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

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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

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.

Macbook Pro (mid 2012) Disk Utility can't repair HD

I have a friend's MacBook Pro in my possession that is not working and has not been used for about two months. After startup, seeing the loading bar, and getting stuck on the spinning wheel of death, I have taken some steps to try to get a boot into Mac OS X. I've reset the PRAM, tried booting in safe mode, and lastly tried to repair Macintosh HD via Disk Utility in the recovery partition. No luck. I get this message after an attempted repair.. "Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backed up file".
This is a similar problem to this discussion thread here:
Disk Utility cannot repair Macintosh HD
However, in this scenario, my friend does not have any Time Machine backups and would like to recover his files.
I know that I can re-format and do a fresh install of OS X...but where does that leave me with file recovery?
Is it possible to retrieve the files at all?
Any help from the community would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks

I have a friend's MacBook Pro in my possession that is not working and has not been used for about two months. After startup, seeing the loading bar, and getting stuck on the spinning wheel of death, I have taken some steps to try to get a boot into Mac OS X. I've reset the PRAM, tried booting in safe mode, and lastly tried to repair Macintosh HD via Disk Utility in the recovery partition. No luck. I get this message after an attempted repair.. "Disk Utility can't repair this disk...disk, and restore your backed up file".
This is a similar problem to this discussion thread here:
Disk Utility cannot repair Macintosh HD
However, in this scenario, my friend does not have any Time Machine backups and would like to recover his files.
I know that I can re-format and do a fresh install of OS X...but where does that leave me with file recovery?
Is it possible to retrieve the files at all?
Any help from the community would be GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks

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.

Powerbook won't boot past apple screen, disk utility can't repair

Last night I applied the most recent software updates, I don't remember exactly what they were but there was a Java update, a security update, a quicktime update and an itunes update. after the required restart, my powerbook g4 won't boot past the apple icon screen.
I can't boot it into safe mode or single user mode.
I can start it up in target disk mode and transfer a handful of files/directories at a time before it hangs.
When I try to run the repair in Disk Utility against the target disk, it gets about halfway before the following:
Verify and Repair disk “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid sibling link
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
the disk doesn't make any grinding or anything, just a few clicks when it tries to boot but nothing bad sounding.
Is my computer hosed? Is it worth bringing it to the genius bar?

Hi, Pat. How much time did you give DW to complete its work? Locating the data it needs to rebuild your directory can take a while — that's the step at which DW far outperforms other utilities. It digs deeper and tries harder than anything else, and that can take a long time. The longest successful DW "fix" I've seen reported here in the seven and a half years I've been participating in Apple Discussions was *14 days* of continuous work to find the necessary data and reconstruct a hard drive directory from it. That was after all other disk utilities had been tried and had failed; it was the user's last hope to save data that hadn't been backed up anywhere. If you haven't allowed DW at least a few hours to accomplish its task, give it another chance. And don't try to use the computer for anything at all while DW is working.

Macbook Pro won't start up, won't recognize Macintosh HD, and can't repair disk.

Since the beginning of April 2014 my mid-2012 11" Macbook Pro was experiencing poor performance - user interface was lagging during simple tasks like clicking, typing, and booting up. These bouts of lag, where the spinning beach ball would appear for 20 seconds or more, would render my computer unusuable. Additionally, in my console, I would receive messages about the computer being "forcibly disabling/enabling UI by application "XXXXXX").
I tried different remedies like deleting third-party software, uninstalling Chrome and Firefox, and emptying caches for Safari. None of these worked.
I then went to several different discussions on this site and found a few solutions, one of which needed me to restore permissions to my font book because some of my fonts were corrupt (in my Console I was receiving messages about fonts not loading/renaming themselves, messages other people had received and fixed). In the midst of restoring my font book using Base OS X fonts (I was replacing the fonts in my Macintosh HD with fonts from Base OS X, a task that required me emptying my current font folder), my computer crashed.
Ever since that time my computer will no longer boot up and goes directly to a flashing folder with a question mark. I tried booting in safe mode (failed), tried to repair my hard drive (hard drive, Macintosh HD, does NOT appear in my disk utility), cannot redownload OS X 10.7 over the internet (Macintosh HD is not an option for where to load OS to), and I did not back up my computer using time machine. The files on the computer were mostly emails and smaller school projects, all dispensible.
I now do not know what to do. Any help?

