TM backuo disk malfunctioning

Hello,
Time Machine quit backing up a few days ago, and I realized my external backup hard drive icon had disappeared from my desktop. Tried rebooting, etc. but no change. Here's the perplexing part...System Profiler shows "Unknown Device" under FireWire. So, I went to Disk Utility to verify/repair the disk and Disk Utility can't see the disk at all. Part of my operating system can see it and part can't?!? I'm hearing a soft "ticking" sound coming from the power supply cord/box. The external drive is a LaCie d2 and it's max one year old. If the drive is dead, this will be the second LaCie drive to die on me in less that a year. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to troubleshoot this?
Thanks

Hi
LaCie build quality strikes again. Judging by the ticking sound coming from the PSU odds are it's that that's causing the problem. In my experience generally the drive itself is actually OK, although you never know? I regularly deal with LaCie requesting RMAs for their products and PSUs for their external drive products regularly fail - amongst other things. If the drive is still within warranty (2 years) then you should be able to apply for a replacement by visiting their website or by taking it back to where you purchased it from.
In the meantime if you have access to a another similar drive's PSU you should be able to use that. Something you could consider is to purchase another one just in case the first one packs up. They're cheap enough.
Tony

Similar Messages

Hard disk malfunction, what's the next step?

After I upgraded to Tiger version 10.4.9, my PB would boot more slowly each time, but would eventually make it to the desktop. Thinking it was software related, I ran Applejack, which said the directory was corrupt. In another discussion topic, I was advised to run Disk Warrior with the 'C' key depressed, and this turned up a "disk malfunction" that prevented the disk directory from being rebuilt or replaced. The good thing is the data is still there...at least, last I saw.
I then connected a firewire cable, hooking the sick PB to a healthy PB, put the ill PB into target mode and tried to grab the files I needed. While I was doing that, the sick PB froze. I tried again, froze again.
I was advised then to try Data Rescue, which I did and nothing happens. Never boots the bootable CD and never runs anything.
Now when I try to boot up the ill PB, it takes forever to get to the desktop or never gets there at all. It twice (not in a row) beeped once, then flashed the sleep light, started up but nothing happened. Mostly, it never sounds the startup chime, seems to start up with the bolt running, but never makes it to the desktop. Connecting the firewire gets it into target mode using 'T' but the drive never shows up on the healthy PB.
Judging from what you've heard, can you confirm it's a hardware problem? And if yes, what must I do now since there is no Apple store in Greece and I'm a frustrated American journalist who needs to desperately retrieve the data inside since I believe my last backup was 3 months ago (I know, I know, my bad!).
Anything else I should check? Any suggestions I can try myself? I'm obviously not an expert, so if this involves something like swapping out the hard drive, I'll likely need to call someone since that sounds scary.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer me input.

Hi Kat,
Almost certain it's a hardware issue (actually sounds like two: based on scrambled directory, first is HD, but then it won't boot/run properly from a utilities disc, which sounds like maybe logic board or RAM). My next move would be to take the HD out and try it in an external enclosure. If at any point, trying anything, you are able to access, don't try getting everything on the HD; start with the most important files and go from there.
Removing the HD really isn't that big of a deal; skilled person maybe 10 minutes, first-timer who can follow step by step instructions and can use a screw driver (actually it's a Torx bit, different shape head than a screwdriver), maybe 30-40 minutes. Directions are right in your manual, or at ifixit.com, or in Apple's support area:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=95131

Speed Inhibited by disk malfunction

Hi - my mac mini has been constantly crashing and difficult to start up. On running disk warrior it has warned of an impending system failure.
I'm now trying to rebuild the directory but it has stuck for several hours on locating the directory data with the advice 'speed inhibited by disk malfunction'.
Should I carry on running this or does it sound like a lost cause and needing an erase and install or possibly a new hard drive?
Thanks in advance!

