Disk Utility - First Aid process failing

Question

Level 1

37 points

Disk Utility - First Aid process failing

I've been running into issues with my iMac, such as random freezes and shutdowns at random times while doing completely different things. I thought I narrowed down the problem to a USB hub, but it crashed on me again the other day. For no apparent reason everything stops responding, trackpad is unresponsive, music stops, and within about a minute it shuts down and restarts by itself. The behaviour is totally random and unpredictable. Sometimes I can go a couple weeks, sometimes it will happen after subsequent restarts. Super annoying, especially since I never had this issue with my 2008 iMac.

Lately I've had a lot of spinning beachballs in the Finder. Sometimes I can wait it out, sometimes I need to restart completely. I've tried reinstalling the OS, resetting PRAM, removed all peripherals, booted in Safe Mode, all to no avail.

The other day I tried running Disk Utility to repair the permissions, but I'm getting an error - "First Aid process has failed. If possible back up the data on this volume." "The operation couldn't be competed. (Cocoa error -1)". Not sure why this is happening. I'm wondering if this has to do with my problems possibly? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), 27" - 2TB Fusion Drive, 16GB RAM

Posted on Jul 1, 2016 1:24 PM

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Answer 1

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

Jul 1, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Robert Glass

It means that your disk is either corrupt or is failing. Backup your files, erase the disk, then reinstall a fresh copy of OS X. If you are unable to do this then the disk is failing.

Install Yosemite or El Capitan from Scratch

Backup if possible before continuing.

Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and Rkeys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

[Permission to use part or all of the above has been granted by Kappy, exclusively, to theratter.]

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

685,281 points

Jul 1, 2016 1:47 PM in response to Robert Glass

Try running this program and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown.

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 3

Robert Glass Author

Level 1

37 points

Jul 1, 2016 1:54 PM in response to Eric Root

EtreCheck version: 2.9.12 (265)

Report generated 2016-07-01 13:52:41

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 1:45

Performance: Excellent

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Computer is restarting

Description:

Computer keeps crashing

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac17,1

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

16 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

8 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M390 - VRAM: 2048 MB

iMac 5120 x 2880

System Software: ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.5 (15F34) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST2000DM001 disk0 : (2 TB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk2) / : 2.10 TB (1.31 TB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk1s2 120.99 GB Online

Core Storage: disk0s2 2.00 TB Online

APPLE SSD SM0128G disk1 : (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Boot OS X (disk1s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

Macintosh HD (disk2) / : 2.10 TB (1.31 TB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk1s2 120.99 GB Online

Core Storage: disk0s2 2.00 TB Online

USB Information: ⓘ

VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub

Western Digital My Book 1234 3 TB

EFI (disk3s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Boot OS X (disk3s3) <not mounted> : 134 MB

WD My Book 2 (disk3s4) /Volumes/WD My Book 2 : 1.00 TB (630.54 GB free)

WD My Book 1 (disk4) /Volumes/WD My Book 1 : 2.00 TB (28.38 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk3s2 2.00 TB Online

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

APC Back-UPS ES 550G FW:904.W1 .D USB FW:W1

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.hypervisor (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-23) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.netbridge (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-23) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.usbconnect (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-23) [Support]

[not loaded] com.parallels.kext.vnic (10.4.0 29337 - SDK 10.7 - 2016-04-23) [Support]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.FTDI.driver.D2XXHelper (1.0 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-06-04) [Support]

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (Wacom Tablet 6.3.15-3 - SDK 10.11 - 2016-06-04) [Support]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 151 Apple tasks

[running] 80 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 46 Apple tasks

[loaded] 155 Apple tasks

[running] 89 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2016-04-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.citrix.AuthManager_Mac.plist (2015-06-22) [Support]

[running] com.citrix.ReceiverHelper.plist (2015-06-22) [Support]

[running] com.citrix.ServiceRecords.plist (2015-06-22) [Support]

[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (2015-12-16) [Support]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist (2014-12-03) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (2015-11-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helpertool.plist (2016-05-15) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist (2010-08-25) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-11-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.wacom.displayhelper.plist (2015-12-16) [Support]

[loaded] com.wdc.WDPrivilegedHelper.plist (2016-05-22) [Support]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (2015-11-14) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2015-08-05) [Support]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2016-03-02) [Support]

[loaded] com.shirtpocket.backuponmount-login.plist (2016-01-06) [Support]

[loaded] com.shirtpocket.backuponmount.plist (2016-01-06) [Support]

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist (2016-04-28) [Support]

