pacguy
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Unable to restore system, possible hard drive issues

I started getting a white screen at startup and couldn't get past the apple logo. I ran the recommended repairs but could not get it to detect the OS though the recovery console could see everything fine. The console suggested a repair on the drive which I ran but it seems to fail and goes to a empty grey screen.

 

I pulled the drive and backed up the contents to my PC and noticed that their were three partitions showing on it. There was no issue backing up the files as well so it seems like the drive is ok. After plugging it back in I attempted the internet recovery option and it only detects the recovery HD. I tried to erase disk02 but that fails as well. I also use the restore option but that also fails. I'm more used to restoring windows systems and am unsure just what I might be missing.

 

I've attached pics on what I'm seeing so hopefully that'll help.

http://imgur.com/a/nsyx8

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6), internet recovery

Posted on Jun 29, 2016 8:19 PM

by jndupuis1,Solvedanswer
jndupuis1 jndupuis1
Level 2 (470 points)
A:

Enter Recovery>Disk Utility. Highlight 1TB Apple HD ST**** and click erase. After, click Partition Tab. Use arrow on "Current" bar and select 1 Partition. Below you see a + sign or Options and you will make sure it is GUID Partition Table. You will title it Macintosh HD and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) then hit Apply. Now you will see Macintosh HD instead of Disk 0s2. Highlight Macintosh HD and click Erase Tab. Now you erase Macintosh HD. It should be GUID Partition Table Mac OS Extended (journaled). You should be able to put it in to your Mac that you will install El Capitan. Hope this helps you.

 

Cheers!!

Posted on Jun 30, 2016 7:00 PM

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pacguy

Q: Unable to restore system, possible hard drive issues

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  • Helpful answers

  • by jndupuis1,Solvedanswer

    jndupuis1 jndupuis1 Jun 30, 2016 7:00 PM in response to pacguy
    Level 2 (470 points)
    Jun 30, 2016 7:00 PM in response to pacguy

    Enter Recovery>Disk Utility. Highlight 1TB Apple HD ST**** and click erase. After, click Partition Tab. Use arrow on "Current" bar and select 1 Partition. Below you see a + sign or Options and you will make sure it is GUID Partition Table. You will title it Macintosh HD and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) then hit Apply. Now you will see Macintosh HD instead of Disk 0s2. Highlight Macintosh HD and click Erase Tab. Now you erase Macintosh HD. It should be GUID Partition Table Mac OS Extended (journaled). You should be able to put it in to your Mac that you will install El Capitan. Hope this helps you.

     

    Cheers!!

  • by pacguy,

    pacguy pacguy Jun 30, 2016 7:06 PM in response to jndupuis1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 30, 2016 7:06 PM in response to jndupuis1

    Thanks for the quick response. I tried erasing the drive like you said and now get the error. Disk erase failed. Disk erase failed with error. Couldn't unmount disk.

    I went to the partition tab and hit the - sign to remove the partition and it hung on preparing to remove partition. I'm also getting an error stating posix reports: the operation couldn't be completed. input/output error.

     

    I did some googling for more help and saw a suggestion to manually unmount the drive. I opened the terminal and used

     

    diskutil list

     

    And can see all the partions on the drive. I then use the command

     

    diskutil unmount force /dev/disk0

     

    and that fails with, could not unmount drive. I'm at a loss as to how to continue forward with this.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 1, 2016 8:47 AM in response to pacguy
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 1, 2016 8:47 AM in response to pacguy
    input/output error

     

    That is often a symptom of hard drive failure.

     

    If you live near an Apple Store, make a Genius Bar appointment to have the computer tested. Supposedly there is no charge for testing. Use 2nd link if not near an Apple Store or aren’t in the US.       Hardware Repair - Keeping Confidential Data Safe

     

    Genius Bar Reservation US

     

    Authorized Service Provider

  • by jndupuis1,

    jndupuis1 jndupuis1 Jul 2, 2016 7:49 AM in response to pacguy
    Level 2 (470 points)
    Jul 2, 2016 7:49 AM in response to pacguy

    I failed to tell you that you must boot into Recovery in order to fully perform the task. hold [command] + [R] keys during power up to enter Recovery. Disk Utility will then be able to perform the task. While in OS X Disk Utility, at times, fails to "unmount" because OS X sees the Disk is in use. So to perform a full erase and re-partition of a drive, it needs to be done in Disk Utility under Recovery Mode.

     

    Cheers!!

  • by pacguy,

    pacguy pacguy Jul 2, 2016 8:32 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2016 8:32 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks for the idea, I'll give that a try.

  • by pacguy,

    pacguy pacguy Jul 2, 2016 8:33 AM in response to jndupuis1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2016 8:33 AM in response to jndupuis1

    Unfortunately all this is happening while in recovery mode. I can't get past the white screen to view the desktop to do any other repairs. I'm thinking hard drive failure at this point.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 3, 2016 8:47 AM in response to pacguy
    Level 9 (70,250 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 3, 2016 8:47 AM in response to pacguy

    You are welcome.