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.

Level 1

16 points

Macbook Cannot Boot: Harddisk Repair / Restore Error

My MacBook is unable to boot. Whenever I try to boot, the spinning circle and the progress bar appears on the grey screen, but when the progress bar reaches about 40%, the computer shuts itself down.

I started in Verbose Mode and tried AppleJack, and it said my harddisk needs to be repaired; but AppleJack is unable to do that. (Error Messages: "Invalid node structure" and "Incorrect number of thread records)

I then tried to startup with both Recovery HD and Mac OS X Install DVD and ran the Disk Utility on both of the startups. At the First Aid tab, I selected my Hard Drive (not the Hitachi one, the Macintosh HD one) and clicked on Repair Disk. The error messages I got from Repair Disk were:

Invalid volume file count

Invalid node structure

The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely.

Error: Disk Utility can't repair this disk..disk, and restore your backed-up files.

And, lastly, the following popup message appeared:

Disk Utility stopped repairing "Macintosh HD"

Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

Not being sure how to back-up my files using Disk Utility, I plugged in an external HDD to my USB port and clicked on the Restore tab in the Disk Utility. As the Source, I selected Macintosh HD and as the Destination, I selected one of the partitions I created on my external HDD. However, when I clicked on Restore, I got the following error message:

Restore Failure

Could not restore - Input/output error

I partitioned my external HDD by creating 2 partitions formatted in Mac OS Extended Journal - GPT.

Now, what can I do to save my files (and my MacBook's HardDisk)? Could anyone help me please?

Posted on Apr 8, 2012 3:12 PM

25 replies

Nirvi

Level 1

0 points

Mar 30, 2013 3:29 AM in response to skeles

I was devastated when I was looking for answers reading I had to buy (blank) software, reformat, backup, reinstall, etc, etc... So I found a fix, it was a few simple steps, without having to spend $, took less than 10min for me, & painless in the end.

Here is the fix http://african-heart.blogspot.com/2010/07/fixing-invalid-node-structure-in-mac.h tml

After I got "Cannot repair drive after 3 attempts", I did step 3 again & it worked! Boots up like nothing ever happened, by the way I'm on Mountain Lion 10.8.3

sandbot

Level 1

0 points

Oct 27, 2013 12:06 PM in response to ds store

Hi,

I am having major issues trying to recover my data from my computer.

I was trying to install Mavericks, and I got a hard disk error. So now, my computer will only load the Mavericks install and disk utility can't fix the hard disk errors.

I was trying to click on the link you posted for step 1 of data recovery, but it says I don't have access to it. Is there a different way to back up my data?

I do have a working windows partition, but I don't know how to copy stuff from the mac portion.

I would love if you could point me in the right direction.

Please and thank you.

Akaryu

Level 1

0 points

Mar 2, 2014 6:07 PM in response to Nirvi

Hi Nirvi, i have checked the link that u given but i don't understand the part "THEN, you need to keep experimenting with your X and y valus" . what that supposed to mean, what i really need to do?

MDJCM

Level 1

4 points

Apr 30, 2014 12:47 PM in response to ds store

Using Disk Utility to Zero out the drive got me further along the process. Will report back if bad sectors give me problems again, maybe the drive is dying.

May 20, 2015 7:57 PM in response to ds store

Hi,

I'm going through the exact same problem, I got an error message that said:

Restore Failure

Could not restore - Input/output error

Can you please authorize this link:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3172

I cannot access it.

I'm trying to restore my MacIntosh HD to an SSD and have been failing...

Aug 25, 2015 11:17 AM in response to ds store

SUPER URGENT!!!!

The original poster is incredibly similar to my issues and have been unable to fix or troubleshoot from all the options given to me in the forums.

It seems ds_store's solution and document links worked perfectly to the original poster...... BUT THE DOCUMENTS ARENT AVAILABLE TO ME (it tells me to contact the author to give me access)

"ds store", Can I please have access? Or can you post the new document links please?

Thank you!!!

Maryamii

Level 1

0 points

Sep 10, 2015 1:17 PM in response to PQ aka quinndagit

Have you resolved your issue? im experiencing the input/ouput error while trying to back up my files and have no clue as to what to do.

Oct 26, 2015 6:25 PM in response to skeles

There are many broken links in this post, please repair. (I checked Archive.org and didn't find them)

Thanks, Mark

I am stuck in single-user mode, trying to figure out what to do next after "The volume Macintosh HD could not be verified completely."

Mar 21, 2017 6:11 AM in response to ds store

Help! Cannot open this link! Badly need your help to back up my files.

Mar 21, 2017 6:16 AM in response to skeles

Can you describe the step by step procedure on recovering data via terminal? Really need it.

Macbook Cannot Boot: Harddisk Repair / Restore Error