TechTool Deluxe contradictory results

I could not determine where to post regarding TechTool Deluxe (included with AppleCare). Is there a better forum to have used?
I've just purchased AppleCare for my recent iMac acquisition. I downloaded the latest TechTool Deluxe (v. 3.1.3). After burning a cd and also installing it, I went ahead and ran all the tests enabled by default (i.e. all but "Surface Scan").
Each "Passed". But, when it got to "Volume Structure", the visual indication said, "Fail". However, report window showed "Passed". So, I ran it again (just that test). Same thing; failed visually, and passed in report. I tried a different test (RAM); it passed in both.
So, now I am confused.
What does it mean for TTD to tell me that it Failed and also Passed? Is this a known bug in TechTool Deluxe?

It doesn't mean anything. If you need to repair your drive use Disk Utility, not TTD. If you have questions about TTD the best place to ask is to call AppleCare or contact the developer, MicroMat.

Similar Messages

TechTool Deluxe resulted in failures

I ran TechTool Deluxe on my MacBook Pro, and "Format Check", "Directory Scan" and "Volume Structure" resulted in failure. I was unable to proceed with fixes. Can anyone advise me? Thank you.

To repair your Boot drive, you need to boot from another drive (like a DVD), so that your boot drive will be available for complete repairs.
One pass of Disk Repair can also be done by Restarting with Shift key held down, to boot into Safe Mode.

FYI TechTool Deluxe & desktop choices can result in false Video RAM "fail"

If you choose to have your desktop display random pics or images, when you run TechTool Deluxe you will end up with a "fail" on your video RAM test.
This is a false failure.
All you have to do is change your desktop to a constant image and the test will pass.
I found this out after having to reinstall my OS X and I ran TechTool Deluxe before restoring my backup and all tests passed. After restoring from backup to my desktop choice of random images changing every 5 secs, I ran TechTool Deluxe again and the test for video RAM "failed". Resetting my desktop to a constant image resulted in a "passed".

Well the apple test (on disk 1 of OSX) states that nothing is wrong. Though I will test again when the temp gets high since some people had been detecting problems.
as for 10.4.6 I downloaded it the other day.
I repaired the permissions had a couple things that it corrected (I don't know if I posting them would do any good) Out of curiousity how to permissions get incorrect? I'm so used to the windows file structure and DOS before that that i am a little confused. The last apple used alot before this macbook was an old Applee IIE.
and the TechTools still says there is an error, every time I have run the test. Though there have been some differences when I reboot or turn of and wait a second and then restart.

"Volume Structure Failed" in TechTool Deluxe

I tried to run Disk Utility on my laptop last night and it said that it "stopped reapiring "XXX" because the following error was encountered. The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)" It said there was an invalid catalog record type and volume check failed.
I then ran the lastest update of the TechTool Deluxe CD. Everything passed except the Volume Structure.
There were some "used nodes" and "free nodes" that differed--those numbers showed up in green as "favorable changes". "Leaf Record Count" showed up in red as an "unusual change". When I go to repair, it says that "unusual values in the volume structure have been dectected. Before repairing the volume structure, it is suggested that you back up your data. FAILURE TO BACKUP YOUR DATA MAY RESULT IN PERMANENT LOSS OF DATA!".
I do have a Retrospect Backup on my external drive, but I'm still a little nervous about clicking the "repair" button. How likely is data loss with this particular error that it's trying to repair?
I'd like to call Apple Support (I'm still under AppleCare for another week or so), but I'm not sure if they have Saturday hours.

Okay, here's what I ended up doing. I did end up calling Applecare Tech support, but mostly only to inquire about potential coverage if I needed it--since I was one week away from the expiration of Applecare. They opened a "case" for me and Applecare would remain in effect for 30 from the opening of the case. This was good news.
I tried using Disk Utility to repair the problem but it wouldn't work. I had repaired permissions and attempted to run “Check and Repair Disk”. Disk Utility said that it “stopped repairing ‘xxx’ because the following error was encountered. The underlying task reported failure on exit (-9972)”. It then said that there was an invalid catalog record type-volume check failed-volume was not repaired.
A friend of mine has DiskWarrior for Panther so we were going to try that before trying the TechTools Deluxe CD that I had just updated from the Apple site.
Went over today to do that. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the computer to boot up with the DW disk. It would boot up with the Install disc & TTD, but not DW. We tried booting with the option key. It did show that we could boot from "utility CD", but the minute we hit the arrow key after selecting it, we got a circle with a slash through it. We called DW support and they said that my computer was newer than the CD. This was strange since my friend's larger G4 Powerbook was only a couple of weeks older than mine and DW works fine on hers.
Anyway, we ran TTD and let it repair. Ran DU again and it still showed a problem that it could not repair. Ran it again--same thing. Ran TTD again--just to test. It showed that there was nothing that needed repairing. Ran DU yet again--3rd time for the afternoon. Did repair permissions first, then Repair Disk. Strangely enough, now it said the volume was fine and needed no repairing.
So, at least for the moment, things seem okay. Not sure exactly which step worked or if it was just a combination, but I'm just happy that it finally passed DU check.
I will continue to monitor for the next few weeks.

