Strange SSD/fsck_hfs behaviour

[flatfoot]

Hi there,

I recently noticed that when I run fsck_hfs on my boot SSD, in consecutive runs it sometimes reports (minor) errors and sometimes not.

Does anybody have an idea what that's all about?

The SSD is a 240GB Kingston SSDNow V300 2.5" and it's about 3.5 years old.

Here' the output of the most recent runs (non-recovery mode):

My-SSD:~ myUser$ sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/disk3s2
Password:
** /dev/rdisk3s2
** Root file system
   Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-226.1.1).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
   The volume name is My SSD
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume My SSD appears to be OK.

My-SSD:~ myUser$ sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/disk3s2
** /dev/rdisk3s2
** Root file system
   Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-226.1.1).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
   The volume name is My SSD
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
   Volume bitmap needs minor repair for orphaned blocks
** Checking volume information.
** The volume My SSD cannot be repaired when it is in use.
** The volume My SSD could not be repaired.

My-SSD:~ myUser$ sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/disk3s2
** /dev/rdisk3s2
** Root file system
   Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-226.1.1).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
   The volume name is My SSD
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
** Checking volume information.
** The volume My SSD appears to be OK.

My-SSD:~ myUser$ sudo fsck_hfs -fy /dev/disk3s2
** /dev/rdisk3s2
** Root file system
   Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-226.1.1).
** Verifying volume when it is mounted with write access.
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
   The volume name is My SSD
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** Checking volume bitmap.
   Volume bitmap needs minor repair for orphaned blocks
   Volume bitmap needs minor repair for under-allocation
** Checking volume information.
** The volume My SSD cannot be repaired when it is in use.
** The volume My SSD could not be repaired.

My-SSD:~ myUser$

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm guessing that to "repair" the drive, you will have to "boot externally".

That is, boot up from another volume, either the recovery partition or an external drive with a fully-bootable os.

Then, open Disk Utility, "aim it" at your internal drive, and try the repair that way...

 

[mfram]

The results from a repair program on a runnng drive are going to be inconsistent because of caching performed by the operating system. To get reliable results the drive can't be mounted. On a boot drive that means you need to boot on something else before you check you internal drive. Or you need to boot into single user mode where the boot drive is still mounted read only.

 

[flatfoot]

Thanks for the input; I really appreciate it!

Forgot to say that I also ran the command after booting into the recovery partition. IIRC, nothing was reported then, even after several runs.
But I'll try again and see what the results are.
[doublepost=1474739696][/doublepost]

The results from a repair program on a runnng drive are going to be inconsistent …

Does that mean the error messages might be bogus?

 

[flatfoot]

I just did four consecutive runs of fsck_hfs on my boot SSD while booted into the recovery partition:

No errors whatsoever.

Does anybody have an idea what to make of that?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Does anybody have an idea what to make of that?"

Yup.
It means the drive is good.

 

[flatfoot]

OP wrote:
"Does anybody have an idea what to make of that?"

Yup.
It means the drive is good.

Alright, I'll take your word for it. ;-)