Utility, I have already tried DiskWarrior, and could not repair my disk. Anyway I can fix this problem??? Formatting the disk would be my last option (though I am unsure if it will fix the problem). Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I will continue to back up my file, and delete unused data and try to run it again.
Thank you all very much for any input.
Cheers,
Matt

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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.

Macbook w/ whole slew of problems...Won't Start Up, Disk Utility Can't Repair Disk, Horizontal Lines on Screen, Etc.

I purchased my Macbook in the summer of 2011 and before it went berserk it was running Mavericks. 3 years later, it's finally seemed to have run its course.
It won't start up normally and it won't start up on safe boot. Attempting to use disk utility to repair the disk only gives me the message: "Disk utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible." There are also horizontal lines across the start screen (before it inevitably shuts down) and the screen looks very faintly purple-ish/off-colored.
This actually didn't come out of the blue. On Monday, my macbook suddenly froze, went white, and beeped three beeps repeatedly. I restarted it and backed up all my important work files and set up an appointment at the genius bar for Friday once work ended. It remained buggy during this process with the beeps returning an occasionally a blue screen popping up.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to back up my important photos and by the time I returned on the next day with an external hard drive to store them on, my macbook would no longer turn on.
Is there anything I can do to bring my macbook back to life? Ideally I'd like for it to last one more year before I graduate college. Is it still salvageable, and if so, is it worth salvaging?

I hate to spread gloom, but that computer has serious problems. The only people who can diagnose the problem(s) are technicians. I would take it back to the Apple store for further testing.
Barry

Only turns on in OSX Recovery, Disk Utility can't repair disk

Hi guys, I really need your help, as my Macbook Pro running on OSX Mavericks is having problems.
Today I turned my Mac on, and it started up with a loading wheel and a loading bar. When the loading bar finished, the Mac turned itself off. I tried many times, same happened every time. I then went into OSX Recovery, started repairing Macintosh HD, but the error message saying "Disk Utility can't repair Macintosh HD" came up and now I don't now what to do.
Is there any way I can back up my files in this situation?
Is there any way I can repair the disk without having to erase all data and reinstalling OSX?
Or do I really need to bring it to a Apple Store for repair?
Thx for reading

If you have access to another Mac and both computers have the appropriate connects, try the Target Disk mode to see if you can copy the files.
Target Disc Mode
Is there any way I can repair the disk without having to erase all data and reinstalling OSX?
No.

Macbook Will Not Boot After Updating Leopard

I just reinstalled Leopard after having some trouble with my partition tables, and everything ran smoothly and worked fine. After the install I let software update update everything including the 10.5.5 update. It prompted me to reboot, and when I did it got to the grey Apple screen and the thing spun for about 30 seconds before it restarted and did it again. This happened a few times and then I booted from a Leopard disk to look at disk permissions and they seem to be fine. Anyone have any idea why this is happening or how I would fix it?
Thanks in advance, hope to get this sorted out quickly, I thought I had finally gotten my computer working fine again when I reinstalled Leopard. :P

At start up, press 'C' to boot directly from a CD/DVD. Or, you can press 'Option' and you should get a list of bootable selections (CD/DVD, external hardrives) that you can boot from - assuming you have something that IS bootable.
I recently had a problem and ended up reinstalling my OS (via TimeMachine). I also confirmed that you can boot from your original OSX install disk. As part of this process I also discovered I could NOT boot directly FROM the AppleCare provided TechTools Deluxe disk. Supposedly you can boot INTO that disk via a restart but that seems kind of silly to me.
However, if you have signed up for AppleCare and go to the Apple Support web site, you can download TechTools Deluxe and it can be made bootable by burning the .dmg file via Apple Disk Utilities. I don't understand Apple logic of not making the provided AppleCare TechTools Deluxe disk bootable.

Disk Utility can't repair disk...Can I still create a new image to back up?

Two days ago my computer died and I haven't been able to get past the Apple screen since. I've tried starting in Safe mode, etc. that did not work. I just started up using my installation disk and got into Disk Utility. It says it cannot repair the disk and that I should back up as many files as possible and reformat the disk. How am I supposed to back up if I can't start up? I am currently creating a new image of the HD to an external drive but my question is if Disk Utility couldn't repair the disk, with the external drive copy also be problematic? How can I tell before I reformat the whole thing and start over?
Please help someone! I am in a little over my head!
Thanks

I am currently creating a new image of the HD to an external drive but my question is if Disk Utility couldn't repair the disk, with the external drive copy also be problematic?
Maybe.
How can I tell before I reformat the whole thing and start over?
Run Repair Disk on the copy.

