Power Mac G4 - invalid node structure

I am hoping someone can help me. I have a Power Mac G4 - 933....we had a power outage and the Mac would not turn on...the power light lit up when pressed but the computer wouldn't boot...I reset the PRAM and all was good...except a file I had was corrupted and couldn't be opened....after that, a month later, another power outage. This time I had more trouble as resetting the PRAM didn';t work...I reset the logic board (taking out the battery for 30 minutes then replacing) and that didn't work either...I tried several combinations of the above to no avail...I finally took out the battery for over and hour, powered up the computer without the battery and it started...so the battery was corrupted. I replaced the battery (correct one of 3.6 volts) and the computer fired right up. I ran disk utilities to see if all was okay. Checking preferences was fine but when I tried to verify, Disk Utilities came up with the message that it could not complete verifying and that it found "Invalid node structure" and that it could not repair the disk. I then tried fsck to repair and to no avail...fsck gave me several messages depending on the repair options I tried including one that included that the problem was in "memory 4, 23412"....it said it could also not repair due to "os/10 i/o error" and the second run I took at it with a different method told me there was a problem with "DIMM 2/J23 memory"...Apple's website says that if I get an uprepairable message from disk utility that I should back-up, erase and do a clean install...but with these messages indicating the problem is in the memory, since the battery runs the memory, could it be in there instead? ...of important note, I do not have the original install disk...the operating system running it is Tiger 10.4.11...I don't have the orignal disk and I have an empty 10.5 Leopard disk box with no idea where the disk is...I have snow leopard, but that cannot be installed on the G4....after running the last fsck attempt, the computer shut down and is back to only having the power light lit when pressed but no computer booting...where should I start/what do I do? I am hoping you all have good suggestions for me because some of my files were bnot backed up (I know...don't judge) and I got them onto a flashdrive right before the computer went down again, but I have no idea if they took,...further, I love this old dinosaur...

Hi, only thing I've seen repair that is DiskWarrior, you'd need an older version...
http://supportdb.alsoft.com:591/FMPro?-db=alsoftsupport&-lay=main&-max=15&-forma t=AlsoftSupport-qa.html&-script=counter&-token=177&-Skip=96&-find
But it does sound like you have some bad RAM, but have you blown the dust out yet & tried reseating the RAM?

Similar Messages

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

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

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.

MBP 15" - Hard drive crash - invalid node structure

Hello,
I migrated from a life of pc to mac a month ago and was very pleased with how things worked out. Until two hours ago when the computer freezed (it was showing the rotating ball but no response to any commands). I thought I could force quit some app but it was not responding at all so I waited for 15 minutes before I shut it down via the power button. When I powered it back on there was a catalogue with a question mark blinking on the screen. It seems it cannot find any startup disk.
On the apple support forums it says I might be able to repair the disk via the install CD (Disk utility). I tried it but it says
Verifying volume "Macintosh HD"
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
*Invalid node structure*
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.
(something like that. It all takes about 10 sec)
and stops.
On some other forum I found out that fsck -fs could work but nothing really happened there either.
Is there any solution to this?

it seems it's running the fsck command on the DVD drive, which is free of errors. yey for that at least!
"df" gives me
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Available Capacity Mounted on
root_device 15173432 15169920 0 100% /
devfs 208 208 0 100% /dev
fdesc 2 2 0 100% /dev
mount -uw tells me
root_device on / (hfs, local, read-only )
devfs on /dev (devfs, local)
fdesc on /dev (fdesc, union)
that read only cannot be good!
alright so back in disk utility I find that my disk is called disk0s2
running fsck -yf /dev/disk0s2 gives me
BAD SUPER BLOCK: MAGIC NUMBER WRONG
LOOK FOR ALTERNATE SUPERBLOCKS? yes
SEARCH FOR ALTERNATE SUPERBLOCK FAILE: YOU MUST USE THE -b OPTION TO FSCK TO SPECIFY THE LOCATION OF AN ALTERNATE SUPER-BLOCK TO SUPPLY NEEDED INFORMATION; SEE fsck(8).
so I run
fsck -yf -b 32 /dev/disk0s2 since it's in the manual but get
BAD SUPER BLOCK: MAGIC NUMBER WRONG
Am I on the right track here?

