A dying HDD in a very old 15" MacBook Pro from 2008?

Hi.

I noticed a client's 15" MacBook Pro responding slowly, locked up with
Firefox and couldn't kill it, and shut down. Even booting up after doing
a force shut down with the power button was slow. I decided to check the
internal HDD with SMARTReporter v2.7.3 (green and pass results, but
didn't trust them) with its old smartctl version since I couldn't find a
precompiled build that would work in an updated Mac OS X v10.5.8
(Leopard) (tried http://builds.smartmontools.org/'s oldest and newest
daily builds: "Operation could not be completed.
(com.apple.installer.pagecontroller error -1.) -- Couldn't open
'smartmontools-6.5...pkg" (is there a compiled build that exist?). Is
short test passed, but its long test failed as shown below:


smartctl 5.41 2011-04-06 r3314 [i386-apple-darwin9.8.0] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Hitachi Travelstar 5K250
Device Model: Hitachi HTS542520K9SA00
Serial Number: 080729BB2D10WHGMxxxx
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000cca 532c8fe94
Firmware Version: BBDAC3GP
User Capacity: 200,049,647,616 bytes [200 GB]
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 3f
Local Time is: Sat Mar 12 15:33:26 2016 PST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 121) The previous self-test completed
having
the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 645) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 96) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE
UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 099 099 062 Pre-fail
Always - 196608
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail
Offline - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 243 243 033 Pre-fail
Always - 1
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0012 095 095 000 Old_age
Always - 9068
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail
Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail
Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail
Offline - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 067 067 000 Old_age
Always - 14813
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail
Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age
Always - 4024
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 8591638686
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0012 069 069 000 Old_age Always
- 317269
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 189 189 000 Old_age Always
- 29 (Min/Max 16/49)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 0
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 1
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age
Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always
- 0
223 Load_Retry_Count 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always
- 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 16 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 16 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 = 1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:30.400 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:26.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT

Error 15 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 = 1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:26.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 14 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 = 1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
60 10 c0 f2 31 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 13 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 = 1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
60 10 c0 f2 31 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
61 10 b8 58 c2 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 WRITE FPDMA QUEUED

Error 12 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4750 hours (197 days + 22
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 38 fa 06 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x0006fa38 = 457272

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:29.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:25.500 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:21.400 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:17.400 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:17.300 READ LOG EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining
LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed: read failure 90% 14811
33621728
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 14811
-
# 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 2408
-

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.


What do you think? Thank you in advance.
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In article , Ant
wrote:

... a very old 15" MacBook Pro from 2008

2008?!? "Very old"?!?

Young whipper-snappers these days, don't know they're well off. Some of
us are still using Macs from pre-2000 ... and we have to walk 50 miles
through the snow in bare feet just to get to our computer desks! ;-)




Hi.

I noticed a client's 15" MacBook Pro responding slowly, locked up with
Firefox and couldn't kill it, and shut down. Even booting up after doing
a force shut down with the power button was slow. I decided to check the
internal HDD with SMARTReporter v2.7.3 (green and pass results, but
didn't trust them) with its old smartctl version since I couldn't find a
precompiled build that would work in an updated Mac OS X v10.5.8
(Leopard) (tried http://builds.smartmontools.org/'s oldest and newest
daily builds: "Operation could not be completed.
(com.apple.installer.pagecontroller error -1.) -- Couldn't open
'smartmontools-6.5...pkg" (is there a compiled build that exist?). Is
short test passed, but its long test failed as shown below:
snip

Like most things labelled as "smart", the "SMART" technology inside
*some* disk drives is pretty useless and dumb. If it's a "very old"
drive, does it even have SMART technology in it??

First step is always simply to run the disk through Disk Utility and
see what that comes up with. Disk Utility may not be the best software
around, but it's certainly easier to "quickly" run a scan since it's
included with the OS on every Mac.

Ant wrote

Hi.

Lo.

