Volume needs repaired, but can't

I was trying to install a partition and when I couldn't get the partition to work, I went to disk utility, deleted the partition and tried to verify my Mac volume......it could not be verified and said was in need of repair, but I am not able to select repair disk.....what do I need to do?
Much thanks!

Hi.
First thing you should do: Backup your files. When you mess around with the directory structutre, things can get nasty...
In order to repair the volume OS X is booting from, you need to run Disk Utility from the Tiger Install DVD, rather than from your boot volume.
Insert the Tiger install disk in the optical drive, restart and hold C at startup. The machine will boot from the Tiger DVD. Go to Installer/Disk Utility.
Follow the steps in this kb article.
If Disk Utility is unable to repair you disk, you may need a more powerful program, like DiskWarrior, TechTool, etc.
Good Luck.

Similar Messages

Disc needs repair but can't

Had a couple crashes with imovie. I then decided i should fix permissions and try to see if the disc was working well. I fixed permissions. When verifying I find a couple problems. I booted from install disc to attempt a boot HD repair. I can't. Disc Utility (from install DVD) states HD disc can't be repaired. What? Here are the problems as reported from disc verify. Now what? New HD time? Is it user serviceable on my model? 2006 plasic case.
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Missing thread record (id = 3137939)
Missing thread record (id = 3580841)
Invalid key length
The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          iMac
Model Identifier:          iMac4,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed:          2 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          2 MB
Memory:          1.5 GB
Bus Speed:          667 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          IM41.0055.B08
SMC Version (system):          1.1f5

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
If you find the need to recover files prior to reformatting see the following:
Basics of File Recovery
General File Recovery
If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using 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.
The above utilities have downloadable demos that will indicate if any data are recoverable, but you must then purchase the software to recover the data. There are a couple of free recovery utilities - Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them at MacUpdate and CNet Downloads .

1 HFS volume needs repair -- can't boot from OS X Tiger "kernel panic"

I just searched the support discussions and did find an answer so hopefully someone can help me. Today I ran Disk Utility on both my G4 powerbook and G5 desktop. Both have Tiger 10.4.8 on them and have been running good. To my surprise both came back with a message saying:
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair.
So I booted off my Tiger start up disk on the laptop first and went to utility and repair disk and all was good. The message came back that the volume was repaired.
When I tried to do the same thing on my G5 desktop my computer went to a gray screen and gave an error of “kernel panic” with a page long message. I shut the computer down and rebooted normally and all was fine. I then went back to disk utility and clicked on Verify Disk again to see what it said and here is what I got:
Verifying volume “MacOS250”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name_
Illegal name_
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume MacOS250 needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
So i noticed that under:
Checking Catalog file.
Illegal name_
Illegal name_
came back twice. I have no idea what this means. At this point I tried to boot from DiskWarrior and the computer just sat in a state of limbo for an hour or so. I know DW can take some time but 1 hour was pushing my patients so I shut it down and rebooted normally and all was fine again except I still get the message above. I then methodically backed up all my docs, movies, photos etc to my second hard drive. I tried to boot again from Tiger and got the same “kernel panic” message. Can anyone help me?
Thanks,
Tim
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Maverick922 Before you erase, you might want to try and run fsck first even though it says you are using HFS+
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Another reason is your version of disk utility on the Tiger disk might may not match the newer version of 10.4.8 My Tiger start-up disk utility is 10.5 while the OS X version on my HD is 10.5.6.
The Finder along with other applications do not like you naming a file with a period in front of it. This turns it into a Unix dotfile and it then becomes hidden.Hence, illegal name.This may have been done by accident or with purpose.
And a little more to read up on, http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
If these don't help, sherry johnson's suggestion is probably the next step.

A crash, volume needs repair?

Hi, I have no idea what has happened. It's embarrassing but I can't even tell you accurately what OS X I was using but all my software was up to date. When I try to open applications like Safari, it says "you cannot use the application Safari with this version of Mac OS X" The same goes for iTunes and other apps. Some programs just quit unexpectedly when I try to open them. Seems like it reverted back to a very old operating system I didn't even know existed. Even the JPEGs open with a different program I don't use. When I click "about this mac" it says the memory capacity is 512 MB when I know it usually 250 GB and I currently have 25 GB free. I tried Disk Utility and the error messages read exactly as followed: Volume bitmap needs minor repair. Invalid volume free block count (it should be 6873884 instead of 6873859) The volume Machintosh HD needs to be repaired. Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit. First Aid failed. Disk Utility stopped verifying "Machintosh HD" because the following error was encountered: The underlying task reported failure on exit. HFS volume checked volume needs repair.
I stopped messing with it because I have no idea what to do and I don't want to make it any worse. I have installation disks buried in storage but I'll get replacements if that's what it is. I'm panicked. Please help

Welcome to Discussions - boot from your install disc and use Disk Utility to repair your volume. If that fails, get hold of DiskWarrior and use that.
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
When you have finished, reboot and repair permissions from your hard drive.