I got the dreaded "Invalid Node Structure" Error

Hi All,
I entered the Mac world recently with a spanking new Macbook Pro 15". Updated it online to the latest OS 10.6.4 Snow Leopard.
Today I was trying to install some more free application from the Official Mac Software Site. After installing a couple of softwares, I popped in the included recovery Disk and tryed installing xcode from the 'additional software' folder on the disk. But this failed
After this I thought of restarting the mac and try again. However, the **** thing now wouldn't boot anymore. Just stays on the Gray apple screen with the small ring rotating below it for ever.
Then I tried repairing it using the Disk Utility booting form the DVD. On verify Disk, it shows 'Invalid Node Structure'. So I clicked 'Repair Disk', And it just stayed there for ever without any progress. So I stopped it. And after trying the above 3-4 times, I Hard rebooted the system, and this time entered the console mode (Command + s).
Entered the command fsck_hfs -rf /dev/disk0s2 (disk0s2 is what Disk Utility showed me).
The output of this command shows:
** /dev/rdisk0s2
Executing fsck_hfs (version diskdev_cmds-491.0.2~7).
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus Volume
** Checking extents overflow file
** Checking catalog file
** Rebuilding catalog B-tree
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
disk0s2: I/O error.
And this goes on and on and on.... :((
Now what to do???

Hmmm, yeah that could be the last option, but I can't format the disk right now, 'cause I've some extremely important (not-yet-backed-up) files in it
So I'd like to try out all possible ways to recover the system before even thinking of a format!
BTW, the above fsck_hfs command I ran was by booting from the DVD itself.

Invalid Node Structure on Time Capsule.

Hi,
I was using my time capsule (7 months old) as a temporary network drive (Until I get a new network drive) for my iTunes library. And, no, currently this is my only computer without a time machine backup. One day last week, I was listening to some music and I tried to add a video to my library. It locked up and my time capsule stopped responding. Upon restart of the device, the drive wouldn't show up int he finder.
After a call to apple support (who were most gracious even though it was out of warranty), I still couldn't mount that partition. I had about 500gb of stuff on the drive (including my 300gb iTunes library) and was eager to retrieve it. I resorted to removing the drive from the time capsule and put it in a USB case. I plugged it into my mac and low and behold the drive showed up in the finder and disk utility.... except the partition with my data.
From what I understand disk1s3 is the standard partition for the data on a time capsule. It shows up in disk utility, but fails to mount and is grayed out. When I try and repair it, I get an error stating "invalid node structure".
After searching the internet for days, I found a site that had some terminal commands that should fix it, but it didn't.
I even tried diskwarrior and after DVD boot, even it wouldn't see that partition. The other two on the disk are fine and dandy.
Now, I'm stuck with a $300 brick and no data.
I don't have the money to do a professional data recovery.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian

You have exhausted all the options you can at user level.. basically if the tools like disk warrior cannot recover it, then it has to go to professional disk recovery people.. who use different methods. And may still not get back data in the form you want it.
This is precisely why we tell everyone do not use TC for network storage. It is not suitable.

Invalid node structure macbook 10.6.8

Im new to Macs and have absolutely no clue what to do im not worried about losing anything on it i just don't know how to fix and i don't have the disks i bought it used

You are going to need to get the disks, as the 'invalid node structure' error means you need to erase your hard drive and reinstall everything. Try talking to the person you purchased it from (they should have given the disk to you with the computer) but if you can't get it from them, contact Apple, they should be able to get you a copy of the original disks. There may be a small charge. If you can't get copies of the original disks, you will want to get a Snow Leopard install DVD which Apple sells through the online store - http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
Best of luck.

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.

Invalid node structure. Free solution!

