Unable to reload os or Run Disk utility off osx dvd

Late 2007 Macbook Pro ( 2.53 , 4gb Ram, 320 GB hd) Will Load into osx but has the grey status bar at every boot ( Approximate 10 Mins for full boot) Ran disk utility in osx found issues and says run off DVD to repair the disk. Ran disk utility off the original DVD that came with the mac, wont find the hard drive to run disk utility. try to reinstall the OS. The installer wont find the hard drive? any idea how to resolve the issue so I can re install the OS to remove the grey status bar.

CentCorey wrote:
I can make a partition on the HD.
You'll have to decide which works best for you:
-boot from install disc, partition the external HD, install OS X on it, boot from it and see if HD shows up there so you can try to repair it (make sure you don't wipe out your TM data; your internal HD may not be reliable).
-get DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro or another disk repair utility and see what it can repair (note that these are more expensive than a new HD, but can come in handy to have around).
-get one of the SMART utilities that supposedly tell you more about your HD (I'm not a fan of either of the ones I've seen/tried and am far from confident in their results).
-get a new HD and try restoring from your TM backup.
-get an external enclosure (15 bucks or so for a USB model from newegg, amazon, macsales and others).

Similar Messages

Running Disk Utility off External Hard drive

To run "repair disk" in disk utility on my internal hard drive I'm supposed to insert my Install DVD, restart my mac and run disk utility - however running this program off the disk is much slower than running it off my 800firewire external hard drive. I've tried a few different ways of going about this:
1) Partitioning my hard drive in two (both HFS+) with more than enough room for the DVD, I've tried both making a Disk Image of the Install DVD and dragging it into the source field in the "restore" tab and dragged my Install partition into the destination field, after that was complete, I restarted my computer while holding the "alt" key I wasn't even offered the option to boot to my external hard drive
2) I've also tried after partitioning the external drive, in the restore tab just dragging the Install DVD (not the disk image) from the left of the disk utility window into the "source field" and again the partition into the destination field, and when restarting both with the "alt" key and by going to system preferences -> start up disk and choosing my external drive to boot from, I was still unable to boot off my drive.
Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions! This would be such a big help for me since I'm constantly helping people with diagnostic issues with their macs and this would save me so much time. Thanks in advance
George

I'm not sure why you can't make a bootable copy of the installer DVD using Disk Utility but as Niel suggests, it is much better to install the OS on a partition on the external drive using the DVD & then use that instead of a 'clone' of the DVD as a boot source to run utilities. There are several reasons for this:
1. You can update the installed version of the OS on the external to take advantage of any improvements, including to Disk Utility, that may be released in the future.
2. The version of Snow Leopard that runs from the DVD is a special one that among other things is optimized for read-only media. For instance, it doesn't write log files to the startup disk since it doesn't expect that to be possible.
3. You can include other utilities on the external & easily customize it to your liking. For instance, configure it for automatic login to an admin user account, drop Disk Utility into that account's login items & it will automatically launch at the end of the boot process. You can do the same with shell scripts or Applescript applications for just about as much automation as your scripting skills & imagination can dream up.
However, one thing to keep in mind: since a HD is not read-only but a DVD is, you can never be as certain that your external is as reliable as the DVD, since it is possible for something to change or corrupt files on the HD but short of physical damage the DVD is immutable.

Need to run Disk Utility from OSX Disk to fix my hard drive.. help!

I have a newish early 2010 Macbook Pro. The standard 10.6 DVD will NOT boot my computer and yet I need to boot to DVD to use Disk Utility..
I'm nowhere near my restore disk so using that is not an option. Is there anything I can do to boot to "single user" mode and run Disk Utility so it can repair my HD?
Thanks,
Ricardo

Without your discs you're really out of luck. The 10.6 SL DVD contains too early a version to boot your computer. You would need a retail disc with a version of SL later than the one that came installed on it. If it came with 10.6.3 or earlier then the latest retail copies of SL should be 10.6.4 and would boot the computer.
Meanwhile if the computer is functional download and install AppleJack - CNet Downloads or MacUpdate. Read the documentation then run the utility.
If your computer is not functional then you can try this:
Boot into single-user mode. After startup is completed you will be in command line mode and should see a prompt with a cursor positioned after it. At the prompt enter the following then press RETURN:
/sbin/fsck -fy
If you receive a message that says "*** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ***" then re-run the command until you receive a message that says "** The volume (nameofvolume) appears to be OK." If you re-run the command more than seven times and do not get the OK message, then the drive cannot be repaired this way.
If you were successful then enter:
reboot
and press RETURN to restart the computer.

