MBA hard drive corrupt?

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MBA hard drive corrupt?

Hi All,

I have Drive Genius 3 running on my 2011 MBA, 128gb SSD, with 10.8.2 installed. I got an error yesterday in Drive Genius saying my SSD had an error. Per the Drive Genius repair, it said:

I then ran disk utility in OS X, and when I asked it to repair the drive, it said:

So I launched from the recovery partition and ran Disk Utility. Except that it completes without any error. I did it multiple times, and nothing came back. Verify and Repair both said the drive was fine. I booted back into OS X, and Disk Utiity continues to give me the same error as above.

Other than starting up a tad slower than usual, the machine seems to be working fine otherwise. No other errors or issues to report.

Any ideas? I'm very confused as to why I would be getting these errors inside OS X but from the recovery partition, I don't.

Appreciate any thoughts / ideas / recommendations.

Thanks!

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Oct 12, 2012 3:53 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

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141,826 points

Oct 12, 2012 4:05 PM in response to cielo

cielo wrote:

... I'm very confused as to why I would be getting these errors inside OS X

What errors inside OS X?

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Answer 2

cielo Author

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Oct 12, 2012 4:38 PM in response to John Galt

The Corrupted Disk errors from Drive Genius and the Disk Utility from inside OS X. But when I run Disk Utility from the recovery partition, I don't get the drive corruption errors...and it says everything is fine.

In Disk Utility, from within OS X, the errors are:

Volume Bitmap needs minor repairs for orphoned blocks

Invalid volume free block count

The volume Main was found to be corrupt and needs to be repaired

Error: this disk needs to be repaired using the reconver HD

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Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

141,826 points

Oct 12, 2012 4:50 PM in response to cielo

OK thanks. This should not be happening.

Disk Utility cannot repair the volume from which your Mac started, so always repair it after starting from OS X Recovery.

Start the computer in "Safe Mode" and then verify the disk using Disk Utility. Do the same errors appear?

Read about Safe Mode first:

Starting the computer in "safe mode": Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

"Safe Mode" is for troubleshooting only. Some programs will not work and some will run poorly in Safe Mode. Starting your Mac will take longer in Safe Mode. This is normal.

I would get rid of Drive Genius 3. It can do nothing that you cannot do using the Mac's built-in utilities, and could very well be the cause of this problem.

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Answer 4

cielo Author

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Oct 12, 2012 6:07 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks John....but I can't get my machine into Safe Mode.

I've read the KB articles- but here is my process:

1-Shut it down

2-Wait 30 seconds

3-Boot it up

4-Right as the startup tone ends, I hold down the shift key (note that at this moment, the screen is already on and gray but blank

5-With shift held down, my account logon screen comes up

6- release the shift key and enter password, hit enter

7/8- I've then let it go and it boots up normally, and I've tried holding the shift key down again, and it boots up normally.

Just to note, I've already deleted Drive Genius 3 as you recommended.

Any ideas?

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Answer 5

cielo Author

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Oct 12, 2012 6:23 PM in response to cielo

Ok, new update. I couldn't boot into Safe Mode because of the EFI password- once I took that off, I was able to do it.

So, booted, held down the shift key. The safe mode sequence started, and it took about 45-60 seconds for the status indicator to get all the way through. When it was done, though, instead of booting into safe mode, it rebooted entirely, into normal mode.

Once into OS X, I went ahead and re-ran the Disk Utility. Verify came out OK with no errors.

Seems like I might have the problem licked....?

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

141,826 points

Oct 12, 2012 6:38 PM in response to cielo

Thanks... first please tell me you have not set a Firmware password, because that will pose a challenge for both of us.

Upon booting Safe Mode, immediately after the startup tone, you should see a grey progress bar below the spinning progress indicator. When it finishes it disappears and the login screen appears with"Safe Boot" in red on the menu bar to the right.

I assume all this is not happening and unless you set a Firmware password I have no explanation for your inability to boot Safe Mode. I will research this and get back to you.

In the meantime try this: reset your NVRAM according to the following and attempt another "Safe Boot":

Shut down your Mac.

Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.

Turn on the computer.

Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.

Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

Release the keys.

After resetting NVRAM or PRAM, you may need to reconfigure your settings for speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, time zone information. If issues persist, your Mac's logic board battery (not a portable Mac's rechargeable battery) may need to be replaced. The logic board battery helps retain NVRAM/PRAM settings when your computer is shut down. You can take your Mac to a Mac Genius or Apple Authorized Service Provider to replace the battery on the logic board.

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Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

141,826 points

Oct 12, 2012 6:41 PM in response to cielo

cielo wrote:

... Seems like I might have the problem licked....?

That's a relief - I was concerned about the Firmware Password. So often people forget what theirs is and only Apple can fix this on a MBA.

I am very suspicious about Drive Genius. Leave that thing off and see if the corruption is fixed for good.

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Answer 8

cielo Author

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Oct 13, 2012 1:17 PM in response to John Galt

John- yeah, it was 5-10 shut down restarts trying to get into Safe Mode before I realized that I had turned on the EFI password so that other couldn't do to my machine exactly what I was trying to do! But it's key to note that I never actually got into a workable Safe Mode. Though I got a progress bar indicating that the computer was doing something, it never actually booted...instead it then rebooted into normal mode, where my problem was (and still is fixed).

Also- Drive Genius was telling me that one of my smaller external drives was corrupt. Without Drive Genius on my machine, Disk Utility tells me that the external drive is fine...so like you, I am not a but suspicious of Drive Genius!

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