What The Heck is an "Invalid Node structure"? (Disk Utility)

[BiikeMike]

My Computer has been acting wonky lately (What else is new?) Its a CD MPB 2.16, 10.4.9, 2 gigs APPLE RAM.

I have been getting a lot of dropped frame notices in Soundtrack pro, and it straight up froze yesterday while running a live show..... That = NOT GOOD.

I ran ONYX, and it said something was wrong with the startup disk. Out comes Disk Utility. When I click "verify disk" I get an error after "Checking Catalog file" that says

Invalid node structure
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit

So, out comes the Startup DVD. Run Disk utility, click "repair disk" I get the same error, "the underlying task reported failure on exit" and it won't fix it.

Whats the deal??

[Veritas&Equitas]

Are you sure you booted from the disk? I had the same problem when trying to install Vista. Popped out the OS X install disk, booted from it, ran disk utility, and repairing the disk worked for me?

[BiikeMike]

yep, positive it was from the disk. you can't repair the startup disk otherwise.

[CanadaRAM]

The Invalid Node Structure means that the cataloging system that keeps track of where everything is on your hard drive is b0rked. TechTool Pro may fix it, as may DiskWarrior -- however some people have reported no success with both. If you haven't already make sure your data is backed up! Do it now! Ultimately, a reformat of the hard drive is the last solution.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...70204134513557

If errors like these repeatedly crop up, assume that your hard drive is failing.

[Snide]

I had this same issue (Macbook), and Diskwarrior replaced the directory and solved the problem.

[SC68Cal]

http://www.rixstep.com/4/2/onyx,01.shtml
http://www.rixstep.com/4/2/onyx141,00.shtml
http://www.rixstep.com/4/2/onyx141,01.shtml

delete the Virtual Memory files (swapfile)

Huh? HUH? Why? Why risk making the system unstable when you can safely reboot? Anybody can delete the swapfiles - especially if they've already got your password... Thanks but no thanks, amigo.

Don't use onyx. I'd put a bet that using onyx ********* your disk.

[BiikeMike]

Good theory there, Amigo, only problem with it is that I installed ONYX AFTER the problems started. Thought it might fix it.

Guess I'll be doing a SuperDuper! backup tonight and then calling AppleCare. Not that I don't think I can't do it without somone from India on the phone, I just want them to have on file all the problems I'm having with this freakin thing!

[Angrist]

Thats an error that Disk Utility simple will NOT fix, regardless of what you boot off of.

Diskwarrior has fixed the error for me a couple of times.

But the underlying problem is that something is fscking up your filesystem. Many times there is a hardware problem that is messing up your HD writes, if you don't fix this then you'll be repairing / re-installing all the time. Hard shutdowns sometimes do it, bad RAM also causes it. My recommendation is to run a memory tester such as memtestosx and see if the RAM is to blame.

[Mattydj]

i got that problem so i formatted and at that moment the hd failed.

[BiikeMike]

Yeah, This is GREAT!

Now it wont recognize my external drive!

And I know its not the RAM, Because I just had it in the Apple store not 2 months ago for ANOTHER problem that resulted in complete data loss. they Checked the RAM, and it was fine.

This is REALLY starting to Piss me off!

[IJ Reilly]

CanadaRAM is right on the money. You need a heavy-duty disk repair utility and you need it now!

[BiikeMike]

UH OH!

I'm assuming this is not good??

I finally got it to recognize my external (How, I'm not sure, I switched from Firewire to USB a few times, then put it back in my desktop via FW, and ejected it, and put it back into my Laptop via USB )

Anyway, Got SuperDuper! Up and running, and it "failed to copy files from Macintosh HD to MacBookBackup" (MacBookBackup is my backup partition)

The Last few lines of the Log are as follows: I have no idea what any of it means

| 08:38:41 PM | Info | /
| 08:38:44 PM | Info | /Capture Scratch
| 08:38:44 PM | Info | /usr
| 08:39:25 PM | Info | WARNING: Caught I/O exception(22): Invalid argument
| 08:39:25 PM | Info | WARNING: Source: /usr/bin/automake, lstat(): 0
| 08:39:25 PM | Info | WARNING: Target: /Volumes/MacBook Backup/usr/bin/automake, lstat(): 0
| 08:39:25 PM | Info | Attempting to copy file using copyfile().
| 08:40:01 PM | Info | Attempting to copy file using ditto.
| 08:40:12 PM | Error | ditto: /usr/bin/./automake: Input/output error

[BigPrince]

$100 Diskwarrior, probably a partial recovery.