TM disk needs repair but won't unmount.

Hi,
I've been having problems with this TM disk since new but I can't work out what to do. The disk is a Seagate 1.5TB with my MacPro backed up to it and a sparse image on it as my MacBook backup.
The disk only has one volume on it. It has done strange things in the past like return an error on the initial backup of the MacPro after about 900GB of data and when I wiped the drive and tried backing up again it returned an error at about the same stage. Subsequent incremental backups worked so I continued to use it but I have never been able to eject the drive. I have always got the "something is using it" dialog box. I could only safely power it off by restarting the MacPro and turning it off before it booted. I checked the disk in disk utility and it said it needed repair but could not be repaired. After hearing about trouble with these drives I returned it for a replacement. I got an error on the first backup again with the new drive but subsequent incremental backups were OK so I left it. I checked it in disk utility yesterday and it said it needed repair but would not unmount for the repair. I have reset the FW800 port in the past and that didn't seem to make any difference. Other drives in this enclosure (SOHO Tank, Oxford chip) work and unmount OK. I don't know whether this is a TM issue or I've got another flakey drive. I'm tempted to send the drive back to Seagate again as I don't feel secure with this as my backup.
Also, occasionally when I go into TM via the TM icon in the dock, I only see backups up to the day before yesterday in the timeline at the side. If I cancel TM and relaunch I get the full set in the sidebar (yesterday and hourlies for today).
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Brian

Magicpony wrote:
Hi,
I've been having problems with this TM disk since new but I can't work out what to do. The disk is a Seagate 1.5TB with my MacPro backed up to it and a sparse image on it as my MacBook backup.
If possible, you should partition the drive, so the MacPro's backups are in their own, exclusive space. If you ever want or have to delete them, it will be extremely difficult and take a very long time. See #4 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
Other drives in this enclosure (SOHO Tank, Oxford chip) work and unmount OK.
Try repairing it from the copy of Disk Utility on your Install disc. (Boot up from it, select your language, then on the next screen select Utilities from the menubar, then +Disk Utility.)+
Also, occasionally when I go into TM via the TM icon in the dock, I only see backups up to the day before yesterday in the timeline at the side. If I cancel TM and relaunch I get the full set in the sidebar (yesterday and hourlies for today).
Try the things in #E4 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
It's rather odd, but renaming your computer may help: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/21208.html

Volume needs repair

Disk Utility First Aid reports the following:
Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid node structure
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
sudo fsck_hfs -l /dev/disk0s2 reports as below:
** /dev/rdisk0s2 (NO WRITE)
** Root file system
** Checking HFS Plus volume.
** Checking Extents Overflow file.
** Checking Catalog file.
Invalid node structure
(4, 27421)
** The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
I've tried to boot up on OSX Installation disk and run Disk utility from there but with no success on repairing the fault.
Anyone who knows how to solve this problem? What does (4, 27421) mean?
Thanks!
Johan
MBP 17" Core Duo 2.16MHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2GB RAM

JS_MACNewBie,
Assuming Disk Warrior can successfully repair your file structure (good luck, BTW), this doesn't mean that you are "out of the woods."
When you have a disk error, especially one as serious as the current one, some files will undoubtedly be damaged. Repairing the file system, when successful, does not repair the damaged files; it only returns the file system to a "consistent" state.
If these damaged files are critical system files, you are going to continue to have problems. Disk Repair utilities (Disk Utility included) are indispensible tools, but they should be used only in emergencies such as yours to facilitate making a good backup prior to formatting and reinstalling.
Only by formatting, then reinstalling can you "fix" the files that may have been damaged by the disk error. I recommend that you do this immediately, once you are able to make a good backup of your important files.
Scott

Volume needs repair AND hard drive problem...

OK so I have an Intel Based iMac and its about 1 year old. Randomly I got a message saying that the hard drive disc space is almost full, which makes NO sense. I have a 250 hard drive and I use it mainly for video editing. Before I got this message, I had about 100 GB left on my hard drive. I have NO CLUE where 100 GB went to, and i know it was not from video. Also I went to the disk utility and it said "Volume needs repair" and it gave me an "The underlying task reported failure,". Im not sure what to do and I'm hoping you guys will.....if this has been asked before, I apologize.

