The following disk images couldn't be opened... no mountable file systems

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The following disk images couldn't be opened... no mountable file systems

I recently moved a bunch of backups and files onto my computer from my time capsule because I wanted to erase/reset it and sell it since I hadn't really used it in a long time. I moved one sparse disk image bundle to my computer which is about 2 years old and around 250 GB, and I've been trying to mount it so that I can copy any files that were on my computer from 2 years ago that I don't have anymore, but everytime I double click on it I get this popup message:

Is there any way for me to access the files in the backup?

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.2)

Posted on Jan 22, 2017 9:14 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 23, 2017 3:08 PM in response to jpvlsqz

Find out what are the permissions set now.

Click on the sparsebundle and use get info.

Do the permissions look like this.

What about doing a verify/repair of the sparsebundle in disk utility.. what does that show you?

I am wondering if it is corrupted.

Do you still have the copy on the external drive.. that would be useful to have??

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Answer 2

jpvlsqz Author

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Jan 23, 2017 3:27 PM in response to LaPastenague

I tried to verify it and this is what I got:

Not too sure how to repair it if it isn't mounted. Unfortunately I only have the one copy on my desktop, I didn't copy and paste it I just moved the whole file.

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Answer 3

jpvlsqz Author

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Jan 25, 2017 1:44 PM in response to LaPastenague

Here's what I got and it doesn't look the same as the example in that article:

Would it make a difference to move the file onto an external hard drive as opposed to doing this process with the file on my desktop? I just noticed that in the article it says to connect the backup drive to the computer, and in the terminal screenshot the file seems to be on an external drive.

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Answer 4

Jan 22, 2017 9:41 PM in response to jpvlsqz

A sparsebundle should be able to mount on your computer.

Did you encrypt your backup??

If you are now running sierra and the backup was presumably done on some earlier OS.. You might need to allow permissions for the file to opened or Sierra might be treating it as a downloaded file.

I would tend to suggest you attempt to migrate files from the sparsebundle just to see if it will open outside of the normal Finder.

Did you move this to a different partition? Or a different disk?

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Answer 5

jpvlsqz Author

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Jan 23, 2017 2:20 PM in response to LaPastenague

I didn't encrypt my time capsule backup. I first moved it onto my external hard drive because I didn't have enough space on my computer, but I cleared out some space and now it is on my Macbook Pro's desktop.

How can I allow permissions and migrate files?

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Answer 6

Jan 23, 2017 3:35 PM in response to jpvlsqz

I would say it is corrupted.. and now not repairable.

Try with CLI tools which tend to be more powerful.

https://macmanus.nl/2014/01/31/fixed-use-terminal-to-repair-corrupt-sparsebundle -file/

The only thing is sierra did reduce the CLI commands so if you find something missing use a different OS version.

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Answer 7

Jan 25, 2017 2:20 PM in response to jpvlsqz

I don't think it will help.. at the same time.. I would be interested for you to try copying it.. just to see how long it takes.

The check you did took 1sec.. that is not possible for a 250GB file.. so I am guessing the file is empty.

Sorry but I don't see any other way to fix it.

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Answer 8

Jan 26, 2017 12:54 PM in response to jpvlsqz

Is that possible for it to be 250 GB and be empty

Yes it is, since it is a special type of container called a sparsebundle.

A sparsebundle file will "grow" as long as data is added to the file or container. But.....if you delete data from the sparsebundle file, it will continue to act as if it still were 250 GB. It will remain that way until you add more and more data to the file......and once it reaches 250 GB, the sparsebundle file will start to "grow" again. Weird, huh?

To get an accurate picture of the size of the data in the file, you need to "compact" the sparsebundle file using Terminal commands.

I don't have those commands handy, but I'll bet that LaPastenague can help here. This link may help as well.

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040625012304236

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Answer 9

Jan 26, 2017 2:24 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Yes, using the compact command is one way.. although I am concerned if the sparsebundle is actually corrupt what will happen.

hdiutil compact /some_path/your.sparseimage

The command is also given by pondini.

In the pink box here.

http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

Be interesting to hear what it does.. only to the backup now on your external drive.

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Answer 10

jpvlsqz Author

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Jan 26, 2017 2:36 PM in response to LaPastenague

I got the error message saying "hdiutil: compact failed - Resource temporarily unavailable". Does the file have to be mounted? Because I noticed in the pondini website, he says to eject the sparse bundle when you receive that message and try again.

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Answer 11

Jan 26, 2017 2:59 PM in response to jpvlsqz

It cannot be mounted .. otherwise it would be unavailable to compact.

If it is again not working I think you need to concede that it simply did not copy in the first place. Since you never opened it when you moved it which was vitally important to ensure it actually moved without corruption.

You can open it using a viewer software.. but I don't like your chances of extracting stuff.

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Answer 12

jpvlsqz Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 26, 2017 12:33 PM in response to LaPastenague

Well, whenever I move the file (command-C and then option-command-v) it takes forever to move, and my computer is definitely telling me it's 250 GB. Is that possible for it to be 250 GB and be empty?