Disk Utility - Can't repair Disk - Help needed :(

Hi,
I have some trouble to use Disk Utility (on my iBook G4 - 1.33 Ghz+1 GB RAM)
I run Disk Utility to verify and repair permissions, which worked, and then Verify Disk. HEre is the logged result:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aug 26 09:32:58: Disk Utility started.
Verify permissions for “E=G4”
Determining correct file permissions.
Permissions verification complete
The privileges have been verified or repaired on the selected volume
Verifying volume “E=G4”
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.
Invalid volume free block count
Invalid volume free block count
uld be %@ instead of %@)",2)
4078185
4078184
Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume E=G4 needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
Disk Utility stopped verifying “E=G4” because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I wanted to run Disk Repair, but the button would not highlight, therefore could not be started.
I retried today, and now the Verify Disk task won't even work, blocking Disk Utility (needs force quit)
(E=G4 is the name of my Hard Drive on the iBook)
I also tried TechTool Deluxe coming with Applecare protection plan, but TTD can not check the "Volume Structure".
Has anyone got any tips or sequence to solve this?
Thanks in advance
Yann
Message was edited by: ObiYann

I just ran the Disk Utility, and cannot very disk. It gives me an error message;
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
and when I run the repair, this is the message:
The volume GERRARD could not be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error
Repair attempted on 1 volume
1 volume could not be repaired
Prior to running Disk Utility, I have already tried DiskWarrior, and could not repair my disk. Anyway I can fix this problem??? Formatting the disk would be my last option (though I am unsure if it will fix the problem). Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I will continue to back up my file, and delete unused data and try to run it again.
Thank you all very much for any input.
Cheers,
Matt

Macbook pro not booting after software update

Dear all,
Since two days ago my macbook pro hangs at the gray apple screen, the round circle keeps on turning. Kept it running for nights but it does not exit this status. I read on the internet that I could run it in verbose mode, that's what I did, see screenshot below. What do you recommend? This seems to be a hard disk issue. How can I boot up in safe mode and possibly recover the hard disk data? Any other recommendations?
Thanks,

Get your Mac to a Computer repair service, or do it yourself. You will need to put it in an external SATA reader, like I did. I recovered files via an older mac running Slow Leopard and copied files to it.
What I did:
1. You will have to remove the screws at the bottom of your Mac, in order to get to the HDD (or SSD, whatever you have).
2. You need to remove the HDD and put it in an external Case/SATA reader
3. Copy files from your HDD to another Mac
4. On that other Mac, go to Disk Utility (search in spotlight) and Erase as 'Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)'
5. Download Mountain lion on another Mac from the AppStore, and go to that Applications folder.
6. Right click on the downloaded file and select “Show Package Contents”. Go to “Contents” and jump inside the “SharedSupport” folder and you’ll find a file titled “InstallESD.dmg”. Copy this over to the desktop.
7. Plug in a USB flash drive to your Mac having at least 4GB memory. We highly suggest going ahead with an 8GB one just to be on the safe side.
8. Now open up “Disk Utility” and drag InstallESD.dmg from the desktop to the left-hand sidebar. Select the attached USB from left side and click on “Partition” tab.
9. Select “1 Partition” from the Volume Scheme dropdown menu. Choose “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” from the left.
10. Now click on “Option” at the bottom. Select “GUID Partition Table” and press OK. Now click on Apply at the bottom right to start formatting.. (NOTE: This is will erase all data on your USB flash drive)
11. Once the drive has been formatted, click on “Restore” (it’s right next to where you clicked on “Partition in Step 5).
12. Choose USB drive you plugged-in in Step 5 as “Destination” with the InstallESD.dmg file as “Source”.
13. Click Restore and type in your password (if you have any). This will create the intended Lion bootable USB flash drive
14. Reboot your Mac with the USB drive plugged in. Hold the “Option” key on your keyboard when you hear the iconic OS X startup chime. You can now boot into your Flash drive from there.
15. Follow the on-screen instructions to install OS X , and after that, reboot
16. Format USB back to FAT in Disk Utility, copy your files from old PC to new using the USB.
That's it, you're done . Takes a lot of time, but recovered my Mac this way!

MacBook Pro not booting after stop sign appears

Hi,
On Friday I was browsing twitter whilst running photoshop CS5 on my MacBook Pro 13", when safari crashed on me. I tried to close safari normally, but it wasn't responding.
After trying the various ways of closing the program, I was forced to just leave it and hope for the best. I opened photoshop to try and burn some time whilst waiting for safari to respond - unfortunately photoshop proceeded to crash as well. Shortly after CS5 crashing, I stopped being able to input from the keyboard or trackpad clicks. At this point, not even the finder would open , and after some quick research I decided the only thing left to do was to power down the MBP by holding down the power button for a few seconds.
Once it had powered down I left it for a good amount of time (maybe 20-25 mins) and turned it back on again. Everything seemed to be working just fine with the reboot - untill the grey apple logo was replaced with a 'stop sign' above the loading wheel. This sign stays there for hours and nothing happens, and I can't even boot in safe mode either .
One last thing - I bought this MBP from my cousin, and it has had several problems before (such as replacing the hard drive in the apple store) and is under warranty untill october.

Can you boot to the Recovery partition (holding down the Command and R keys while booting)? If so, use Disk Utility to both verify and repair permissions and verify and, if needed, repair the hard drive. If the hard drive can't be repaired, and you're still under warranty, or even if you can't boot into the Recovery partition, make an appointment at your local Apple Store and have them take a look at it. If your cousin didn't transfer the warranty to you (which, the last time I did it, was an arduous task) then have he/her take it in.
Good luck - let us know if you can get to the Recovery partition...
Clinton

Macbook pro not booting after travel

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Reset SMC. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Choose the method for:
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Keyboard backlight for MacBook Pro not working after update.

