OSX read only File system

Joel_Pigdon · 06-11-2003, 09:28 PM

Fellow BSDers and OSXers I enclose a story of infinite intrigue for
your reading pleasure. Twas a fine monday and I was installing some
old games on my Mac Powerbook 400 running Mac OS 10.1.5. All was well
Until I went to install Warcraft II then there was a full System lock
up(ie no Command-option-escape kill box) no worries I thought and
restarted the system. After Rebooting happily I got to my login screen
and was surprised to find that the mouse did not work. Hmmm. Have I
killed the mouse I thought and rebooted with the aple diagnostic CD,
no everything passed. Hmmm I was becoming Concerned. Reboot with the
OS9 CD It did restart and booted off the cd. However It told me that
the Volume Mac OS9.2.1 was damaged and completely refused to mount my
Hard disk. This was not a good outcome I thought. Disk First Aid still
Worked though and Told me the Disk had a. Overlapped extent
Allocation(file 774353d) b. Missing Thread record (id=700900) c. Keys
out of order. Then it promtly stopped. OK i thought I should repair
this volume. Clicked repair it said the same thing. Clicked Verify
Again same thing. Hmm I thought and rebooted off the OSX installer CD.
I ran First aid from the OSX CD and got the same problems. Now I was
starting to freak. I knew that the Disk was HFS Plus formatting and
therefore should boot in OS9. I thought I would restart off my HFS+
OSX partition. It booted again but again no mouse was there. I logged
in as root an managed to get myself a terminal using just the keyboard
Then I discovered the AWFUL TRUTH, MY HARD DISK PARTITION WAS READ
ONLY. I coudl not write files to the disk, Make directories or even
use man as It needed a /tmp directory that wasnt present.
I started throwing my limited knowledge of Linux at it
(PS. these are as direct as I could get copying them down and
transcribing them here.)
#root>mount
/dev/disk0s9 on / (Local)
devfs on /dev (Local)
fdesc on /dev (union)
<volfs> on /.vol (read only)

#root>joe /etc/fstab.hd
/dev/hd0a / ufs rw 1 1
/dev/hd0e /var ufs rw 1 2
/dev/hd0f /usr ufs rw 1 2
/dev/hd0d /tmp mfs rw,-s=12000,-b=8192,-f=1024,-T=sd660 0 0
"Right?!?!!??" I thought not understanding why my supposed 1 drive
with one HFS+ partition was displayed at 4 separate partitions the
majority of them UFS.

next step "fsck" by the way I could not fsck any of these supposed
drives (hd0a through to f)
#root>fsck /dev/disk0s9
** /dev/rdisk0s9
BAD SUPER BLOCK:MAGIC NUMBER WRONG

LOOK FOR ALTERNATE SUPERBLOCK [yn]y

SEARCH FAILED YOU MUST USE THE -b OPTION TO SPECIFY THE SUPERBLOCK

ok I thought ls'ing the sbin directory there is a fsck_hfs i'll try
that
#root>fsck_hfs /dev/disk0s9
** /dev/rdisk0s9
** Root File System
** Checking HFS Plus Volume
** Checking Extents Overflow File
** Checking Catalog File
Overlapping extent allocation (file 774353d)
Missing thread record (id = 700900)
Keys out of order
then the command prompt.
by the way the last entries fot the System log are thus:
/sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1s0s2 ??? hfs no no GDI
/Volumes/GDI
/sbin/autodiskmount[92]:UnmountDisk ('disk1s0s2') failed 16 device
busy
mach_kernel: disk1s0s9 is write locked
/sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1 ??? cdda no no AudioCD
/Volumes/AudioCD
/sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1s1s2 ??? hfs no no Warcraft II CD
/Volumes/Warcraft II CD

hmm I thought now I am lost, gave up and went to bed vowing to post
this message the next day.