Tech Tool Pro may work, but Diskwarrior is the best option.

Otherwise repartition the drive and reinstall and start from scratch.

before reinstalling, do the extended hardware test to make sure the drive itself is still ok.

[IJ Reilly]

Try to drag-copy your important files to the backup drive.

The last time I needed DiskWarrior, the recovery was 100% from an un-mountable and unbootable drive.

[CanadaRAM]

IIRC: If DiskWarrior can read the files on the drive (IF) then before repairing them, it will give you the option of a temporary disk image, from which you can back up files - so be ready with an external volume mounted to take the files.

Expect that some of your files will be damaged beyond recovery.

[BiikeMike]

Now I'm running Carbon Copy Cloner, and it gave me an I/O error that had to do with iWeb, but I hit skip, and it seems to be working.....

I'm frightened here guys......!

[BigPrince]

your image probably wont mount...but still worth a try since its free.

[IJ Reilly]

Originally Posted by CanadaRAM

IIRC: If DiskWarrior can read the files on the drive (IF) then before repairing them, it will give you the option of a temporary disk image, from which you can back up files - so be ready with an external volume mounted to take the files.

Expect that some of your files will be damaged beyond recovery.

Running DiskWarrior generates this message as a text file, within the Damaged Items or Rescued Items folders:

DiskWarrior can create two new folders while rebuilding the directory. The first folder is the Damaged Items folder. It contains files with allocation errors or other errors which affect the data contained in the files. The second folder is the Rescued Items folder. It contains files and folders that were orphaned and/or recovered. Orphaned files and folders are items that were missing their enclosing folder. Recovered files are files that had an entry in an inaccessible portion of the directory. These files may have been previously lost or thrown away.

Review the DiskWarrior report you saved to determine which items in the Recovered Items folder were orphaned and which items were recovered. You must inspect the damaged and recovered files to determine which, if any, had missing contents. You can then replace, recreate or discard unusable files.

[BiikeMike]

Originally Posted by BigPrince

your image probably wont mount...but still worth a try since its free.

Why is that? I'm not making an image, I'm making a clone.

I got another error..... Had to do with Epson printer drivers

[rhoydotp]

have you ever tried

fsck -y /dev/disk0s2

where disk0s2 would be your "/"

it is your inode structure that has been screwed up.

[BigPrince]

Originally Posted by BiikeMike

Why is that? I'm not making an image, I'm making a clone.

I got another error..... Had to do with Epson printer drivers

there the same thing and your copying an unbootable drive now, often times making an image does not fix it without a third party utility.

Have you done the extended hardware test? All your efforts could be futile if your drive went bad.

Do you back up your data? If so, then just repartition and start from scratch. If not, dish out $100 for diskwarrior.

[dingdong]

hey guys i'm having the same problem with invalid node stucture.
i'll be getting a external hard disk soon to backup files..
will this solve the issue if i format the drive and reinstall mac os?

i really hope its nothing to do with the hard disk being damaged. i am running on mac osx fine atm nothing is happening majorly yet and i feel that this invalid node stucture does not sound right so i wanna fix this...

has this affected my hard disk at all?

cheers

[BigPrince]

Run the Extended Hardware test found on your install CD that first came with your computer.

This will probably take near a half hour if successful.

If the hard drive part is successful, then repartition should solve your problem and you will be able to move on.

If not, then it is very likely your drive is screwed and will need to be replaced.

[IJ Reilly]

An "invalid node structure" is almost certainly not a hardware problem, it is almost certainly a logical problem on your hard drive, which can be fixed with drive repair software, such Disk Warrior or Tech Tool. You do not want to assume worse until you have tried this method of disk recovery.

[BigPrince]

Originally Posted by IJ Reilly

An "invalid node structure" is almost certainly not a hardware problem, it is almost certainly a logical problem on your hard drive, which can be fixed with drive repair software, such Disk Warrior or Tech Tool. You do not want to assume worse until you have tried this method of disk recovery.

My most recent encounter with this issue was for me a hardware problem, so thats why I suggest running the hardware test(free and fast) just to alleviate any concerns so you don't waste time if the problem happens again shortly after. If all my data was backed up and I did not own Disk Warrior or Tech Tool then I would repartition(free and fast).

I would not recommend Tech Tool Pro for this job. Tech Tool is better for diagnosing, but not necessarily for fixing. Disk Warrior is made to fix and thats it. If you decide that you need data that you are willing to pay for then skip right to Disk Warrior, IMO.

If you have everything you need, then why pay, just repartition?

But its good that we did clear up any confusion and your points are valid.