I noticed a client's 15" MacBook Pro responding slowly, locked up with
Firefox and couldn't kill it, and shut down. Even booting up after doing a
force shut down with the power button was slow. I decided to check the
internal HDD with SMARTReporter v2.7.3 (green and pass results, but didn't
trust them) with its old smartctl version since I couldn't find a
precompiled build that would work in an updated Mac OS X v10.5.8 (Leopard)
(tried http://builds.smartmontools.org/'s oldest and newest daily builds:
"Operation could not be completed. (com.apple.installer.pagecontroller
error -1.) -- Couldn't open 'smartmontools-6.5...pkg" (is there a compiled
build that exist?). Is short test passed, but its long test failed as
shown below:

smartctl 5.41 2011-04-06 r3314 [i386-apple-darwin9.8.0] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Hitachi Travelstar 5K250
Device Model: Hitachi HTS542520K9SA00
Serial Number: 080729BB2D10WHGMxxxx
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000cca 532c8fe94
Firmware Version: BBDAC3GP
User Capacity: 200,049,647,616 bytes [200 GB]
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 3f
Local Time is: Sat Mar 12 15:33:26 2016 PST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 121) The previous self-test completed
having
the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 645) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 96) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED
WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 099 099 062 Pre-fail
- 196608
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail
ne - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 243 243 033 Pre-fail
- 1
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0012 095 095 000 Old_age
- 9068
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail
- 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail
- 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 040 Pre-fail
ne - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 067 067 000 Old_age
- 14813
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail
- 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age
- 4024
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
8591638686

****, that is very high indeed. Shouldn’t be the problem tho.

193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0012 069 069 000 Old_age Always -
317269
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 189 189 000 Old_age Always -
29 (Min/Max 16/49)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
0
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
1

That might be the problem, it may be retrying endlessly on that bad sector.

198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age
ne - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always -
0
223 Load_Retry_Count 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always -
0

Otherwise all the rest are fine.

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 16 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 16 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active
or idle.

Usual problem with smartctl, pretty useless error messages.

Same with all the rest below.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 =
1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:30.400 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:26.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT

Error 15 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active
or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 =
1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:26.300 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 14 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active
or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 =
1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:22.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
60 10 c0 f2 31 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 13 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 5450 hours (227 days + 2
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active
or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 18 dc 0f 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x000fdc18 =
1039384

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:18.100 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:18.000 READ LOG EXT
60 10 c8 18 dc 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
60 10 c0 f2 31 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 READ FPDMA QUEUED
61 10 b8 58 c2 0f 40 00 00:00:13.800 WRITE FPDMA QUEUED

Error 12 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4750 hours (197 days + 22
hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active
or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers we
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 10 38 fa 06 40 Error: UNC 16 sectors at LBA = 0x0006fa38 = 457272

Commands leading to the command that caused the error we
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:29.600 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:25.500 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:21.400 READ DMA EXT
25 00 10 38 fa 06 40 00 00:00:17.400 READ DMA EXT
2f 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00:00:17.300 READ LOG EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours)
LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed: read failure 90% 14811
33621728
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 14811 -
# 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 2408 -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute
delay.


What do you think? Thank you in advance.

Its clearly got a problem, I'd replace it.

In alt.comp.periphs.hdd Your Name wrote:
....
First step is always simply to run the disk through Disk Utility and
see what that comes up with. Disk Utility may not be the best software
around, but it's certainly easier to "quickly" run a scan since it's
included with the OS on every Mac.

Mac OS X v10.5.8's Disk Utility seems to be stuck when verifying the Mac
HDD with an animated colorful pinwheel. Nothing seems to respond from
it. Is this normal? I wished I Macs had drive lights to see if it is
doing anything. I couldn't even open a Terminal to look around during
this. I'll let it run for now.
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In alt.comp.periphs.hdd Rod Speed wrote:
....
Its clearly got a problem, I'd replace it.

Thanks. I'll let my client know. He might be better off to get a new
machine since it's from 2008 (old to me, and he won't be able to run
newer stuff).
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In article , Ant
wrote:
In alt.comp.periphs.hdd Your Name wrote:
...
First step is always simply to run the disk through Disk Utility and
see what that comes up with. Disk Utility may not be the best software
around, but it's certainly easier to "quickly" run a scan since it's
included with the OS on every Mac.

