Problem with internal drive or a s/w bug that can be swatted?

Question

Dear ones,
Recently I was greeted with a "persistent grey screen" upon startup. A restore using TimeMachine was unavailable according to Disk Utility. I ran an Extended Hardware Test. No problem indicated.
<rant>Two years of slow response and waiting for TimeMachine backups—what a waste of time—I bought a separate disk just for TimeMachine—what a waste of money. </rant>
I ran Disk Utility Permissions Repair from the SL install disk.
I ran Disk Utility Repair Disk from the SL install disk.
The error messages were:
"Unused node is not erased."
"Node = 192"
"Invalid key length"
I made a quick back-up using Disk Utilities—Restore to a newly-formatted disk which failed.
My internal 120GB "disk could not be validated."
I made a CCClone and a SuperDupe as best I could on a freshly formatted and partitioned outboard drive.
I formatted a second outboard fw800 hard drive and Installed SL on it, updated it and used Migration Assistant to move the files to the fresh boot disk.
Just before the migration finished, the screen turned dark grey and a multi-language alert appeared in white letters "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button until it turns off, then press the power button again." This has happened a few times on my wife's computer but this was a first for me.
I redid everything.
I ran Disk Utilities on the fresh drive and got a repeat of the original error message on my internal drive when I tried to repair the disk.
"Unused node is not erased."
"Node = 192"
"Invalid key length."
It seems as though the problem has migrated to the second boot drive.
Running Disk Utility returns the message, "Disk Utility Can't Repair The Disk…" for either the clone copy or the dupe copy.
I have followed all the steps in the order suggested in the link http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570 without success.
I don't know whether to get a copy of something like Disk Genius, Drive Warrior, or a new drive. They're all about the same price.
Anyone got any ideas about saving anything?
My home drive can't be validated.

Answer 1

stan wrote:
<rant>Two years of slow response and waiting for TimeMachine backups—what a waste of time—I bought a separate disk just for TimeMachine—what a waste of money. </rant>
That's not normal. It indicates you've been having some sort of problem for two years.
I ran Disk Utility Permissions Repair from the SL install disk.
You should run that from the OSX volume. See [About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452].
A restore using TimeMachine was unavailable according to Disk Utility.
Huh? You don't restore from Time Machine backups via Disk Utility.
"Unused node is not erased."
"Node = 192"
"Invalid key length"
The file system is corrupted. It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party +Disk Repair+ app, such as Disk Warrior, can repair it. They're not cheap, though. DW is about $100.
I made a quick back-up using Disk Utilities—Restore to a newly-formatted disk which failed.
My internal 120GB "disk could not be validated."
Probably because that type of backup copies the corruption.
Try a full system restore from your TM backups, per #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
But in step (c) there, take the time to reformat your internal HD. It will only take a moment.
Since you've apparently had this problem for a while, it's possible it will restore, but not start up. If so, just install a fresh copy of OSX from your SL install disc. That won't affect anything else.
Message was edited by: Pondini