Invalid node structure. Free solution! Jan 2007.
Disk problem on an Intel Core Duo Macbook with 1.25 gig RAM and updated to OS X Tiger 10.4.8
Background.
About a month ago I ran into a problem with expose behaving oddly and after posting a question on this forum, the very helpful Dr Smoke advised me to clear my caches and to run 'repair disk.' from the installation CD. (This because I reported that a couple of times I had to do a hard reset.) I got expose fixed but discovered that my disk had serious errors in the directory structure, reported as "invalid node structure," and which Disk Utility could not repair. The laptop was running perfectly but several people posted advice that I should not leave this problem unattended to. Reporting this crisis again on the forum I was advised to buy Disk Warrior for a whopping $100 for what might be a once in a lifetime problem -or else I should back up my data and re-install everything. And I thought the Mac was more stable!! Up to 6 months ago I was a Windows user who often had such problems with the FAT but I was always able to cure them with Checkdisk or Scandisk. In fact MS Windows repaired it automatically after a hard reset. I feel that it is most unfair for Apple to not provide an effective utility to correct this kind of disk corruption. They bundle wonderful programs like iPhoto and iWeb but leave you in the lurch with a fundamental disk problem. With help again from Dr Smoke, I made my firewire disk bootable for Intel Macbooks (must be partitioned with the "GUID" option selected) and searched the forums for a way to get going again without forking out $100. I wouldn't mind if it was a program that did other useful jobs like on-the-fly partitioning but it was going to be an overkill for me. Learning a little from each of several other posts (sorry I didn't record the links) I put together the following solution which is easy to execute and the time consuming elements can be left to run at night or when away from the computer. You may see possible short cuts as you read through to make it even simpler, but here is my full story! Actually I was travelling around Eastern Europe and couldn't easily get disk Warrior or Tech Tools sent to me. I needed to find a solution from reading advice and downloading disk utilities off the Web.
I have a 40 gig ext. disk, mounted in a "hotdrive" enclosure which is useable either as firewire or USB 2. http://www.byteccusa.com.
My Bacbook disk is 60 gig but only 25 gig was in use.
My Macbook was up todate with every part of OS X including the firmware. except for Garage band which I do not use.
Step 1a. I downloaded 2 free disk cloning programs - Carbon Copy Clone and SuperDuper. I preferred the latter. Step 1b I read about Migration Assistant - part of OS X Tiger.
Step 2. I partitioned the Firewire disk in two (32 and 8 gig) for future convenience, and zeroed the disk after Dr Smoke's advice.
Step 3. I installed the basic OS X package onto my 8 gig "Firewire 2" using only Install (DVD) disk 1 which takes up less than 5 gig. (In Setup one chooses to not install the additional programs - iPhoto etc.) I checked that I could boot from it and that it was healthy by running "verify disk" when booted from the internal hdd.
Step 4. While booted from my internal HD, I cloned Firewire 2 onto Firewire 1 (32 gig) I verified the disk (no problems) then booted from it and assured myself that I had a fully working copy of OS X.
Step 5. I booted from firewire 1 and used Migration Assistant to import EVERYTHING - files, programs, the lot, from my internal HDD with the node structure problem. My firewire disk was now 25 gig the same as my internal HD. It had now two users, both shown as administrators. I booted to my newly-imported user ID - the original one that was on my internal HDD. The only problem reported by Migration Assistant was that Missing Synch for Palm might need to be re-installed which would not be surprising given what it does. Later when all was done, I discovered that the migrated programs had been placed in a folder on my desktop so I opened it and moved them all into the 'normal' Applications folder created by my new basic install. (Some programs don't like running from anywhere other than the Applications folder.)
Step 6. I worked from Firewire disk 1 for a day, trying out every program and it was working normally. One thing I noticed was that iTunes seemed to import as the original tiger 10.4.6 version so I needed to install the update to 7.02 which I had kept in my download folder. I tried to install the OS X update to 10.4.8 but a dialog informed me that I could not do that on this (external) disk. I don't know why, but later on I updated to 10.4.8 overnight using Mac Update.
Step 7. Make sure all your data has been backed up somewhere, and that there is nothing of value on your internal disk. Take a deep breath, and wipe it!! I did this using Disk Utility (from Firewire 1) and took the chance to partition my HD into 32, 18 and 6 gig. I chose GUID partitioning and zeroed the disk. No going back!
Step 8. I booted into Firewire 2 and installed SuperDuper. Then, from Firewire 2, I cloned Firewire 1 onto my internal HD 1 partition of 32 gig. SuperDuper does not call it cloning but rather 'copying all files.' It booted and works fine (as of Jan 10). Then I verified the disk when booted from one of the firewire partitions and all was well. Phew!
I ran sofware Update and it offered to update Java, OS X for Intel, Garageband and Quicktime.
So my node structure is cured and my internal hdd is partitioned without spending a penny and without having to re-install my programs one by one.
Note: There may be a few things to re-install or some prefs to reset but in general this method worked well. I mentioned having ro re-update iTunes.I also had to reset the Quicksilver prefs, and maybe I will yet come across something needing to tweaked again. (QS is a free launcher.) Oh yes, FireFox did not run well so I re-installed it.
I share this in appreciation for the help of Dr Smoke and others who answered my questions and for those whose posts were helpful to read, and for the benefit of others who may find them selves in the same predicament as me. And, oh yes, the trouble was not enough to cause me to go back to that other OS! Louis J
macbook Intel 13" Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2 Ghz model with 1.25 gig RAM

Invalid Node Structure is not a hardware failure, it never was (you may still have a hardware failure, but the Invalid Node error is not indicative of this problem.
Still, Disk utility will certainly fail to fix it, and DiskWarrior will probably fail too.
But don't despair. Try this, and don't give up till you've tried it at least three times.
First, get the name of the partition of the failing volume.   You can get it most easily by finding your disk in Disk Utility, selecting your partition (not the drive) and type cmd-i.    Look for "Disk Identifier" right at the top.
Then, open up Terminal, and type this:
sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2
substituting your disk identifier for the one already here.   Keep the "/dev/" part.   Enter your password, and wait. It may take a while. I have had this fail several times before finally working so its important to keep trying.   It's faster than a reformat!!!
If the afflicted disk is your startup disk, you will need to do this in recovery mode: restart the computer, hold down option, and wait for the disk options to appear.   Select that, then proceed to Disk Utility and then Terminal as described above.
Good luck, and always keep a backup!
chris watts

