Cannot find a destination volume

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Level 1

8 points

Cannot find a destination volume

I am trying to erase and reinstall Snow Leopard on an old MacBook. I installed a new HD 2 years ago and used the computer problem free. I first tried to erase the disk, but I was getting an input/output error.

I found on this site that it might take some time for the disk to appear in the "Select a Destination" window. Mac OS X 10.5: Installer destination window does not show drives - Apple Support

However to check the status, I went to Terminal as recommended in the article. In Terminal, I enter "ps auxc | grep fsck" and it returns with "command not found"

Can anyone tell me why the command is not found and if there is a different command that I could use? Any other advice?

Thanks

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.3), New HD installed 2 years ago

Posted on Jan 1, 2015 9:52 AM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,315 points

Jan 1, 2015 10:28 AM in response to robertn84

It would be looking for those Terminal commands on the Hard Drive it can't find, in /sbin/

Does the drive show up here...

"Try Disk Utility

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.

2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)

*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*

3. Click the First Aid tab.

4. Select your Mac OS X volume.

5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."

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Answer 2

robertn84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 1, 2015 11:02 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua, thank you for your response.

While in the First Aid tab with the disk selected, I am not able to select "Repair Disk" because it is darkened.

Also, when I run the command "ps aux", a few lines of stuff shows up.

On the Apple Support article, it says that there may be a delay in the disk showing up because it has to first be checked, and the larger the volume, the longer it will take to check. I was using this disk and it had a large amount of data on it, but I have waited for 1-2 hours and it still did not show up. Any other suggestions or thoughts as to what is going on or what I can try?

Thanks

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,315 points

Jan 1, 2015 12:59 PM in response to robertn84

Are you booted from the Install Disc, or the Hard Drive?

Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...

/sbin/fsck -fy

Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.

(Space between fsck AND -fy important).

http://www.westwind.com/reference/os-x/commandline/single-user.html

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Answer 4

robertn84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 1, 2015 1:51 PM in response to BDAqua

When I held CMD+s during bootup, the Mac ejected the CD-ROM. This was the disk that I was using.

The Mac then displayed the flashing folder with the "?" on it. So I inserted my Snow Leopard installation disk. I still had the same problem in Disk Utility. I turned off the machine and held down the CMD+s. I went into single user mode and entered the code. When I did that, it gave me the message "The volume Mac OS X Install DVD appears to be OK."

I then went to Disc Utility and looked at a partition of the disk. It is a 500 GB disk, but it let me create 1 partition at 250 GB. I then went to the Select Destination Window, and the partition that I had created, named "Untitled" was there. But this is only for 250 GB and the HD is 500 Gb. Is there a part of the disc that is not being recognized? I am currently installing the Snow Leopard on the partition.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,315 points

Jan 1, 2015 3:16 PM in response to robertn84

So, the whole drive wasn't Repairable in DU?

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

239,315 points

Jan 1, 2015 3:21 PM in response to robertn84

In SU mode you might try...

cd /volumes/

ls -a

No idea why fsck checked e DVD... unless that's what it does because it only checks the drive booted from.

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Answer 7

robertn84 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 1, 2015 5:07 PM in response to BDAqua

I went to SU and did the cd /volumes/

ls -a

and the response was "Untitled" which is what I named the disk. Perhaps I installed a 250 GB HD, but my order history in Amazon shows a 500GB. Is there any other way to tell other than pulling the HD out and looking at it?

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Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

239,315 points

Jan 2, 2015 9:53 AM in response to robertn84

Your first screen shot calls it a wd2500bpvt, which in fact is a 250 GB drive, the 2500 in wd2500bpvt...

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=wd2500bpvt&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&h vadid=7562448089&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6757787064397090681&hvpone=&h vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_8du3q09zht_e

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