As far as I am aware there were no other issues. The suddenly slower speed of my computer beginning in late-March and early-April came out of nowhere, and my "fixes" of removing software and emptying caches were temporary remedies.
I think I should also include another piece of information - I discovered early on that if I squeezed the bottom of my Macbook Pro (literally squeeze) right beneath the CD drive, i.e. under the bottom-left corner of my Macbook, the computer would suddenly "work again" and complete all the tasks it was lagging on. Additionally, my kernel_task under Terminal had exceedingly high numbers for "Idle Wake Ups" - consistenly above 500, sometimes even reaching 100,000.

Disk utility can't repair my 2011 Macbook. It says "disk and restore your backed-up files". Now what?

My Macbook crashed so I tried everything to restart it. what finally worked is opening it from the install disk. I performed a "repair disk", and after saying "invalid node structure" and "invalid record count", it says it cannot repair the disk. I don't know what step to take next. How do I see if time machine has backed my files up? Do I need to erase the HD and reinstall?
Thanks!

It seems your hard disk is dead, but you must check further. The easiest way to check is to connect your mac to another mac via firewire cable, then restart in Target Mode. this will turn you mac into an external drive, just the right place to test if your disk is still good.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mchlp1443.html
See also
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mh26785.html

Problem with "Prohibited name". Disk Utility can't repair the disk!

Hello,
Sorry if my english is not perfect, but I do my best!
I have a problem with almost all applications. When I quit an application, it appear the crashed window. I can submit to Apple support the report, but I don't because there is too much.
I start on a cd-rom and lauch Disk utility. It can't repair the disk because of two "prohibited name" lines in red. No more information!
What are the two "prohibited name"? File? Folder?
How to repair the disk?
Any idea?
Please, help me.
Thank.

Bienvenue To  Discussions GMDC!
Exactly which model Mac G5 is it?
What size is the Hard Drive, and how much space is available?
How much RAM is installed, and is it original or added?
What peripherals do you have connected? A keyboard, mouse, printer, external drive or modem, router, etc?
What happened between the last time the Mac functioned successfully, and when it didn't?
Have you made any changes, like upgrading the system, updated or installed any applications or programs, etc?
Have there been any unusual occurences, like freezes, crashes, power outages, etc?
See if you are able to perform the procedures posted below, and post the results.
THESE ARE THE STEPS FOR USING DISK UTILITY TO REPAIR YOUR HD
1.Insert the System Install disk, Mac OS X CD-ROM disk, or Restore DVD disk, then restart the computer while holding the C key. Use the System disk, of the OS, that is currently installed.
2.Once started up from CD or DVD, on the Menubar at the top of the screen, choose Disk Utility from the Installer contextual menu for Panther, or Utilities for Tiger.
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc to access Disk Utility.
3.Click the First Aid tab.
4.Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5.Select your Mac OS X volume, if necessary.
6.Click Repair. If DU reports errors it has fixed, re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported.
7.Repeat steps 5 & 6, but select the Hard Drive this time. It's usually the first listed with the manufacturer's model number. Make note of the S.M.A.R.T. status.
8.When finished, select Quit Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
9.Select Quit Installer from the Installer menu.
10.In the resulting pop-up window, choose restart.
11.After the computer has restarted, you can eject the CD.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
ali b

G4 won't boot from startup disk, disk utility can't repair, is all lost?

My G4 will not boot from the startup disk which is my second hard drive a 160GB. That's been my startup disk for the past 3 years. I tried running disk utilities, but get the error message "underlying task reported a failure on exit." "Invalid key length." "Volume check failed." "Disk repair failed."
I've tried loading in safe mode, and fsck (or something like that) nothing has worked. When I did force start by holding down the "x" key, the second hard drive image was on my desktop, but when I clicked it-it did not have any current information or files. Is everything lost? Is there a way to boot this hard drive or save all of my photos and music?
Thanks in advance for the help.

DiskWarrior can probably fix your problem. DiskWarrior by Alsoft
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
 Cheers, Tom

My MacBook won't start up. After turn it on I get a grey screen with an apple in center and a circle below with lines around it and a blank bar below that. How can I get it to get beyond this screen?

MacBook won't start. After I power up, I get a light grey screen with an apple in the middle, a circle with lines moving around it and a blank grey bar below that. It won,t get beyond this. Please offer suggestions.

I have the exact same problem and waited it out and got to my homescreen. Whateve the problem is fried my bluetooth and my trackpad. I tried starting it again and couldn't even get to homescreen, it stayed on the bluescreen with the wheel of death. So, I took it to genius bar today. I was informed that my logic board is fried and it needs to be replaced. $300 repair that I'm looking at...

