# Solved: Bad Message



## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

I am a _probie_ when it comes to Mac trouble and troubleshooting. I have owned my iMac Graphite for 7 years without a problem except for Epson printer communication. About two weeks ago my whole system crashed in the midst of an AppleWorks 6 save. I was in OS 9 because that is the only place my printer actually works, but I was saving through the Users folder into OS X. I rebooted with the OS X startup disc and went to Disc First Aid to try to verify and repair whatever had just happened. Verify said, "invalid node structure" "the volume HD needs repair" and of course the repair option was greyed so I could not click it.
I then went to the public library and began reading about Jaguar troubleshooting in a Mac Upgrade and Repair Bible. I came upon a whole new world of programming that I didn't even know existed on my computer when I went into single user mode and ran "fsck -y" and got back the same message (invalid node structure) and more (4, 5023). So the book suggested that I run it again until I get the message that the volume had been repaired. I did, and this time I got a new message: disk Os5: 0x8 (UNDEFINED). That message repeated over and over until I finally shut the computer off. 
I am very sad to see my beautiful graphite friend sitting idle now for several days and no answer in books or on the internet as to what all this means and what to do. I guess my affair with the iMac is over since all of the tech's have moved on to the new stuff.


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

This is part two of my on going saga with my iMac graphite. I went on line again and found a Just Answer website and got some additional information from a Mac Tech. He said the (hard) drive has suffered a fatal error in its Directory and First Aid cannot fix it. Also fsck is also First Aid, only the command line version, and usually won't do anything. I assume he's referring to the boot directory. He recommended that I get a copy of Disk Warrior, but it is only available in a DVD version that my machine does not support. I have a CD-Rom slot load only, not a superdrive, which I have been planning to upgrade to. I am at this point hopeful that there is an answer and that with a little patience I will find it. If you can help me please do. Meanwhile I will keep posting and researching for answers to the "invalid node structure" and the new command line repetition: diskOs5: 0x8 (UNDEFINED):up:


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hi there:

Have you tried this? I've read that it has been successful for INVALID NODE STRUCTURE problems:

1.Reboot into Single User mode (restart, and press and hold Command-S). You will see a black screen with a command prompt.

2.Type fsck_hfs -r /dev/disk0s2 and press Enter. This will repair the error, and will take a while (~10 minutes). Wait for the operation to complete i.e. until the command prompt appears again.

3.Type fsck -fy and press Enter. This will check the filesystem again, and confirm that it is now OK. Again, wait for the operation to complete i.e. until the command prompt appears again.

4.Type reboot and press Enter. This will restart the system to normal. 

Hope that helps!


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

I don't know how to contact you directly so I am using the public forum to just say I got the message and now I am off to try your simple solution. I have been scouring command line abbreviations all day hoping to stumble on a solution as simple as yours. I was just about to give up for the day when I got this message that you had responded! From the responses I had read previously from you to others, I knew you knew what I should do, even last week. Thank you so much for reading and responding. I'll post a response next weekend when I go back online as to the results ... but I am so excited and hopeful . . . :up:


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Well, here's to hoping it works.  Good luck!


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## zoombini (Aug 18, 2003)

In addition to YR suggestion, you could also try Tech Tool Pro, which will rebuild your hard drive structure. You used to be able to use Symantec Norton Utilities on Jaguar, although it sometimes caused more problems than it solved. It worked for me a few times though.

If you can get hold of another mac, you could try booting it into Firewire target mode, and see if the drive is picked up. That will allow you to get any files from it (if not backup up). If it isn't picked up in FTM, then it will be dead

good luck


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

To Yankee Rose:
 I regret to inform you that it did not work as you predicted and as I expected. Here is the message I got back twice...on two different days this week...two days apart; I kept reading about UNIX and command line arguments, man pages, etc. to keep me busy. So here goes: the shell 'sh-2.05a#' replied immediately with, "can't stat /dev/diskOs2" Then it waited a few milliseconds or so and printed, "can't stat /dev/diskOs2: no such file or directory"
In all of my three books on Mac OS X and Unix, nobody has mentioned these messages.

Also, FYI, the week before I tried your fix, I was experimenting with trying to shutdown the computer from the command line by simply typing 'shutdown now' and it came back with the following which may give you more information on what to do next. 
shutdown [ pid 45 ]
wall: can't open temporary file
Jan 8 19:06:39 shutdown: shutdown by root:
System shutdown time has arrived
bootstrap_look_up( ) failed (ipc/send)
invalid destination port
(repeated 3 times!) (and then I powered down)

Also the calendar 'date' comes up as Sat Jan 3 09:34:08 PST 1970
Help!