It sounds to me that your hard drive is either sufficiently 'failed' that the MacOS install can't be read from it and thus isn't bootable, or that the directory damage was such that the MacOS install is no longer usable. Either way, the flashing question mark shows that the system can't find a bootable MacOS on the system.
If SMART status shows as failing, the probability is that the drive is no longer viable. At best you should attempt to rescue what data you can if you have not already backed up your files/documents etc.
If you have the original install disk that came with the system, you could try and boot to that and see if you are able to reinstall MacOS on the internal drive, but it is likely you will have to reformat thew drive to stand much chance of success - which of course will cause all your data to be lost unless you have taken backups of it.
In this situation, I'd obtain a suitable external drive, use the original install disk to partition it to the GUID scheme if the mini is an intel model, and install MacOS on that, then boot the system to that to get it running again. After that, I'd copy all important data off the internal drive (possibly requiring Prosoft Data Rescue II - which is an excellent data recovery tool) and then attempt to reformat the internal and reinstall MacOS. If that operation fails, I'd then replace the internal, but in the meantime the external would still permit the system to be used as normal.

2 HD disks malfunction on NAS400

i have a NAS400 with 4x2TB disks. it become bad. I checked the status on Disk Volume setting. it shows one as Normal, one as Abnormal. and two others are Good.
is there anyway to recover the 2 Normal/Abnormal disks or they are just bad. WD disks don't seem that all reliable.

Hello wsun2,
Is your NAS400 a seagate brand?
Like what is displayed on this site: http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/network-storage/business/blackarmor-nas-400/
There is NMH400 from linksys but it is only capable of 2 hard drive.

Disk Utility and DiskWarrior trouble with external hard-drive.

I got an external hard-drive that doesn't show up on finder. On both Disk Utility and DiskWarrior it keeps mounting and unmounting. Disk Utility when trying to repair, spits this out when it unmounts...
2011-07-28 22:43:43 -0700: Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
2011-07-28 22:43:43 -0700: Error: Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup.
2011-07-28 22:43:43 -0700: : Some information was unavailable during an internal lookup.
2011-07-28 22:43:43 -0700: [DUDiskController mountDisk] expecting DUDisk, but got nil
On DiskWarrior it simply says 'Directory cannot be rebuilt due to disk hardware failure (-36,2747)
Earlier today it would stay mounted and Disk Utility would spit out...
Verify and Repair volume “Back-up Hard Drive”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Invalid sibling link
Rebuilding catalog B-tree.
Invalid node structure
The volume Back-up Hard Drive could not be repaired.
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
while DiskWarrior would try to fix it, but on
Step 5: Locating directory date...
Speed reduced by disk malfunction: 339,474, er make that 340,239, er make that 341,327
and I finally gave up there.
I try to fix the Invalid sibling link error via Terminal and I get this...
imac-2:~ Migrated$ fsck_hfs -r /dev/disk2s2
** /dev/rdisk2s2 (NO WRITE)
Can't open /dev/rdisk2s2: Resource busy
Is there ANY THING I can do to get it to stay mounted and possibly fix this? This is my back-up hard-drive!!

It's the cord that's being used that decides if it shows up, or if it shows up and then goes away over and over. Using a cord where it stays on in the programs, when I run Disk Utility of the darked out part of the hard-drive, it spits out...
Verifying and repairing partition map for “MICRONET”
Checking prerequisites
Checking the partition list
Checking for an EFI system partition
Checking the EFI system partition’s size
Checking the EFI system partition’s file system
Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
Reviewing boot support loaders
Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
Updating Windows boot.ini files as required
The partition map appears to be OK
while the part of the disk just below it that's light spits out
Verifying volume “Back-up Hard Drive”
Checking file system
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Back-up Hard Drive”
Starting repair tool:
Checking file system
Volume repair complete.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Disk Utility stopped repairing “Back-up Hard Drive”: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
while DiskWarrior tries to rebuild it and spits out a memory error.

Disk Malfuction

Hello,
A friend of mine has an eMac 700 MHz, and he keeps on getting the rainbow wheel frequently while using his computer. I have ran Onyx and cleared all caches, ran scripts, and repair permissions, but still it keeps on popping up. The ball usually stays up for five minutes, even if no programs are open. It also happens when the computer starts up; it will show the desktop picture, but the wheel will just spin for a while. At times the computer it even seems to stop responding at all - yesterday when I was taking a look at it, we had to push the power button for a force shut down at least 5 to 6 times. Moreover, during start up, the computer will come to the screen with the apple logo and the little wheel spinning below it, and it will just remain on that screen and won't move past it (trust me, we waited for an hour or so) - once again, force shut down.
I ran Disk Warrior and fixed a number of errors, but it said that the directory could not be rebuilt because of a "Disk Malfunction" and a comparison between the new and old directories could now be shown because the directory was too severely damaged. (I started up from the CD, BTW.)
Do all these problems seem directory-related? Any solutions?
Thanks!

