Alsoft's Disk Warrior still can't rebuild APFS disks (still)

I can see why you are concerned but why are you posting here instead of contacting Alsoft? The way the tech world has worked since Day One is that software developers must keep up with computer company's hardware and OS development, not the other way around.

Apple can't fix Alsoft's issues and doesn't read here anyway. We are end users like you and, unfortunately, cannot make what you need happen.

Looks like it will be happening. Have you seen this on the Alsoft site?:

https://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/mojaveapfs.html

It includes this:

The document is not dated--you will have to contact Alsoft find find out their idea of "next release."

ApMaX in response to Bownse
No, Apple has not yet published full APFS documentation. Only information about reading APFS disks has been released.

Thanks for the clarification. I don't think the article I read mentioned the limitation in the released documentation.

The few times that I have had directory corruption in my life with

Apple products (started with a MacPlus), the built in tools from

Apple fixed all but 1 case, and DiskWarrior was of no use either.

AFAIK the APFS documentation was only recently released by Apple so it will take some time for developers to pore through it and properly understand the new filesystem. As VikingOSX mentioned, filesystems are very complicated and a reputable third party developer such as those you mention do not want to release a product which could cause harm and tarnish their brand. I too am eagerly awaiting a version of Disk Warrior that can be used with APFS.

Alsoft's DiskWarrior does not defrag disks, as the operating system automatically handles this. What DiskWarrior is reorganizing is the Disk Catalog that has pointers to every existing file on that specific drive.

You can post here indefinitely, and it will not change the fact that when Alsoft is ready to deliver an APFS compatible product, it will happen, and not before. APFS in my estimation, is a more complicated filesystem than HFS+, and that alone could be a contributing factor to the delay.

Also realize that Apple is not here, so all you are doing is posting to fellow users who also have no say in Alsoft's delivery schedule.

Bownse wrote:

The previous thread was closed. It's now about 3 (4?) years since APFS launched and DiskWarrior still doesn't support APFS.

In the other thread ( https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8469127 ) it was noted that someone doesn't see the need for it with newer OSs. What they don't see is the "defrag" nature of it that is missing from Apple tools. Because writes to SSDs reduce longevity (as bits are forced through the permeable insulating layer at the chip level), "defrag" in Windows is explicitly NOT recommended (too many writes that can damage the SSD). How DiskWarrior differs is that the writes are dramatically reduced in it. It makes a copy of the directory, evaluates it, then overwrites the original once approved by the user. Much less writing that the defrag block-by-block read-write method.

Directory table repair is still someone DiskWarrior does that a macOS version of SpinRite won't (once Steve Gibson quits getting distracted by Squirrels and finishes v7). Both are significant utilities to have but they are lagging behind current needs.

You can send your third party feedback to DiskWarrior Support - Alsoft

No, Apple has not yet published full APFS documentation. Only information about reading APFS disks has been released. Missing is documentation about how to write to APFS disks. Until then, DiskWarrior 6 to rebuild APFS disk directory cannot be released.

Why? When will it happen? Surprisingly, APFS is still a work in progress. We could say that it is still in beta phase. Hopefully, Apple will announce Time Machine 2 supporting APFS on 3rd June 2019 (WWDC). Then, macOS 10.15 with it will be released by end of September 2019. And then Apple will hopefully release really and truly full (sort of) APFS documentation. Then DiskWarrior 6 could be expected in about three to six months testing period. Hopefully.

Acknowledged by Micromat in several posts in their forum. For instance (among many others):

TTP 11 says "File Optimization is not available for APFS formatted volumes

31 Mar 2019 01:02

The File Optimization and Volume Optimization features cannot at this time be updated to work on APFS volumes because Apple has not provided documentation for developers about writing to APFS volumes.

https://www.micromat.com/component/kunena/techtool-pro-11/5254-ttp-11-says-file-optimization-is-not-available-for-apfs-formatted-volumes

That applies to TechTool Pro from Micromat, but the same can be said for Drive Genius from Prosoft Engineering or DiskWarrior from Alsoft.

Here is a new one:

TOPIC: APFS - AGAIN no support

31 Mar 2019 12:33

Providing full support for APFS is entirely dependent on Apple releasing the required documentation for developers. So far, only the documentation explaining the APIs for reading APFS volumes has been released. It is about 140 pages long. We need similar documentation for writing to APFS volumes.

https://www.micromat.com/component/kunena/techtool-pro-11/5225-apfs-again-no-support