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hi GreatProtector:

Hey, as far as shutting down from Terminal, instead of the command *shutdown now*, try *shutdown -h*. See if that works.

Back to your initial problem - hmmm, sorry that fix didn't work for you. Are you familiar (and comfortable with) opening your system and reseating the hard drive? Perhaps the pins have been jarred loose.

Another idea - when you run the Disc First Aid, what does your hard drive capacity/available say? Generally you need about 10% of your total drive free for the OS to store information properly.

Just throwing some ideas/options out there - hope they help.


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

Thanks again,
I will try to do both. I replaced the PRAM Battery last month, since it was long overdue, so now I know how to get inside without breaking the plastic tabs and put it all back together. I don't remember what the capacity / available space number was because it was so long ago and I didn't write it down. I'll add a reply next weekend. Yankee Rose, you're the best. I appreciate you not giving up on me and my graphite.:up:


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

More News re: Bad Message
I tried reseating the hard drive but nothing seemed to change. Also tried to get Disk First Aid to give information but it just sits there with greyed out options to verify and repair the disk. So back to command line options. I used 'df' = disk space available command and got back: Filesystem 512-blocks 117221400 Used 44958304 Available 71751096 Capacity = 38% I suspect the numbers are kilobytes


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hey GreatProtector - didn't want you to think I'd forgotten about you. I'm still browsing some of the other Mac forums I frequent for more advice. Will let you know if I come across any other suggestions.

Take care!


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

Well here I am again with the latest update. I have continued to study my UNIX lessons and I finally figured out how to change the date using . . . get this . . . the *date* command and it actually worked without being a superuser! But meanwhile back to the problem . . . I have been reading manual pages or anything that mentions inodes and this week I stumbled on a command line called clear inode: *clri* Unfortunately the description, with no examples included, did not give me confidence enough to try using it yet. So if there is anybody out there who knows how to use this command (with a clear understanding of what the argument should be) please tell me. Until then I will continue to scour the book by Dave Taylor on HOW TO LEARN UNIX IN 24hrs. Thanks again YR.

GreatProtector


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## Yankee Rose (Jul 14, 1999)

Hey GP - if I were you, I'd start a new thread under the Linux/Unix forum here at TSG - there are lots of knowledgeable folks there who may be able to help on that end of things! Good luck!


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

OK, the saga continues. My web searching has stumbled on a command called fs, inode; but of course my version of the UNIX BSD operating system does not include it. I am still trying to get clarification on how to use the command clri (clear bad inode) with the proper argument(s). Armed with that information, I think this whole problem could be a "slam dunk." But we will see shortly where this all leads. I promise to report any and all progress...and especially the ultimate solution, which I feel is almost in view.

After all, a few weeks ago, my computer said that the date was January 1970!!! Thanks to all of you Tech Support Guys and Gals out there that keep nubies like me plugging away. Happy Holidays: that's Christmas *and* New Years in case I don't get back for a while.

GreatProtector


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

Hi there,
Here is a quick reply to whom it may concern. I am still without my iMac Graphite operating in GUI mode but I am becoming more knowledgeable about UNIX, and Darwin Aqua, used on my machine. 
At last I found another command-line item called 'newfs' which is defined to be able to create a new filesystem, virtually no less, and then you can mount it to the disk to replace the bad inode sector. Well I tried clri which I finally figured out how to use, and I also tried this new command &#8212; newfs &#8212; and both of them come back each time with: Device Busy. OK...back to the studies. I read, I learn, I practice by trying something. The filesystem is already broken, so all I can do is make it worse. I am resolved to see this to the end and in the process I will become a lot smarter.


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## zoombini (Aug 18, 2003)

Your perserverance and willingness to learn is to be commended, but a utility like Disk Warrior or TTP may save you all this hassle


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## GreatProtector (Oct 24, 2009)

To Zoombini and all the other Gurus out there who have been helpful and encouraging. I finally got a copy of Disk Warrior 4.0 and tried to load it on my machine. It just sat there and hummed periodically but differently than ever before when I tried loading from the OS X disc but ultimately it did nothing. After several minutes and several repeated tries, I finally shut it down after watching that revolving circle of dots much too long. When I rebooted into single user mode I got the most interesting message I have ever seen. It was like the computer was talking to me independently and the details I of course wrote down, but don't know what it means. I won't repeat it here except to say that there was a cryptic message: "I'm hanging in here," not generated by me at all. I copied it all down word-for-word and then shut it down. I have not turned it back on in 2 days now! I am tempted to give up and just take the whole machine into the local Apple Store which does repair by appointment only for older Macs. Oh well, I tried. I'm done, but I must say thank-you to all of you who helped even a little bit on the way. Thanks again tech guys and a gal (you know who you are) 
GreatProtector


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