How to back up when using Disk Utility off the DVD

Hello. i ran into some problems installing snow leopard and can't get back into 10.5. i can only boot into my windows partition. how would i go about creating a back up from Disk Utility being run off of the installation dvd?

If your OS X partition cannot be accessed then you may not be able to back it up. If you have another computer with FireWire then you can try booting the computer into Target Disk Mode. If you can access the drive from the other computer, then you can try recovering your files. Otherwise see the following:
Basics of File Recovery
Files in Trash
If you simply put files in the Trash you can restore them by opening the Trash (left-click on the Trash icon) and drag the files from the Trash to your Desktop or other desired location. OS X also provides a short-cut to undo the last item moved to the Trash -press COMMAND-Z.
If you empty the Trash the files are gone. If a program does an immediate delete rather than moving files to the Trash, then the files are gone. Recovery is possible but you must not allow any additional writes to the hard drive - shut it down. When files are deleted only the directory entries, not the files themselves, is modified. The space occupied by the files has been returned to the system as available for storage, but the files are still on the drive. Writing to the drive will then eventually overwrite the space once occupied by the deleted files in which case the files are lost permanently. Also if you save a file over an existing file of the same name, then the old file is overwritten and cannot be recovered.
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten with recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive.
The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.
Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

Need to run disk utility on iMac G4 with OSX 10.3.9/Hardware disk 10.2.7

I have an iMac G4 currently running with OS X 10.3.9, which was installed on it after it crashed a few years ago. I don't have any retail disks that match OS X 10.3.9, but I have the original manufacturer's hardware disk that came with the computer, which contains Mac OS version 10.2.7.
My question: In order to run disk utility and repair errors on this computer, do I need to purchase a retail version of the OS X 10.3 disk, or is there some way to run disk utility without the proper OSX disk? I read about checking for possible file system issues using fsck with OS X 10.3 or earlier—is fsck a viable option for me?
My computer is not having any substantial problems, but I want to avoid any by running Disk Utility now ...
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

Welcome To  Discussions poptartsheart!
"...OS X 10.3.9, which was installed on it..."
How was it installed, and by whom?
You should have been provided a set of the Full Retail Version, of the Panther Install CDs, at that time.
"I read about checking for possible file system issues using fsck with OS X 10.3 or earlier—is fsck a viable option for me?"
You can run fsck, as instructed in this KB Article Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck, but you really need to have a set of the Panther 10.3.x Full Retail discs.
If you know what to look for, a Full Retail Version, of the Panther Install CDs, can be purchased, sometimes inexpensively, at some online Apple retailers, Amazon, eBay, FastMac, HardCore Mac, AllMac, etc.
ali b

My 3 year-old macbook pro is very slow. I have run disk utility and virus scan with no improvement. The "beach ball" will spin for minutes at a time when opening, closing or changing windows. Apple Store looked at it a few months ago with no help.

my 3 year-old macbook pro is very slow. I have run disk utility and virus scan with no improvement. The "beach ball" will spin for minutes at a time when opening, closing or changing windows. Apple Store looked at it a few months ago with no help. What can I do?

Under CPU: 3.5% user; 5% system; 91% idle; 441 threads; 90 processes.
Under System: out of 2GB - 54.7MB free; 530MB wired; 603MB active; 862MB inactive; 1.95GB used.
Is too much of the system memory tied up? If so, what can I do to free some up?