Haha, yeah, I really think that would solve the problem, but the only problem with that is my friend has so many, literally, some documents, programs with valuable information, and 4-6,000 pictures, maybe even more, and tons of music - so our problem ultimately is backing all that up.

Restore Files & App's From Damaged Start-Up Disk (10.4) to New Disk (10.5)

I appreciate any help all of you can give me. This is kind of a weird one, so I'll try and be brief. I have a G5 that had problems with a malfunctioning start-up disk. I purchased a new hard drive and went to install 10.4 and found that it was an upgrade disk, not an original install disk. As the computer had a former owner, I originally purchased it and all of its software from him but evidently I only got the 10.4 Upgrade disk from him, not the full install. I have since purchased Leopard and installed it on the new start-up disk. Diskwarrior and Disk Utility will both allow me to open my old disk in a read-only manner, but I'm wondering now if there is an easy way to move all of my app's, files, email's, etc. over to the new disk.
I did partition the disk so that I could make an image and copy over the old disk to the new partitioned volume, but since it would then have a copy of 10.4 on it will this cause issues with my start-up volume running 10.5? Will my app's run alright under Leopard? What about running the files from that disk? Also since I had directory issues, I'm worried that by making an image and copying to the new one I may create more issues (Diskwarrior would not replace the old directory due to a disk malfunction).
I could reinstall most of the app's (include Final Cut Studio, Adobe After Affects, etc.) but I'm just not looking forward to going through each one individually. Also, is there an easy way to copy over my user files (doc's, email's, etc.) from that old drive?
The biggest thing is I just don't want to screw up the new drive and install. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Did you do the Super Duper clone before you tried to reinstall the OS? If so, the original install disc is likely earlier than 10.4.11, and that may be why you are getting the message.
When trying to reinstall the OS, did you select the "Archive and Install" option? If not, you might try that. Here's a link that might help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1103.html
Good luck!

My ebay nightmare - faulty disk upon arrival

Just bought a 15" powerbook from an ebayer and unfortunately my experience has been, so far, less then happy. I have two PB 12" that I love and I bought this machine for a friend after convincing him, for months, of the merits of Macs. Got the machine and I'm having major disk problems. Luckily I don't have a data recovery issue since the machine is brand new.
First off, here are the specs:
Powerbook G4 15", 1Ghz, 768MB, 60GB HD
Model#: A1046
Apple Certified Refurbished Seriel: RM5100SLNRY (nowhere in the ebay listing did it mention that is was a refurb)
I live in Belize, Central America and I just received this powerbook from a solid seller off of ebay who claimed in his ad that the computer was in "good working condition". I truly hope this seller did not intentionally sell me something he knew would be DOA, but this remains to be seen. Sending the thing back to the US for repairs represents a HUGE pain in the ***.
Here is what has happened so far:
1) Opened PB for the first time. Seller claimed he was installing a fresh copy of 10.4.7, so I figured I just start right up instead of bothering with a fresh install myself.
2) First thing I noticed is that the chime took a full 10 seconds, the gray screen and apple take a full 12 seconds after the chime. Never does boot with regular startup, stuck on gray apple with no spinning wheel, just sits at the apple. This is very different from my two 12" PBs that both boot quickly and smoothly.
3) Decided to go directly to fresh install (full erasure), worked fine, zero errors or hangups.
4) Upon reboot, same thing, stuck at gray apple logo.
5) Reboot attempt into verbose mode - FAILED
6) Reboot attempt into single-user mode - FAILED
7) Reboot attempt into safe mode - FAILED (5/6/7 all get stuck on gray apple logo, have never been able to get into these modes)
8) Back into disk utlity, disk shows up fine
9) Ran verify/repair, each time it gives me different results
a) "repairing disk failed - cannot unmount"
b) "invalid sibling link"
c) Checking Catalog file -> Invaild Code Structure -> Volume Check failed -> Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
d) or it simply gives a clean bill of health
10) This is the weird part, the test is different almost every time I run it
11) dmesg is reporting the following lines at the end:
disk0s3: I/O error
12) When I run "sh /etc/rc", I get the following before the machine forces me to reboot.
registermach_bootstrapservers: bootstrap_register(): 1101 (repeated 10+ times)
Launching Crash Reporter
Crash Log shows nothing at all
13) Ran Diskwarrior, identified several errors, apparently "rebuilds" them. While running, gives the following error:
(Speed inhibited by disk malfunction)
PB will still not boot, nothing has changed.
14) Messed around with boot partition position/sizes, using disk utility. Created a 10GB "boot" partition and a put the remainder into "data"... reloaded OSX, again with the "FULL ERASE" option... now the machine will actually get into VERBOSE and SINGLE-USER modes, only to tell me "disk0s3: I/O error" once again. Now the spinning wheel comes on with all boot attempts, but still will not boot.
15) At this point, I ran Diskwarrior again, says "boot" partition is in use and it cannot rebuild...
16) Ran DW on "data", still giving the "speed inhibited by disk malfunction" error while running, many errors corrected
17) Ran DW on "boot", still giving the "speed inhibited by disk malfunction" error while running, many errors corrected
And in the end, it still doesn't boot... and I'm actually back to the original state with no diagnostic boot capabilities.
I'm sure I need a new drive, but you can imagine how ****** I am that was sold to me as a machine "in good working order"... I don't "blame" the seller, but this really *****... Because I am in Central America, getting a new drive and replacing it is NOT GOING TO BE FUN.
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.
Powerbook(s) Mac OS X (10.4.7)

