Can't repair-- "Invalid record count"

[emtrey]

I really have no idea what the problem is. =\ I've been looking into forums and help files all afternoon and have tried a few things, but nothing seems to stick.

I've got a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.4.8, 2 GHz, 100GB HD, 1 gig of RAM.

First inkling that anything was wrong happened when I was preparing to download the latest version of iTunes-- I was attempting to back-up my library to a DVD and iTunes couldn't recognize the disc burner or software. Tried a few times and always the same thing, so I thought I'd run the Disk Utility. It wouldn't open-- kept crashing immediately.

So I ran TechTool Deluxe that came with my AppleCare package and it reported everything okay.

Next, I booted up off of the OS X disc and ran Disk Utility off of it. It spat back, immediately after "Checking Catalog File" the following:

Invalid record count
Volume check failed
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit

1 HFS volume checked
1 volume could not be repaired because of an error.

It also spat back numerous permission errors, so I tried repairing those to see if it changed anything. Those repairs were successful, but the Error on the other one remained unchanged.

So, I poked around some more here and tried running the fsck command. Sent the command three times and all times it spit back the same error message: "Invalid record count (4, 284)".

So I've hit a wall. I don't know what the problem, what I should do, what I can do. Aside from the Disk Utility crashing and iTunes not being able to back up my files, I'm not aware of any problems, per se, with the laptop, but I'd like to take care of this before it becomes more serious.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-emtrey

*edit* Oh, almost forgot. The crash log for Disk Utility says something about Library not loaded, reason: image not found. Not sure if that's relevant, but thought I'd mention it.

 

[mad jew]

That's a worry. First off, get everything securely backed up. Then, I'd try erasing and reformatting your hard drive before reinstalling OSX onto it. I know it's a pain in the arse, but I think it's the best option at the moment. After reinstalling the OS, check that everything's okay in terms of verifying the drive and play on. If it's still not cool, maybe take it back to Apple for a new drive.

 

[emtrey]

Thanks. The way things are looking, reinstalling OS X is probably what I'm going to have to do. It's a relatively new computer (3 months), so I don't have that many physical files to back up. The only sticking point is my iTunes library (nearly 3 GB). Most of it I can recreate, since it was transferred from my old computer, but I've got a lot of iTunes purchases that haven't been backed up to a disc yet-- and the laptop doesn't register its SuperDrive. The DVD-RW is listed under the ATA Device Tree, but the Disc Burning part shows "No burning device connected." I'd love to get that fixed before wiping everything. =\

Any other suggestions?

-emtrey

 

[Angrist]

Get your hands on a copy of Alsoft's DiskWarrior. (It's only $30 or so, or borrow a copy from your local tech support geek)

It might be able to fix the problem. There are a lot of filesystem glitches that fsck and disk utility won't touch, but diskwarrior will.

 

[emtrey]

Thanks. I've been looking into it. Quick question, though-- do you know if Disk Warrior 3 is able to boot-up & repair Intel Macs? Can't find any mention of it. I know Disk Warrior 4 can, but outside of Alsoft's actual site (3 to 4 weeks for delivery of the CD I'd need to boot from), I can't find DW4 anywhere. And a local store has DW3 in stock, so if it would do the trick, it would save me time.

Thanks for the help.

-emtrey

 

[elisha cuthbert]

Get your hands on a copy of Alsoft's DiskWarrior. (It's only $30 or so, or borrow a copy from your local tech support geek)

It might be able to fix the problem. There are a lot of filesystem glitches that fsck and disk utility won't touch, but diskwarrior will.

this will work!!!
when this happened to my iBook its what the apple teckies used. its also know as directory faults
i just gave my ibook to the local apple service centre and they backed up my data and fixed it and then put the data back on it
good luck

 

[mad jew]

Quick question, though-- do you know if Disk Warrior 3 is able to boot-up & repair Intel Macs?

Sorry, but I don't think so. Hopefully I'm wrong though.

If you don't want to stump up the money, then reinstalling the OS with an erase and reformat should do the same trick. Of course, you'll have to back everything up beforehand.