Using DD in terminal or Restore in Disk Utility gives me 'Resource Busy' er

Hello, I'm trying to restore an old Hard Drive image OS.dmg to a usb hard drive that I have.
I'm using the command:
dd if=/Users/Shared/OS.dmg of=/dev/disk5 bs=1m
And I'm getting
dd: /dev/disk5: Resource busy
What would cause this error? I'm not sure why it's "busy"
Thanks
Josh
PS.. I get the exact same thing when i try to do it in DiskUtility

Try using the lsof command to list the open files on /dev/disk5.
Is /disk5 enough of a description? It does not match what the df command in Terminal would show, which specifies both a device and a partition on the device.

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Disk icon won't drag when trying to restore in disk utility

Hello
Not sure what I'm doing wrong but when trying to back up my (original) Macbook Pro onto an external hard drive (to create a bootable backup) the MBP disk icon won't drag into the Source of Disk Utility Restore....
Have booted from the MBP disk etc. Am running Tiger w/latest software update. Tried using a mouse rather than the touchpad, but no luck either...
Any suggestions?
Many thanks.

Disk Utility is not very prolix when it comes to error handling. Try this:
Start "Utilities -> Terminal App"
in terminal start:
"/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app/Contents/MacOS/Disk Utility"
the normal disk utility comes up. Try what you want to do - and check for error messages on the command line. maybe you can correct the problem.
-------------- IF THAT FAILS AND YOU WANT TO RESTORE IT BY HAND:
use the disk utility to
1. mount your target drive
- double click on the target drive - make sure it's mounted
2. get information about target drive
- click the PARTITION (not disk) you want to restore
- click INFO. Note the Disk Identifier e.g. disk0s2
3. mount your source image
- go to 'restore' of some drive. select image
- search for the image to restore
- image comes up in list on the left. double click it
close the disk utility.
open Terminal.
check with 'ls /Volumes/' which Volumes are mounted. Check which Volume is your SOURCE.
you can use 'asr' to restore your drive e.G.:
asr restore --source "/Volumes/Mac HD" --target /dev/disk0s2 --erase
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU GIVE THE CORRECT SOURCE AND ESPECIALLY TARGET!
asr is the restore tool used by disk utility. Be sure to have a second backup of all your data. If you use it in the wrong way, you can delete all data (including the backup attached via USB).

Restore on new drive: Time Machine versus "Restore" via Disk Utility

I am about to install a new 240GB OWC Mercury Electra 6G (6Gb/s) SSD into the main drive bay of my MacBook Pro, moving the original Apple-installed 120GB 3G (3Gb/s) SSD into the optical bay using an OWC "Data Doubler."
I have my entire Mac OS X Yosemite install, all apps, and all data (that is, the entire contents of the original SSD) backed up to an external Time Machine backup drive.
I'll want to make the new SSD in the main bay my bootable drive, restoring my original SSD's system to the new SSD. The original SSD will then be erased.
Question is, what are the differences between these two restore strategies:
1. Restore from Time Machine to the new SSD
2. "Restore" via Disk Utility, using my original SSD (in the optical bay) as the "Source" and the new SSD (in the main bay) as the "Destination"
Are there any fundamental difference between these two approaches? Such as:
- Is one faster than the other?
- Does one involve more or less risk in some settings or such being "lost in translation" and needing to be reset?
- Would both methods of restore include a recovery partition on the new SSD?
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011, Macbook8,3) | 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 | Yosemite 10.10.2

Thanks Kappy - to clarify / confirm: are you saying that the "Restore from Time Machine" approach would *not* include the Recovery HD (and, possibly inferring, that under that approach, getting the Recovery HD would be possible but would require an additional step)?

I used the "erase free space " option in disk utility and now my imac says the disk is full and wont let me download songs. please help!

i used the "erase free space " option in disk utility and now my imac says the disk is full and wont let me download songs. please help!

