MacBook drive failure?

At 15:41 -0700 UTC, on 2007-05-08, Brian White wrote:

[kernel panic; damaged file system]

> Disk Utility reported:
>
> ----------------------------
> Invalid catalog record type
> Volume Check failed
> Error: the underlying task reported failure on exit.
>
> 1 volume could not be repaired because of an error.
> The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
> -----------------------------
>
> Can someone advise me on how to best proceed?

Just erase the disk and restore from back-up. Really, that's the cheapest,
fastest and most reliable approach for most people in most cases. If you have
an image[1] of the disk, that'll be the easiest to restore from. Otherwise
just reinstall the OS, upgrade to current version, and restore your user's
files and settings from your backup.

> Can/should I run Disk Warrior on it?

If you have it, and have the time, it won't hurt. Maybe it will be able to
fix it, maybe not. Personally I think the most useful thing to invest in is
a reliable back-up routine. If you have none, and are desparate to save data,
I would recommend Data Rescue II[2]. In that case, run *nothing* else before
that.

The interesting bit is what *caused* this. While it can happen, it shouldn't
happen often. (To me, a hosed file system once a year would be too often.) So
if it does happen again anytime soonish, try to figure out the cause. (Could
be a bad disk (its SMART status can give some indication, but doesn't say it
all), but more often it will be due to something else, like forced reboots --
which in turn will be triggered by something, like misbehaving software.)


[1] You can create bootbale images, aka "clones", with Disk Utility's
"Restore" function. Just make sure to boot from a volume other then [A] the
one you're cloning and [B] the one you're cloning to, or it won't be bootable.

[2] <http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue_info.php>


--
Sander Tekelenburg, <http://www.euronet.nl/~tekelenb/>

This occurred recently to a friend of mine's MacBook Pro, relatively
new, and it went in to Apple. Seems the memory was causing the
problem. Will it boot up in Firewire Disk mode? Have you run the
Hardware Diagnostics Disc?

Jeffrey

Brian White wrote:
> Can someone advise me on how to best proceed? She just got it about a
> month ago from Mac Mall, but we have an Apple store about 20 minutes
> away.
>
> Can/should I run Disk Warrior on it? I have a copy of Disk Warrior,
> but it's at least a few years old. If there's a good chance that DW
> can fix this problem, I'll use the opportunity to upgrade it if
> necessary.

The Apple store will offer to wipe the drive clean and re-install and/or if the drive is bad replace it. But you'll also lose all your data. If you talk nice to them you can ask them to backup your data by putting the MacBook into Target disk mode and copying off the drive or if that fails at least the user folder. Or you could do it first.

DO NOT try any repair utilities before you try said copying off. And DW from a few years ago is very likely to do more harm than good. And even a current copy might fix the directory but will not be able to deal with any corruption inside of any system or application files.

Now for the NOT faint of heart, if you can't copy your data off in target mode because the system hangs when you try, you can seal up the MacBook in using something like a trash bag, put it in the fridge for a few hours, take it out, fire it up in target mode, and see what you can get. A drive that's marginal or a circuit that's failing due to heat can at times be "urged" to work a little bit longer if starting from a colder position. :) DO NOT do this in a humid environment or you'll get condensation on the circuits.

David

Sounds like the exact situation that I'd use DiskWarrior for. And
yes, you should update it.

Howard

On 8-May-2007, at 16:41, Brian White wrote:
> Can/should I run Disk Warrior on it? I have a copy of Disk Warrior,
> but it's at least a few years old. If there's a good chance that DW
> can fix this problem, I'll use the opportunity to upgrade it if
> necessary.

No, do not run your old copy of DW on a current machine. DW was
updated specifically for 10.4 and you WILL munge your data with an
old Disk Warrior disc.

Hope you had backups.

Take it to Apple, they will fix it (likely by replacing the hard drive).

On 5/9/07 13:32, "Google Kreme" <gkremegmail.com> wrote:

>> Can/should I run Disk Warrior on it? I have a copy of Disk Warrior,
>> but it's at least a few years old. If there's a good chance that DW
>> can fix this problem, I'll use the opportunity to upgrade it if
>> necessary.
>
> No, do not run your old copy of DW on a current machine. DW was
> updated specifically for 10.4 and you WILL munge your data with an
> old Disk Warrior disc.

Normally, DiskWarrior will say "Not on this OS version, please get a newer
version of DiskWarrior", or something to that effect.

--
John C. Welch Writer/Analyst
Bynkii.com Mac and other opinions
jwelchbynkii.com

I had virtually the identical problem with my Macbook drive; Disk Warrior
(latest version) fixed it right up!
--

Allen Watson