Surface scan on TechTool Deluxe.

Hi
Surface scan on TechTool Deluxe has said that there were 48 errors, why is this? Is this due to the Internet or is it internal or is it just something that happens? Need answers please.
Regards

TJ94 wrote:
Surface scan on TechTool Deluxe has said that there were 48 errors, why is this? Is this due to the Internet or is it internal or is it just something that happens?
A surface scan identifies bad sectors on the drive where data won't be reliably read or written too.
Normally as one writes data to the drive if it can't write to it then the driver software maps off that bad sector and uses another.
However at the factory, data is likely injected directly onto the drive, right over the bad sectors and everything which might result in unstable OS X behavior.
If your computer is running fine, then no need however if OS X is unstable, then perhaps some part of OS X itself is written on a bad sector.
There is a simply method to pre-mapping off bad sectors on new hard drives, and that's Disk Utility Erase Security option Zero and format the drive HFS+ journaled. (warning all data will be lost)
You can also do this in a perfectly fine working OS X by using Disk Utilities "Erase Free Space" option and choosing Zero (don't format)
To do it to a whole OS X drive, you need to clone all the data off first using Carbon Copy Cloner, to a external drive, then hold option and boot from the clone, then use Disk Utility > Zero method.
What Zeroing does is writes 0's to every bit on the drive or free space, depending which option you choose.
The driver software for the hard drive will then map off any bad sectors automatically. So with Zeroing your forcing the machine to do it in advance.
As you notice the Surface Scan for TechTool Deluxe was not enabled in the software by default, it's because there are always errors from bad sectors, but the hard drive driver software automatically takes care of them.

Unable to download TechTool Deluxe from the Apple Support Site.

When you have a AppleCare Plan you can download Techtool Deluxe for free at:
https://support.apple.com/techtooldeluxe/main?id=dl
I gave in my serial number and is start downloading, but it stops after a few seconds and leaves a corrupted download of zero kb.
I want a a new full disc and not have to update my old tiger Techtool dvd every time i want to use it.
Anyone else have the same problem? Let me know please...
Thanx a bunch

Same problem here -- the page results in a zero-byte disk image file. Is there some way to get a response from Apple Support or an alternate download link?
UPDATE: I viewed the HTML source of the download page, and at the very bottom is the download URL (inside a meta http refresh tag). So I popped that link into my browser, but WITHOUT the "?ver=dvd" query string -- and the download started working. It's currently downloading a 191 MB disk image, which sounds more promising. So if you're running into this same problem, you might try that trick to get the download going.
Message was edited by: Jase150

TechTool Deluxe for Leopard

As part of Applecare, I have multiple copies of TechTool Deluxe 3.0.1. I have 5 Macs, all upgraded to Leopard. When I attempt to run TechTool, it tells me that the application hasn't been validated on Leopard. It runs, of course, but the results may not be entirely useful. Micromat has TechTool Pro, which has been updated for Leopard, but there is no mention on its site or on Apple's site about a newer version of Deluxe. While I haven't had any need to use Applecare that wasn't obvious, does anyone have any idea what Apple is shipping with Applecare agreements for machines that actually come with Leopard pre-installed and, more to the point, how those of us with multiple machines might lay hands on it?
Thanks.

