First Aid Fails: Permission Denied

atifq wrote:

My macos failed to start.

No, I did not try to erase and or re-install the macOS (never dared to touch it, if you know what I mean). However, the mac does automatically gets updated time to time.

>> You have 2 data volumes...(?)

I did not create them, only this morning I noticed it (when I went into recovery mode for the first time).

The mount point is /Volumes/[same as the label on left, i.e., HD or Update]

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/b6ff9b35-f14a-4740-b34c-308590c95e26

Something looks borked here...

compare your DiskUtility to one posted above

From the Terminal.app (in Recovery) if necessary you can see the bigger picture, copy and paste:

diskutil list internal

ex.

MacBook-Pro ~ % diskutil list internal

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0

1: EFI ⁨EFI⁩ 314.6 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_APFS ⁨Container disk1⁩ 1.0 TB disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +1.0 TB disk1

Physical Store disk0s2

1: APFS Volume ⁨Macintosh HD⁩ 15.4 GB disk1s1

2: APFS Snapshot ⁨com.apple.os.update-...⁩ 15.4 GB disk1s1s1

3: APFS Volume ⁨Macintosh HD - Data⁩ 399.7 GB disk1s2

4: APFS Volume ⁨Preboot⁩ 863.8 MB disk1s3

5: APFS Volume ⁨Recovery⁩ 1.1 GB disk1s4

6: APFS Volume ⁨VM⁩ 1.1 GB disk1s5

I suspect erasing/formatting/initilizing the parent drive as new— reinstalling the macOS, then using Migration assistant to move your user data back into place from one of your backups.

Erase all content and settings on Mac

Erase all content and settings on Mac - Apple Support

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

How to reinstall macOS

 Recovery (both M1 and Intel) — How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

The macOS system volume does have any visible characters shown in the screenshot of the Terminal window which may be the problem or a side effect of the actual problem. I'm not entirely sure how to rename it since it does not show up on the Disk Utility window.

You can try running First Aid on the Container to see if there is a problem there.

If you want to erase the drive, then make sure to delete the "Data" volume which should in theory prompt you to delete or erase the Container as well. You want to erase the Container so that all volumes within the Container are destroyed and rebuilt. Then you will need to reinstall macOS. If this is an 2018+ Mac with a T2 security chip or an M1/M2 Mac with Apple Silicon, then you can instead "Restore" the firmware which may be the easier & better option if you have access to another Mac running macOS 10.15+:

Revive or restore a Mac with Apple silicon using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

Revive or restore an Intel-based Mac using Apple Configurator - Apple Support

FYI, it is always a good idea to list the exact model of your Mac when asking for assistance so that can provide only the information necessary for you exact system. You can get this information by entering the system serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

Edit: "Erasing" a drive/Container or "Restoring" the firmware will destroy all data on the internal SSD so make sure to have a good backup first.

atifq wrote:

My macos failed to start. Following the guide, I went to internet recovery mode. The problem is when I hit first aid on two volumes that shows up (1- HD -> contains data, 2- Update), it returns error of permission denied. I believe I was using the latest MacOs before the crash. The log for Update (I think mac create this volume by itself) is as follows:

Running First Aid on “Update” (disk2s6)

Repairing file system.

Volume is already unmounted.

Performing fsck_apfs -y -x /dev/rdisk2s6

error: device /dev/rdisk2 failed to open with error: Permission denied.

File system check exit code is 66.

Restoring the original state found as unmounted.

File system verify or repair failed.

Operation failed…

You have 2 data volumes...(?)

Do you try to erase and or re-install the macOS at some point...?

You can get a look at your drive From DiskUtiltiy>View>Show All Devices

If you spin open all the carrots— you should see the appropriate layout and associated mount point of your Macintosh HD -Data Volume

If you have the MBPro 13" (2016 or 2017) non-touchbar model with just two USB-C ports, then this is the only current model laptop with a removable SSD. The SSD on this model does have a much higher rate of failure than other models. Plus this SSD does cost a lot to have it replaced by Apple. A third party SSD is usually much cheaper and most likely you can get more storage for the same price.

Keep in mind that the SSD on this model uses yet another different & unique SSD connector compatible only with these two model years. AFAIK, there is no adapters or enclosures available to use with this SSD so you will not be able to re-use the SSD if it does not fix the problem.

I believe OWC makes the only third party SSD for this laptop, plus they provide the necessary tools & instructions (video).

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-13-inch-non-touch-bar/2016-2017

You must be very careful opening this laptop and be very careful disconnecting the battery as the cable & connector are extremely delicate and easily damaged.

Good luck.