Hi, I had that same feeling earlier today when I wiped a server’s main HD. Oh crap, did I remember to archive the directory or am I going to be here for hours restoring a backup or re-entering usernames. Anyway, zeroing a drive will typically take quite a while, so sleeping through the thing is probably a good idea.
Hope it works this time. Later… Tim Kilburn Fort McMurray, AB Canada On Jun 7, 2014, at 9:08 PM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: > It’s been an hour, and we’re at 48%. I have to be up early, so I’m headed to > bed; hopefully this is done by tomorrow morning. I didn’t realize zeroing > would erase the disk, so I had a moment of panic when it said “started > erasing disk”; I wondered if I'd chosen the correct disk. <smile> > On Jun 7, 2014, at 9:02 PM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Alex, >> >> How about we try this in Terminal instead. Sometimes, Disk Utility has >> problems executing things if the drive is having issues. You should be able >> to get into Terminal from your thumb drive by going up to the Utilities menu. >> >> Enter the following: >> >> diskutil list >> (press return) >> this will give you the BSD device name of your drive. >> eg: "disk0”, disk1 etc.” >> You should be able to determine which is your internal HD by reading through >> the resulting output. You only want the initial name, like disk1, not >> disk1s2. >> >> next: >> >> diskutil unmount force /dev/disk_name >> eg: >> diskutil unmount force /dev/disk0 >> >> next: >> >> diskutil zeroDisk /dev/disk_name >> eg: >> diskutil zeroDisk /dev/disk0 >> (press return) >> >> After disk is zeroed, you can exit Terminal and try things again in Disk >> Utility. >> >> Of course if your disk is indeed going bad, then our efforts to fix it will >> be fruitless and you may wish to get a new HD. >> >> Later… >> >> Tim Kilburn >> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >> >> On Jun 7, 2014, at 4:53 PM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Yes, I did the startup disk selection yesterday, from the Apple menu. My >>> thumb drive is still the selected disk (oddly, my beta partition has >>> vanished, even though I haven’t yet erased anything). The second item in >>> the initial list is indeed “install”, not “reinstall”, so it looks like I’m >>> definitely on the thumb drive. Stranger by the day… >>> >>> On Jun 7, 2014, at 12:07 PM, Teresa Cochran <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> this might sound obvious, but the best way to ensure you start up from >>>> your external drive is to go into the utilities menu, (I've temporarily >>>> blanked on the name of the utilities app that runs in the recovery >>>> partition) the one just to the right of the apple menu and choose startup >>>> disc. You can choose the thumb drive from there. >>>> >>>> Teresa >>>> >>>> Slow down; you’ll get there faster. >>>> >>>> On Jun 7, 2014, at 7:57 AM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi Alex, >>>>> >>>>> Are you sure that it’s actually starting up from the thumb drive? It >>>>> sounds like your Mini is starting up from the Recovery Partition instead. >>>>> They do look and feel just the same. I think that the second item when >>>>> starting up from the Recovery Partition says “Re-install MacOS X” whereas >>>>> the thumb drive should say “Install MacOS X”. Not sure but, I’ll keep >>>>> trying if that’s not the case. >>>>> >>>>> Later… >>>>> >>>>> Tim Kilburn >>>>> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >>>>> >>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 6:36 PM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I was going off memory earlier, so misspoke a bit. I see “current, >>>>>> partition format, popup button, but it is dimmed. The table is not >>>>>> dimmed, and neither are the five tabs, but every other control in the >>>>>> Partitions Tab screen is unusable for some reason. Also, don’t worry >>>>>> about taking a while to get back to me; I avoid all website work for >>>>>> just the reason you described. <smile> I’m just glad for the help; as I >>>>>> said, the nearest Apple Store is hours away, and this machine isn’t >>>>>> covered anyway. >>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 1:56 PM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> What I’m asking you to do is, in Disk Utility, select your drive. That >>>>>>> is, the thing that reads 1 TB Hitachi blah blah or whatever make your >>>>>>> HD is, not the already partitioned volumes. Then, go to the Partition >>>>>>> tab and partition your HD with one partition, MacOS Extended >>>>>>> (Journaled) with name Macintosh HD. As well, press the Options button >>>>>>> in this window and ensure that your HD will have the GUID schema. >>>>>>> Apply this change and you’ll have one volume on your drive with name >>>>>>> “Macintosh HD”. When you run the Mavericks Installer from your thumb >>>>>>> drive, the Recovery Partition will be automatically created. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hope this is clearer. Sorry for any confusion. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Later… >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Tim Kilburn >>>>>>> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 11:44 AM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Sorry, I just want to clarify one point. All the “clean install >>>>>>>> Mavericks” articles I’ve found say to format your disk/partition. They >>>>>>>> seem to imply that you will magically have a Macintosh HD partition, >>>>>>>> even if it is the only partition on an otherwise blank drive, or that >>>>>>>> you simply don’t erase that partition at all. In your email, did you >>>>>>>> mean that the installer will automatically create a partition of the >>>>>>>> proper size and name if one does not already exist? I’d rather not go >>>>>>>> through this multiple times, so I want to do everything right on the >>>>>>>> first try if I can. Thanks for your patience. >>>>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 12:25 PM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi Alex, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Yes, I’m saying that you should totally wipe the HD. That is, after >>>>>>>>> starting up from the thumb drive, go to Disk Utility and re-partition >>>>>>>>> your drive to one partition named Macintosh HD. Any subsequent >>>>>>>>> partitions should be done later on the live drive. This will ensure >>>>>>>>> that the Recovery Partition is created properly. Not sure where the >>>>>>>>> other individual got there info but this is sound practice. If you >>>>>>>>> used DiskMaker X to create your bootable Mavericks Installer, on the >>>>>>>>> thumb drive or the built-in “Create Install Media” utility of the >>>>>>>>> Mavericks Installer, then a proper Recovery Partition will be >>>>>>>>> automatically created. If you used the Disk Utility method, then the >>>>>>>>> Recovery Partition must have already existed in order to create a >>>>>>>>> proper installation. The problem in your case is that you need to do >>>>>>>>> a total re-format, so, using the existing Recovery Partition is not >>>>>>>>> of any benefit. Refer to >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> http://www.macworld.com/article/2056561/how-to-make-a-bootable-mavericks-install-drive.html >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> for info on these limitations. In addition, if you didn’t perform a >>>>>>>>> complete wipe during your last clean install, these errors may have >>>>>>>>> carried over thus any disk structure issues would have persisted. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hope this makes sense. >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Later… >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Tim Kilburn >>>>>>>>> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 9:34 AM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks. I’m in the beta partition now, copying a few files over to >>>>>>>>>> my external hard drive. The problem is here too: Finder just hung >>>>>>>>>> for about thirty seconds, while my Mac’s HD made the sound I’ve come >>>>>>>>>> to dread. Still, it’s working, thankfully; my main partition won’t >>>>>>>>>> even boot. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> As to wiping, I’m still not sure what to do. I mean, I know how to >>>>>>>>>> format the drive from the OS X on my thumb drive and then install, >>>>>>>>>> the question is, what do I do with my partitions? I have two, one >>>>>>>>>> Macintosh HD and one OS X Beta Partition. When I did a clean install >>>>>>>>>> back in March, I had only the Macintosh HD partition and so didn’t >>>>>>>>>> need to worry. I reformatted that partition, but didn’t actually >>>>>>>>>> erase it, as people I asked told me that completely erasing the >>>>>>>>>> Macintosh HD partition could turn out badly. Are you saying that I >>>>>>>>>> should format the entire drive, wiping out both partitions? If I do >>>>>>>>>> that, won’t it affect the installation of the OS, or will the >>>>>>>>>> installer partition as necessary? >>>>>>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 12:43 AM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Hi, >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> For expediency purposes, I wouldn’t worry about re-mapping >>>>>>>>>>> partitions etc., you’re just going to wipe the drive and >>>>>>>>>>> re-partition anyway. Regarding grabbing those files, if you >>>>>>>>>>> startup from your thumb drive, then go under it’s Apple menu to >>>>>>>>>>> Startup Disk, you should be able to select the 10.9.3 beta >>>>>>>>>>> partition as your startup disk. if things are OK in that area of >>>>>>>>>>> the HD. Once you’ve started with that version of the OS, you could >>>>>>>>>>> quickly get the files you want and place them onto whatever media >>>>>>>>>>> you want. You could then go ahead and do the total >>>>>>>>>>> wipe/re-partition and re-install from your 10.9.3 thumb drive. >>>>>>>>>>> It’s best to do it from there since it needs to be done from a >>>>>>>>>>> external source in order to completely reformat the drive. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> If you’re unable to startup from your beta partition, then the >>>>>>>>>>> drive is in fairly rough shape and you’d either need to use >>>>>>>>>>> Terminal commands to grab those files or just give up on them. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> HTH. >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Later… >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> Tim Kilburn >>>>>>>>>>> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 5, 2014, at 9:51 PM, Alex Hall <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks guys. I have a thumb drive with Mavericsk that I’ve used >>>>>>>>>>>> before, and that I keep around now that we have a couple Macs in >>>>>>>>>>>> the house. I’ll use that. Before I do though, is there any way to >>>>>>>>>>>> copy off any other files I’d like to keep, ones I could recover >>>>>>>>>>>> but that it’d be easier just to have if I can get them? I could >>>>>>>>>>>> probably boot into that beta partition and copy, but I don’t know >>>>>>>>>>>> if I’ll have the permissions to do that. I’ll also need a way to >>>>>>>>>>>> erase the beta partition, if that is indeed the problem. I only >>>>>>>>>>>> tested one OS, the 10.9.3 beta a month ago, but I suppose it could >>>>>>>>>>>> have caused the problem. Anyway, can I erase that from Disk >>>>>>>>>>>> Utility on the recovery HD, and if so, how would I do that and >>>>>>>>>>>> merge its space back to Macintosh HD? >>>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 5, 2014, at 11:11 PM, Tim Kilburn <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi, >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> I agree with Chris that it could very likely be a software thing. >>>>>>>>>>>>> So, since you have a Time Machine backup that is fairly >>>>>>>>>>>>> up-to-date and you say that you have your important files backed >>>>>>>>>>>>> up, I’d go for the reformat and reinstall option. If you don’t >>>>>>>>>>>>> have an external HD or the cables that I mentioned earlier, there >>>>>>>>>>>>> is a neat little utility within the Mavericks Installer that >>>>>>>>>>>>> allows you to build a bootable Mavericks installer on a flash >>>>>>>>>>>>> drive that is at least 8 GB in size. If you wish to go that way, >>>>>>>>>>>>> I can share instructions with you. >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> Later… >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> Tim Kilburn >>>>>>>>>>>>> Fort McMurray, AB Canada >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 5, 2014, at 9:00 PM, 'Chris Blouch' via MacVisionaries >>>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> You mentioned a 50GB partition for OSX betas. So were you >>>>>>>>>>>>>> running beta OSes on this box? If so, it's at least plausible >>>>>>>>>>>>>> that the beta OSX had some kind of bug which mangled data >>>>>>>>>>>>>> structures on the drive and, since it had access to your >>>>>>>>>>>>>> non-beta partition, it could have mangled your regular OSX boot >>>>>>>>>>>>>> drive as well. In other words, this could still have been a >>>>>>>>>>>>>> software issue. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> CB >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 6/5/14, 9:17 PM, Alex Hall wrote: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So, here's the status of my Mac Mini's hard drive. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> * Two repairs from the Recovery HD resulted in an error telling >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> me to format ad re-install. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> * I did just that at the end of March, and given that two >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> repairs couldn't fix whatever errors have accumulated after >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> three months, it seems like the drive itself is having problems. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> * The SMART status of the drive is "verified", not "failing", >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> which seems odd given the previous points. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> * The drive is partitioned into two: 450gb for OS X, and 50gb >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for OS X betas. I don't yet know if the beta partition works, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> but both share a drive so I'm not optimistic. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Any ideas? I looked at replacing the drive, but the iFixIt >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> instructions are scary and require special tools. The Mini is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> not under Apple Care protection, and my nearest Genius bar is >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> almost three hours away. Am I just doomed, or is there a >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> check/repair/miracle program I could run? Any suggestions are >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> appreciated. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ >>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from >>>>>>>>>>>>>> it, send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected]. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Visit this group at >>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>>>>>>>>>> Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>>>>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>>>>>>> To post to 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an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>>> email to [email protected]. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>> Visit this group at 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