You can use a program as Tech Tool Pro 4. It can install a bootable eDrive on your HD or you can read below.
From the Finder Help Menu:
Partitioning a hard disk:
Use Disk Utility to partition a disk into sections, or "volumes," each of which works like a separate disk. You might want to partition a disk so that you can have different versions of the Mac OS, or organize your information in a logical manner.
Partitioning a disk erases all the files on the disk. If you have any files on the disk you want to save, be sure to make a copy of them on another disk before you partition the disk.
You cannot partition the disk that you started up from. If you want to partition the startup disk, you must restart your computer using your Mac OS X Install disc, as described below. Because partitioning will erase your hard drive, you should back up your hard disk before proceeding.
To learn more about using Disk Utility, open Disk Utility, in the Applications/Utilities folder, and choose Help > Disk Utility Help.
To partition your startup disk:
Insert the Mac OS X Install disc and restart the computer.
When you hear the startup tone, hold down the C key until you see the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
When the Installer appears, choose Utilities > Disk Utility.
Select your disk from the list, and click Partition.
Select how you want to partition the disk and any options you want, then click the Partition button at the bottom of the window.
Quit Disk Utility.
When the Installer opens again, you can install Mac OS X on one of the partitions.
If you want to use another disk as the start-up disk, choose Utilities > Startup Disk and choose it.
MJ

Problem with external Lacie disk

Hi!
I have some serious problems with my Lacie 250GB Porche disk.
The disk shows up on my desktop but it does not allow me to read and write to it. Apple's disk tool does not manage to fix the disk. I have tried running Diskwarrior, but it gives me an error saying that the disk could not be rebuilt due to a disk malfunction. I am now using Techtool Pro 4.0.4. I have not used Techtool before, only DW. Im running a process called "Recover Files Using Directory Data"...is this the one I should be using? The manual was'nt all that clear about this...Please please help me as I have 44GB of client projects on this disk.
Thanks in advance,
Tom - Norway

Hi Richard!
Thanks for your response!
I have now bought Data Rescue II from ProSoft:
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/datarescueinfo.php
It seems that the problem is my external harddrive and not the machine. I get read errors when I try to open projects in Photoshop / Indesign etc.
There are of course companies that can retrieve my data, but thats like my last solution cause they cost loads of money
Hoping that Data Rescue can clone my data to this new hd. The process seems to be taking days... 165.2 hours left and it has been working for two days now
Tom - Norway

The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. The disk could not be read from...