In summing Up I am currently left With a PB 400 with OS 10.1.5 and
supposedly 9.2 dual boot on a single 10Gb HDD with only one HFS+
partition which will Load OSX ok(read only) but not mount the disk in
OS9
Please if anyone can help me fix my problem, get my computer into OS9,
explain what the weird entries in fstab.hd and mount are or tell me
what half the /dev/rdisk or disk files actually do I would be greatly
in appreciation
Many thanks for reading this post and do not hesitate to posrt any
information that you may have
thanks
Joel Pigdon, Australia
Joel_Pigdon@yahoo.com
PS. I would rather not format my drive

sam · 06-11-2003, 10:29 PM

Hey,

I am not really sure about your problem, mostly becuase those errors make me somewhat nervous.

But i shall try. have you tried changing the drive from being Read-Only in OS X?

I forget how 10.1 works but in 10.2, the get info window allows you to change permissions on the drive (if you have system admin password).

I'm sorry i can't be more specific, but i dont have 10.1

Good Luck with your Problem

Joel_Pigdon · 06-11-2003, 10:37 PM

Sorry but my mouse doesnt work for some god unbeknown reason It works ok in the Firmware but when OSX takes over it just sits there.
thanks for the idea anyway

gmleeii · 06-13-2003, 10:42 PM

Its been my experience that a "Keys out of order" error message is usually a death knell for the drive meaning you usually have to wipe it and reinstall. BUT one suggestion would be to run repair permissions. However for 10.1.5 that is a separate utility you have to download from the Apple site. Tell me this - when you boot to your hard drive, use your keyboard and highlight the hard drive on the desktop and Show Info. The System should be the owner not your username. I have seen similar problems when someone changed the ownership of there HD to themselves instead of System. Its a longshot - Do you have Disk Warrior. That might bring it back. Does anyone else have a suggestion ?

gmleeii · 06-13-2003, 10:50 PM

Another thing - can you boot to single user mode by holding the command and S keys down ? If so run fsck there. See if you get the same results. - Also I believe that screen tells you how to mount the drive as writeable. Single user mode is read only by default, something like

mount -uw ( better double check that )

Code:

/sbin/mount -uw /


# [edit: checked -mt]

Does that command work there ? or does it give you an error. Does fsck -y give you the same errors ? Does it fix anything ? Run it multiple time and see if anything changes. Notice the mesages as the screen loads. Any weird mesages ? Are there any devices connnected to the computer ? If so remove them before booting.

mervTormel · 06-13-2003, 10:58 PM

"keys out of order" can possibly be repaired by diskWarrior, but the likelihood of data loss is perhaps increased, and that data loss may be critical system file(s).

Joel_Pigdon · 06-15-2003, 09:11 PM

Thankyou to all who have helped with this problem. I got Nortons and ran disk doctor on the drive. After about 30 passes it finally said that the drive was fixed. But with bad blocks. I am concerned about the fact that my 2yr old powerbook has bad blocks. But before nortons was able to wreck the drive I was able to backup most of my important files onto CD. Now I get kernel panics on boot into OSX. I have now got a copy of OSX 10.2 so I might start from scratch and install that.
Thanks
Joel Pigdon

gmleeii · 06-15-2003, 09:45 PM

Bad blocks are unfortunately a fact of life with hard drive media. If you have everything backed up, iwould wipe the drive clean by reformatting and then install 10.2. Good luck.

jhartshorn · 01-24-2009, 01:02 PM

Hello -

The thread here is old, but the topic is the same: I can't access files on a Time Machine backup and need to change permissions; 'Get Info' doesn't work, so I am trying to figure out how to use Terminal SAFELY to reset permissions on my only backup...any advice appreciated. I have posted more detail at:

http://programminggems.wordpress.com.../16/mac-10-5-6

which was where I was referred to this site.

Thanks in advance,

J.

