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I get an OSStatus error -7 error when doing a restore

I'm running High Sierra 10.13.6 on an iMac. When I try to do a restore from that partition to an empty partition on that machine using Disk Utility, I get an OSStatus error -7. So I tried doing a 10.13.6 install on that empty partition, and I got an error 22 with a cryptic message about /dev/(null). Anyone have an idea what the problem is with that empty partition? BTW: I did run disk repair on that empty partition, but the result was that it was ok. Thanks in advance to all that reply.

Posted on May 21, 2019 1:45 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 21, 2019 2:08 PM

Where were you installing from when you got the 22 error?


Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?


If the error code 22 disappears in Safe Mode, there may be an issue with a startup item, login item, or kext file. You might need to check your login items and see if the error code 22 is related to one of the programs loading up automatically on startup. You can narrow down the scope by doing so:

  • To clear out your login items, open System Preferences, and select Users & Groups.
  • Click your account on the left, and click the Login Items tab on the right.
  • Select the items from the list, and click the minus sight to remove them all.
  • Reboot your Mac, and see if the error code 22 shows up or not.


Have you run Disk Utility & First aid on all drives?


Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379


In fact, do 3 in a row, takes a bit of time.


Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)...


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 21, 2019 2:08 PM in response to ericc56

Where were you installing from when you got the 22 error?


Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?


If the error code 22 disappears in Safe Mode, there may be an issue with a startup item, login item, or kext file. You might need to check your login items and see if the error code 22 is related to one of the programs loading up automatically on startup. You can narrow down the scope by doing so:

  • To clear out your login items, open System Preferences, and select Users & Groups.
  • Click your account on the left, and click the Login Items tab on the right.
  • Select the items from the list, and click the minus sight to remove them all.
  • Reboot your Mac, and see if the error code 22 shows up or not.


Have you run Disk Utility & First aid on all drives?


Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379


In fact, do 3 in a row, takes a bit of time.


Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)...


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

May 21, 2019 3:38 PM in response to BDAqua

So I did the PRAM reset as you suggested. I then tried rebooting in safe mode. Still, I got the -7 error when I tried to do the restore. However, when I booted into recovery mode to do the macOS High Sierra install on the empty partition, this time it worked. I saw the empty partition amongst the available disks. So now I have a partition with macOS High Sierra, which is what I really wanted (although I would have preferred the restore).


BTW: I did try the restore again after all of this. But I got a different error:


"Source volume is read-write and cannot be unmounted, so it can't be blocked copied.

The operation couldn't be completed. (OSStatus error 19.)"


I'll look into that as a separate issue.


Thanks again for your reply.



May 21, 2019 2:21 PM in response to BDAqua

I was in recovery mode (cmd+r) when I tried to do the clean install on the empty partition. When I got to the screen where I choose the partition to install macOS on, it flashed the OSStatus error 22 with a cryptic message about '/dev/(null)' (so fast I couldn't get all of it), and the empty partition did not show up in the list of available disks.


I did in fact run First Aid on all disks. Everything checked out ok.


I will in fact try resetting the PRAM at my earliest opportunity.


Thanks.


I get an OSStatus error -7 error when doing a restore

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