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+--- Thread: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. (/showthread.php?tid=76055)
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Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - graylocks - 04-09-2009
okay, gathering the info shared here and trying to clean up my Mac Mini (which has been chugging along nicely since i booted from my external), i erased my internal and recloned the external partition i'm booted from onto the internal. so far so good. then i decided to run Disk Utility on the internal before i reboot onto it. Repaired permissions. fine. ran disk repair. PROBLEM. hmmm. ran disk verify. PROBLEM - disk needs to be repaired! i run repair again. this is the message:
Verify and Repair disk “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Invalid key length
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
oh crap! now what? should i run Disk Warrior? should i go ahead and boot from the internal any way and see what happens?
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - space-time - 04-09-2009
erase and format again
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - Black - 04-09-2009
How did you erase the internal, exactly?
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - graylocks - 04-09-2009
Black wrote:
How did you erase the internal, exactly?
Disk Utility. first level of erase. took about 10 seconds.
space-time wrote:
erase and format again
questions:
1. does the level of erase matter?
2. should i run disk repair and repair permissions on the HD after reformatting?
3. reclone after erasing or do #2, then reclone
4. should i run disk repair and repair permissions after recloning?
5. could underlying problems with the internal HD been the source of the Mini slowing down in the first place?
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - AlphaDog - 04-09-2009
I encountered a similar problem last week when I was working on my G4 PB. I wound up inserting install discs and doing the erase and install from there. That worked well, and then I reinstalled apps and folders from the external drive. It's been a week now, and things seem fine.
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - Black - 04-09-2009
OK, the procedure you ran that failed was verify/repair disk, not repair permissions.
The level shouldn't make a difference-- any way you play it you rewrite the directory . . . however if it failed once with the low-level reformat I'd take it up a notch the next time as a matter of decorum . .
Next time try the verify/repair before installing the OS.
The problem you describe is unusual and does point to a disk problem, and yes, it seems likely that it's the reason you had problems before,
Good luck though :-)
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - RAMd®d - 04-09-2009
You're not doing a low-level format, just a regular format.
I'd recommend zeroing the drive one time. This should map out any bad blocks you might have on the HD. This is a just in case thing. It will take longer then simple reformatting depending on the size of the HD.
You can click on Repair Disk after formatting to confirm everything is clean. Don't bother with Repairing Permissions until after your OS is in place. Then RP with Disk Utility while booted from your boot partition.
Repair Disk, re-clone, don't Repair Permissions.
It shouldn't hurt anything to Repair Disk and Repair Permissions *after* re-cloning. In theory, it shouldn't hurt anything to repair permissions from other than the booted volume, but it's usually *best* to use do it from the booted volume.
It's possible that underlying problems could be responsible for the mini's slow down, but not necessarily.
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - graylocks - 04-09-2009
one more question - is "erase" and "reformat the HD" one step or two? in other words, is erasing the same as reformatting or is there another "reformat" step to do in Disk Utility once I have erased?
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - RAMd®d - 04-09-2009
If you reformat, your HD will be erased in the process, one step.
You can reformat and zero the HD in one step by selection Options or Security (not in front of Disk Utility at the moment) and something like Write once and then start the process. This will take a while so you might want to put on a French maid uniform and engage somebody in a pillow fight while bouncing on a bed.
Your HD will be erased, bad blocks (if any) mapped out, formatted (HFS+) and ready for your OS Install.
Now at this point, I'd install the OS and apps from scratch. Cloning your HD and installing it on your much faster external HD defragmented your OS, (although X can handle a lot of fragmentation). But your OS may still have sustained damage/corruption over the years, and freshening it up is a good idea.
If you're curious, you can reinstall the clone to see if it will now work. Me, I'd just skip that step and install anew.
Then, after you install your new OS and it's working fine, repair permissions. You might even want to Verify your HD. And finally, I'd boot from the external and run Disk Warrior on your internal HD.
Re: Oh boy, HD probs - i think. - Black - 04-09-2009
I would absolutely install the clone after verifying the disk once zeroed/reformatted.
If the disk comes up clean after reformatting, there's no reason in the world not to go with the clone, unless you enjoy spending hours needlessly futzing with your mac.
RAMd®d wrote:
If you reformat, your HD will be erased in the process, one step.
You can reformat and zero the HD in one step by selection Options or Security (not in front of Disk Utility at the moment) and something like Write once and then start the process. This will take a while so you might want to put on a French maid uniform and engage somebody in a pillow fight while bouncing on a bed.
Your HD will be erased, bad blocks (if any) mapped out, formatted (HFS+) and ready for your OS Install.
Now at this point, I'd install the OS and apps from scratch. Cloning your HD and installing it on your much faster external HD defragmented your OS, (although X can handle a lot of fragmentation). But your OS may still have sustained damage/corruption over the years, and freshening it up is a good idea.
If you're curious, you can reinstall the clone to see if it will now work. Me, I'd just skip that step and install anew.
Then, after you install your new OS and it's working fine, repair permissions. You might even want to Verify your HD. And finally, I'd boot from the external and run Disk Warrior on your internal HD.