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Help wanted recovering system Volume on Mac OS X Tiger

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Pepinno

Veteran Member
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Apr 16, 2007
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In an iBook G4 running Tiger (10.4) I have a situation where I created with Disk Utility a "Restore" full backup of my system Volume to a partition on an external USB disk.

My system Volume originally had the name "vol1". After the full backup completed successfully, the partition on the external USB disk that contained it also had the name "vol1", as expected. I then renamed, in the Finder, the name of the partition on the external USB disk from its original "vol1" to "backup_vol1" (which I naively thought to be a good idea, as to having a self-documenting name for that backup partition --I was wrong!).

I am now trying to restore the full backup from the USB disk to the system Volume on my iBook G4. The restore completes without errors, but upon reboot the system gets stuck on the "gray Apple logo" screen, which is early in the boot process, and it won't progress from there. So my iBook G4 is not booting up to OS X anymore.

What can I do to unscrew my situation? I think I have all the data of the system Volume in my backup, it just seems I cannot restore a "blessed" bootable volume...
 
Hmm, perhaps you need to "bless" it after the restore?
(Just an idea, don't ask me how)
 
If you have a Tiger install CD, try booting from that and using the Disk Utility on the CD to "Repair" the volume on the HDD. It could be a matter of the permissions being screwed up. I have got a few volumes corrected that way, but Disk Utility does not tell you what problems it has corrected.

If you don't have such a CD, they can be found online for download.

rick
 
If you have an original Tiger install CD and repairing the volume doesn't work, you could perform a clean install and then use finder to change the backup volume name back to "vol1" and try the restore again. But I'd bet the repair should fix it.

If you don't have the Tiger install CD, you can try pressing the "Command" + "S" key immediately after powering up your Mac. This will start the computer in Single User mode. At the command prompt, type fsck -fy to run a disk check with repair.
 
BuggZ said:
If you have an original Tiger install CD and repairing the volume doesn't work, you could perform a clean install and then use finder to change the backup volume name back to "vol1" and try the restore again. But I'd bet the repair should fix it.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've done it, and it did not work. I installed a new-from-scratch OSX 10.4 system using the Tiger install DVD, erasing the destination partition on the laptop. This new-from-scratch install booted fine, and I used it to rename using the Finder the backup partition in the external USB disk back to its original "vol1" name. Then I booted again with the Tiger install DVD and tried again to do a "Restore" with Disk Utility from the "vol1" partition on the external USB disk to the system/primary/boot partition on the iBook G4 laptop. The restore operation ended without errors. But same result: a static gray screen with the Apple logo on boot which does not progress any further in the boot process.

Then I booted again with the Tiger install DVD and did a "Repair disk" and "Repair permissions" with Disk Utility on the system/primary/boot partition on the iBook G4 laptop. Same result: a static gray screen with the Apple logo on boot.

Then I booted again with the Tiger install DVD and launched Terminal and issued this command:
Code: 
bless -mount /Volumes/vol1 -setBoot
Running that command did not report any errors. But same result: a static gray screen with the Apple logo on boot.
 
The iBook no-boot mystery goes on...

So I installed a brand-new-from-scratch OS X 10.4 system on the iBook G4 using the Tiger install DVD, choosing the option to erase the destination partition, and the new system booted fine. In that fine-booting environment, I took these pictures of:

  1. The boot menu as it appears when pressing the "Option" key early in the boot process.
  2. The output of the commands "bless --info", "mount" and "diskutil info /dev/disk0s3" when running a Terminal having booted from the Tiger install DVD.
  3. The output of the commands "devalias hd", "dir hd:\" and "printenv boot-device" on the OpenFirmware boot environment (you have to press "Command+Option+O+F" early in the boot process to get to the OpenFirmware).




Click to expand...