You could try repairing permissions with disk utility, I don't think you will have the option to repair the drive but you could verify it.
This may help you delete the files that DU made but did not remove when erasing the free space.
http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/317204-no-disk-space-after -failed-disk-utility-erase-free-space.html
When you get your SL disk it will not have the iLife applications, that would have been on the second install disk that should have been with the computer. I forget which version of iLife you will need for SL but I think it is this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iLife-Single-User-Mac/dp/B003XKRZES/ref=sr_1_1?ie= UTF8&qid=1409607702&sr=8-1&keywords=apple+ilife+11
A search of the forums will confirm or deny this.
As to whether a clean install will cure your problem, i.e. partition the HDD and install I would expect it to be yes, but there are no guarantees it is an old machine.

Can't use or fix external hard drive in Disk Utility or Terminal

I have a 1TB Toshiba external USB drive that I was using for Time Machine and other storage. A couple of weeks ago I accidentally unplugged it when it was in the "Preparing Backup" stage of Time Machine.
Since then, when I plug it in, the light on the drive goes on and it spins, but it doesn't show up on the desktop or according to Time Machine. It DOES show up in Disk Utility with the correct partition showing. However, I have tried to erase and partition the drive and I keep getting the message that Disk Utility can not unmount the drive. I tried using Terminal to force unmount the drive and it also failed.
When I run the repair on the physical drive in Disk Utility, it says everything is fine but when I run it on the partition within the drive, I get the message, "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."
No using the drive, no repairing, no unmounting, no partitioning, nothing works.
Any suggestions to simply make it usable. I don't care about the data on it, I just want to be able to clean it and start again OR access the data.
Thanks!

Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, and try to partition the drive. If you can't, it's not working (or perhaps the cable is damaged.)

Can't restore from Disk Utility while booted from OS installation DVD

I'm absolutely astounded by this.
I have a new MacBook Pro 17". I restored my files to it and in short order, had it too full/fragmented to re-partition it for Boot Camp.
So I decided to image the disk and store that image file on a FireWire drive, wipe the system disk and restore it cleanly from the image file backup, hoping that would result in contiguous blocks used so that I could then re-partition for Boot Camp.
When booted off the OS X for Intel DVD-ROM disc (10.4.6 - the one that came with my MacBook Pro), if I get out of Installer and into Disk Utility, if I select the internal hard drive and click the Restore tab, I can easily select the hard drive backup image with the button. But the "Destination Disk:" box is only accessible via dragging the disk to the box.
There's one little problem - there is no Desktop, so the disk(s) do not appear on the Desktop. There is no way to drag the target disk to be restored to into the Destination Disk: box. You cannot drag a disk out from the little sidebar inside the Disk Utility window over to the Destination box. I tried. You can't drag any disk anywhere from that sidebar. It's clear that the only way to drag a disk anywhere is if it's shown on the Desktop in Finder (which isn't running when the installation DVD-ROM is booted from). There is simply no way that I can find to restore a disk drive from a saved backup disk image when booted from the installation DVD-ROM.
Please tell me I'm ******** and missing something, or if there's a Better Way to do this. (I can't seem to run Retrospect while booted off the DVD-ROM, so I can't restore from my Retrospect full backup of the disk, either. Joy!)
(I'm really curious if there's a Better Way - especially because it appears I can't boot from an external FireWire or USB 2.0 drive, so I need something that will work in this extremely limited installation DVD-ROM booted environment, I think.)
MacBook Pro 17" dual 2.16 GHz ; Mac OS X (10.4.6) Booted from Mac OS X for Intel 10.4.6 installation DVD-ROM

You can use an external bootable drive with a MacBook Pro -- check your manual or the built in help. Your problem is that for some reason, you can't install a bootable system on one. There are several reasons why Installer won't enable you to do so: insufficient space, incompatible partition scheme (should be GUID) or file system (should be HFS+ or similar), or wrong installation option selected.
It is possible this is related to why you can't drag the startup volume to the destination box in Disk Utility. It must be an HFS+ variant file system.
I think you should check carefully with D.U. the partition scheme of all your drives & the file system format of all the volumes involved. Also run repair disk, as someone has already pointed out.
The behavior with the Restore function is not normal -- you should be able to drag a volume to the destination box from the list.

