The underlying task reported failure on exit--what do I do?

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Level 1

8 points

The underlying task reported failure on exit--what do I do?

Long story short: Quicksilver G4 OS X 10.4.11 got stuck with the spinning color wheel using Eudora email, couldn't Force Quit, eventually it froze completely. I pulled the plug, restarted and ended with a blank blue screen (after the Apple logo and startup "wheel"). Reset the PMU, no difference. So I booted from the Tiger install DVD and got to Disk Utility. First, it didn't recognize any hard drive. So, I switched batteries, restarted, and the hard drive showed up. So I ran DU again, and came up with "the underlying task reported failure on exit" about 2/3 of the way through repairing the HD. Now I'm stuck.

My questions:

What difference did the battery make and why?

What do I do to repair the HD now?

Thanks!

Beige G3 333MHz (OS 9.1), BW G3 350MHz (OS 10.3.9), G4 733MHz, G4 933MHz, Mac OS X (10.4.11), G4 Powerbook 533 MHZ, Laserwriters 4/600, 320

Posted on Sep 24, 2008 9:52 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

roam

Level 6

13,631 points

Sep 25, 2008 5:22 AM in response to Odell

If Disk Utility could not repair your drive then you may need to use DiskWarrior.
The only downside is that it is expensive. The upside is that it can repair "underlying task reported failure on exit:" errors when others fail.

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Answer 2

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Sep 25, 2008 5:46 PM in response to Odell

Odell:

As roam indicated Disk Utility reports "Underlying task reported failure" when repairing a volume is a serious directory error that cannot be repaired by Disk Utility. The article linked suggests the use of a third party utility. Disk Warrior, recommended by roam, is one of the best utilities for this kind of work. Tech Tool Pro is the other utility of choice for this kind of work.

If you do not have a current backup of your data, you should look to that immediately. If you have your data backed up, another approach would be to reinstall the OS choosing the Archive and Install option.

Although this error is essentially a directory error, it can, and sometimes does, be rooted in a hardware issue, e.g. a failing/failed Hard Disk Drive. I suggest that you boot from the Apple Hardware Test disk and run all tests in a loop by holding down Command + L during the tests. It sometimes takes many many repetitions and several hours to detect intermittent issues, so leave it run and check on it occasionally.

😉 cornelius

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