michaelfromllanfairpwll

Q: Curious disk & Disk Utility problems

When I run Disk Utility on my drive I get this message: "Disk Utility stopped verifying [name of my disk]. This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. When the OS X Utilities window appears, choose Disk Utility."

 

So I followed these instrcutions and the recovery Disk Utility claims to have successfully repaired the disk. I have subsequently verified and repaired the disk using the recovery Disk Utility just to be sure. Again, according to it, everything is fine.

 

However, when I run the Disk Utility from the drive itself that I'm verifying I still get the above message. It always says the disk needs to be repaired — whereas the recovery Disk Utility I try to use to carry out the repair now always says the disk is fine.

 

This is feaking me out. Is my disk okay or not?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers guys/gals.

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mountain Lion, 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 8GB RAM

Posted on Jul 2, 2013 1:07 PM

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Q: Curious disk & Disk Utility problems

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  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 2, 2013 1:16 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 9 (55,709 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 2, 2013 1:16 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    It's not unusual for a failing HDD to have DIsk Utilility repair it and then on rebbot report it needs to be repaired again. But generally, Rpair Disk would report errors and that they were fixed.

     

    If your Disk Utility reports the disk is OK without any repairs that is unusual.

     

    Still, the best course of action would be to back up system.

    Then, run Apple Hardware Test

     

    EDIT: You are running Repair Disk on the volume (lower indented icon) in the Sidebar of DU?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 2, 2013 1:32 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 9 (72,512 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 2, 2013 1:32 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    Do you have FileVault enabled? If so, what happens if you turn it off?

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 1:50 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 1:50 PM in response to macjack

    Thanks for replying so quickly. Yes, I'm running the repair on the volume.

     

    The weird thing is that it's not exacly that it needs to be repaired after a reboot. I mean even after the reboot the recovery DU says it's fine. It's only the DU on the disk itself that continually says it needs repair.

     

    Thanks.

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 1:52 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 1:52 PM in response to Eric Root

    Yes, I do have FileVault on. But if I turn it off to see what happens, does that mean when I turn it back on it will need to spend a long time re-encrypting the volume?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 2, 2013 1:59 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 2, 2013 1:59 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    This issue has been reported with FileVault 2. It seems to be more common with SSD's.

    Use Recovery Disk Assistant to create a Recovery system on a USB storage device. All existing data on the device will be erased.

    Boot from the device and run Repair Disk again. If you get the same result that you got from live verification, erase the volume and restore from a backup. You must have at least two complete, independent backups of all data before erasing a volume.

    Alternatively, deactivate FileVault, repair the volume, and then (if you wish) reactivate FileVault.

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 2:13 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 2:13 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    It says here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2711

     

    that:

     

    "If the computer is started up from the Mac OS X hard disk (or disk partition) and Disk Utility finds errors on it, there is not necessarily anything wrong. Only when started up from the CD should Disk Utility reports of errors on the Mac OS X hard disk (or disk partition) be considered accurate."

     

    So maybe everything is actually okay?

     

    The odd thing was that at first the recovery DU also claimed the disk needed to be repaired. I guess it could be a coincidence. Or I guess somehow the fact that it really did need to be repaired (but was — I hope! — sucessfully repaired by the recovery DU) has somehow left a "trace" or something that makes the DU on the disk itself still signal a needed repair.

     

    At any rate, it would be nice if Apple would say a bit more about this issue by way of explanation.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 2, 2013 2:28 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 2, 2013 2:28 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    It depends on what the errors are. Did you see the words "Unable to bootstrap transaction group?"

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 2:31 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 2:31 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Interesting ... I do indeed have an SSD. If I'm following you, I've already done precisely this (your first option). I ran DU from a USB flash drive and it claims to have successfully repaired the disk. It's just that when I subsequently run DU from the SSD itself (btw, is that what you mean by "live verification"?) it always says that a repair is needed — but according to Apple (see my earlier reply to myself) this may simply be inaccurate.

     

    I didn't understand the point of your alternative method, deactivating FV. Was the idea that if this is indeed caused by FV then deactivating FV and then repairing it should stop DU from reporting a needed repair when DU is run from the SSD itself?

     

    Thanks for your help.

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 2:36 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 2:36 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Yes, I *think* I did see that message. At any rate, I'm certain I saw an "Unable to bootstrap" *something*. I'm loathe to run DU again this very second just to find out (but I can do if necessary). Is there anything else that DU can be unable to bootstrap other than a transaction group?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 2, 2013 2:36 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 2, 2013 2:36 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    That was the error. I suggest you follow the procedure I outlined.

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 2:50 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 2:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for your suggestions. I'm a novice, so I don't really understand the rationale for your procedure. You say to "Boot from the device [i.e. the recovery USB stick] and run Repair Disk again. If you get the same result that you got from live verification, erase the volume and restore from a backup." Three questions: (1) What is "live verification"? (2) What if I do *not* get the same result as I got with "live verification"? I think this is my present situation. (3) If I *do* get the same result, why would I want to erase the volume and restore rather simply letting DU repair the volume? Thanks for bearing with me. I'm not that computer savvy. Cheers.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 2, 2013 3:02 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 2, 2013 3:02 PM in response to michaelfromllanfairpwll

    1. Verifying the boot volume in Disk Utility while booted from it.

     

    2. Then the next step may be unnecessary, but I can't be sure. I would proceed anyway. This isn't your present situation, because you haven't booted from a separate drive. You've only booted from the Recovery system on the same drive.

     

    3. The volume wouldn't be repairable.

  • by michaelfromllanfairpwll,

    michaelfromllanfairpwll michaelfromllanfairpwll Jul 2, 2013 3:23 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 2, 2013 3:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks again. Re (2): unless I'm misunderstanding something, I did boot from a separate drive, namely, a recovery system on a USB flash drive, not from a recovery system on my SSD. I attempted to repair my SSD with the DU on the USB flash drive. I've just used it (the USB recovery drive) again to verify the SSD and it (the USB DU) says it (the SSD) is fine.

     

    I was really just concerned because "live verification" still keeps saying the SSD needs to be repaired. But Apple advises here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2711 that live verifcation cannot be treated as accurate.

     

    In light of these two facts, I don't think I'll engage in any dramatic and time-consuming action just yet.

     

    FYI, the whole business started because About My Mac was giving me a storage read out of 146 GB of "other" and I can't for the life of me figure out what on earth this "other" could be. So I opened up DU to see whether I could use it to figure out what was using up all this space and thought, hey, I might as well check permissions and verify the disk while I'm at it, forgetting in the midst of it that you really need a "non-live" verification, that is, you really need to run DU on a separate drive.