Yes, you can delete it, but it indicates a bigger concern namely your maintenance scripts aren't running regularly to clean up the logs or you have a problem in the system or an application that is writing huge amounts of information constantly into the log file. You should check the log using the Console application (Utilities folder) and examine its content to see if this is the case.
You should also read the following for information on installing utilities that can assure the maintenance scripts are run as well as other information on system maintenance that can help keep your computer running better.
Kappy's Personal Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For disk repairs use Disk Utility. For situations DU cannot handle the best third-party utilities are: Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.0 is now Intel Mac compatible. TechTool Pro provides additional repair options including file repair and recovery, system diagnostics, and disk defragmentation. TechTool Pro 4.6.1 is Leopard compatible; Drive Genius is similar to TechTool Pro in terms of the various repair services provided. The current version, 1.5.1, is Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep.
OS X automatically defrags files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems.
I would also recommend downloading the shareware utility TinkerTool System that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old logfiles and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the commandline. Note that presently AppleJack is not compatible with Leopard.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand. I also recommend booting into safe mode before doing system software updates.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. 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 (Freeware - 3.0 is a Universal Binary)
7. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (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.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac Maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at www.versiontracker.com and www.macupdate.com.

Slight Panic - Volume Needs Repair

Ok, so I am in a bit of a panic mode here right now. I started hearing a whine from my system hard drive today, so I backed it up and ran Disk Utility's "Verify Disk" option on it as a first step. Disk Utility tells me that there is a minor error and that the volume needs repair. Great. No problem. Except my machine refuses to start from the system DVD's that came with my G5. It's a revision A, so it came with Panther on it, but should that make a difference? I get as far as the blue screen when trying to boot from the CD and then it freezes. What are my options here? I need to repair this drive and see if the whining problem disappears and it comes back verified clean. HELP!?
EDIT: The error that comes back is: Volume Header needs minor repair. The volume MacintoshHD needs to be repaired. Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit.
Just moved this from the G4 forum. Didn't realize that's where it was! LOL. See what panic does?

So, I went with Bmer and the fsck option. I ended up
having to use the -f command rather than -y, not sure
why. It said it has something to do with the volume
being journaled. At any rate, after locating the
problem, it repaired itself and all is back to good!!
I ran disk utility immediately upon restart and the
volume passed. In addition, the whining that made
me feel like I was at a loud rock concert last night
is now gone as well. THANKS, BMER!!
Your welcome! I always recommend running fsck too after "forcing" your computer to restart after a crash. Your HD directory can get messed up and add to the original problem.
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group
Join Us @ MacOSG.com
 An Apple User Group 
ITMS: MacOSG Podcast >>

Disk Utility Question? Volume needs repair

Hi ALL, I need some help. My system seems to be running slow, so I did a repair permissions - that was OK then I did a Verify Disk and got the message."First Aid Falled" -"Volume Header needs minor repair
d.",1)
S&M Hard Drive
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair " I have my Tiger Update disk but it will not bootup from it - not sure why? I do have my old install disk form my old iMac Version 10.1 - can I bootup from this disk and try fixing the issue? I would rather download something that's not expensive or free to help fix the issue. Any and all HELP would be GREAT!!!! THANKS Scott

Because the new software is insane. If there is a leading space on a line the line gets deleted. There's more insanity as well, but I would guess that's the problem with your post.
Anyway, your problem is that there is minor damage to your startup disk, which can probably be repaired. However, you can't repair the disk while booted from the disk. Boot from your install disk, then go to the menu and find Disk Utility there and use it to run the repair function, then reboot. If Disk Utility still can't repair the damage you need to buy a copy of Disk Warrior and use it.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Hard Drive Volume Needs Repair...........Please Help

My Power/PC G4 with dual 1.25g processors with OS 10.4.11, is running very slow. I get the spinning beach ball whenever it tries to load anything from disk. I used disk utility to verify the hard drive. I got the following message;
Volume Header needs minor repair
The Volume needs to be repaired
1HFS Volume Checked
Volume needs repair.
I followed the instructions in Disk Utility to start my computer from my OS 10 install disk. The Disk Utility instructions gave the following instructions;
1. Insert OS 10 Disk
2. Hold down option key and start computer
3. Select Install and click arrow
4. Open Disk Utility
5. click install
6. open disk utility and click to repair
I followed the above but once I did step 3, I was on my way to do a new install.
Followed everything asked for on the screen, the next click was to start install.
Never once anywhere did I have the option for #4 above (open disk utility). I dont know what I am doing, just following directions. I aborted the operation as I did not want to clobber my installed 10.4.11.
Please tell me what I did wrong or how to get Disk Utility running from my OS10
install disk so I can run disk utility repair.
Thanks
Paul

Click here and follow the instructions. If there's no Disk Utility option in the Installer menu, use fsck.
(53195)

Disk Utility: "Volume needs repair" - what to do?

