Problems with startup, disk utility, everything else (it seems)

So I've been having problems with my iMac for about a week (I believe I'm running OSX 10.5 with whatever the most recent update is) (also, it's a 24" that I bought refurbed last October). I kept getting the ?file screen upon startup, but eventually it would start just fine.
I thought I managed to start and restart in safe-boot yesterday, but now I'm not so sure.
This morning I tried to do a Disk Utility from the install disk, only I'm a bit confused. This is supposed to find the hard drive, right? so I can do the tests to it and hopefully fix whatever problem there is? Because the utility was only finding the install disk, and then that got stuck and won't even eject (this is where I stopped because I had to leave for work). And when the install to where screen came up, there were no options for where to install the OS.
I haven't been able to get anywhere to run the hardware test or do a safe-boot or any of those options. I also have not yet called Apple or taken the mac into a store.
So I am starting to think that perhaps my hard drive is screwed. Am I right, or are there other things I should try first? (And if anyone has any suggestions for how to get that install disk to eject, I'd love to hear them--every time I tried that from the Disk Utility screen, I got an error.)

Hello b:
Welcome to Apple discussions.
To eject the disk, restart the computer while holding the mouse button down.
The rest of it sounds like hardware, but without being able to boot from the software install DVD, I cannot think of a way to go further. I would take the computer to an Apple store for diagnosis.
Barry

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I bought the disc on ebay, its for an emac.
That disk isn't compatible with your computer; it will only work on a specific eMac model. You need a retail Mac OS X installation package, which is available here.
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TS2570 Hi, MacBook Pro & Snow Leopard- startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode, and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. IsAn erase the only

(10.6.8 Intel core duo 2009)
Hi,
I have a grey screen and grey rotating wheel startup probs. I have tried repairing with the disk utility, resetting PRAM, booting in safe mode (which gave a subset of the errors that 'disk repair' did- namely- 'invalid sibling link,invalid record count, invalid node structure, invalid key length) and finally trying to get to archive&install the o/s, but it cannot find the destination volume. Is an erase the only option? PS I have backed up most files individually, but my daughter did not back up any from her user account. Any help would be appreciated. J

Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar
Why is my computer slow?
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

Since I upgraded to Lion 10.7.2, my external HD is no longer visible in AirPort utility (in the AirPort disks tab). I also installed the AirPort utility for iOS5, it reported a disk problem, but running Disk Utility on the Mac showed no issues. Help!

To expand on the question, I have performed the following steps:
1 - Unplugged external drive (1TB WD MyBook) from the Time Capsule
2 - Reconnected it. At this point, AirPort utility for iOS5 reported a problem with the disk (Time Capsule light was blinking Orange)
3 - Unplugged external drive, connected it to MacBook Pro, ran Disk Utility. It found no problems (disk visible straight away on the MacBook Pro).
4 - Reconnected to Time Capsule - still doesn't show up under the "Disks" option under Air Port utility. Or rather, the hardware is visible (i.e the physical disk) but not the volume.
5 - I tried another external hard drive, and the volume also doesn't appear in the Disk section under the AirPort utility.
The WD disk is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
This is a big problem for me, as the drive houses my iTunes library.
Anyone else had a similar problem? It all worked flawlessly until last week.

I love computers.
Have managed to fix this already. Been working the issue for a few days now, and a few minutes after writing the above post I decided to reset the Time Capsule to factory default settings.
After entering all my details again (used same network names, passwords etc) the Time Capsule was rebooted. When it came back on line - guess what? Yep, the MyBook WD drive is now visibile. I can connect via the network from my other machines to the drive, and iTunes is back.
So - thought I would post my resolution in case it helps others.

Time machine: An error occurred while copying files. The problem could be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.

