invalid key length, disk repair fails

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Level 1

115 points

invalid key length, disk repair fails

i am getting this disk error after macbookpro locks up, repeatable.

invalid key length
volume check failed
error: filesystem verify or repair failed.

this is the boot volume of the macbookpro running os 10.5.6. been running well for months, used everyday all day, then this am the finder and all other apps lock up, no application crash, just all hanging one after another. hard reset gets system back but it recurs in short order.

i ran diskutil from the software restore dvdrom, three times. same results (error text above) each time. only option barring other solutions is to reinstall the system and restore data from a time machine bu.

never seen this before. any ideas?

thanks.

MacPro DC2.0GHz; C2D PwrBks; Mini; still have that Newton 2000 in the closet..., Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 26, 2009 10:11 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Jan 26, 2009 11:32 PM in response to dtich

Bad directory file. You need something stronger, DiskWarrior is the preferred app for this. Alternatively, restore the bootable backup/clone you have or the Time Machine backup.

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Answer 2

dtich Author

Level 1

115 points

Jan 27, 2009 12:59 AM in response to baltwo

thanks for hint on diskwarrior. i am running it but it is encountering quite a pile, i've never seen a problem like this. the sys log on the system that's running dw is full of:

App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324751 to 324751
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector 324751 is bad. (JSC)
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324752 to 324752
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector 324752 is bad. (JSC)
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324753 to 324753
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector 324753 is bad. (JSC)
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324754 to 324754
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector 324754 is bad. (JSC)
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324755 to 324755
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector 324755 is bad. (JSC)
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: disk14s2: Read I/O error for block range 324756 to 324756
Jan 27 00:49:29 server [0x0-0xba4ba4].com.alsoft.diskwarrior[9656]: DiskWarrior App: Disk sector

this does not bode well. i have no idea what has caused this disk to totally dump on me. almost feels like a virus -- it was such a sudden and complete meltdown with no precursor whatsoever. i am running dw on it in target mode but seems like i might have to frag it. crazy.

thanks for further thoughts if anyone has any.

Message was edited by: dtich

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Answer 3

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Jan 27, 2009 10:02 AM in response to dtich

HDs, just like any electromechanical devices don't last forever. Use DW to recover as many files as possible, copy them to another HD, boot with the bootable backup/clone, if you have one, or reinstall the OS onto another HD, boot with it, and erase, repartition, select zero out data from the security options (which should map out any bad blocks), and hopefully you can reuse the HD. If not, you'll have to replace it.

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Answer 4

dtich Author

Level 1

115 points

Jan 27, 2009 11:01 AM in response to baltwo

sure, but this disk is three months old. brand new powerbook. my tenth or so i'd say. never had a drive fail like this.

diskutil could not erase the drive, encountered errors. so i tried to restore a back up from timemachine, which is now in the process.. for some reason the erase directory step at the beginning of that seemed to work even when diskutil could not do it...? or perhaps i'll hit the error shortly and that was just a fluke.

also seeing about warranty replacing disk cause i don't trust it anymore.

more later..

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Answer 5

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Jan 27, 2009 11:20 AM in response to dtich

I am 99.9% sure that you have a hardware problem with your hard drive, which means that no amount of reformatting or directory repairing will fix it. Get thee to your local Apple service centre and get the hard drive replaced under warranty ASAP!

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Answer 6

dtich Author

Level 1

115 points

Jan 27, 2009 11:24 AM in response to Király

yes i agree. i have an appt at the apple store this evening. i am trying this software restore just to see what happens but i plan to replace the hd anyway.

this is an hitachi 300GB for anyone who is keeping score. only three months old. pain in the butt. the iphone is great but only goes so far at work..!

Message was edited by: dtich

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Answer 7

m1ss1on

Level 1

35 points

Jan 27, 2009 11:35 AM in response to dtich

I agree it's a pain in the butt, but you have to remember that nothing is perfect, not even your hard drive. It's not unusual for a sector (or a bunch) to randomly fail for no immediately apparent reason; in your case it was just really bad luck that it happened in 3 months and caused your system to go down. I had bad sectors in a VM image a few months back. The only way to get rid of a bad sector is to attempt to overwrite it. In your case, you should use Disk Utility to do a secure erase (writes 0s to every sector on the disk) so that the drive can re-learn which sectors are bad, then restore from a Time Machine Backup.

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Answer 8

dtich Author

Level 1

115 points

Jan 27, 2009 1:53 PM in response to m1ss1on

Amazingly timemachine restore worked, back up and running. It seems that the diskutil pass at the beginning of an erase and restore could do what the disk utility app refused to do, bypass the bad sectors and rewrite the system. Funny. But at any rate it's working now, we'll see how far I get.

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