I just ran Verify Disk and got this result:
Verifying volume “iBook HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Incorrect block count for file Database3_BROKEN-journal
(It should be 25 instead of 0)
0
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
,1)
1733913 /Library/Logs/Console/501/console.log.0
Overlapped extent allocation (file 1734737)
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume Bit Map needs minor repair
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume free block count
(It should be 8593446 instead of 8593471)
The volume iBook HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
How do I repair this volume?
bob.m.

bob:
Disk Utility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing a volume is a serious directory error which Disk Utility cannot repair.
•I suggest you read through the article.
•Then, if you do not have an up-to-date backup, it will be a good idea to try to save as much as you can of your data.
•The article suggests using a third party utility. Disk Warrior and Tech Tool Pro are the best utilities for this job. You will need to get one of them and run it, by booting from the CD, or installing it on an external firewire drive or on a second Mac which you can then run in Firewire Target Disk Mode.
Please do post back with further questions or comments.
Good luck.
cornelius

Mac book pro spinning on startup but never gets to log in screen, repair disk says unable to repair, 2007 computer running Lion, how do I reinstall Lion to the Mac HD, which is the disk that needs repair, but cannot be repaired?

2007 MacBook Pro, was shut down properly last PM. Today on startup, spins and spins but cannot get to log in screen. Held option key with restart and using disk utilities the mac HD showing needs repair, but cannot be repaired. Says save as many files as possible and reinstall software. Can't save files, can't get into them. Willing to reinstall without saving, but can't because only disk option for the reinstall showing is the repair disk, and it is showing as locked. What to do?

Sounds like the drive is starting to fail. Have you ever change the drive in that system? If not then it is time to think about doing that, the sooner the better.

Stuck in reboot-Volume needs repair?

Stuck in reboot. Able to reboot using my start up disk, ran disk utilities, after running "repair disk" I get the message "HFS Volume repaired" then I ran "verify disk" I get the message "0 HFS volume verified- 1 volume needs repair. I ran each, ""repair" and "verify" several times and get the same conflicting messages and I still get stuck in reboot when trying a "normal reboot". So it looks like my hard drive needs repair? I may have access to a "Tiger" install disc which I understand has improved disk utilities, should I try this on my Panther machine? Thanks.

As Sherry has already helpfully noted, the retail Tiger 10.4.2 (or later) Install DVD has a version of Repair Disk that has significantly improved disk repair capabilities compared to earlier versions. It remains true, however, that the best-recommended utility for handing disk directory problems is DiskWarrior. That's an option if the Tiger 10.4.2 + version of DIsk Utility can't make the necessary repairs.
Reagrdless of what utility you use, anytime you run a repair utility that reports making a repair, best practice is to immediately run the repair (not verify) utility again. Many times, one error blocks discovery of other errors, so you want to run the repairs until you either get an all-clear report or it becomes painfully obvious to you that the repair utility isn't working.
If you mentioned this earlier, I managed to miss it: what does Disk Utility say about the SMART status of the hard drive? If the SMART status is reporting failed, you might as well skip Disk Warrior and look to borrow another Firewire-equipped Mac so that you can try booting into FireWire target disk mode to recover what you can from your hard drive. Data Rescue has a one-file free evaluation mode; you could try that on the second Mac to see if it'll help you recover your data in the case of a failed SMART status.

Volume needs repair..Invalid volume Free block count..

When I did a scan on the HD through Disk Utilty I got this error..."Volume needs repair...Invalid volume Free block count,,,Should be 65607....instead od 65606."
Is there any application that I can get to fix that error..so that I don't have to Reinstall with the start up disks.. I don't feel like reinstalling everything all over again. Please help or if you can direct me to the area so that I can change the numbers myself...Thank you

Hi Nvrdan1de, and a warm welcome to the forums!
You cannot repair the HD you're booted from, "Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Tiger Mac OS X Install disc , then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, *you must select your language first.)*
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
Then Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.
Safe Boot... holding Shift key down at bootup. Safe Boot is a special way to start Mac OS X 10.2 or later when troubleshooting.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107392
Though this seems like a simple one for DU to fix, unfortunately DU can't fix all that much,So, if it fails your best bet is DiskWarrior, you need the CD though.
http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/

Volume needs repair message for second hard drive

I am getting the following message on my second hard drive (This hard drive just has data. OS is on the main HD)
Verifying volume “Mac Second HD”
Invalid Volume Header
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Invalid number of allocation blocks
The volume needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
Any advice on what to do? Can I save my data?
G4 Silverline Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Hi Ketan,
Welcome to the Discussions.
If Disk Utility can't repair it try DiskWarrior. It can repair most drive directory problems.
John

Volume needs repaired, but can't

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