I just bought a MacBook Pro last week, and received the AppleCare certificate and software in today's mail. As reported in this thread, the AppleCare protection plan software provided was TechTool Deluxe, version 3.1.1. When this app is loaded, it warns that it has not been fully tested with Mac OS X 10.5.1. The software loads anyway.
I called AppleCare to inquire about this. They said that, as long as the TechTool Deluxe product was installed from an AppleCare disk, then when Software Update runs, it checks to see if a newer version of TT Deluxe is available from MicroMat. If it is, then it is downloaded and installed just like Apple software.So, according to the guy I spoke with, a free upgrade to TT Deluxe would be made available once it is released by MicroMat. The key is to have TT Deluxe from your AppleCare disk installed on your system.
The tech support guy said that the TechTool Deluxe 3.1.1 system check is a non-destructive process. However, he warned that if TT Deluxe 3.1.1 offered to repair a problem it found (with volume structures, for example), do NOT have TT Deluxe attempt any repairs.
Brad

Data Recovery AFTER TechTool Deluxe "Repair" ?

Hello,
I have a PB from Fall 2005 (1.5 Ghz, 512 Ram, superdrive, 80 GB) running 10.4. Recently, performance really started to lag, so I began diligent monitoring and ordered an external HD to perform a more comprehensive backup. For the last week, although SMART status was verified on the internal HD, I've been running on a bootable external drive (that was too full to perform a full backup of the current system). When the new external drive arrived yesterday, I installed 10.4 onto a fresh partition and prepared to copy all my files over from the internal drive. Of course, in the midst of this process, but before I could begin the file transfer, the internal drive decided to die and list SMART status as failed. From previous TechTool and other diagnoses, I believe the issue was just a horribly corrupted directory rather than any real physical damage (despite being forced to use numerous hard shut downs due to a stalled, all-but-frozen system in the recent past).
Now, here's the crux of my question: I ran TechTool Deluxe (the version that is packaged with Apple Care) and again it reported a bad directory. I had to safe boot on the external drive to get the computer to complete log in, otherwise it stales as it "searches for local drives." So the drive was not mounting, but it was recognized by both Disk Utility and Tech Tool. Feeling that it was my only option, I decided to go ahead and let Tech Tool repair the volume structure. Tech Tool was "successful" but now I am left with a hard drive that mounts but only shows my applications and library folders, along with a folder full of gibberish index files. No system folder, no users folder.
Is there a way to step back from this repair? Apple Support suggested trying to use Disk Utility again to verify the disk, but I'm highly dubious. I've heard of Alsoft DiskWarrior and ProSoft's Data Rescue II--but I don't know if either are something that will work after-the-fact now that Tech Tool has done its damage. I also talked to Drive Savers and they're quoting $500-2400, with $1600+ the cost of anything approximating full recovery.
Any suggestions on methods, preferred vendors, etc? I've backed up sporadically and have fresh copies of most of my key documents, and 75-90% of my music, but I'd lose all my photos and my crucial contacts, emails, and calendars.
I've done some searches and found slightly similar issues to my particular problem (ie http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1150247?).
I'll be monitoring this closely if I left any details out that would help in providing a recommendation.

Hi,
Thanks for your comments. I actually have not been able to boot from the "repaired" drive. It no longer mounts and disk utility reports it had a "fatal hardware error." I can still mount fine from either of my two external drives. Here's the current update. I downloaded the demo of Data Rescue II from Prosoft and am letting it performa thorough scan of my hard drive. It was about 2 hours from completion after 10 hours of scanning when I left for work this morning. If it turns up anything, I'll go ahead and buy the full version. If not, unless this board turns up anything else, yes, it looks like DriveSavers (or a similar alternative?).

My 5 yr old 2 GHz Intel Core Duo 20" iMac, right after I disconnected an external HD that had been on the desktop (i.e. I forgot to eject it properly), started displaying video anomalies (lines); testing (TechTool Deluxe 3.1.3) indicates the video is f

My 5 yr old 2 GHz Intel Core Duo 20" iMac, right after I disconnected
an external HD that had been on the desktop (i.e. I forgot to eject it
properly), started displaying video anomalies (lines); testing
(TechTool Deluxe 3.1.3) indicates the video is failing.
The graphics card is an ATI Radeon X1600. Is this reasonably
replaceable? If so, is the "MPC ClientPro 434 All In One ATI MXM X1600
PCIe 128MB Video Card" I found on eBay (for $25, used) essentially the
same unit?
My soldering skills are, sadly, poor.
And it only dawned on me a couple days ago that because this iMac does
not have a Core 2 Duo processor, it will not be able to enter the
"Lion" generation.
Thanks,
Patrick
PS Are manuals for this model available? I have a copy of the Peachpit
Apple Training Series "Desktop and Portable Systems, Second Edition"
but it only goes up to the G5 20" iMac. There doesn't appear to be a
3rd or later edition in the series.