==========================================================================


I then booted with the Tiger install DVD, and used Disk Utility to "Restore" the system backup from the "vol1" partition of the external USB disk, onto the system volume of the iBook G4 laptop (choosing the option to Erase the destination partition), and then Repaired it and Blessed it as described previously. This resulted on a non-booting environment, of which I took these pictures:

  1. The boot menu as it appears when pressing the "Option" key early in the boot process.
  2. The output of the commands "bless --info", "mount" and "diskutil info /dev/disk0s3" when running a Terminal having booted from the Tiger install DVD.
  3. The output of the commands "devalias hd", "dir hd:\" and "printenv boot-device" on the OpenFirmware boot environment (you have to press "Command+Option+O+F" early in the boot process to get to the OpenFirmware).




Click to expand...


==========================================================================


The only thing that is "weird" in the non-booting environment, is that the boot menu does not "read" the name of the system volume on the iBook G4, instead it presents a blank name for it. However, the OpenFirmware in the non-booting environment is perfectly able to read and access the system volume.

From here, I am totally lost as to how to solve this problem...

Edit to add: Does anyone know from where does the Boot Menu retrieve the "volume label" for the bootable volumes/disks that it presents in its menu screen?
 
Last edited:
My guess now would be that your NVRAM may not be storing the corrected settings, so that when you reboot it is still looking for the wrong volume names. Confirm whether the time and date are correct - if not, then the battery is flat.

Or even if the battery is OK, I have found that sometimes after a change in system disk you need to erase the NVRAM to force the boot procedure to search for the current blessed disks correctly. A soft erase will usually work, but a hardware reset may also be needed. PRAM/NVRAM reset solves many weird issues.

I would also eject tbe DVD before the reboot, just to simplify the process.

Rick
 
When you did the initial backup of your drive, did you create an image file or duplicate the drive by performing a block-copy? Did you perform the backup from within the original Mac OS or did you boot from the 10.4 CD and use Disk Utility to create the backup?
 
RickNel said:
My guess now would be that your NVRAM may not be storing the corrected settings, so that when you reboot it is still looking for the wrong volume names. Confirm whether the time and date are correct - if not, then the battery is flat.

Or even if the battery is OK, I have found that sometimes after a change in system disk you need to erase the NVRAM to force the boot procedure to search for the current blessed disks correctly. A soft erase will usually work, but a hardware reset may also be needed. PRAM/NVRAM reset solves many weird issues.
Click to expand...

I have already tried to reset the contents of the NVRAM, doing the Command+Option+P+R key combination early in the boot process until a second chimes sound is heard. It did not solve the problem.

Is there a different way to "hard"-reset the NVRAM? How is it done?

RickNel said:
I would also eject tbe DVD before the reboot, just to simplify the process.
Click to expand...

I'll try that and report back.


BuggZ said:
When you did the initial backup of your drive, did you create an image file or duplicate the drive by performing a block-copy? Did you perform the backup from within the original Mac OS or did you boot from the 10.4 CD and use Disk Utility to create the backup?
Click to expand...

I created the initial backup of my iBook G4 laptop's system drive using Disk Utility, within its "Restore" tab, selecting the system drive as the Source and the partition on the USB external disk as the Target. I run Disk Utility to do that initial backup from inside of the running system (not from the Tiger install DVD). I did not see any option there to do the backup in file-mode or in block-mode.

The Tiger install DVD I have is for Mac OS X 10.4.0, but the running system from inside of which I run Disk Utility to make the system backup was running Mac OS X 10.4.11 (i.e., an updated Tiger). Could it be that the Disk Utility in OSX 10.4.11 behaves differently from OSX 10.4.0?
 
Alright, I have found something!

The label which the "boot menu" [1] presents for the bootable volumes, is sourced from the files:

/Volumes/vol1/System/Library/CoreServices/.disk_label
/Volumes/vol1/System/Library/CoreServices/.disk_label.contentDetails

This is according to information found here:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=755093
http://www.finetunedmac.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=15933

---

[1] The "boot menu" is what Apple calls the "Startup Manager", see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
 
I'm writing this post from the iBook G4, which I've finally restored to working order, using the backup I had and some additional trickery.

