06-28-2009, 08:22 PM

I am not long on Mac. Maybe a year and one half. I have a Mac Pro for my photography. I do a little internet but mostly I maintain my forum and post process digital and film images.

I recently had great success with a reinstall of Leopard and all was fine. Then, the permissions from disk utility would not load and now it is happening again. I doubt there is an outside reason for this. I think it is a flaw in Leopard. Not being any kind of programmer I do not know how to diagnose this problem.

There is a powerful piece of purchasable software that I would like to buy to try and fix this problem. I have heard it is highly efficient. Any help?

I have run fsck -fy eleven times last night. I had heard that if the HDD could not be repaired then keep running it. Nah, this is not a good deal. Could it be my HDD? This is happening about every four to six months. I do my business and the permissions keep failing.

If I have to replace my HDD then so-be-it. I think this is software from Mac. I think this is a problem with Leopard. If I am incorrect, please tell me. Leopard seems to have a critical flaw, in my opinion.

I just need to have the computer for my work. I am wondering if there is something I am missing.

My main concern is the company that makes the software that will repair my HDD permissions better than fsck.

06-28-2009, 11:21 PM

I two questions for you. What do you mean by "the permissions from disk utility would not load and now it is happening again"?

Second when do you run fsck, namely what system is your system are you booted the graphical interface and running it from a terminal window or you running it from single user mode?

06-29-2009, 12:34 AM

fsck does not repair permissions, it's a it simply checks (and will attempt to fix) corrupted filesystems. It is the equivalent of chkdsk or scandisk.

Can you please describe the problem you're having? Not all problems are resolved by repairing permissions, this seems to be something that has hung on as the first step in troubleshooting.. even though it may very well have nothing to do with your problem.

06-29-2009, 06:36 PM

The disk utility will not load. The spinning gear just keeps spinning. When I run fsck I get the output that the HDD cannot be repaired. I wish I could take a screen shot of the single user mode but I don't think that is possible. Single user mode is where this comes from. I do not know how to use terminal. I am not familiar with the Unix language. Does this help? Sorry for being to vague.

The only thing I jotted down that stood out, I am a former PC user, down was. "invalid sibling link (4,18257).

It is more than I can learn and keep my photography business up and running. Thanks for the replies.

06-30-2009, 12:11 AM

To repair your disc insert the Leopard install DVD and reboot holding down 'C' immediately after the chimes. When loaded go to the menu bar, Utilities, Disk Utility and run Repair Disk from there.

06-30-2009, 06:53 PM

I have done that with no success. The "straight from disk utility doesn't work either.

I am wondering if it is the physical HDD itself. This has been going on, failure of permissions to load and non-repair of the HDD, for some months. I can easily purchase and install a new drive and I am backed up. Just would like to work this out for my own knowledge of the software. I am self-taught which is a plus and a minus. At this point I am merely confused as I can't find an answer. I love this Mac. Really do but mine seems to have bugs that I am wondering if I am alone. Leopard (latest update).

A sincere thanks for the responses. T.

07-01-2009, 06:36 AM

If disk utility won't load from the install disc, then your HDD is definitely dead I'm afraid, especially as FSCK will not repair it either.
One last thing you could try, to be sure, is target disk mode of you happen to have access to another Mac.

07-01-2009, 04:34 PM

Learning as I read and type here. the disk Utility will load from the OS CD. It just says that permissions cannot be repaired. I have ordered Disk Warrior and will try that. I think it is a corrupted file (s). Can't be sure.

Summary: Disk Utilities from the desk top will not load; spinning gear wheel only.

I reinstalled my OS a month or so ago and all was fine. 2nd time I have reinstalled Leopard. The first for the same reason, disk Utility from desktop and permissions unable to be repaired. Plus, spinning pinwheel between tasks that lasted for many seconds.

FSCK says it cannot repair drive. this also is the second time this has happened and is the reason I have reinstalled the OS; Leopard.

This is why I think it may be a Leopard OS problem. Not at all sure of that as I only have my experience to go by. Any thoughts as to how many people are having the same problem?

Please bear with me as I am learning as I go. I know I have made some errors such as force quit when I later found out I did not need to do so and may have caused my own headaches. thus the reinstalls of OS.

Thanks very much for the help. I know I am behind the curve with Mac knowledge. Your patience is appreciated.

07-01-2009, 06:50 PM

This is not an operating system issue. This is a hard drive issue. If you are repeatedly having the same problem of the drive being un-repairable, I would strongly suggest replacing that drive at your earliest convenience. Sooner if you are not backing up your system.

07-02-2009, 08:53 PM

That's what I am looking for. Just needed to understand. I always back up. I use a number of computers. Macs for my photography and PCs while the investment lasts.