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 on SSD

so i got a vertex 2, 120gb ssd drive a couple of weeks ago, but suddenly my computer crashes hard, my cpu turns out 89c (about 180F) in temp and "quickload D" uses up most of the cpu power. i force quit everything and DMG files just get some error i cant remember now. so i try restart right. but i just get the apple logo and some gray bar at the bottom that goes maybe 10% of the way and then it just shuts off. tried to boot a couple of times but nothing.
so then i boot from the snow leopard disc and run diskutl. and find "Invalid Node Structure" thats not reparable when verifying the disk. so now i have to reinstall. because i haven't come around to getting a system backup yet.
this goes without a hitch and the macbook is just fine now. no invalid node when running verification.
after scouring through OCZs forums i find this to be a reoccurring theme, but mostly on the vertex(1), and that not letting the computer go into hibernation will/might solve this.
so my long winded question is this. anybody else have this happen to them? have you fixed it? and what kind of SSD do you have?

Is your computer still under warranty? If so you might want to bring it to a genius bar. http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

Invalid node structure (4, 3980)

I just tried to install 10.4.6 on my imac 17inch falt panel. ( os from mac store , black disk )
First I ran "remember" to check the memory -all ok .
Then I ran the hardware check that came with the computer- all ok .
Then started an erase and install, choosing to install only the basic os ( no languages etc )
Every thing went smoothly, finnished installing and waited for 30 seconds for it to auto restart.
And it didn't restart .
So I started up in single user mode and ran /sbin/fsck -fy
then I get the message
disk0s3: I/O error.
Invalid node structure
(4, 3980)
**volume check failed.
so there you have it . Any ideas of what happened ?
Any Ideas of what I should do now .
Did I just fry it ?
thanks o-s-s-i

Thankyou for the reply.
and Thankyou for the link, I had never seen that before .
I'm sure it will come in use again some day .
Well, after doing what you said to do, things have improved a lot .
I ran "aht" and every thing was fine.
I don't have DW so I zero-ed out the data and reinstalled tiger.
So now for the first time I can see the beginning of tiger.
I can see the welcome words dance over the screen in 10 languages
and then it asks me to register , then as soon as I type the first letter of my name
it goes "boing" and welcomes me in 10 languages again.
So a vast improvment on - invalid node structure (4, 3980).
But still not in yet .
Maybe I'll zero again and install one more time .
Thanks again.

Invalid node structure, files are visible in single mode

I did something stupid today. First i ran my mac until there was no disk space, resulted in failing booting up. Went into single mode and did a mount command and deleted some big files. And now the disk check is failing and still not able to boot ios. All the files showes up in single mode, but not sure how to proceed. When running fsck it gives invalid node structure error. Marry x-mas :) any ideas?

You might try using Disk Warrior to fix the error, but Disk Utility cannot. Short of DW you will need to repartition and reformat your hard drive unless the Recovery HD partition is still usable. If it is then you can do the following:
Install or Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
        the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

Recurring "Invalid Node Structure error"

Hello all,
Starting a new thread with this one....
Have done 5 complete re-partitions, clean SL installs and back ups from TM in the last four days. DU disk checks out fine after re-install, DU comes up clean.
After a few hours, the hanging beach ball returns, I run DU and get the "Invalid Node Structure" error message.
This in on the iMac that is 42 days out of Apple care......
Ran techTool after the last install, and it comes up clean....
What's the soultion? Nuke the drive and get a new on on my dime?
I've repartitioned, zeroed out the data and sit here with a naked drive, I really don't want to spend another day loading it up if it's shot....
The TM files and drive I'm backing up from check out fine.
Thanks,
Mark

Took 3+ hours. Came up clean. I have not restored from TM yet. Did the SL updates ect.
Repaired permissions, ran DU it comes up clean.
I will do some net surfing tonight (that's all I did this morning) still without loading the back up data, and we'll see if I get the beachball of death.
I will run another surface scan when I hit the hay, and see what it says in the morning.
If that is clean, I will restore the back up data, and run the surface scan again.
One step at a time until I can recreate (or not) the failure mode.
Tedious, but I have to get to the bottom of this. I don't want to load any of the TM back up on to the Mac Air until I'm sure it's not a software issue.
Mark

Power Mac G4 - invalid node structure

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for