Did this fsck work or fail, and what to do next?

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Level 1

15 points

Did this fsck work or fail, and what to do next?

My macbook has been extremely crashy since the Big Sur upgrade, and now won't boot easily or stay up for long after that. Accessing files in /home appears to take it down easily.

I attempted a recovery mode First Aid, and get the following output:

There are errors, yet it reports "File system check exit code is 0."

Is this a hard drive hardware error, or an irrecoverable corruption?

I also tried fsck in single user mode following instructions in:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/repair-mac-disk-safe-mode-fsck/

but after running 'fsck -fy' I get the following errors:

warning: option -f is not implemented. ignoring.

error: container /dev/rdisk1 is mounted. repairs in a mounted container is not supported yet.

so I am guessing those fsck instructions are for an older version of MacOSX (my macbook is currently running: Big Sur 11.2.2)

MacBook

Posted on Mar 16, 2021 2:08 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

55,604 points

Mar 16, 2021 4:40 PM in response to peeterjoot

Unfortunately Apple has First Aid show "OK" even when there are errors (even catastrophic errors). I have no idea why as it makes absolutely no sense, but I've personally encountered this with some of our organization's Macs.

The Single User Mode "fsck" problem with Big Sur is most likely due to the restricted access to the root system volume which prohibits even an admin/root user from making changes.

The I/O Error is concerning as it likely indicates a hardware issue. I suggest running DriveDx this drive and posting the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

If First Aid encounters an error on an APFS snapshot, then that error should disappear when that snapshot is deleted. Most APFS snapshots should be automatically deleted after about a week (unless the backup software such as Time Machine is able to somehow keep the snapshot around until the backup has been transferred completely to the external media). You can manually trim or delete APFS snapshots using information in this article:

https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/reclaiming-drive-space-by-thinning-apple-file-system-snapshot-backups/

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Answer 2

peeterjoot Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 16, 2021 6:08 PM in response to HWTech

Looks like I can't try the DriveDx, nor removing the snapshot, as the machine now cowardly refuses to boot. A diagnostic boot (power up with D held) showed the error:

"There may be an issue with a storage device. Reference Code: VDH002."

I've booked an appointment with apple service, and am guessing I need a new harddrive.

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Did this fsck work or fail, and what to do next?

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