06-11-2003, 09:28 PM	#1
Joel_Pigdon Prospect Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pigdon Posts: 6	OSX read only File system Fellow BSDers and OSXers I enclose a story of infinite intrigue for your reading pleasure. Twas a fine monday and I was installing some old games on my Mac Powerbook 400 running Mac OS 10.1.5. All was well Until I went to install Warcraft II then there was a full System lock up(ie no Command-option-escape kill box) no worries I thought and restarted the system. After Rebooting happily I got to my login screen and was surprised to find that the mouse did not work. Hmmm. Have I killed the mouse I thought and rebooted with the aple diagnostic CD, no everything passed. Hmmm I was becoming Concerned. Reboot with the OS9 CD It did restart and booted off the cd. However It told me that the Volume Mac OS9.2.1 was damaged and completely refused to mount my Hard disk. This was not a good outcome I thought. Disk First Aid still Worked though and Told me the Disk had a. Overlapped extent Allocation(file 774353d) b. Missing Thread record (id=700900) c. Keys out of order. Then it promtly stopped. OK i thought I should repair this volume. Clicked repair it said the same thing. Clicked Verify Again same thing. Hmm I thought and rebooted off the OSX installer CD. I ran First aid from the OSX CD and got the same problems. Now I was starting to freak. I knew that the Disk was HFS Plus formatting and therefore should boot in OS9. I thought I would restart off my HFS+ OSX partition. It booted again but again no mouse was there. I logged in as root an managed to get myself a terminal using just the keyboard Then I discovered the AWFUL TRUTH, MY HARD DISK PARTITION WAS READ ONLY. I coudl not write files to the disk, Make directories or even use man as It needed a /tmp directory that wasnt present. I started throwing my limited knowledge of Linux at it (PS. these are as direct as I could get copying them down and transcribing them here.) #root>mount /dev/disk0s9 on / (Local) devfs on /dev (Local) fdesc on /dev (union) <volfs> on /.vol (read only) #root>joe /etc/fstab.hd /dev/hd0a / ufs rw 1 1 /dev/hd0e /var ufs rw 1 2 /dev/hd0f /usr ufs rw 1 2 /dev/hd0d /tmp mfs rw,-s=12000,-b=8192,-f=1024,-T=sd660 0 0 "Right?!?!!??" I thought not understanding why my supposed 1 drive with one HFS+ partition was displayed at 4 separate partitions the majority of them UFS. next step "fsck" by the way I could not fsck any of these supposed drives (hd0a through to f) #root>fsck /dev/disk0s9 /dev/rdisk0s9 BAD SUPER BLOCK:MAGIC NUMBER WRONG LOOK FOR ALTERNATE SUPERBLOCK [yn]y SEARCH FAILED YOU MUST USE THE -b OPTION TO SPECIFY THE SUPERBLOCK ok I thought ls'ing the sbin directory there is a fsck_hfs i'll try that #root>fsck_hfs /dev/disk0s9 /dev/rdisk0s9 Root File System Checking HFS Plus Volume Checking Extents Overflow File Checking Catalog File Overlapping extent allocation (file 774353d) Missing thread record (id = 700900) Keys out of order then the command prompt. by the way the last entries fot the System log are thus: /sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1s0s2 ??? hfs no no GDI /Volumes/GDI /sbin/autodiskmount[92]:UnmountDisk ('disk1s0s2') failed 16 device busy mach_kernel: disk1s0s9 is write locked /sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1 ??? cdda no no AudioCD /Volumes/AudioCD /sbin/autodiskmount[92]:disk1s1s2 ??? hfs no no Warcraft II CD /Volumes/Warcraft II CD hmm I thought now I am lost, gave up and went to bed vowing to post this message the next day. In summing Up I am currently left With a PB 400 with OS 10.1.5 and supposedly 9.2 dual boot on a single 10Gb HDD with only one HFS+ partition which will Load OSX ok(read only) but not mount the disk in OS9 Please if anyone can help me fix my problem, get my computer into OS9, explain what the weird entries in fstab.hd and mount are or tell me what half the /dev/rdisk or disk files actually do I would be greatly in appreciation Many thanks for reading this post and do not hesitate to posrt any information that you may have thanks Joel Pigdon, Australia Joel_Pigdon@yahoo.com PS. I would rather not format my drive