Unable to drag disk to destination for Restore in Disk Utility

I am trying to restore from a disk image in Disk Utility. I dragged the image to the Source Box. When I drag the partition from an external firewire drive to the Destination box, it won't accept it. I have tried to do this with partitions on two separate external firewire drives. The partitions are 10GB. The image file is 6GB

I had this problem just now. On the left side of your Disk Utility should be the partition/volume you want to use as your destination. Try dragging your destination partition/volume into the "Destination Disk" field. Worked for me.

Restoring with disk utility

Hello,
I recently erased my 8gb ipod to use it for some large file transferring. Before I did this, I made a .dmg copy using disk utility.
Now when I attempt to restore the ipod using this exact same .dmg file, disk utility tells me there's not enough space on the ipod! There was enough space before..... (and yes, I am trying to "erase and restore".)
Any ideas?

It's a 'gotcha.' You can't use Restore when booted from an Installer disc. You need to boot from the startup volume that you are going to clone if you use Disk Utility.
Backup Utilities
My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. PsynchX 2.1.1 and RsyncX 2.1 (Freeware)
6. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donation Ware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
The following utilities can also be used for backup, but cannot create bootable clones:
1. Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
2. Toast
3. Impression
4. arRSync
Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of also backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility as are the other two.
Impression and Toast are disk image based backups, only. Particularly useful if you need to backup to CD/DVD across multiple media.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

What "Partitions" type should I use when I create an image in Disk Utility?

I have a Sony HDR-SR1 camcorder and have been creating images in Disk Utility to dump copies of my camcorders hard drive to. That way I can mount the disk image and import into iMovie just as if the camera was plugged in. These are the options I've been using:
Volume Size: varies
Volume Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Encryption: none
Partitions: Single partition - Apple Partition Map (the default I believe)
Image Format: read/write disk image
The option I'm not sure of and can't find much information on is Partitions. Up until now all the ones I've created use what I listed above. What is the difference between all the options (hard disk, cd/dvd, no partition, single partition - *multiple options*) and what should I be using to ensure long term compatibility with these disk images. Thanks.

You don't need the journaling feature. Everything else appears proper. As for the various formats, check DU's help files.

Why is there large used space after erasing external drive with disk utility?

I just used disk utility to erase a 2 TB external hard drive. After erasing it, it shows that the disk has 12 folders, 62 files, and 852 mb of used space. I thought the "erase" function is supposed to format the disk? Where does the large used space come from?
By the way, the disk used to formatted as a windows disk. I suspect it has something to do with it but have no idea what. Any help is greatly appreciated!

HI - i do not think this is purely metadata. (though it could be with your windows disk with such small used memory) i have a 1TB macbook pro drive that i have tried to reformat
METHOD 1 (recommended by advanced Apple Techy) - select hard drive (not partition) select mac os (journalled) and press 'apply' - "this will format drive removing all data. it is always best to work with the drive and not partition, if you are formatting an entire drive."
result at end - drive still shows single partition 999GB WITH 668GB USED
METHOD 2 (after response from Apple techy) - select hard drive and mac os (journalled), press secure erase and select 'write zeros' takes 12 hours
result at end - drive still shows single partition 999GB WITH 668GB USED

Trying to install/format an INTERNAL hard drive using Disk Utility gives me "Error: -69760: Unable to write to the last block of the device". Is that a hardware problem and what could be done about it?

