Disk error after upgrading to Mavericks

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Level 1

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Disk error after upgrading to Mavericks

Mountain Lion was runnning slowly on my Macbook Pro and so I decided to upgrade to Mavericks and then follow the defrag instructions here:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4032

Everything seems to work fine after completing the instructions, except that when I try and repair/verify the HD (both in Disk Utility and Onyx), I get this message:

"Error: Live file system repair is not supported"

Onyx tells me to boot holding down command + R and then verify/repair the disk when booted from OSX Recovery, which I did and it said the disk was verified. However when I boot back from the HD and go back into Disk Utility, I get the same error. I also tried verifying/repairing the HD when booted from the Carbon Copy I'd created (from the above defrag instructions), and again it says that the HD is fine.

So the problem seems to be that when booted from the HD, the HD isn't able to verify itself, even though when booted from another startup volume it seems to be fine. Mavericks seems to be running smoothly in general so I'm not too concerned, but obviously it is a bit concerning that I can't verify the volume (especially in case future problems arise), and so it would be good to fix this issue.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Dec 29, 2013 3:07 AM

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Answer 1

Nyk0n

Level 1

21 points

Feb 15, 2014 9:08 AM in response to jamoboggins

Hi There just came across your post...assuming you did not find out what the issue is. try this..

in that Link you provided, once you have cloned your main drive to another boot to that cloned drive and run disk utility.

follow the instructions in the link for formatting your internal drive which will weed out any potential bad sectors in the process. then re-clone your drive and boot back to your internal hopefully fully functioning again.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Feb 15, 2014 9:18 AM in response to Nyk0n

That User Tip predates Mavericks and does not apply to it.

Slow behaviour won't be fixed by "defragmenting" nor will it "weed out any potential bad sectors."

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Answer 3

Nyk0n

Level 1

21 points

Feb 15, 2014 9:21 AM in response to jamoboggins

I wasn't saying the defreg or cloning will will clear it up but the formatting of the drive will mark potential bad sectors ..IF that is casuing this users issues. it was merely something to try to get around the error they are receiving.

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Feb 15, 2014 9:32 AM in response to Nyk0n

Bad sectors are automatically mapped and isolated by the hard disk's firmware. Bad blocks increase in number as a drive ages and degrades, and defragmenting doesn't help. When a hard disk drive fails in that manner, throw it away.

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Answer 5

i3ntr0py

Level 1

0 points

Feb 17, 2014 7:41 PM in response to jamoboggins

I can second that a bad HDD can check out with a good SMART status and be verified OK with Disk Utility and still be bad. My MacBook Pro is under 1yr old and it started acting iffy (long wake up times, random shut downs) but the SMART Status checked out and DU verified it OK, what tipped me off was Apple Hardware Test (restart + "D") wouldn't complete and just freeze, even after letting it run for 24+ hrs. I then ran a 3rd party system maintenance program called Techtools Pro 7 and everything checked out OK but the HDD surface scan which checks for bad blocks. It projected it would take 28 hrs to finish and after just 3 hrs it had located over 1500 bad blocks. I cut the test short and took it to Apple and the guy ran a HDD check and within a few minutes a big RED banner popped up saying FAILED. My warrantee runs out in two days so I just saved $160 by ignoring Disk Utility. OP maybe run a 3rd party disk program and see if the drive is ok physically.

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