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fsck -fy systems check not working properly on MacBook Air using Mojave 10.14.6

I have seen a slow down of my system and I believe the hard disk may be corrupt. I am operating the latest OS Mojave 10.14.6 on my 2013 MacBook Air (6.1) i7 with an SSD Hard drive. When I try to do an fsck -fy systems check, which normally always works, I am getting the message below. It doesn't go through all of the snapshots properly because of an "invalid key order."


I tried rebooting in recovery mode but and using first aid but it is saying everything is okay and doesn't really seem to be repairing anything.

MacBook Air

Posted on Oct 2, 2019 1:51 PM

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Posted on Oct 4, 2019 3:33 PM

I was looking around and found a possible issue with snapshots not having a date associated with them (called "dateless") and the fsck failing (with a slightly different error) but do you get any "dateless" local snapshots with this terminal command:


tmutil listlocalsnapshots /


If so, remove that dateless snapshot with the command


sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots xxxx


change the xxxx to the name of the dateless snapshot -- see article below for an actual example. Of course those files in the dateless TM snapshot are now gone, so weigh that against being able to get fsck to complete (if that is what is causing your error).


Here is the article whereI found this -- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8092082?page=3


Good luck...


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 4, 2019 3:33 PM in response to bikinijack

I was looking around and found a possible issue with snapshots not having a date associated with them (called "dateless") and the fsck failing (with a slightly different error) but do you get any "dateless" local snapshots with this terminal command:


tmutil listlocalsnapshots /


If so, remove that dateless snapshot with the command


sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots xxxx


change the xxxx to the name of the dateless snapshot -- see article below for an actual example. Of course those files in the dateless TM snapshot are now gone, so weigh that against being able to get fsck to complete (if that is what is causing your error).


Here is the article whereI found this -- https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8092082?page=3


Good luck...


Oct 4, 2019 1:24 PM in response to bikinijack

Hello bikinijack,


Tanks for posting to the Apple Support Communities. It sounds like the Mac was slow, but the command is providing errors for the disk drive. I'll be happy to help.


Here are some suggestions:

  • If First Aid is not detecting or repairing any errors, there might not be any issues with the drive itself. If you feel there is, you can use Apple Diagnostics to check the hardware: How to use Apple Diagnostics on your Mac - Apple Support
  • If you feel there is an issue with the drive itself:
    1. Back up your Mac: How to back up your Mac
    2. Erase the disk: How to erase a disk for Mac
    3. Restore the backup. If using Time Machine, here are the steps: Restore your Mac from a backup


If you still see an issue, it might be related to hardware. Here are the options for service: Mac Repair - Official Apple Support


Have a great day.

Oct 4, 2019 4:09 PM in response to bikinijack

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


Copy the report


and use the Add Text button to include the report in your reply. How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report


Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:




Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine what's causing the problem..



Oct 5, 2019 10:56 AM in response to bikinijack

What worked?


The report says you have avira antivirus installed. That's a total waste of resources and money. There are no known viruses for Macs and the Abs only waste system resources and give off false positives now and then. Uninstall according to the developer's instructions: How do I uninstall Avira Antivirus for Mac?


Not all of the report was posted. The part of the report after Virtual Memory Information is missing.


Also the disk info appears edited. There's no Mounted Volumes info giving the amount of free spade on the drive.

Oct 5, 2019 1:43 PM in response to Old Toad

The "dateless snapshot" post above. I followed that instruction, found that I did have one dateless snapshot, I removed it via the terminal command as suggested, did another fsck -fy, and it worked perfectly. I also followed your recommendation on Avira, it's gone. It was actually driving me crazy anyway as it really slowed down my system when doing the scheduled scanning.


BTW, after I posted above I realized my "This worked, thanks" reply was in the wrong place, but Apple won't let you delete or edit posts in these forums... Why is that?

fsck -fy systems check not working properly on MacBook Air using Mojave 10.14.6

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