HT203176 i have a slow macbook, i ran live disk utilities and said I need to repair disk from a cd. did that, I got volume repaired from the external disk. when I reboot from hdd, then run disk utility, I get the same error message i did b4 repair

i have a slow macbook, i ran live disk utilities (from hard drive), turned out I needed to repair disk from a installation disk. Did that, I got the volume (Hard drive) repaired from the installation disk disk. To this point, great!
When I reboot from hdd, then run disk utility, I get the same error message i did b4 repair. I went thru two rounds of this.....
Can anyone help? thanks

Sorry guys, I don't see how to reply to you so I use reply to "me" basically.
So the error I get is "volume header needs minor repair" and then you need to perform repair from the installation disk message.
I did repair not verify from the disk twice. Every time ending in the "the volume had ha been successfully repaired". Then I reboot from the internal disk. Run disk utilities from it, do verify and get the same error message I got before repair. I hope this can shed some light fr you guys. Sorry I didn't include details in the original
MEssage.

How do I run Disk Utility in Tiger?

I want to run Disk Utility and it says I need to run it from a start-up disk, but it won't let me from the installer disk.
How do I make a start-up disk so I can run Disk Utility?

Hi! HERE are the instructions. Tom

URGENT!!!!- INTEL MAC "INVALID SIBLING DISK" error when run disk utility

I am very upset, I ran my verify disk permissions, everything fine, repair disk permissions, everything fine, do t periodically just to mae sure all my stuff is in order,,,, then I decided to run te VERIFY DISK, because do not do it as much and want to mae sure my macbook pro is running fine, and I get:
Verifying volume “minimal minimal”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid sibling link
The volume minimal minimal needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ***?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there is no way of repairing the disk, and when I search for possible solutons it says I need to run it from the original osx installer disk, and even when it does not necessarily repir this error. besides the fact that the original cd is in atlanta and I am currently in barcelona, some say that I would need to reformat my drive and either way this might not solve the problem. I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH IMPORTANT INFORMATION on my macbook pro to reformat, and i do not have the money to buy an external hardrive, I A VERY UPSET, A BRAND NEW COMPUTER, LESS THAN TWO MONTHS OLD, AND ALREADY I HAVE THESE KIND OF PROBLEMS WITH IT, WHERE IS MY SUPPORT?! please tell me, what do i do? I expect a decent, viable slution to the problem. I need my computer ad the information in it, I work from it and also use it to produce music. why would I have this kind of problem, when I search for answers, everything relates to external hardrives, ..... this is my internal hard drive that I am talking about--- WHAT DO I DO?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Perhaps, since you are under warranty, they may have a boot disk to attempt to run disk utility and see if the problem can be repaired before resorting to reformatting. Disk error may occur because of a number of issues (installed software, crashes, shutdowns, physical movement of the drive while disks spinning, etc.)
In addition you may want to boot in the single user mode to access the FSCK command as follows: The following is from the Apple support site
Mac OS X: How to Start up in Single-User or Verbose Mode
You may use a key combination when starting up the computer to enter single-user mode or verbose mode, either of which can be used for troubleshooting and in software development. This document applies to Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server versions 10.0 and later.
Steps to Enter Single-User or Verbose Mode
1. Shut down the computer if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and one of the following:
the "s" key for single-user mode.
the "v" key for verbose mode.
4. To exit single-user mode type: reboot
5. Press Return.
You have successfully entered single-user or verbose mode when you see white text appear on the screen.
Then you may try to repair as follows using the FSCK
fsck is a command-line utility that may be able to verify and repair a disk. If you can successfully start up in Safe Mode or use Disk Utility while started up from a disc, you don't need to use fsck. However, here are some situations in which fsck may be necessary.
Your Mac OS X disc isn't available.
Your optical drive isn't available.
You can't start with a Safe Boot.
Tip: If you use a Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) formatted volume, such as with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, you probably won't need to use fsck. If you do use it for any reason, please be aware that benign error messages can appear.
If you're not sure how your volume is formatted and you can't start up from your Mac OS X volume to find out, type the following command in a command-line interface and then press Return: diskutil info /
If you see "File System: Journaled HFS+" returned, you have a Journaled volume.
To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:
Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line.
Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.
At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy
Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (nameofvolume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
*** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ***
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).
When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.
About live verification in Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later
In Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later, you can verify your Mac OS X volume while started from it. This is known as live verification, and can be used in three different ways.
Option 1: Verify your disk using Disk Utility while started from the startup disk. To find out how to do this, see this article. Please note that live verification does not involve any disk repair, so if verification finds something that should be repaired, start up from your Mac OS X Install disc and use Disk Utility as described above in "Try Disk Utility."
Option 2 (advanced): Use the command line and the command-line utility, diskutil.
Start up your computer and log in as an administrator.
Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return:
diskutil verify /
Note: Don't use this method to check non-startup volumes.
You should see messages such as the following during the disk check:
Could not unmount disk for verification, attempting live verify
Started verify/repair on volume disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
Mounting Disk
Verify/repair finished on volume disk0s3 Macintosh HD
Option 3 (advanced): Use the command line and the fsck_hfs -l command.
Start up your computer and log in as an administrator.
Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities).
At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return to determine your filesytem ID:
df -hl
Look for some lines of text that look like this:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s3 37G 20G 17G 55% /
/dev/disk0s5 37G 37G 641M 98% /Volumes/Storage
Make a note of the first "disk" name that appears after /dev/, such as "disk0s3." This is your filesystem ID for your startup volume.
At the prompt, type the following command and then press Return:
df -hl
Then type the following command, where "disk0s3" is your filesystem ID you noted in step 4, then press Return:
sudo fsck_hfs -l /dev/disk0s3
When prompted, enter your admin password, then press Return to begin the verification.
You should see messages like these during the disk check:
** /dev/rdisk0s3 (NO WRITE)
** Root file system
** Checking HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking Catalog hierarchy.
** Checking Extended Attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK.
Additional Information
If you're interested in UNIX-style command-line syntax, here's a look at how a couple of flags used in our instruction can influence fsck:
The -y flag: Tells fsck that you want to answer "yes" to all questions about fixing, repairing, or salvaging information. This is the optimal approach, as answering "no" to any question causes fsck to stop. You cannot determine that all necessary repairs have been made until fsck completes and gives its final report.
The -f flag: Forces fsck to check "clean" filesystems when preening.
Macbook Pro 17" 7200 HD 1GB Powerbook G4 (15 inch FW 800) Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Macbook Pro 17" 7200 HD 1GB Powerbook G4 (15 inch FW 800) Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Macbook Pro 17" 7200 HD 1GB Powerbook G4 (15 inch FW 800) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Warning when running Disk Utility