Time machine backups are failing. I've followed the instructions I found on the Time Machine troubleshooting page (http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html) but have gotten to where I don't know what to do next.
Sequence of events:
The main error message is always:
An error occurred while copying files. The problem could be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
Yesterday, I opened Disk Utility and verified the disk. Got this error:
Error: This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. When the OS X Utilities window appears, choose Disk Utility.
I ran Disk Utility and repaired the hard drive. Then I manually started the backup before going to bed, figuring it was going to take a long time to run. When I got up this morning, the backup had failed with the same "could be temporary" error. I checked the log, which says:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tery%20Griffin;[email protected]/Tery%20Griffin's%20Time%20Ca psule
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Tery Griffin's Time Capsule using URL: afp://Tery%20Griffin;[email protected]/Tery%20Griffin's%20Time%20Ca psule
Disk image /Volumes/Tery Griffin's Time Capsule/Tery Griffin’s Computer (44).sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Error: (-36) Applying backup protections to /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Tery Griffin‚Äôs Computer (44)/2014-03-05-201742.inProgress/ABB10CF2-F041-4DE5-B6AE-3C228B59ADCC
Error: (5) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.SnapshotStartDate path:/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Tery Griffin‚Äôs Computer (44)/2014-03-05-201742.inProgress/ABB10CF2-F041-4DE5-B6AE-3C228B59ADCC size:17
Error: (5) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.SnapshotState path:/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Tery Griffin‚Äôs Computer (44)/2014-03-05-201742.inProgress/ABB10CF2-F041-4DE5-B6AE-3C228B59ADCC size:2
Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
Finished scan
Found 145601 files (11.88 GB) needing backup
16.1 GB required (including padding), 620.77 GB available
Copied Zero KB of 11.88 GB, 0 of 145601 items
Copied 0 files (Zero KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Copy stage failed with error:11
Backup failed with error: 11
Ejected Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Tery Griffin's Time Capsule/Tery Griffin’s Computer (44).sparsebundle
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Starting automatic backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tery%20Griffin;[email protected]/Tery%20Griffin's%20Time%20Ca psule
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Tery Griffin's Time Capsule using URL: afp://Tery%20Griffin;[email protected]/Tery%20Griffin's%20Time%20Ca psule
Disk image /Volumes/Tery Griffin's Time Capsule/Tery Griffin’s Computer (44).sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Error: (-36) Applying backup protections to /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Tery Griffin‚Äôs Computer (44)/2014-03-05-201742.inProgress/9F8E7957-9C50-49C3-8314-880E5203E3D9
Error: (5) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.SnapshotStartDate path:/Volumes/Time Machine Backups/
Does anyone know what the problem is here and what I should do?
Thanks,
Tery

You have repaired your boot drive (which is good) but have you repaired your time machine drive? I don't own a Time Capsule so I don't know if disk utility can operate on it. If it can, you should repair it as well. You may need to erase it and start a new backup. That happens to time machine volumes from time to time and is why people who are serious about their data never rely on a single source of backup.

Problems with hard disk, but it won't repair

Hi,
My MacBook Pro has gradually become slow, and it crashes occasionally, especially when multitasking. I verified my hard disk with the Disk Utility, and it told me the following:
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Incorrect block count for file Temp File
(It should be 917 instead of 0)
Incorrect number of thread records
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume Bit Map needs minor repair
Checking volume information.
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
However, in a pop-up it then says the following:
First Aid failed
Disk Utility stopped verifying "Macintosh HD" because the following error was encountered:
The underlying task reported failure on exit.
Any idea what could be wrong and how I could fix it? I find it a bit disconcerting that my Mac crashes. It's not supposed to do that!

In order to repair a startup volume you must boot from another disk. Try this:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

Can anyone help me?Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to... An error occurred while copying files. The problem may be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk. What is the problem? I've made no changes.

I recently starting receiving the error message "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to... An erro occurred while copying files. The problem may be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk. I have had no problems backing up my MacBook Pro 2011 to my Western Digital My Book Live through a Linksys EA4500 router until recently. I've made no major changes. I've ran a diagnosis on my back up drive with no problems. The Time Machine back up starts, but about after about 5 to 10 minutes I get the error message. I can see the shared drive in Finder. The light on the drive blinks while it starts the back up. I can see the shared folders on the networked drive. The backup process starts but for some reason it just stops. Can anyone help?

You can't repair a network volume in Disk Utility.
Backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine is risky, and unacceptably risky if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want, and I also know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
If you want network backup with Time Machine, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external hard drive connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS for backup, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple.)

Time Machine Error: "An error occurred while copying files. The problem may be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."

I have a MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB, 500GB HDD, running 10.8.2 My computer as been running slow and fearing my HDD might die. I bought a brand new 1TB G-Drive from Apple yesterday and started my back up. It gets to just over 22GB backed up then I get this error message:
"An error occurred while copying files. The problem may be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
Anyone out there who might be able to help me fix this?

I have a MacBook Pro 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB, 500GB HDD, running 10.8.2 My computer as been running slow and fearing my HDD might die. I bought a brand new 1TB G-Drive from Apple yesterday and started my back up. It gets to just over 22GB backed up then I get this error message:
"An error occurred while copying files. The problem may be temporary. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
Anyone out there who might be able to help me fix this?

Hello Mac heads.! I just downloaded Onyx for tiger. All went well. But I try to launch onyx from my applications and it doesn't offer checking the S.M.A.R.T. status so I can check my disk. Everything else appears. Uninstall only, forums, website etc.

Hello Mac heads.! I just downloaded Onyx for tiger. All went well. But I try to launch onyx from my applications and it doesn't offer checking the S.M.A.R.T. status so I can check my disk. Everything else appears. Uninstall only, forums, website etc.

