failure restoring from time machine backup, error code 8062

Rebuild of volume failed

Boot off an installation DVD and run Disk Utility Repair Disk and Repair Permissions to see if you can fix the disk.

Nathaniel Childs wrote:

… Rebuild of volume failed but left me with a copy of the o's on an "edrive" partition. Attempting to restore the main disk from my time machine backups has not succeeded ...

I think the problem might be that the rebuild of the volume failed. This could indicate a hardware problem, or a problem with the file system on that drive.

Have you tried erasing and reformatting the problematic disk in question? It sounds like you do have a backup, if you can make a "clone" before erasing, that's extra insurance to have another copy of your files. Maybe your attempts to restore have already made that disk unusable anyway. In any case, you can try to reformat and then restore. If you have already done that and failed, then a reformat writing zeros to every location on the disk will more rigorously test the integrity of the disk hardware. I am wondering if there is a hardware disk problem, which would in fact prevent the volume rebuild and could cause problems during restore. NOTE: reformatting will erase all files from the disk, just be aware of that.

Disk Utility does not check the hardware integrity, so it might say the disk is ok even if you have bad sectors or a damaged surface. Have you run TechTool's Surface Scan to detect bad sectors? How old is this disk in question? Does it pass the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics test?

Another way to get a handle on this is to try to restore your Time Machine backup to another external drive. If that succeeds, it means that your Time Machine backup is sound and you can probably even use that external drive to temporarily boot from and work from, but it would also indicate that you need a new internal drive as a longer term solution.

The Surface Scan disk test is the one that can reveal physical damage on the disk. If it passed that, your disk should be physically ok. I would run that test if you haven't already.

After you install 10.9, but before doing anything else, on the first boot of the "new" system, it will step you through some procedures as if the computer were brand new. It will ask if you wish to migrate from a Time Machine (or other) backup. If you say yes, it will migrate from your Time Machine backup to the new OS 9 installation, recreating everything (users, accounts, file, settings) the way it looked under the old system. I recommend trying this. It's what the Apple Store people do when a client buying a new computer asks them to make it look just like their old computer. But it's easy to do this yourself as I described above.

Nathaniel Childs wrote:

… The copy of OS 10.9 I was given doesn't recognize my system password and doesn't initially come up with the options you describe. Do you think it could be wanting the password of the guy who gave it to me? I can't get a hold of him now. And is there a way to get the system to offer the options you mentioned?

Your help is very much appreciated!

I would not use that "copy" of OS 10.9, it sounds suspect. Any glitch in installing the operating system is to be avoided, absolutely. The right way to get 10.9 is downloaded directly from Apple.

The procedure I described is very standard. One runs the installer for the new OS, then after the installation completes, the computer reboots. On the very first reboot, if the disk had been erased and reformatted before the installation, it goes through a "new computer" process and presents an option to "migrate" files over from an existing backup. This basically recreates the previous computer arrangement under the new OS. Before erasing the internal hard drive, one should make two backups of all the files (in addition to your time machine backup as it might not be reliable).

I would stay away from that 10.9 installer that someone gave you.

P.S. You could install the 10.9 directly over the existing system and thus more straightforwardly "inherit" all your files and programs in place, but since your internal drive is having problems that you haven't fixed, it will probably still have problems after such a simple OS upgrade.

Nathaniel Childs wrote:

I have just ordered a 512 GB solid state drive to replace the internal drive and when that arrives I'll try to restore from my backup drive as you've suggested. I think it'll be another week before it gets here.

Again, your help is greatly appreciated. I'll report on the results when this is done.

Just to review the steps to take when the new drive arrives:

(1) Install new drive.

(2) Boot from the correct 10.6 install media (probably a DVD). If you have a TRUSTWORTHY boot media for 10.7 or 10.8 or 10.9, you can boot from those to install the OS, but they need to be reliable. I'm assuming you will be doing 10.6 from a 10.6 DVD, either generic retail DVD, or one specific to your own machine.

(3) Erase/format the new drive. Mac OS Extended (Journaled), GUID Partition Table.

(4) Install Mac OS from the install media. The computer will reboot.

(5) On first boot, it will act like a brand new computer and ask some questions, including whether you want to migrate from an existing backup. Say "yes" to that before creating any user accounts and it will try to migrate all your files (and programs, software) from the Time Machine backup to the new drive. Your existing accounts and files should be on the new disk when it is done. Most programs will work as before, a few might need license codes re-entered.

(6) If you want, once you feel the computer is working the way you want, you can download and install OS updates (including 10.9 if your Mac meets the requirements).

By the way, you could do the above with your current existing internal drive starting on step 2, but I recommend an extended reformat that writes zeros to all locations, and/or testing the drive with TechTool Pro surface scan, before going to Step 4.

Nathaniel Childs wrote:

Do you know a way to erase the main drive without also erasing the edrive that Techtool created? I don't want to lose that partition as it has the only copy of Snow Leopard I have at this point.

I have used TechTool Pro but never used an eDrive. My understanding is that the eDrive is a separate partition physically on the same disk as your main disk. So completely reformatting the physical disk would wipe the eDrive. You could try to reformat just the Macintosh HD partition, thus preserving the eDrive. The TechTool Pro manual might provide better guidance here than me, I do not have direct experience with eDrive.

The eDrive contains only a minimal Mac OS, not the full version. I don't think that minimal version is much good for anything except emergency tests and repairs done with TechTool Pro, and most likely cannot be used to install a full version of OS 10.6 on a new disk. You need the Snow Leopard DVD which is still available from Apple, I believe.

Did you do the restore from the Time Machine backup, and now your are trying to log into the restored system but your old password doesn't work?

If so, you might see if this thread helps:

Re: Time Machine restore password problem

http://macfix.tumblr.com/post/46542909824/cant-login-after-time-machine-restore

Or are you being asked for a password before the restore even takes place?