I installed Snow Leopard without issue on Friday, but when I run Disk Utility on my hard drive, I get the following message:
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
I never received this message under Leopard. Can anyone tell me if it is a problem I can overlook or a more serious issue? Anything I can do to fix it? Thanks so much!

Everyone is seeing this message. Don't worry about it.
Search the boards for more threads, if you'd like.
~Lyssa

Warnings when running disk utility after downloads, etc.

I use Mc Janitor nightly to clear some of the 'stuff" that accumulates with files, etc. but run Disk Utility after downloads and such about once a month. I have done this since 2003 when I had my first e-mac. Only recently have "warnings " appear on the list of repair or varify disk...that says certain items can not be repaired. The techs at the Apple store said to just ignore them, which I have been doing. But the last download, which was a rather large new Security download, came up with something new, both on my computer and my husband's lap top when he downloaded it. These are letters that appear and say ACL found but not expected on Applications/Utilities, on "Applications" and on "Library."
We are just curious about what ACL is (or are) and what it means to have them in our systems.
It does say that the disk is verified when I run that. Everything seems to be working normally.

A few posts below yours is this one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2310982&tstart=0
New Permissions messages after Security Update/more curious than concerned

When I run disk utility, verify permissions I get "WARNING SUID file system/Library/Coreservices/Remotemanagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAge nt has been modified

When I run disk utility, verify permissions I get "WARNING SUID file system/Library/Coreservices/Remotemanagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAge nt has been modified