Screenshot of error message: http://i49.tinypic.com/2ecp3sw.jpg
I tried deleting my library file and starting over with a new library, reimporting my music. Then, once again, I get this message:
"The iTunes Library file cannot be saved. The disk could not be read from or written to." with a checkbox that asks if I would like not to be warned of this again.
Information that might be relevant:
My iTunes files (everything but the application file) is located on my external HD (formatted for mac and has only been used on macs) and is connected via USB.
The external HD makes noises whenever it tries to save the library file, so it's obviously trying to write to the HD.
The iTunes folder creates a temporary file every single time this happens, but it is gone once the error comes up.
None of this happened (after reimporting my music to the new library) until I turned Genius on. Turning Genius off and deleting the Genius file hasn't stopped it, either.

ok--same scenario but
Running Disk Utility says: Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Trying to drag-drop the iTunes library folder from the ext HD to the internal MacBookPro HD gets: "The Finder can’t complete the operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50)."
DiskWarrior was able to access the drive and created a preview drive, but said:
DiskWarrior has successfully built a new directory for the disk named "My Book." The new directory cannot replace the original directory because of a disk malfunction.! It is highly recommended that you backup all of your data from the preview disk.! But when I try to transfer (off either the MyBook HD or the DW preview version of MyBook I get: The operation can’t be completed because the item “xyz” is in use.

Should I give up on Disk Utility?

My husband gave me new RAM for my birthday. It's made by IBM, not some generic company, he made sure it's the right type for my eMac, etc. I previously had a 128 stick and a 256 stick; I replaced the 128 with this 512.
That was Tuesday; today, Firefox randomly froze. He tried force quitting, which took forever. We had terminal open, and tried to run top from there, but it was saying command not found - which is odd, b/c I've used top tons of times to check what might be slowing things down. All sorts of things were freezing up at this point.
Eventually we quit out of everything, went to the force quit box, and relaunched finder, which was highlighted red. Finder quit but never relaunched. All I had was a blank desktop, the force quit dialog (empty), and the dock, which didn't seem to do much.
So we rebooted, and it came up a flashing ?. Tried rebooting with option held down, it showed two arrow buttons, neither of which did anything (well, one arrow made it think for a while THEN do nothing). We shut down the computer, and replaced the new RAM with the old RAM. I hadn't had a problem like this since I first bought the computer 3 years ago, and it turned out to be faulty RAM which Apple replaced.
Still wouldn't boot with the old RAM. Reset the PRAM, nothing. Finally put in the install disk and tried Disk Utility.
We've been playing with Disk Utility ever since. It keeps changing between "Invalid Node Structure," "Keys Out of Order," and a couple of times "Invalid Sibling Link," though it hasn't given us that in a while. It's mostly INS, with a few KOoO thrown in. It claims to repair it every time, haven't gotten any errors or anything but also haven't gotten an all clear.
Is there any chance that DU will be able to fix this? I'd really rather not drop $80 on Disk Warrior, but it's certainly better than a new computer. I know that sometimes you have to run fsck many times before it cleans everything up, is DU similar?
Also, is it likely the new RAM causing the problem? Is there any way to know for sure? We might have to prove the RAM is faulty if we want to get it replaced.

Okay, so I ran to CompUSA and got DiskWarrior. (I didn't want to wait a week for it to get here from a website, I need my computer back.)
It's hanging on Step 5: Locating directory data...
It says "(Speed inhibited by disk malfunction)". It seems to still be doing something - the striped bar moved every now and then (every 30 seconds or so).
I cancelled it after letting it run for a couple hours, and used the hardware check on DW - it said my disk was fine. It's unclear whether the top bar moved in that time. This time, I've marked where the top bar was when it hit the slowdown so that in a few hours I can see if it's made any progress at all...
It doesn't say it can't do anything, just that the speed is "inhibited"... Has anyone else seen this? Should I just let it run, maybe overnight? Is it likely to ever finish? What are my options now?
Thanks for your help so far.
I'm starting to worry that, in the process of flipping it over to install the new RAM, I somehow hurt the hard drive... Though this computer has never been that delicate before!