My 5 yr old 2 GHz Intel Core Duo 20" iMac, right after I disconnected
an external HD that had been on the desktop (i.e. I forgot to eject it
properly), started displaying video anomalies (lines); testing
(TechTool Deluxe 3.1.3) indicates the video is failing.
The graphics card is an ATI Radeon X1600. Is this reasonably
replaceable? If so, is the "MPC ClientPro 434 All In One ATI MXM X1600
PCIe 128MB Video Card" I found on eBay (for $25, used) essentially the
same unit?
My soldering skills are, sadly, poor.
And it only dawned on me a couple days ago that because this iMac does
not have a Core 2 Duo processor, it will not be able to enter the
"Lion" generation.
Thanks,
Patrick
PS Are manuals for this model available? I have a copy of the Peachpit
Apple Training Series "Desktop and Portable Systems, Second Edition"
but it only goes up to the G5 20" iMac. There doesn't appear to be a
3rd or later edition in the series.

Techtool deluxe on osx lion does not run video ram test

I ran Techtool Deluxe after having installed OS X Lion. When it gets to the Video Ram test it quits. If I disable this test all is fine. What's wrong with testing video ram on OSX Lion?
Thanks.
G

Same problem. I've been having a lot of weird issues ever since Lion. Safari has crashed about ten times in the last two days and my mac keeps logging off all by its self. It seems that Techtool Deluxe and Lion don't go well together...when it starts it says that it hasn't been tested with Lion, and they no longer include it with AppleCare, so it seems that apple has discontinued the application. I'd say that from here on out, Techtool Deluxe will simply be a memory of the past...so probably just don't use it anymore.

TechTool Deluxe appearantly deactivated my hard disc

I can't start up my 17" G5 iMac anymore. I used TechTool Deluxe from my Apple Care Protection Plan CD and it found errors on my hard disc. TechTool was not able to solve the problems with the disc and after quitting the application it never shut down the iMac correctly. Since then my hard disc seems to be inactive somehow. Starting the iMac up from my original Mac OS X Software CD and then starting the Disc Utility it shows the internal hard drive greyed out and it seems to be deactivated. Pressing Disc Utility's "Activate Volume" button doesn't do anything, though!
What can I do now? I need to activate the interndal drive again so my computer can start up again!

I hold down Option-Comand-P-R then start the iMac. It bongs once, then it bongs again, then the grey start up screen appears, then it simply turns itself off again without making a thirg bong. It doesn't even show a blue OS X start screen. What's wrong?

TechTools Deluxe (Re: Video RAM and reinstall)

I have the annoying screen inverter/logic board whine (yes I know this has been talked to death here), sometimes not so bad and sometimes I can hear it over a desktop PC is the bearing going out in one of the fans. I happen to be visiting family in a city with an Apple Store this weekend, so I thought I would talk to a real person face to face. Anyways, I ran the TechTools Deluxe CD that I received a week of so after I got my MacBook Pro. To see if there was anything else besides, my whine to mention to them and will you look what came up
Video RAM
Failed
Video RAM, as all components of your video circuitry, must be fully functional for graphics to be properly displayed. Damaged VRAM can cause missing bits, screen noise, system lock ups, or freezes. TechTool Deluxe tests the VRAM on the Macintosh main logic board, as well as some third-party video cards.
If the VRAM test should fail, try these steps in order and run the test again after each step:
o Quit all other applications.
o Restart the system.
o Check any recently-added hardware for proper installation.
o Run the computer from another volume (if available).
o Reinstall the OS.
o Contact AppleCare.
I have done everything except reinstall the OS and contact AppleCare.
Anyways I wanted to know first of all if anyone else had gotten this error and if so did a reinstall fix it? Secondly how hard is the reinstall, I come from years and years of DOS, 3.1, 95, 98, Me, and XP, and one thing all of them have tought me, is reinstalls are horrible, drivers don't work again, ect. So is OSX easy or should I just ask them to look at it this weekend?
Oh and the Apple Diagnostic on the OSX cd 1 says everything is fine.

Well the apple test (on disk 1 of OSX) states that nothing is wrong. Though I will test again when the temp gets high since some people had been detecting problems.
as for 10.4.6 I downloaded it the other day.
I repaired the permissions had a couple things that it corrected (I don't know if I posting them would do any good) Out of curiousity how to permissions get incorrect? I'm so used to the windows file structure and DOS before that that i am a little confused. The last apple used alot before this macbook was an old Applee IIE.
and the TechTools still says there is an error, every time I have run the test. Though there have been some differences when I reboot or turn of and wait a second and then restart.