*** PLEASE NOTE*** - This is a query about an INTERNAL HDD not an external one. Thanks.
My Mac is a late 2009 model and the current hard drive recently failed. So I bought a new one, exactly the same, albeit 750gb instead of 500gb. The HDD is a Seagate Momentus 7200. Before the my current drive failed I made a time machine back up to an external USB HDD. I've inserted the HDD into the bottom of my Mac, plugged in the USB and started my machine pressing the 'Option' ([ALT]) key. I go into Disk Utility to try and format the new HDD by creating a new partition but I keep getting the messages,
"Error: -69760: Unable to write to the last block of the device"
or
"POSIX: could not allocate memory"
This is actaully the third HDD I've tried. The first was another Seagate Momentus 7200 500gb, but this time it was a newer model (model number ended in 423AS instead of 420AS - the new one I am trying ends with 420AS, which is the same as the current HDD). I then tried a Western Digital drive but that one didn't even show up in DU. Forums and tech support are suggesting it's faults with the HDDs but surely not three in a row?
Could this be an issue with another part of my Mac?
Is there anything else I can do to format the HDD, have I missed a crucial step?

Did you ever get a resolution to this issue?
I am having that exact error with a new 512GB SSD from Crucial, in a 15" MBP mid-2010.
I really wonder now if the stupid SATA cable could be bad - causing the initial SSD fail. I am replacing it with the EXACT same drive, and getting that "last block" error when i partition in the GUI or from command-line.
thanks!

Can I use my iMac's (10.8.2) disk utility to repair the hard drive of a Macbook (10.6.8)? The Macbook's startup disk is unavailable.

Is it as simple as connecting the Macs together with a USB cable?

I think you can. I connected a MBP with Lion to a MBP that has three volumes, each with a different OS. I put that MBP in Target disk mode. I booted the MBP with Lion, OPTION key down and it showed all of the volumes, including the target disk mode MBP. I selected the Recovery HDD and then selected the Disk Utility option from the menu. All volumes were on Disk Utility. That is as far as I went. Try it. I think you will succeed.
Ciao.

Disk Utility gives error and does not rebuild mirrored RAID

After having a HDD fail on a mirrored RAID I replaced the HDD and attempted to rebuild. Disk Utility reports via Console that it can not find an Apple Boot partition to check size and then fails to repair the RAID. Details follow.
Mac OS X v.10.4.8 Server
Power Mac G3 (Blue & White)
512MB RAM
20GB ATA HDD – boot device on internal ATA bus
4x 160GB ATA HDDs - setup in RAID scheme on Sonnet ATA/133 PCI card
RAID configured using Mac OS X v.10.4.8's Disk Utility and is an Apple RAID version 2.
RAID scheme <from "diskutil checkRAID" cmd>:
Welcome to Darwin!
[myserver:~] myadminuser% diskutil checkRAID
RAID SETS
Name: Mirror_2
Unique ID: 5FF8AD5F-0892-482D-B430-C7069D63AFD2
Type: Mirror
Status: Online
Device Node: disk3
Apple RAID Version: 2
# Device Node UUID Status
0 disk0s3 1FB48B00-3E52-4C29-8F05-2ED8BDAE4544 Online
1 disk6s3 BF2E69C6-698E-4D6A-A2A9-FE8CDAD8A7B1 Online
Name: Mirror_1
Unique ID: B448A09D-EC10-41EE-BA45-4D4071A88EA5
Type: Mirror
Status: Degraded
Device Node: disk5
Apple RAID Version: 2
# Device Node UUID Status
1 disk2s3 09AD5705-CF67-48B3-8E31-79983BD4781A Online
0 disk4s3 23EB1952-8B18-4400-A6FE-22C2F707C097 Failed
Name: StorageRAID1
Unique ID: 2B8349AB-F553-4FD2-8440-C575791DA858
Type: Stripe
Status: Online
Device Node: disk7
Apple RAID Version: 2
# Device Node UUID Status
0 disk3 5FF8AD5F-0892-482D-B430-C7069D63AFD2 Online
1 disk5 B448A09D-EC10-41EE-BA45-4D4071A88EA5 Online
I configured this RAID scheme (two two drive mirrors striped together) according to this kbase document: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304377
As shown in the above "diskutil checkRAID" output I have a failed HDD. So I replaced the HDD with another 160GB cold spare. I added the new drive to the mirror "Mirror_1" also known as disk5 and hit rebuild. Received the normal message that all data on the new drive I was adding would be erased.
I then receive the following error immediately in the Console Log:
Rebuilding RAID "Mirror_1"
2006-12-15 23:50:24.741 DiskManagementTool [375] WARNING: Could not find Apple Boot partition to check it's size, skipping disk5s-1s.
Rebuilding RAID slice "disk4s3"
Just to stem some confusion, the device ID disk4s3 has been used by the system for both the old failed HDD and the new replacement HDD.
The result of this attempted rebuild is I end up with all the data from Mirror_1 on the new HDD but the new HDD is not successfully added to the RAID, therefore Mirror_1 is still degraded and my problem not resolved.
I ran the appropriate rebuild cmd from both the GUI Disk Utility as described and from the CLI "diskutil repairMirror disk5 disk4s3" but no joy.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. This volume houses a large amount of important data including user home directories so while some offline time may be required data loss would not be very acceptable.
Thanks in advance and I will be happy to provide more information as necessary.

