Disk Problems, OSX partition will not repair is Windows CHKDSK the culprit?

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Level 1

55 points

Disk Problems, OSX partition will not repair is Windows CHKDSK the culprit?

Hi,

I have both Snow Leopard (fully updated) and Windows 7 on Bootcamp partition on my MacBook Pro.

Repairing Permissions on my Mac OS 10.6.4 partition had become a very regular with 'Java' permission problems always seeming to be a very regular and common one.

Anyhow, I thought it appropriate and logical to run the WIndows 7 equivalent of disk-verify/disk-repair/permission-repair and therefore run CHKDSK at 'CMD' level and this appeared to run accordingly without problems.

At some point/days later, my Mac OS appeared to be slow and having a lot of spinny-ball, therefore verified Macintosh HD volume-disk with Disk Utility and showed to have lots of problem. Disk Utility Repair has failed having tried it many times and not even Drive Genius 3 is able to repair or rebuild it on this occasion however I was able to run a 'Scan' on it from Drive Genius 3 and it reported thankfully that there was NO bad blocks.

The error thats returned repeatedly when doing a repair is "Incorrect number of thread records" which is reported immediately after "Checking Catalog File"

Not keen on the thought of having to format, re-install and then re-setup the system even from a Super-Duper backup copy that I had made previously (minus some data since).

However, my questions are:

1. Is it possible that the Windows 7 'CHKDSK' command may have possibly caused this despite the fact that it would have or should have only performed it's operations on the BOOTCAMP disk partition?

2. Is it possible to reformat and restore any previously backed-up images to a single disk partition _without upsetting the other Partition and OS_ residing on it (albeit on the same overall physical disk), i.e. Restoring my Mac OS X SuperDuper backup image back onto the current Mac partition... and would the same apply if ever having to restore a Windows 7 Acronis backup image back onto the current BOOTCAMP partition.

3. Would there be another alternative before a drastic reformat and recovery of the Mac OSX partition (if that's even possible without affecting BOOTCAMP - from question 2 above)

Advice would be much appreciated, many thanx.

MacBook Pro 17" unibody, Mac OS X (10.5.6), MBP 2.93GHz Core Duo, 8GB 1066MHz RAM, 7,200rpm HD, 1920x1200 Display

Posted on Aug 25, 2010 4:41 AM

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Answer 1

Fortuny

Level 7

21,461 points

Aug 25, 2010 6:15 AM in response to DIESEL-X

Hi,

1. while Windows 7 can see the OSX partition it cannot write to it or change anything on it unless you use MacDrive to give Windows 7 full access to your OSX partition.
So I doubt that chkdsk can be the cause of your trouble.

2. Restoring a SuperDuper clone back to your internal OSX volume does not affect your Windows 7.
Same goes if you really have to do a complete reinstall of OSX.
I am not familiar with Acronis but should be the same as above (only vice versa).

3. Drive Genius 3 is a very capable app for such problems although other round here pefer DiskWarrior.

Personally I would start with doing the Apple Hardware Test to rule out any hardware damage of the harddisk.
After that I would try a restore of my SuperDuper OSX clone.

Did you install or delete any apps in OSX inbetween the chkdsk run and the latest errors ?
Or anything other than that to your OSX partition ?

Regards

Stefan

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Answer 2

DIESEL-X Author

Level 1

55 points

Aug 25, 2010 6:43 AM in response to Fortuny

Although it didn't help me on this occasion, I agree Drive Genius 3 is a very good app.

I think your first paragraph of information may well have explained the cause.. yes indeed Mac Drive is installed on the Windows Bootcamp partition. This was necessary at the time for Windows 7 to read external USB & Firewire drives in both FAT 32 and the basic Apple partition map that my WD MyBook Studio drive first came formatted as, although I have changed all external drives to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) since then for external boot-ability and continued to use MacDrive because it transfers files back and forth without problems.

I take it then that MacDrive allowed Windows CHKDSK to do some unwanted altering on the Mac OSX partition? Should I have ticked the option in MacDrive to make all Mac disks 'read-only' beforehand?

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Answer 3

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 25, 2010 7:29 AM in response to DIESEL-X

Create yourself a bootable emergency drive partition for OS X with DG3/DW 4.2 or whatever. Also a bootable backup with SuperDuper.

Mac has a less robust fsck -fy for use in an emergency but always better to have other media to boot from to do repairs.

Check with http://www.mediafour.com/updates/macdrive
When I do chkdsk it does it on restart before Windows is running, and I don't think you ran it from within Windows did you?

As for Windows, there is system file checker that is closer to Apple's Permission thing (I never thought OS X could be so sloppy and need that and the rest of the maintenance tools that really are essential). I am one that feels not only don't rely on Apple First Aid, but DW used right for preventative maintenance is an essential ingredient.

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Answer 4

DIESEL-X Author

Level 1

55 points

Aug 25, 2010 3:09 PM in response to The hatter

At the time I had run the 'CHKDSK' command from within Windows, from the 'Run' command prompt located within the Start Menu.

Fortunately I still have the previous HDD that originally came with the MacBook Pro before I upgraded the internal drive some time ago and therefore I have been able to boot externally from this and continue to do so until I've decided what to do, which looks like a recovery from the previous super-duper backup will be inevitable.

I guess I'm unlikely to come across any software or fix that will be capable of correcting the 'faulty number of thread records' being reported after the 'Checking Catalog File' disk repair check routine, however if I find a solution then I'll post it here, otherwise an eventual recovery/install it is.

Under Fortuny's revelation, I will procede with MacDrive with caution and probably disable it if ever running a Windows CHKDSK again (if indeed this is the underlying cause of the problem). And under your advise 'The hatter' I shall certainly look into the Windows system file checker alternative, thanks.

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 25, 2010 3:19 PM in response to DIESEL-X

I use Properties and let CHDDSK run during prior to Windows.

And prior to MacDrive or AppleHFS.

Give it a shot - it resolved something for me where before Explorer seemed to get 'hung' slightly and somewhat sluggish delays for my system - which normally is and should be very responsive and fast.

Along with SuperDuper, there is CCC and I use Tribackup to synch folders.

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