Member Avatar for mickey94558

Hi Folks,

I am in a bind. The other day I was in Microsoft Internet and the Mac Powerbook just went into a loop. I powered it off and attempted to restart. Got nothing but the Apple ant the cirular busy icon contiuosly turning. Tried putting in CD and it will not boot as well, unless I need to do something while it is rebooting.(not that familiar with Mac anymore). Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Mickey

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The messages reported by ("Invalid Volume Header" and "Invalid sibling link") point to HFS+ metadata/catalog corruption. That can be caused by logical filesystem damage or by an emerging hardware failure. Important: if the files matter, stop any destructive actions (reformat, zero-fill, repeated write operations) — those make recovery harder or impossible.

Start with non‑destructive recovery: boot the PowerBook from a rescue/install environment and run the on‑disk filesystem check from single‑user mode. Example:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Run it repeatedly until it reports the volume is OK or cannot be fixed. If fsck cannot repair the volume, do not reformat. Instead make a sector‑level image of the drive to a separate, large external disk so all further work is done on the image, not the failing disk. A simple dd example (identify the correct device with diskutil list first):

diskutil list
sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0 of=/Volumes/Backup/PowerBook.img bs=1m conv=noerror,sync

For difficult disks, use GNU ddrescue (or dd_rescue) — it logs progress and retries bad sectors, giving a better chance of a full image.

After imaging, try directory‑rebuilding and recovery tools on the image. DiskWarrior is often effective for HFS+ directory/B‑tree problems; Data Rescue and similar tools can recover files if the directory cannot be rebuilt. If the drive shows physical signs of failure (clicks, overheating) or imaging fails repeatedly, stop and consult a professional recovery lab — further DIY attempts can permanently destroy data.

To tie to ’s earlier suggestion: booting from external media to inspect the disk is the right first idea. Prioritize making a read‑only clone before attempting any fixes, then attempt repairs on that clone rather than the original.

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Member Avatar for John A

Hello,

After giving it about 20 minutes to start up, if it's still spinning, I would try booting off the OS X install disk. First power on the computer, insert the CD, and then shut it down. Power it on after about 30 seconds, while holding down the 'C' key the whole time.

You might also notice that you can start Disk Utility from the menubar, so you may want to use it to check the hard disk to make sure everything's running fine there. Once you're done that, try an "archive+install" of OS X to preserve your data, and then see if your PB boots.

Member Avatar for mickey94558

I am trying that now. Received " Invalid Volume Header" and when checking extents received "Invalid sibling link. Volume needs repair.
When trying the repair still got "Invalid Volume Header".

Member Avatar for John A

I am trying that now. Received " Invalid Volume Header" and when checking extents received "Invalid sibling link. Volume needs repair.
When trying the repair still got "Invalid Volume Header".

Then your hard drive needs a reformat. You can use Disk Utility to reformat it, and you may want to choose the option of "writing 0s to disk" for best reliablity. Hopefully you have your data backed up.

Member Avatar for mickey94558

Unfortunately I did not. Movies, Music, and collection of apps gone.

Member Avatar for mickey94558

If I installed the OS on an external drive would I be able to see the failed drive to save its contents or is it totally hosed?

Member Avatar for John A

If I installed the OS on an external drive would I be able to see the failed drive to save its contents or is it totally hosed?

There are a number of ways to recover your data. If you have another Mac and a spare Firewire cable, you can use Target Disk Mode by connecting the 2 Macs together, starting up the good Mac, and holding down the 'T' key on the Mac that won't boot. The hard drive will then show up on the good Mac, and you can see how much data you can salvage.

You can also do what you suggested, provided you buy a Firewire hard drive that is certified to boot a Mac. The latter is VERY important. This may also help:

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