Invalid Index Key?

[davidmn]

Ok I have a very bad feeling about this. Recently the iMac has been ULTRA sluggish. When it has synced the iPhone it has locked up (I've just left it for about and hour and iTunes crashes and I reboot). So I thought I'd just do a nuke and pave. I had a recent backup of all my data which is great and my bookmarks/contacts/calendars are all synced so my data is nice and safe.

So I put the Snow Leopard disk in and wiped the hard drive. Started the install and it got 50% in and told me that it couldn't install. So I went into the disk utility and clicked verify, it told me "Invalid Index Key" so I clicked repair and it says it can't repair.

I have a bad feeling that this might involve sending it to apple? Am I right? Apple Care has run out on this Machine.

[Forum Cat]

Mar 12, 2010 19:34:54 GMT davidmn said:

Ok I have a very bad feeling about this. Recently the iMac has been ULTRA sluggish. When it has synced the iPhone it has locked up (I've just left it for about and hour and iTunes crashes and I reboot). So I thought I'd just do a nuke and pave. I had a recent backup of all my data which is great and my bookmarks/contacts/calendars are all synced so my data is nice and safe.

So I put the Snow Leopard disk in and wiped the hard drive. Started the install and it got 50% in and told me that it couldn't install. So I went into the disk utility and clicked verify, it told me "Invalid Index Key" so I clicked repair and it says it can't repair.

I have a bad feeling that this might involve sending it to apple? Am I right? Apple Care has run out on this Machine.

Do you have any disc repair tools other than the install disc? Or can you borrow some?

I personally would boot from a Tech Tools Pro disc and use it to repair the internal drive. Sadly these tools are expensive. I suspect that is what Apple would do as a first line of action.

Cat

p.s.

Try booting from your install disc again, lauch Disc Utility from the first screen and wipe the HDD again. Verify once more and see if that fixes the problem.

[davidmn]

It's 98 dollars. Sounds a bit expensive for something that might not work. So I will give some of my mates a shout see if they have it.

[swatty]

Invalid Index Key suggests that the directory structure of the hard disk is unwell, there are two options the first is to run disk utility from the install CD, as suggested by Mr Cat, as follows

1. Insert your Mac OS X CD-ROM disc or Restore DVD disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. Once started up from CD or DVD, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume, if necessary.
6. Click Repair.

If this does not work then you may need to break out the old school command line (only use this if you feel confident)

1. Start in single-user (press apple + s keys on boot up) mode to reach the command line.
2. At the command-line prompt, type: /sbin/fsck -fy
3. Press Return.
The fsck utility will go through five "phases" then return information about the disk's utilization and fragmentation. Once the check is finished, if no issue is found, you should see "** The volume (name of volume) appears to be OK."
Important: If this message appears, but lists errors, repeat the fsck command until it no longer appears. It's OK if you need to do several "passes" of fsck, because first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues.

4. When fsck reports that, "** The volume (name of volume) appears to be OK.", type: reboot
5. Press Return

I hope this all helps, if not then off to the Apple store to see a genius I'm afraid

Simon

[davidmn]

I have tried idea one. Does the second method work without the OS? Do I need the disk in the drive for that to work?

[swatty]

It should work from the Install disk

[Forum Cat]

Mar 12, 2010 21:30:49 GMT davidmn said:

It's 98 dollars. Sounds a bit expensive for something that might not work. So I will give some of my mates a shout see if they have it.

There are several very good utilities out there. They are ALL expensive.



I found it worth buying as part of a bundle when I had some memory issues. It does a pretty comprehensive hardware check and sorted out an issue I was having with faulty RAM. (Well it told me it was faulty it did not fix it.)



Well worth asking round your mates.

[davidmn]

I now have my mates copy of TechTool Pro 5.

So I booted the iMac into Target mode and have it hooded up with firewire 800 to the Macbook. I am currently running a Surface Scan and it has found 2 bad blocks so far, while typing that it found another.

Is that the problem?

[Forum Cat]

Mar 13, 2010 8:51:05 GMT davidmn said:

I now have my mates copy of TechTool Pro 5.

So I booted the iMac into Target mode and have it hooded up with firewire 800 to the Macbook. I am currently running a Surface Scan and it has found 2 bad blocks so far, while typing that it found another.

Is that the problem?

Almost certainly. Bad blocks can cause serious shit to happen. Any file written to such a block will become corrupt. It certainly would cause an install to fail.

Such a disc has to be erased and re-formatted with a utility that can fence the blocks off. When this is done the disc is a tiny bit smaller but works properly. Allow Tech Tools to repair the disc then scan again.

[davidmn]

So I might not have to take it to the apple store.

So far it has found 54 bad blocks with another 973 million blocks to scan! YAY. :/

[Forum Cat]

Mar 13, 2010 11:02:13 GMT davidmn said:

So I might not have to take it to the apple store.

So far it has found 54 bad blocks with another 973 million blocks to scan! YAY. :/

Yes it takes a while doesn't it? At least there is no data on the disc. Data scans can take much longer than surface scans.


You should know that there are two main types of bad blocks.

Type one. They are there when the drive was manufactured.

Type two. They have arrived since the machine was used.


Type one bad blocks are a none issue. A bi-product of mass production.

Type two could mean that the HDD is on its last legs. If you have type two bad blocks you should make sure you keep a good backup and consider replacing the HDD as soon as possible.

My local reseller will fit a new drive into an iMac for £50 plus the cost of the drive.

[davidmn]

I think a new drive is the best option as I am still only 3.5 million blocks in and it has found 192 blocks and it has been running for 8 hours.

I have a Seagate 1TB hard drive lying around here and I have looked up how to change the hard drive, all I'd need is the torx screwdrivers to open her up.

[Forum Cat]

Out of interest which iMac is it? Also how old is the HDD that is in there?


p.s.

That scan is taking a LONG time, too long. It could be that the disc is struggling to comply with TechTools requests.


My money is on the HDD being on it's last legs.

[davidmn]

It is a 2008 iMac and the HDD is the original one.

[Forum Cat]

In addition to the screwdrivers you are going to need some sink plungers (or similar).

www.amfiteatar.org/content/view/155/57/lang,en/

Take great care not to get marks or dust on the back of the screen glass.

Do let me know how you get on.