06-13-2003, 10:50 PM	#5
gmleeii Triple-A Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 228	Another thing - can you boot to single user mode by holding the command and S keys down ? If so run fsck there. See if you get the same results. - Also I believe that screen tells you how to mount the drive as writeable. Single user mode is read only by default, something like mount -uw ( better double check that ) Code: /sbin/mount -uw / # [edit: checked -mt] Does that command work there ? or does it give you an error. Does fsck -y give you the same errors ? Does it fix anything ? Run it multiple time and see if anything changes. Notice the mesages as the screen loads. Any weird mesages ? Are there any devices connnected to the computer ? If so remove them before booting. Last edited by mervTormel; 06-13-2003 at 10:55 PM.

06-13-2003, 10:58 PM	#6
mervTormel League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 5,536	"keys out of order" can possibly be repaired by diskWarrior, but the likelihood of data loss is perhaps increased, and that data loss may be critical system file(s). __________________ On a clear disk, you can seek forever.

06-15-2003, 09:11 PM	#7
Joel_Pigdon Prospect Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pigdon Posts: 6	Thanks to all Thankyou to all who have helped with this problem. I got Nortons and ran disk doctor on the drive. After about 30 passes it finally said that the drive was fixed. But with bad blocks. I am concerned about the fact that my 2yr old powerbook has bad blocks. But before nortons was able to wreck the drive I was able to backup most of my important files onto CD. Now I get kernel panics on boot into OSX. I have now got a copy of OSX 10.2 so I might start from scratch and install that. Thanks Joel Pigdon

01-24-2009, 01:02 PM	#9
jhartshorn Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1	Read-Only issue on Mac OS X 10.5.6 Time Machine Hello - The thread here is old, but the topic is the same: I can't access files on a Time Machine backup and need to change permissions; 'Get Info' doesn't work, so I am trying to figure out how to use Terminal SAFELY to reset permissions on my only backup...any advice appreciated. I have posted more detail at: http://programminggems.wordpress.com.../16/mac-10-5-6 which was where I was referred to this site. Thanks in advance, J.

06-11-2003, 10:29 PM	#2
sam Prospect Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 18	Hey, I am not really sure about your problem, mostly becuase those errors make me somewhat nervous. But i shall try. have you tried changing the drive from being Read-Only in OS X? I forget how 10.1 works but in 10.2, the get info window allows you to change permissions on the drive (if you have system admin password). I'm sorry i can't be more specific, but i dont have 10.1 Good Luck with your Problem

06-11-2003, 10:37 PM	#3
Joel_Pigdon Prospect Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pigdon Posts: 6	Sorry but my mouse doesnt work for some god unbeknown reason It works ok in the Firmware but when OSX takes over it just sits there. thanks for the idea anyway

06-13-2003, 10:42 PM	#4
gmleeii Triple-A Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 228	Its been my experience that a "Keys out of order" error message is usually a death knell for the drive meaning you usually have to wipe it and reinstall. BUT one suggestion would be to run repair permissions. However for 10.1.5 that is a separate utility you have to download from the Apple site. Tell me this - when you boot to your hard drive, use your keyboard and highlight the hard drive on the desktop and Show Info. The System should be the owner not your username. I have seen similar problems when someone changed the ownership of there HD to themselves instead of System. Its a longshot - Do you have Disk Warrior. That might bring it back. Does anyone else have a suggestion ?

06-15-2003, 09:45 PM	#8
gmleeii Triple-A Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 228	Bad blocks are unfortunately a fact of life with hard drive media. If you have everything backed up, iwould wipe the drive clean by reformatting and then install 10.2. Good luck.