Can't Create a Bootable DVD of TechTool Deluxe

I am trying to create a bootable dvd of TechTool Deluxe (from AppleCare) and it just isn't working.
I have followed the instructions to the letter, but when I try to boot from the disk (either by holding down C or changing the startup disk before restarting) all I get is a gray screen that eventually shuts down to black and tries to start again.
I've tried the disk on my brand new 24" iMac as well and it isn't working there either. I previously made a TechTool Deluxe disk for my Mac Mini (now sold) and it did work, so I am confused as to why there is a problem now.
Thanks for any advice!

Bottom line here is that the TechTool Deluxe from my AppleCare for my MacBook is not bootable on my MacBook.
That's because that disc does not have the right bootROM on it.
Don't worry about it. That TechTool Deluxe disc that comes with AppleCare is a Mickey Mouse lite version of Tech Tool Pro. The idea is to get you to buy TTP.
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'

Techtool Deluxe don't works with Mac OS X 10.7.x Lion...

Hello,
i have installed Mac OS X Lion on my iMac from Late 2009 and buy it with Apple Care Protection here in Germany.
The Progam Techtool Pro does not work under Lion. Installing succesfull and display when starting an Error-Message (Techtool Deluxe not tested under Lion)
Where have any question for recommend Update. The Techtool Pro works only with Mac OS X 10.4.x too 10.6.x ...?
Thanks for Questions.
albiez1964

My new Mini comes with the internal power supply and the cord that comes with it is too short. Is it safe to use an extension cord with it?
Also, is there anyway to turn off the start-up chime? I have headphones plugged into it and with my older Mini as long as I did that I didn't hear the chimes.
Last, what happened to the up and down arrows to navigate? I usually use the mouse scroll wheel but my mother can't because of carpal tunnel (she got my old Mini).
You can use an extension cord however personally I would not. I would however recommend getting a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Source.) You can find them at your local office supply store, Costco, Best Buy or local computer store. A much safer solution and it offers an additional layer of protection for your computer investment.
Regarding the start up chime, there are utilities for turning it off. You can find them by doing a Google Search however once again I'd recommend against it because the chime is an important part of the startup sequence. That being said why are you turning off the computer, please read your owners manual! If you insist on shutting down your computer rather than letting it sleep then simply turn down the sound prior to shutting it down.
In the current version of OS X Lion Apple has removed the scroll bars, You can turn them back on though in System Preferences - General - Show Scroll Bars. Lion is new and it's different, some things you may like some you may not. I would recommend reading MacWorlds review on it at:
http://www.macworld.com/article/161026/2011/07/osx_lion_review.html

TechTool Deluxe (applecare CD) unmounted my hard drive

I'll just detail what happened, any and all suggestions would be helpful.
1. Ran Permission repair utility: everything checked out
2. Ran Disk repair utility: Catalog error found
3. Rebooted mac with techtool deluxe cd.
4. Enabled all tests (including volume structure test)
5. All tests check out fine save for volume structure: which is what I expected
6. prompted me to "repair" drive, clicked "ok"
7. After repair successfully completed rebooted mac
8. Kernel Panic upon reboot
9. After multiple reboots, restarted from Tiger install disk.
10. According to Tiger install disk, main hard drive is "unmounted" and un-journaled
11. Re-started again from TechTool Deluxe Cd
12. Ran Tests again (this time only Volume Structure) Passed
TechTool completely recognizes my hard drive, and everything on it (correct amount of space used etc. While OSX says I have nothing on it, and refuses to boot normally without the aid of a CD. What are my options at this point?

Hi Jason, and a Warm Welcome to the Power Mac G5 Forum!
There is some(!) discussion of this problem here
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=120264&start=0&tstart=0
And some stable door here
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301269
You could try (if you haven't already) using the Disk Utility on the 10.4 retail disk to Mount and Repair the boot drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1018.html
You may be able to use Firewire TDM to access the drive, if you have another Mac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
and try Disk Utility from there - and maybe rescue your data, if you need to.
I haven't read it all the way through... but the early posts seem to have ended in an Erase and Install of OS X; Disk Warrior did not appear to help - but is a useful Utility to have, so may be worth a try
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html
and highly-recommended by many in this Forum.
You can download and burn a current TechTool CD here
https://support.apple.com/techtooldeluxe/main?id=dl
- if you have AppleCare, of course.
Good Luck.

TechTool Deluxe contradictory results

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