Please read Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore.
Roger

Network Installer: Can't run Disk Utility

Hi, all.
Just created a net install image. SIU's log did not report anything out of the ordinary, however for some reason I can't run Disk Utility, and I need to as the automated installation options frequently don't work.
I select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and nothing happens.
I run the Terminal and try hdiutil and get
dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib
Referenced from: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskImages.framework/Versions/A/DiskImages
Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT Trap
Now, if we mount that image on a running Mac we can see the following
bash$ ls -l /usr/lib/libbz*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138436 Nov 1 11:33 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.2.dylib
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138444 Mar 4 10:19 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
If we run the same command on the netbooted machine
bash# ls -l /usr/lib/libbz*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 138436 Nov 1 11:33 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.2.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.1.0.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 18 Nov 29 14:50 /usr/lib/libbz2.dylib -> libbz2.1.0.3.dylib
So it looks like libbz2.1.0.dylib is symlink'd to libbz2.1.0.3.dylib, except libbz2.1.0.3.dylib doesn't exist in the netbooted image. But it does exist in the image when it isn't netbooted! Yes, they are the same image!
I also have two "Help" menus, just for kicks.
Does anybody know what's going on? I guess I'll re-create the image, but it'd be nice to understand what's going on and know if it's something I can somehow avoid in the future.
On the lighter side, this is the first time in nearly a year I haven't had to manually insert the CoreVideo.framework to get the image to boot!

Ah, forget what I said about it being the same image. I didn't notice that my chroot hadn't worked when I was checking... I was checking the live system instead. Good thing, too, 'cause that was just TOO weird.
Still doesn't explain why there's a link to a non-existent file. To test I created a symlink for libbz2.1.0.3.dylib which just points at the previous version. Guess what: Disk Utility works now.
I'm re-creating the image anyway and we'll see if the problem exists on that one as well. If it does, I won't be pleased. That'll be two repeatable bugs that break the NetInstall function for me in a year. Not cool.
Anybody else getting weird output if they type hdiutil in to Terminal at the Network Installer? Or do you have a non-working Disk Utility?

OS X System Freezes While Running Disk Utility repair permissions

While trying to pepair permissions systom freeze up. So I put in the startup disk hit restrat holding down c and tried to repair permissions that way and it froze up that way too. I had to manually turn off machine. What is going on?

Thanks for your response, I only have one disk. 10.5.1 I have 10.6 on usb drive. I will try running Disk Utility from the first DVD and instead of repair permissions try to repair your drives. The reason I was repairing permissions is I have an app called video converter and when I opened it I got an error window. Ok I will try repair disk. If that doesnt work I guess I will have to reinstall the os? Is that right? Ok, here I go to try it.

Does Secure Empty Trash Accomplish the same task as Running disk util to wipe free space

Does using the secure empty trash option accomplish the same task as running disk util to eliminate free space from old deleted files? I'm currently running the 7 pass deal on my late '12 iMac. Says its gonna take 7 hrs. Can I use safari or iTunes while the Big Mac works its magic?

Does using the secure empty trash option accomplish the same task as
running disk util to eliminate free space from old deleted files?
No.
Finder > Empty Trash just tells the file system that those areas on the drive are now available for overwriting with new data. Data deleted off hard drives can be recovered if this method is used before it's overwritten with new data with special software.
Finder > Secure Empty Trash runs a 7x pass military approved overwrite only on the deleted files in the Trash, works for hard drives only.
Disk Utility > Erase Free Space creates a huge file that takes the remaining free space on the volume selected and either writes zeros or 7x pass, then confirms it and then removes the file. Takes a long time to complete, do not interrupt.
This can be used if one forgets to use Secure Empty Trash or wants to scrub caches or other files that don't necessarily go to the Trash for user deletion, such as program files that self delete and download cache files etc.
Only works for hard drives and there is no recovery possible for nearly all users. Those with special expensive magnetic equipment can possibly recover data off a zero pass, but not off a 7x overwrite.
The zero erase free space can be also be used to pre-eliminate potential unknown bad sectors on hard drives before wanted data is written to them, thus preventing future issues with data retention on hard drives.
Disk Utility > Erase - (not moving the slider) will erase all data on the volume or partition selected, including wanted data. It just tells the file system the deleted data is ready for overwriting. Thus can be recovered using special software before it's overwritten on hard drives only.
Disk Utility > Erase w/Security Option - (or moving the slider from the left) will secure erase all data on the volume or partition selected, including wanted data.
It can vary on the operating system version used from zero pass, to 3x overwrite, to 7x overwrite to 35x overwrite (old version for days past of smaller drives, don't use on newer larger drives as it will take weeks to finish.)
Secure erase methods are used to secure erase private data off of hard drives only, doesn't work for SSDs.
For secure data deletion off a SSD or any flash media, it's NSA advised to grind it into a fine powder.
How do I securely delete data from the machine?

Unable to reload os or Run Disk utility off osx dvd

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