My MacBook Air won't start up. It's completely powered, yet when the white screen with the apple shows up upon me turning it on, it shuts right back off. Can someone help?

MacBook Air won't start up even though it's fully powered. The white screen with the apple logo appears when I turn it on, then it shuts right back down. Can someone help me?

Hey Msazama30,
First, I would start off your troubleshooting by following the steps in this link:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Then, if that doesn't work, try out the information in here:
Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353
Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
All the best,
Delgadoh

B-tree problem, won't start

I have a 1.42Ghz mini that is running 10.4.11. I recently installed garageband and the mini started running slower and crashing allot. I booted off the original installation disk and ran the disk utility. It did not find a problem with the disk. I did repair the permissions.
I decided to use TechTool deluxe because the problems continued. While I was backing up my files, my hard drive suddenly filled up completely. As far as I can tell I didn’t copy my own files back to my harddrive.
I could not find any duplicate files or any new files.
I did manage to back up my files and run TechTool. TechTool found an error in the harddrive and repaired it. When I restarted the mini the screen with the white apple comes up, but then the apple disappears and a black rectangle appears in its spot. It does not startup any further then that.
I did try to use the disk utility of the original installation disk and it found a problem with the b-tree, but the disk utility could not repair it.
I am kind of stuck as to what I should do next. Any ideas?

OSX gets really unhappy if you let the hard drive fill up completely.
It's not clear whether your hard drive was already dying when this mishap occurred, or whether the "fill-up" caused the B-tree error and the drive is otherwise mechanically healthy.
If you have a decent backup, you might be best using DiskUtility to erase and reformat and then re-install everything.
If you don't have a good backup, then your options would appear to be to try to fix the b-tree error with DiskWarrior, or to recover what files you can to another hard drive using DataRescueII.
If the hard drive was full when it died, DiskWarrior will have a hard time doing the repair, however.
A third option would be to install Tiger on an external firewire drive and use that as your startup drive from now on. (I run my Mini from a firewire external.) You could then, at your leisure, try to rescue what data you can from the internal. If you do this, be sure to use the Apple Partition Map on the external drive, because PPC Minis require this to boot.

Yosemite on MacBook Air - Third time installed, now will not be startup disk. Disk Utility says OK. Disk Warrior says 375 pages of bad .plist files. How delete plist files?

Yosemite on MacBook Air - Third time installed, now will not be startup disk. Disk Utility says OK. Disk Warrior says 375 pages of bad .plist files. How delete plist files?
What does "Accessibility" mean?

Had the same problem, finally realized that the FileVault Encryption was struck at 19%. Speed back up to normal after I disabled FileVault using terminal command - sudo fdesetup diable
To check whether the FileVault is the culprit, go to System Preferences --> Security & Privacy --> FileVault to see if encryption is in progress.. For me the blue bar was less than a quarter with status 'estimating time remaining'..
Then open Terminal and type in: sudo fdesetup disable
It will then ask for the admin password (to be it asked twice), then it was disabled... Back to normal life again..
Here is my terminal log for reference:
Last login: Tue Oct 21 23:05:13 on console
Gowthams-MBP:~ asgowtham$ fdesetup status
FileVault is On.
Encryption in progress: Percent completed = 18.80
Gowthams-MBP:~ asgowtham$ fdesetup status
FileVault is On.
Encryption in progress: Percent completed = 18.80
Gowthams-MBP:~ asgowtham$ fdesetup status
FileVault is On.
Encryption in progress: Percent completed = 18.80
Gowthams-MBP:~ asgowtham$ sudo fdesetup disable
Password:
Enter a password for '/':
..fdes.
FileVault has been disabled.
Gowthams-MBP:~ asgowtham$ fdesetup status
FileVault is Off.

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.

Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.Powerbook G4 10.4.11 won't start from hard drive . Tried repair, " The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.
The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).

kauribill wrote:
" The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).Invalid sibling link,invalid B tree header, invalid map node,invalid record type,the volume needs to be repaired.
The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972).
This is a directory issue that Disk Utility cannot fix. Although it manifests itself as a software issue sometimes it may be hardware based. See DiskUtility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing avolume http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1901?viewlocale=en_US". You can try using a utility like TechTool Pro, Drive Genius or Disk Warrior to repair and replace the directory. Another option would be to use the Archive and Install feature to reinstall. If the problem returns after correction you may have a failing or failed HDD.
cornelius

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

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