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Dbanks · Dec 30, 2009, 05:38 PM

My parents put there Macbook Pro to sleep last night before bed and this morning It would not wake up. My mom restarted it and I got the gray screen and the folder image. I put in OS X.5 install disk and ran disk utility's and got the error invalid node structure. I restarted the computer in target disk mode to do a back up, however In target disk mode It would not mount on a 2nd Macbook Pro.

I don't have Disk Warrior.

I tried to clone the drive with Carbon Copy that didn't work out either since the target disk was not mounting (I was using firewire).

I tried to run fsck. that didn't work either (could have been my fault. I haven't used a prompt since I had a windows 3.1 and Dos.

If I can get back my parents data that would be Awesome. Other than that all I know to do is re-format

Cold Warrior · Dec 30, 2009, 05:53 PM

in single-user mode the command would be fsck -f -y to force-check an hfs+ journaled filesystem.

Dbanks · Dec 30, 2009, 06:40 PM

Thank Cold Warrior.
Ok, I just tried to start in single user mode 3x. It's not booting to terminal. I will try one more time. DAvid

Cold Warrior · Dec 30, 2009, 06:44 PM

when you booted from the 10.5 DVD and ran Disk Utility, did you choose Check Disk or Repair Disk? You can safely choose to Repair Disk.

reader50 · Dec 30, 2009, 10:53 PM

Reformatting will restore the HD to normal use. But your data will be gone of course. Do you have a Time Machine backup?

That error may be more than Disk Utility can handle - if fsck can't salvage the disk, then you'll need a serious utility like Disk Warrior. If you have a Mac Pro or Power Mac handy, you can put the drive into an extra bay and copy off everything of importance. Moving the drive to an external enclosure may also make it mountable for copying.

Simon · Dec 31, 2009, 04:35 AM

Originally Posted by Dbanks

I tried to clone the drive with Carbon Copy that didn't work out either since the target disk was not mounting (I was using firewire).

FYI, next time you need to clone, rather than taking chances with CCC use the cloning app built right into OS X for best results. Disk Utility > Restore. Check 'erase destination' if you want a bootable clone.

Dbanks · Dec 31, 2009, 02:04 PM

In disk utilities via the OS X.5 install Disk
When I click repair: I get the Error message
Invalid node Structure
Rebuilding Catalog B-tree.
[COLOR="Red.....The Volume could not be repaired.[/COLOR]

I will post a few more questions later. Got to go. Thank you all for the help.

Simon · Dec 31, 2009, 04:42 PM

That's something fsck -fy should be able to solve. Try again. Boot holding cmd-s. Type fsck -fy until it reports no errors at all. And be prepared to be patient.

moonmonkey · Jan 1, 2010, 01:08 AM

back up now

dedalus · Jan 1, 2010, 04:51 AM

What reader50 said.

Disk Utility and fsck cannot fix invalid node problems. DiskWarrior can.

Dbanks · Jan 1, 2010, 04:08 PM

Hey If I download Diskwarrior can I make it a bootable dvd?

dedalus · Jan 2, 2010, 05:39 AM

It depends on whether the person who made the disc image you are downloading knew how to include certain required hacks that will allow the burnt DVD to boot. Just downloading the app and burning it won’t make the DVD bootable.

Spheric Harlot · Jan 2, 2010, 06:19 AM

No, but downloading it from the Alsoft website and burning that will result in a bootable disk.

We don't discuss piracy here.

dedalus · Jan 2, 2010, 06:57 AM

Incorrect. You can buy a DiskWarrior DVD + download from Alsoft, but the downloadable part cannot be burned to a bootable disc. You need their DVD for that.

Spheric Harlot · Jan 2, 2010, 07:09 AM

I stand corrected.

Dbanks · Jan 2, 2010, 12:43 PM

Thanks Dedalus. That's what I wanted to know.

tooki · Jan 10, 2010, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by Simon

That's something fsck -fy should be able to solve. Try again. Boot holding cmd-s. Type fsck -fy until it reports no errors at all. And be prepared to be patient.

Disk Utility and fsck are the same thing under the hood -- they both launch the same code. If Disk Utility says it can't fix it, fsck isn't going to, either.