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 <mehg...@icloud.com> 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 <batsfly...@me.com> 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 <kilbu...@me.com> 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 <mehg...@icloud.com> 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 <kilbu...@me.com> 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 <mehg...@icloud.com> 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 <kilbu...@me.com> 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 <mehg...@icloud.com> 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 <kilbu...@me.com> 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 <mehg...@icloud.com> 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 <kilbu...@me.com> 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 >>>>>>>>>>> <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>>>>>>>>>> macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>>>>>>>>> macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > 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 macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
