Can't mount HD, can't repair, can't erase...

Question

Can't mount HD, can't repair, can't erase...

My MacBook Pro won't boot. I booted into OS X Utilities (command R). In Disk Utilities I see a partition "Macintosh HD" that is grayed out and unmounted (it appears underneath the disk named 500.11 GB TOSHIBA MK5065GXF Media; also present is "disk 1" with the partition "OX Base System", which is mounted).

I tried the following, all on Macintosh HD:

Mount: I get "Mount Failed. The Disk "Macintosh HD" could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and retry mounting".
Verify Disk: I get "This Disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk".
Repair Disk: I get "Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Backup as many of your files as possible, reformat disk, and restore your backed up files".
Erase(Format=Mac OS Extended). I get "Volume Erase failed. Volume Erase failed with error: Couldn't open disk".

In other words, I follow instructions but they fail one after another. Needless to say I am stumped.

Posted on Dec 9, 2013 3:01 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tlix

Level 4

1,425 points

Dec 9, 2013 3:05 PM in response to Themis Matsoukas

It's likely that the partition has some major damage so you will likely have to recreate the partition.

When you boot the computer hold Option-Command-R to start into Internet Recovery. This will allow you to repartition the drive using Disk Utility.

In Disk Utility select the 500 GB drive and go into the partition tab. Change the partition from Current to 1 Partition and then repartition the drive. This will erase the drive and allow you to reinstall OS X. Be aware if this doesn't work it's likely a hardware fault.

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Answer 2

Dec 9, 2013 6:47 PM in response to Tlix

Seems to be working - I am now reinstalling mavericks. Thanks for the very quick answer. And for those who are wondering why the answer has a time stamp that's earlier than the question, I edited my post shortly after posting.

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