Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

SSD Invalid node structure on MBP 4,1

Hi,

I have an early-2008 MacBook Pro 4,1; 17" 2.5GHz Core2Duo and I upgraded the hard drive to a Kingston SV100S2 128GB SSD drive.

It worked perfectly for the first 4 months after purchase but 3 weeks ago the problem started when I tried to start my MBP and the grey Apple logo appeared with a kind of progress bar underneath it and then it would just power off (SMC and PRAM reset didn't help). The disk utility showed an "invalid node structure" problem which it wasn't able to fix and later the disk would be unreadable. Since the first time, this has recurred about 6 times. Each time I had to format the drive, install Mac OS X 10.6.3 again from either original DVD or it's image on hard drive (which is much faster), and transfer files from a Time Machine backup.

The drive would subsequently fail again after a couple of days each time. I have discovered that Kingston has released and official URGENT firmware upgrade, which I have installed after the 3rd failure, but it apparently didn't help. Also disabling hibernation and sudden motion sensor had nothing to do with it. Last time it failed (today), I was installing some updates and it failed after I was restarting, but I don't think it has anything to do with it either.

I am taking the drive back next morning to the retailer, where I bought it cheaply as a business owner, and I will ask them for a replacement, however I am still not sure if it could be my mac causing this chaos with the drive or the SATA cable being faulty.

I would welcome and be thankful for any constructive thoughts. Right now I had to replace the drive with the original one and everything is literarily at least 5 times slower and takes as much longer time to load, what is really bothering me. Thanks again.

Marek (Slovakia/UK)

MacBook Pro 17" 2.5GHz Penryn, Mac OS X (10.5.3)

Posted on Apr 17, 2011 2:47 PM

69 replies

Jun 11, 2012 6:20 AM in response to UserNameX

Kensington, kingston, my brain is getting fuzzy... Sorry for the wasted bandwidth.

Jun 11, 2012 10:48 PM in response to UserNameX

Well I switched over to a Crucial M4 128G for about 3 months now, working without glitch! I put the Kingston in my wife's laptop and it's happy there too. Seems like this is a compatibility issue between the V100 and Mac. Lesson learned, always check Mac compability before buying an SSD! I also have a 256GB M4 in my work 2010 Macbook Pro and it's been flying as well.

Cheers.

ancaR

Level 1

0 points

Jun 13, 2012 4:30 AM in response to UserNameX

I've been having the same problem with my Macbook Pro. I bought it used with a Kensington SSD already installed and only learned about the problem when it Lion refused to boot. I can't wait for Mountain Lion to be up though! Do you guys think Mountain Lion might not have this incompatibilty issue with the SSD (as SL seems to work fine with it) or do you think the only way to get rid of the crashes is changing the SSD?

zuidwijk

Level 1

4 points

Jun 15, 2012 12:58 PM in response to himynameismarek

I've got a Kingston SV100S2256G in my MacBookPro8,2 for about a month now... and guess what? After one month I've got the same inode problem 😟

I cannot find any firmware updates on the website of kingston... is there an update?

Jun 17, 2012 9:28 PM in response to zuidwijk

I am the victim of this problem. I bought Kingston SV100S2 128G in Oct 2011, for my Macbook Pro 2009 mid-year.

Have all the problems frequently.

I updated the latest firmware Kingston published in earily this year, still have problem.

I give up now, use a slow HDD instead.

Time Capsule is so important in this painful process as I have rebuilt my MAC for almost 10 times.

Jun 17, 2012 9:39 PM in response to ChauYauKi

Folks.

Dont lose faith in SSD, this is just compatibility problem with Kingston, I have Micron M4 128 and 256 in a MacPro and MacBook Pro and both are running perfectly fine. I put the problematic Kingston into my wife's HP ProBook and it's running smoothly as well. Return the Kingston and get a Micron you will be happy!

Fog199

Level 1

0 points

Aug 21, 2012 11:22 AM in response to Fog199

Well since upgrading to a crucial m4 i've had zero problems.

The kingston drives must not be mac compatible.

People get your money out and purchase a tried and tested ssd.

artemych

Level 1

0 points

Aug 22, 2012 7:36 AM in response to Fog199

For the sake of truth and justice I would clarify that this particular model SV100S2 128GB is definetly not compatible with MBP. But after Kingston replaced mine with SNVP325S2 128GB I haven't had any problem since. It's been already few months.

Sep 26, 2013 2:33 PM in response to himynameismarek

Invalid Node Structure is not a hardware failure, it never was (you may still have a hardware failure, but the Invalid Node error is not indicative of this problem.

Still, Disk utility will certainly fail to fix it, and DiskWarrior will probably fail too.

But don't despair. Try this, and don't give up till you've tried it at least three times.

First, get the name of the partition of the failing volume. You can get it most easily by finding your disk in Disk Utility, selecting your partition (not the drive) and type cmd-i. Look for "Disk Identifier" right at the top.

Then, open up Terminal, and type this:

sudo /sbin/fsck_hfs -yprd /dev/disk5s2

substituting your disk identifier for the one already here. Keep the "/dev/" part. Enter your password, and wait. It may take a while. I have had this fail several times before finally working so its important to keep trying. It's faster than a reformat!!!

If the afflicted disk is your startup disk, you will need to do this in recovery mode: restart the computer, hold down option, and wait for the disk options to appear. Select that, then proceed to Disk Utility and then Terminal as described above.

Good luck, and always keep a backup!

chris watts

SSD Invalid node structure on MBP 4,1