I think you should get Applejack...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15667/applejack
After installing, reboot holding down CMD+s, (+s), then when the DOS like prompt shows, type in...
applejack AUTO
Then let it do all 6 of it's things.
At least it'll eliminate some questions if it doesn't fix it.
The 6 things it does are...
Correct any Disk problems.
Repair Permissions.
Clear out Cache Files.
Repair/check several plist files.
Dump the VM files for a fresh start.
Trash old Log files.
First reboot will be slower, sometimes 2 or 3 restarts will be required for full benefit... my guess is files relying upon other files relying upon other files! :-)
Disconnect the USB cable from any Uninterruptible Power Supply so the system doesn't shut down in the middle of the process.

HT3275 "The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."

The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
what does this mean?? why can't i backup before i have to get my hard drive replaced?!!? arghh

brahr3 wrote:
I am getting the same error message: "The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk." I don't have a TC but rather an external drive, which is twice the size of my harddisc, and it still has plenty of free space. The problem has lasted for 5 days. I even used a different external drive -- still same error message. Needless to say that I have run Disc Utility several times. Can anybody help? Thanks
I am having issues with some USB drives on Mountain Lion.. work perfectly on another computer with Snow Leopard.. not even recognised by ML.
Is the disk recognised?
If so and TM cannot pick it up.. do a full reset of TM and try again.
A4 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Problem with mounting disk images

I have recently downloaded a media player and have had some problems. When I download the file to my desktop and try to run it, it gives me a "warning" window. In the window, it says that "the following disk images failed to mount" and gives "device not configured" as the reason. The file on the desktop's path is .dmg just to be more clear. So...yeah...any advice??
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Just to make sure (I don't think this is your problem, but it's easy to check), make sure /System/ Library/ CoreServices/ DiskImageMounter.app is present on your Mac.
Do you have another user account on your Mac? If necessary, use System Preferences> Accounts to create a new troubleshooting-only administrative user account. Check if that new user account can open .dmg files. If it does, that indicates a problem with the preferences in your normal user account. Use Preferential Treatment to scan your prefs. You can also drag the ~/Users/ [yourusername]/ Library/ Preferences folder tot he desktop, log out and back in, and see if .dmg images work, then move your prefes back from teh Preferences folder on the Desktop to the one in ~/Users/ [yourusername]/ Library. Or you might just try moving these prefs to the Desktop:
/Users / [yourusername]/ Library/ Preferences/ com.apple.frameworks.diskimages.uiagent.plist
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Problem With Target Disk Mode

Folowing upgrade of my Mini and Powerbook to Tiger I have a problem with target Disk Mode when I attempt to eject the transfer to disk following transfer of my user file. I get an error message to the effect that files are in use and the disk can not be ejected. I try force quit (finder only is running) usually to no effect. Sometimes attempting to verify disk permissions in disk utility will clear the problem and allow me to eject the disk. One time it took close to an hour attempting to eject the disk. Is there another way?
PB Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I had this problem with external volumes like ZIP discs and also external hard drives. Sometimes it was an app used on one of the external files still being open (eg. Word for a text file) which had to be quitted first. The "trackpad" button equals the mouse button which is on the PowerBook. Repairing the target disk via disk utility might also help.

When login, i see a error message saying " there is a eminent problem with hard disk " smart check

G72-250US Notebook , Win 7 64 Home Premium,
Error :
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Hi,
If this message is coming up in a black screen.
Then the harddrive in the system is about to go bad or already bad.
If you are able to boot to windows, FIRST BACKUP DATA.
Also run a startup test by tapping F2 as soon as you power on the system.
The smart test is a BIOS feature in most of the computer which is designed to keep cust informed if the HDD is about to go bad. But their are instances where the SMART will only let you know that the HDD is bad only when the HDD has bad.
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Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.

Problem with HP Printer Utility and Mac OSX 10.5.4

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Just found an email HP Support sent to me back in January 2008, about this issue
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Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.
There currently is not proper driver for 10.5, so it is surprising that the printer is printing correctly on your Mac from any application.
Your issue cannot be resolved until the 10.5 driver is developed and released.
To sign up for an update as soon as it is available ...click on the link below:
HP's subscriber's choice is a free service where you can select to receive timely email notifications ranging from software and driver updates to creative ways to do more with your HP products.
http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/html/3618-0-0-225-121.html
If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.
You may receive an e-mail survey regarding your e-mail support experience. We would appreciate your feedback.
For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site
at:
http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare
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Dave
HP Total Care"
I just sent them an email today on any updates regarding a release date on the Leopard driver for P1005, i'll post any info i receive.

Problems with startup, disk utility, everything else (it seems)

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