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PROBLEM IS NOW FIXED! :-)

SMC Reset
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Hi veerta,
If you're having issue with booting, the following article covers most of the general boot issue troubleshooting:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1417
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
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Macbook won't boot after Update, mach_kernel error, can't reinstall

I have a Macbook 13" with a 1.8ghz C2D with 2gig ram.
I attempted to install the update to 10.4.10 from 10.4.9 today and when it rebooted it went straight to kernel panic mode (circle with slash through it with a flashing file folder with a question mark). Cannot do anything at this point.
When I rebooted in verbose or single-user mode it gave this:
.Looking for kernel cache file 'System\Library\com.apple.kernelcaches\kernelcache.F8149E9B'
Loading 'mach_kernel'
Could not open file 'mach_kernel'
Error Loading kernel 'mach_kernel'
I then rebooted with the OSX 10.4.8 installation disk. Went to disk utility and tried to repair the disk. It failed. I then opened terminal and was able to see my disk drive located at /Volumes/Macintosh HD/
I do not see the mach_kernel file located in root though.
There is a:
mach -> /mach.sym
and right under it there is
mach.sym
Well, Next I attempted to reinstall OSX but tried a minimum install with the "archive and install" trying to "preserve users and network settings."
This attempt at an install failed giving the error "There was an error installing the software" and "please try installing again."
I attempted to install again with the same result
The regular test and extended Apple Hardware test came back okay as well. Any ideas?
Here is some more information:
When I run Disk Utility from the install disc and try to Run the First Aid on the Hard Drive The errors are as follows:
Invalid Key Length
Volume Check Failed.
Error: The underlying test reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
1 volume coiule not be repaired because of an error.
Also when I run the "Verify Disk" portion of Disk Utility I get:
Invalid Key Length
The Volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired
Error: The underlying test reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
I tried calling apple support thinking they might help me because the problem only occurred when I tried to update with their software update. They refused to help me unless I payed 50 bucks! They did refer me to this forum. I have really enjoyed my 7 months with the Macbook and cannot afford to lose the data on the hard drive. If you guys can help I would much appreciate it. Thanks.

First off, you are not seeing a kernel panic but an inability to load the kernel file "mach_kernel," which is damaged or missing.
This is apparently because of a file system error (Invalid Key Length), a serious error Disk Utility is not designed to repair, since the repair usually involves loss of data & that app is very conservative about such things.
It is almost impossible that the update itself is responsible for creating this error but very common for one to exacerbate it if it already exists. This is because file system errors corrupt files when the OS writes files to the disk, & updates write a lot of files to the disk.
If you have implemented a backup strategy, the fix is straightforward, if a little time consuming: reformat the drive, do a new install of the OS from the installer disks, & restore your data from your backups.
If you have not implemented a backup strategy, you now know why one is essential: no data you cannot afford to lose should reside only in one place like your internal hard drive. Data is lost every day because of human error, theft, hardware failure, or a host of other reasons. Only a good backup strategy can prevent this.
Assuming the second situation applies to you, your best bet is to purchase a more powerful disk repair utility like DiskWarrior to see if it can repair the file system damage with minimal data loss. Be sure you read & heed the app's manual before using it! Failure to do so, or attempting to use the computer before the errors are repaired, will almost certainly result in more data loss.

Disk Utility can't repair disk

Hi, I just saw that the amount of memory left on my HD just dropped around 60GB, so I used the "Verify Disk" option on Disk Utility, and the output was:
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume header needs minor repair
The volume Macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
I don't have the disk right now, so is there some other way I can repair it, get another install disk, or anything else? I've been thinking of booting up with a Linux livecd, but can it access the HFS+ filesystem?
Thanks.

Try this: from http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417
Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
At the command-line prompt type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OKIf fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, typerebootat the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
If you can't find your original install disk, you could always buy another Snow Leopard disk. It's only $29.

Disk Utility can't repair disk; unable to create image

Hi all,
I had posted a couple days ago because my MBP (2011, 1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5) was running very slow. I ran EtreCheck, and it turned out that my HD had a number of errors. The next day, before I could back everything up, I had the grey screen on both safe mode and regular mode.
I tried Command+Option+P+R and it brought me to the Utility screen where I was able to run Disk Utility. I tried to repair, but the disk was unrepairable. I then tried to create an image of the HD on a new 1TB external drive, but when the progress bar got to about 50%, it failed. I tried this three times and it failed each time. The error message each time was "Input/Output error." Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could possibly back up my HD, or is all lost?
Here's a pic:

Booted into the Recovery Partition, try Disk Utility/Restore to copy the files to an external drive. Note the warning that this will reformat the drive, meaning any data on the drive will be erased.

Macbook Pro not booting after update. ''Disk Utility can't repair disk''. Help needed!

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