User Login Items: ⓘ

Flux Application (/Applications/Flux.app)

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Dropbox Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)

Other Apps: ⓘ

[running] 2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.onepassword4-helper

[running] com.bloombuilt.dayone-mac-agent

[running] com.etresoft.EtreCheck.180512

[running] com.getdropbox.dropbox.47392

[running] com.wacom.TabletDriver.72032

[running] com.wacom.WacomTouchDriver.86752

[running] org.herf.Flux.253792

[loaded] 397 Apple tasks

[running] 200 Apple tasks

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-05-18)

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-05-18)

SharePointBrowserPlugin: 14.5.7 - SDK 10.6 (2015-10-19) [Support]

CitrixICAClientPlugIn: 12.0.0 - SDK 10.9 (2015-06-22) [Support]

Silverlight: 5.1.41212.0 - SDK 10.6 (2016-05-07) [Support]

WacomTabletPlugin: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 - SDK 10.9 (2015-12-16) [Support]

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 - SDK 10.11 (2014-12-03) Check version

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

1Password - AgileBits - https://agilebits.com/onepassword (2016-05-22)

Pin It Button - Pinterest, Inc. - http://www.pinterest.com/ (2016-03-19)

Save to Pocket - Read It Later, Inc. - http://getpocket.com/ (2016-03-19)

Open in Internet Explorer - Parallels - http://www.parallels.com (2016-04-23)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

WacomTablet (2015-12-16) [Support]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 2.10 TB Disk used: 795.86 GB

Destinations:

WD My Passport [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 15

Oldest backup: 2016-03-12, 7:09 PM

Last backup: 2016-06-28, 2:20 PM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 2.00 TB < (Disk used 795.86 GB X 3)

WD My Book 1 [Local]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 94

Oldest backup: 2014-12-31, 5:03 AM

Last backup: 2016-07-01, 1:02 PM

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 2.00 TB < (Disk used 795.86 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

7% kernel_task

3% mds

2% fontd

2% WindowServer

2% Safari

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.06 GB kernel_task

754 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(6)

541 MB mds_stores

360 MB iTunes

344 MB com.apple.MediaLibraryService

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

8.59 GB Free RAM

7.41 GB Used RAM (4.17 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

Jul 1, 2016, 01:49:00 PM Self test - passed

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Answer 4

Robert Glass Author

Level 1

37 points

Jul 2, 2016 2:20 PM in response to theratter

Never mind, problem not solved, just crashed again after all that. Just booked Genius bar appointment. So frustrated 😠.

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Answer 5

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

Jul 2, 2016 2:30 PM in response to Robert Glass

I would not have restored from the Time Machine backup because it may contain aa corrupted file or two causing the problem. Of course, the drive may be failing or there is some other hardware problem. You might try running a hardware test:

Using Apple Hardware Test - Apple Support

How to run Apple Hardware Test on Intel Macs

To check your hardware use the hardware diagnostics. Boot from the OS X Installer Disc One that originally came with your computer. After the chime press and hold down the "D" key until the diagnostic screen appears. Run the extended diagnostics repeatedly over the course of an hour or so to allow possible errors to be detected. If you receive any error messages note them down. You will need that information if you take the computer in for service.

Apple Hardware Test- iMac (Mid 2007) and later models

upekkha-AppleHardwareTest · GitHub

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Answer 6

Robert Glass Author

Level 1

37 points

Jul 2, 2016 1:08 PM in response to theratter

Thanks for your response. I did this, and reloaded everything from Time Machine backup. I was always hesitating at doing this, but in reality it was pretty straight forward, and none of my settings or files were lost. I can now see the Macintosh HD partition in Disk Utility and I can run the 'Repair Disk' routine. I am guessing my disk must have been corrupted sometime back, that's probably why I seeing all these other issues. Hopefully this fixed it! Loving my iMac again.

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Answer 7

Robert Glass Author

Level 1

37 points

Jul 10, 2016 2:30 PM in response to theratter

Ok, I've gone about seven days without a crash or freeze. (I think it did reboot on me over night once, but I was transferring a large file, so maybe Finder crashed.)

I must have had some corrupted info from previous accounts. Thanks for the suggestion! Wasn't really that painful with so much data in the cloud now. Hopefully this has solved my problems. Starting to love my iMac again.

One weird thing I noticed when I erased my HD and installed new copy of OS X, is that my Guest account was still there, and it still had items in the trash from before I erased the disk. I thought this was really weird because I figured wiping it clean with Disk Utility would have completely erased the whole disk.

Thanks again!

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