Disk Repair Help!

[tylersail]

i ran repair disk and this is what came up

Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair


now it wont let me repair the disk, any suggestions??

 

[Peace]

Boot from your restore disk and run disk utility from that.It should do it.

You cannot repair a mounted disk in OSX.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Your disk has suffered filesystem damage that Disk Utility cannot fix. I hope you have your data backed up, since at this point your options are to use a disk repair/recovery program (such as Alsoft's DiskWarrior) or reformat the disk.

EDIT: Do as Peace suggested first. It's worth a try, at least.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Your disk has suffered filesystem damage that Disk Utility cannot fix. I hope you have your data backed up, since at this point your options are to use a disk repair/recovery program (such as Alsoft's DiskWarrior) or reformat the disk.

EDIT: Do as Peace suggested first. It's worth a try, at least.

no that happened to me and i put the install disc in and repaired and it worked fine after that

 

[netnothing]

Yes...always remember that while you can check your startup disk while in OS X....you can't repair it. Just boot into your install CD and run Disk Utility from there.

-Kevin

 

[Lynxpoint]

Could someone explain why a drive can not be repaired when it is mounted?

Of the very few things I see as faults in OS X, the need to reboot from CD (or other drive) to repair the system disk is at the top of the list for me.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Could someone explain why a drive can not be repaired when it is mounted?

Of the very few things I see as faults in OS X, the need to reboot from CD (or other drive) to repair the system disk is at the top of the list for me.

Are you comparing Mac OS X to Windows or Linux? As far as I know, Windows and Linux aren't much different from Mac OS X in this respect - this is because the disk structure cannot be repaired if files on the disk are currently in use (unless the filesystem is self-healing, like ZFS is). Windows gets around this limitation by booting into a special limited mode to check the disk. I don't know about Linux though. Mac OS X can boot into a special limited mode (called single-user mode), where it IS possible to check and fix the startup disk while booted from it. However, this process is not automatic, nor is it well documented.

 

[Lynxpoint]

I was thinking of Windows. I remember years ago Windows NT 4 required a special boot cycle for defragging system files but I can't recall anything as critical (or just sounding?) as the message in the OP that required a reboot to fix. Correct me if I am incorrect.

I am curious as what is the issue(s) with being able to repair the file structure that Apple has not alleviated the reboot requirement. (as you may have guessed i am not an OS architect)

 

[mad jew]

Defragmenting the drive is very different to repairing the drive. Windows also cannot repair its own boot drive without restarting. As the wise old wrldwzrd89 said though, one can repair the boot drive on a Mac by running fsck in Single User Mode.

 

[sayaka86]

Disk Repair Help

i own a ibook G4 bought on May 2006, i am not really good with computers and this is my first time using a macintosh...
i ran disk utility for my drive and this is what i got

Verifying volume “「サヤカ」”
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.
Volume Header needs minor repair
d.",1)
「サヤカ」
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair

it's simliar to tylersail's problem i guess, and following instructions from the forum i did try to run disk utility from my install cd, i inserted my install disk and held the option key down while it restarted and i ran the hardware test, but the forums kept saying something about disk utility, but i can't seem to find that option whenever i reboot into the install disk, am i supposed to hold down the c key instead when i reboot?

i am afraid to try as i am afraid that it will reformat my whole drive and i currently don't have enough space on my external hard drive to make a copy of my hard drive..

will holding down the c key allow me to enter disk utility to repair my hard drive or will it automatically format everything? if not, how do i enter the disk utility on my install disk? thanks for the help..

 

[wrldwzrd89]

i own a ibook G4 bought on May 2006, i am not really good with computers and this is my first time using a macintosh...
i ran disk utility for my drive and this is what i got

Verifying volume “「サヤカ」”
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.
Volume Header needs minor repair
d.",1)
「サヤカ」
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit


1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair

it's simliar to tylersail's problem i guess, and following instructions from the forum i did try to run disk utility from my install cd, i inserted my install disk and held the option key down while it restarted and i ran the hardware test, but the forums kept saying something about disk utility, but i can't seem to find that option whenever i reboot into the install disk, am i supposed to hold down the c key instead when i reboot?

i am afraid to try as i am afraid that it will reformat my whole drive and i currently don't have enough space on my external hard drive to make a copy of my hard drive..

will holding down the c key allow me to enter disk utility to repair my hard drive or will it automatically format everything? if not, how do i enter the disk utility on my install disk? thanks for the help..

The Disk Utility option should be in the Utilities menu when the installer comes up (it is on the 10.4 discs - I don't know which Mac OS X version you're running. If your boot disc happens to be a Mac OS 9 disc, the tool you need is called Disk First Aid.

 

[drLES]

so does it reformat yourt disk or not?

i am in the same boat. i need to do disk repair via reboot disk but i am worried that i will lose my hard drive. is this true?

 

[cobravap]

it does not reformat your disk if you repair it when u use the install cd. You will be fine. As long as u know where the "Repair Disk" button is. i repeat....it DOES NOT reformat your disk

 

[Ugg]

I just did this two days ago, the first time ever for my PB G4. The disk was repaired just fine so no worries but I did back up my hard drive first.

sayaka86, you'd better make room on your external drive and back it up just in case.

 

[mad jew]

It really shouldn't erase anything on your drive but a backup is always a good idea, especially if things are acting strange.

 

[sayaka86]

thanks for the reply guys..
i tried pressing down the c button for my install disk and it came up as the installer, so i quit that instead, (wouldn't want to format my drive...) and headed back here...
the last time i posted i was kind of vague on my install discs i guess. so here's the rest of the information. please do help me. thanks

when i bought my computer they gave me 3 cds.

one is a mac OS 9 install disc. but if i m not wrong this is for me to install mac OS 9 classic into my computer, so that i can use programmes meant for OS 9 though i am using a OS 10.4.10

i haven't tried to reboot into this cd yet, maybe i will try after i ve made a copy of my important files. if i do use this cd, do i hold down the option key like usual? and i will definetly have to follow ugg's advice and back up my stuff first..

on the other hand the other 2 cds that i got with my computer are labeled as: iBook G4 Mac OS X install disc 1 & 2 respectively. these are the ones that i have tried to reboot into without any success, and as said before all i got was the hard drive test and that was it, no such thing as disk repair or disk first aid came up.

so any pointers on that? thanks

 

[mad jew]

Disk Utility is in one of the menus when you're in the installer. Alternatively just run fsck from Single User Mode if that looks easier.