PB G3 Pismo-Stalls, Hard Disk Disappears

[NOTE - This message originally posted in Older Hardware discussion group. One response appears at end of original message.]
PB G3 firewire (Pismo)
OS 10.4.2
Fastmac G4 550 processor
576 mb RAM
Western Digital 60 MB HD (replacing Toshiba 40 mb HD that I thought was problem)
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM
The computer starts and works fine for a while until, without any discernible trigger (except maybe physically moving the PB), the PB stalls (twirling rainbow colored disk). Sometimes it first stalls in one application (so I can switch to other apps or the finder using the Command-Tab keys), but eventually it stalls in all apps. Force Quit option (keyboard or menu-activated) does not function. The only option is to shut down and restart. Sometimes it restarts, other times just a flashing question mark in the floppy disk icon.
If I happen to be in Word when the stall occurs (or is about to occur), I first get a dialague box telling me Word can't read from or write to the open file, saying there must be a bad network or floppy disk connection. I can usually quit Word when that dialogue appears, but restarting Word does nothing to fix the problem. Instead, I have to restart the PB.
With the flashing "?," I can hear the HD trying to start spinning again and again, but nothing happens. As noted below, starting with Diskwarrior has at least once resulted in Diskwarrior not being able to find the HD.
ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS
Run the latest version of Diskwarrior. Does not solve the problem. Sometimes, Diskwarrior cannot even find the hard disk.
Replace the HD - did that switching the Toshiba for the Western Digital drive. The Toshiba works fine in a Firewire HD case. The problem can't be HD.
Reinstall OS X and applications - done multiple times, both archive and clean installs.
Make sure RAM is properly seated.
Reset PRAM.
WHAT'S WRONG?
I think the problem is hardware related (other than HD).
Any suggestions for what to look at and in what order? For example: G4 processor bad; RAM bad (but symptoms don't seem consistent with that); power/charge card bad; something with the heat sink; something with the cable that attaches to the HD.
Is there a way of checking these short of replacing them one by one?
Appreciate any help I can get.
Ken
On 12:04pm Sep 15, 2005 CDT, jpl wrote:
Subject: RE: PB G3 Pismo-Stalls, Hard Disk Disappears
Ken,
Welcome to the discussions!
A very good description of the problem! You obviously have covered a lot of territory troubleshooting this issue and it certainly appears to be a hardware-related.
I think you have fairly well isolated the problem as I see it:
- stall (spinning beach ball) that eventually occurs in all apps;
- a restart that produces the flashing '?';
- DiskWarrior's occasional failure to find the HD.
I would suggest you have a bad HD ribbon cable or a bad HD IDE bridge on the logic board (or some other issue on the logic board) that develops with heat.
Since you have a FireWire HD with a known-good HD, why don't you use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable clone of your internal HD on the FW HD, then boot to the FW HD and run from it and see if the same issue develops.
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
On 12:41pm Sep 15, 2005 CDT, Ken H wrote:
Subject: RE: PB G3 Pismo-Stalls, Hard Disk Disappears
Thanks for the quick response. I will try what you suggested.
I also was thinking that this may be a heat-related problem, and wonder if maybe I did not put enough - or too much - heat sink compound between the heat exchanger and the processor board. Could it be that simple?
One item I omitted from my original post: before I replaced the Toshiba HD, I noted, when I turned the sleeping PB on its end to carry in my laptop bag), the PB would almost always be stalled when I woke it from sleep, requiring a restart (and too often a directory rebuild using Diskwarrior or an archive

Rebuilt the directory using Diskwarrior, but on the last step received the following error message:
A disk malfunction occurred while writing the replacement directory to the disk. Rebuild this disk again."
Also, this rebuild showed a large number of repairs. When I ran Diskwarrior this morning, it showed there would be no changes to the directory. I've barely used the PB since this morning's rebuild.