I guess doing it in Terminal would fail too:
diskutil repairMirror disk5 disk4

MacBook Pro just shut off, disk utility gives a strange report, please help

My MacBook Pro just turned off for no reason. I started it back up and in the Finder under devices to the left where it usually says "My Name"'s MacBook Pro, it now has a (2) beside it. I repaired permissions and got the following report:Repairing permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Reading permissions database.
Reading the permissions database can take several minutes.
Warning: SUID ﬁle "System/Library/Filesystems/AppleShare/afpLoad" has been…
Warning: SUID ﬁle "usr/bin/setregion" has been modiﬁed and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID ﬁle "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versi…
Warning: SUID ﬁle "System/Library/Printers/IOMs/LPRIOM.plugin/Contents/Ma…
Group differs on "private/etc/cups", should be 0, group is 26.
Permissions differ on "private/var/spool/cups/cache/rss", should be drwxr-xr…
All of the Warnings end with "and will not be repaired".
Does anyone have any idea what this might mean?
Also, when I started it back up, the hard drive made the same sound as when I insert a CD or DVD into the computer.

the DU warnings are harmless.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448?viewlocale=en_US
you could have a hardware problem with your drive though.
verify the disk (not permissions) using disk utility and if it reports any errors, boot from the leopard install DVD and repair the drive using disk utility there.
you can change the name of the computer and get rid of (2) in system preferences->sharing.

Disk Utility Gives Differing Results...........

I used disk utility (Leopard, not from start up disk) to repair permissions and to verify the hard drive. Permissions repair worked fine (but v slowly), but verifying the disk brought up an error saying that the disk needed to be repaired. I therefore ran disk utility from the disk (ie holding c at startup etc....).
Running disk utility eventually resulted in green text saying that no repair of the disk was necessary.
I restarted, re-ran disk utility in Leopard and it still says the disk needs to be repaired. Onyx also says the disk needs to be repaired. I have run the extended hardware test, which said there are no problems.
Can anyone shed any light on why I am getting these different results and if I need to be worried???
Many thanks in advance!

There are a few important points to verify to ensure an external drive is bootable. Attach the external drive while started up normally. Run Disk Utility. Select the external drive in the left sidebar and look at the info at the bottom of the window. To be able to install Leopard on it, the Partition Map Scheme must be GUID Partition Table.
If it is GUID Partition Table, you can start up from the Mac OS X installation disk and select it as the target for installation. If the drive is not empty, the data already on it will not be affected, but you should probably back it up if it is valuable. After the installation, start up from the external drive and run Software Update to get all the updates. You will have to run Software Update a few times to get all the inter-dependent updates.
If it is not GUID Partition Table, you will need to re-partition it and change it to GUID Partition Table using Disk Utility's Partition tab. In this case, the drive will be erased.
Once you have done the installation and all the updates, you can run Disk Utility while started up from the external drive and select the internal drive for the Repair routine. Since the Repair process should be identical, hopefully the results will be consistent.

Using DD in terminal or Restore in Disk Utility gives me 'Resource Busy' er

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