Mac OS X v10.5.8's Disk Utility seems to be stuck when verifying the Mac
HDD with an animated colorful pinwheel. Nothing seems to respond from
it. Is this normal? I wished I Macs had drive lights to see if it is
doing anything. I couldn't even open a Terminal to look around during
this. I'll let it run for now.

If you can't open anything else, then the computer has crashed and
needs rebooting.

If you're running Disk Utility off the same drive you're checking, then
it's possible that the app itself has been corrupted by the drive's
problems. It really needs Disk Utility to be run from another boot
drive (which is one of many reasons why it's disgusting that Apple no
longer supplies proper install media!)

Ant wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Its clearly got a problem, I'd replace it.

Thanks. I'll let my client know. He might be better off
to get a new machine since it's from 2008 (old to me,
and he won't be able to run newer stuff).

Yeah, the problem could well be outside the drive.

Not hard to try another drive in the machine and see if that fixes it tho.

Your Name wrote:

In article , Ant
wrote:
In alt.comp.periphs.hdd Your Name wrote:
...
First step is always simply to run the disk through Disk Utility and
see what that comes up with. Disk Utility may not be the best software
around, but it's certainly easier to "quickly" run a scan since it's
included with the OS on every Mac.

Mac OS X v10.5.8's Disk Utility seems to be stuck when verifying the Mac
HDD with an animated colorful pinwheel. Nothing seems to respond from
it. Is this normal? I wished I Macs had drive lights to see if it is
doing anything. I couldn't even open a Terminal to look around during
this. I'll let it run for now.

If you can't open anything else, then the computer has crashed and
needs rebooting.

That is probably the wrong explanation.

Verify Disk while booted from the volume being verified will typically
result in what appears to be a complete system freeze, because anything
attempting to write to the startup volume will be blocked. The block is
released once the verify is complete. Let it run.

If you're running Disk Utility off the same drive you're checking, then
it's possible that the app itself has been corrupted by the drive's
problems. It really needs Disk Utility to be run from another boot
drive (which is one of many reasons why it's disgusting that Apple no
longer supplies proper install media!)

They don't need to supply install media: the recovery partition can be
booted and used to do a Verify/Repair on the main partition.

If you don't have a recovery partition then Internet Recovery can
download it.

--
David Empson

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Your Name wrote:
In article , Ant
wrote:
In alt.comp.periphs.hdd Your Name wrote:
...
First step is always simply to run the disk through Disk Utility and
see what that comes up with. Disk Utility may not be the best software
around, but it's certainly easier to "quickly" run a scan since it's
included with the OS on every Mac.

Mac OS X v10.5.8's Disk Utility seems to be stuck when verifying the Mac
HDD with an animated colorful pinwheel. Nothing seems to respond from
it. Is this normal? I wished I Macs had drive lights to see if it is
doing anything. I couldn't even open a Terminal to look around during
this. I'll let it run for now.

If you can't open anything else, then the computer has crashed and
needs rebooting.

Actually, it came back after I checked again many minutes later. It said
OK. I decided to rerun it to see what happens and it didn't get stuck
like earlier. Weird. Anyways, pass results again.


If you're running Disk Utility off the same drive you're checking, then
it's possible that the app itself has been corrupted by the drive's
problems. It really needs Disk Utility to be run from another boot
drive (which is one of many reasons why it's disgusting that Apple no
longer supplies proper install media!)

I guess I will make a bootable media for it. Does it have to be from
Apple or can it be from any disk checkers? Do Linux bootable medias
check Journal HFS+?
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In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage David Empson wrote:
....
They don't need to supply install media: the recovery partition can be
booted and used to do a Verify/Repair on the main partition.

If you don't have a recovery partition then Internet Recovery can
download it.

Does Mac OS X v10.5.8 even have those or is that in the newer versions?
--
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