IMac start-up disk suddenly becomes full

Hello!
I've got iMac 27 model id: iMac13,2 with 1TB disk with all latest software updates installed. All my files and folders normally count up to 300 GB, so around of 700 GB are free. But some time ago, I saw that my disk is full, 999,2 GB is used. DaisyDisk shows that I have 999,2 GB used, of which files and folder are only 250 or so GB and what is the rest is unknown.
Info in 'About this Mac' -> Storage shows that there is something marked as 'Other' that takes around 750 GB. After few hours the space frees up by itself. And this may repeat 3 or 4 times a week.
The most popular solution on the Internet for the problem when the disk comes full by itself is to switch off Time Machine, that creates local backups while external storage is unavailable. But Time Machine at this Mac is totally switched off so it can't be a reason.
Yesterday it was again 999,2 GB full, but now 700 GB is free. I have run a Hardware test and everything is OK.
What can be a problem? The only thing I suspect is disk malfunction.

To remove files from the 'Other' section you may try resetting your Mac to factory settings.
First of all, back up your system.
Restart your Mac. Once it restarts and the grey screen appears, press and hold the Command and R keys.
Select Disk Utility and click Continue.
Select your startup disk on the left and click the Erase tab.
Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the Format menu, enter a name, and then click Erase.
Select Reinstall OS X, click Continue, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

Dale, Disk Warrior Here

Dale, got disk Warrior, it finally arrived and when I ran it, it says "Detected damage in the wrapper volume information for the disk named "Macintosh HD". The directory cannot be built unless the damage is repaired. It is highly recommended that you repair the wrapper volume information." Then in red "Critical values in the volume info are incorrect and need to be repaired."
What should I do now? Does this mean bad news?
Thanks Mike
p.s. hit the rebuild button, and it says that speed reduced due to disk malfunction...
Message was edited by: bigmikaele

Barry, I know, I was simply sending it to him since he had walked me half way through it all, not intent to exclude anyone else from helping me out. I have always gotten spot on help from the folks on this forum. The reason I didn't finish the message traffic on the previous thread was because someone else was having a similar problem and I piped in on it. The original author of the thread got upset that I was using his thread to ask for the same help to the same problem. I really appreciate your help on this. This is the first time I have had a problem with any of my macs and the help you and Dale have provided is beyond anything I have ever received when I used to own PC's. Thanks a lot!
I am at work right now, but will try running it again this evening when I get home. This is the first computer that I have saved all my stuff to the internal hard drive... I usually save it to an external, but apple has always been great and I have never been concerned with a crash. At any rate, are you saying I can still clone the existing hard drive or that if/when I get this fixed I should do it in the future? I am guessing that I need to have the disk drive that DW is in available for DW. And that I cannot save the stuff off the existing hard drive by selecting it and then swapping the DW disk for a burnable disk. (I am guessing the computer is running off of the DW disk and as soon as I pull it out the computer will no longer run... am I following it right?) I would need to plug an external HD into the computer and then DW should be able to allow me to save the data to the external, do you think?
I am also guessing that if I run DW again and it comes back that it cannot fix it then doing anything further except getting what files DW will let me pull off is not an option...
Barry, just to give you some more back ground information. The computer was in the middle of a software update that was taking a bit of time, my wife got a bit inpatient and tried to shut the computer down using the "blue apple" menu option. When that didn't immediately shut down the computer she did a hard reset (held the power button in until the computer shut down). Then when she turned it back on... grey screen. When I ran DW it did come back with long list of errors it found; too many to recall.
Thanks again for your help, I don't have an external hard drive right now so would have to purchase one (not an issue), and the reason for my question regarding if you thought that the reason DW is not offering me an option to copy files is because the only option is to use the drive that it is using. And if I had another option DW would allow me to use it to save data. The data is really the only thing that I would rather not live without. Even if you are not sure I will probably go ahead and buy one and try it. Hey who knows maybe if I run DW again it will decide that maybe it can fix it...
Again, thanks.
Mike

Disk Warrior failed

I have a 2 year old iMac that won't boot. I purchased disk warrior and while it can read files from the hard drive, it says that there is mechanical error and won't let me replace the directory. When I run the Manual Diagnostics, it tests the ATA Device (Serial) and says:
"This hard drive's built-in S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics indicate that the drive is functioning normally."
Is that my hard drive?
If DiskWarrior cannot replace my files and see the hard drive, do I need a new one?

BTW, DiskWarrior says:
The new directory cannot replace the original directory because of a disk malfunction.

TM backuo disk malfunctioning

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