Error while checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of the Hard Disk

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Error while checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of the Hard Disk

I have an older imac: OS X 10.4.11 800MHz PowerPC G4 768MB SDRAM
Machine Model: PowerMac4,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
serial # W8310 *P19

<edited by host>

I use Onyx to run maintenance from time to time. It always asks to check S.M.A.R.T status when first starting up the software. For the first time I ran into this message today:

error detected -9972 while verifying/repairing volume disk0s5 iMac

I have searched everywhere for some info on that with no luck. I repaired permissions using disk utility.. everything looked clean.. nothing to repair. I restarted the computer, and upon starting up Onyx again I received the same message. I'm seeking help in finding out what this error message -9972 means.

imac PowerPC G4 800MHz / Older Model, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 768MB SDRAM / Startup Disk iMac

Posted on Jan 20, 2010 11:29 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 20, 2010 11:45 PM in response to cazuaga

I don't think that is an error from the S.M.A.R.T status check. "While verifying/repairing volume" sounds like a disk data corruption error.

Let's forget Onyx at this point (for this particular problem) and use Apple's Disk Utility.

Run Disk Utility. Select the drive in question in the sidebar. RIght (control) click on it and select Information. In the window that comes up, check +S.M.A.R.T status+; if it says Verified, then the drive has passed the S.M.A.R.T status check.

Now, with the drive still selected in the sidebar, go to the +First Aid+ tab. Run +Verify Disk+. If Onyx is correct, this should confirm what it reported, and may provide additional information about the error. In any case, if there is an error, you need to do the following. First, back up your user data in case there is disk data corruption, and the attempt to repair it does not work and makes things worse.

Note: +Repair Disk Permissions+ has nothing to do with this type of error. You can run it, but permissions are not related.

Start up from the Mac OS X installation disc for the currently installed system release: insert disc and restart with the C key held down. When you get to the first Installer screen (after selecting language), go up to the menu bar. Under Utilities select to run Disk Utility. In the sidebar, select the drive and repeat what you did before, except this time use +Repair Disk+. Note if the error is reported again, and if Disk Utility is able to repair the problem.

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Answer 2

cazuaga Author

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Jan 25, 2010 6:19 PM in response to cazuaga

OK. I ran disk utility and checked SMART status. It showed unverified or not verified.
Then I did verify disk and here is the message:

Name : iMac
Type : Volume

Disk Identifier : disk0s5
Mount Point : /
File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Connection Bus : ATA
Partition Type : Apple_HFS
Device Tree : mac-io/ata-4@1f000/@0:5
Writable : Yes
Universal Unique Identifier : 5F927714-33B3-3411-A43C-EA0968460F58
Capacity : 55.9 GB (60,021,978,112 Bytes)
Free Space : 16.7 GB (17,972,727,808 Bytes)
Used : 39.2 GB (42,043,961,344 Bytes)
Number of Files : 160,671
Number of Folders : 37,905
Owners Enabled : Yes
Can Turn Owners Off : Yes
Can Repair Permissions : Yes
Can Be Verified : Yes
Can Be Repaired : Yes
Can Be Formatted : Yes
Bootable : Yes
Supports Journaling : Yes
Journaled : Yes
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Verified
Disk Number : 0
Partition Number : 5

Disk Utility stopped verifying “iMac” because the following error was encountered:

The underlying task reported failure on exit

Verifying volume “iMac”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
%)
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume iMac needs to be repaired.

Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit

1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair

I already had my iMac backed up using a program named SuperDuper. So I did the reinstall. It asked if I wanted to erase the disk. I figured ya.. did the install and then ran disk utility again. I lost the message it gave me.. but similarly it stated disk needs repair. I connected the back up drive to my macbook pro and I connected my iMac as a firewire drive. I again used SuperDuper.. this time I used the restore function. I was asked again if I wanted to erase the iMac drive. I said yes..

So far.. everything seems to be in order. The restore worked with no problems. All my settings etc are as they were. The computer seems to be responding more quickly while I am using it. Disk verify shows verified now. Thanks for your help! The only thing now is this folder is open on my desktop every time I boot the computer now: English.lproj Do u know why this may be popping up or what I can do to get rid of it? Thanks again.

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Answer 3

Jan 25, 2010 8:15 PM in response to cazuaga

Good job. It seems like the problem that reported by Onyx and Disk Utility was pretty minor, and doing the restore (clone the clone back) fixed whatever was wrong. That's one way to fix the problem. 🙂

What is this "English.lproj" folder? Is there anything inside that you are familiar with. Where is it stored (you may be able to use Spotlight to find it)? According to a Google search, an ".lproj" is a bundle (like a folder) with localization files. I found the same folder "English.lproj" name many times.

Things that open at startup are listed in System Preferences Accounts pane +Login Items+ tab. However, it would be odd that something you don't recognize suddenly ended up on the Login Items list. If it's on the list, you can take it off.

Otherwise, what I would do is first find out where this folder is located.

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Answer 4

Jan 25, 2010 9:10 PM in response to cazuaga

Here's a great user tip on -9972 errors. Pretty serious!

DALE

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Answer 5

cazuaga Author

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Jan 25, 2010 10:24 PM in response to cazuaga

yep.. i had seen there were several English.lproj folders yesterday. I did write down their path locations. The one that was opening up on boot up had safari icons.. So after reading your post today, i checked start up items and there the folder was. I removed it. I'm going to assume that this move is going to take care of the issue. The only weird thing is that I just went folder by folder in the spotlight list to see which one was the one which was popping up but none in the spotlight list are the one I have been seeing.. strange. Will see what happens upon next computer start up tomorrow morning. Thanks a lot for the info.

As well.. thanks for the post about the -9972 error discussion.

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Answer 6

cazuaga Author

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Jan 25, 2010 10:24 PM in response to Dale Weisshaar

thanks for this

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Answer 7

Jan 25, 2010 10:34 PM in response to cazuaga

The "weird" thing is how that folder got on your Login Items list. 🙂 You should review the list carefully to make sure there is nothing else that is odd on the list.

Spotlight intentionally does not present items that are located in places like your System folder and various Library folders in its search results, so it is not entirely surprising that this particular English.lproj folder did not show up in the Spotlight results.

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Answer 8

Jan 25, 2010 10:52 PM in response to cazuaga

It is exceedingly hard to corrupt the filesystem when "journaling" is enabled except in cases where the drive is physically starting to fail.

If it is starting to fail, you'll likely start to notice bizarre things with your files and "Verify Disk" will report errors.

I recommend you run "Verify Disk" daily for the next several days. Make sure all your important stuff is backed up. You also have to be very careful trusting data backed up since this problem began... if any of your important data is corrupt and you run a backup, you've effectively got a backup of corrupt files -- which doesn't do you much good. It's one of the reasons I run both SuperDuper and Time Machine. With Time Machine I can pick a copy of a file from a few months ago if I need to go back that far to find a non-corrupted copy backup.

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