I followed these steps:

  1. With the Tiger installation DVD disc, I reinstalled a brand-new from-scratch OS X 10.4 system onto the first volume of the iBook G4 laptop, choosing the option to "Erase destination" in the install process. This resulted in a perfectly bootable system, running OSX 10.4.0. I gave the label name "OSX10.4_vol1" to the partition on which I installed the system.
  2. Then I connected to the Internet and went several times through "Software Update" in OSX to update the system up to version 10.4.11, and to update the other system components to their most up to date version for OSX Tiger (QuickTime, iTunes, Safari, Java, etc.). I just accepted all the updates that where offered to me through "Software Update". Also, I made sure to give the same "hostname" to the system as it had when I originally made my full backup several days ago to a USB external disk (this is done in System Preferences -> Sharing -> Computer Name).
  3. Then using the Tiger installation DVD, I booted the system and using Terminal made a backup of the folder containing all the system files (that's 1.7 GB worth of files in OSX 10.4.11):
    Code: 
    mkdir -p /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/_BACKUP/System
ditto /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/System /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/_BACKUP/System
  4. Then I plugged in my external USB disk, and from the same Terminal session of the previous step, I copied the full system backup I had, from the external USB disk onto the first volume of the iBook G4 laptop:
    Code: 
    ditto /Volumes/vol1 /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1
    And right after that, I restored the backup of the OSX system files I had done in step 3 above:
    Code: 
    ditto /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/_BACKUP/System /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/System
    And right after that, I unplugged the external USB disk, and from Disk Utility I run "Repair disk" and "Repair permissions" on the first volume of the iBook G4 laptop ("OSX10.4_vol1").
  5. I then rebooted, and the system came up fine!
  6. Once I had booted the system normally from it's own internal hard disk, I again run "Repair permissions" from Disk Utility against the system volume "OSX10.4_vol1".
  7. Also, I had to reset permissions for the user's home folders, running this command for each of the existing users in the system (I only have three users):
    Code: 
    sudo chown -R username:username /Users/username
  8. Result: now all of my data and installed programs and configurations have been restored in full, and the system boots fine. All the installed programs worked fine, except for Adobe Creative Suite 3, which complained that the "license has been deactivated". The solution for Adobe Creative Suite 3 was simple: just uninstall in full the whole suite, and reinstall it again (also, upon reinstallation of Adobe CS3 it did not ask for a license key, it just automatically reused the license key from the previous install).

Note 1: in this procedure, which probed successful, I did not have to use the command "bless -mount /Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1 -setBoot".

Note 2: doing a backup of just the folder "/Volumes/OSX10.4_vol1/System/Library/CoreServices" (which is only 216 MB worth of files) in step 3 did not result in a bootable system. I had to backup and restore the whole "/System" folder to achieve a bootable system (I really don't know how could my original backup of the "/System" folder in the external USB disk become so ****ed up beyond all recognition, but oh well shit happens).

So I'm happy now, and I've learned a whole lot of OSX in the process! :D
 
Last edited:
tingo said:
Learning is always worth it, in my experience.
Click to expand...

Yes, totally.

I'm now thinking about a bullet-proof procedure to backup the system volume in my OSX Tiger iBook laptop.

Something along the lines:

  1. Boot from Tiger install DVD.
  2. Plug in an external USB disk (it will be the target of the backup).
  3. Make sure the target volume for the backup in the external USB disk:
    • Has the same filesystem format as the source volume of the backup (usually, HFS+).
    • Has not got enabled the option "Ignore ownership in this volume" (you get to it through target volume -> Get Info -> Ownership & Permissions).
    • Has a size enough to fit the backup data from the source volume.
  4. Run Disk Utility, go to "Restore" tab, drag and drop the source volume to the "Source:" field, and drag and drop the target volume in the external USB disk to the "Destination:" field.
  5. Next, tick to enable the option "Erase destination" and click on the button "Restore".
  6. Wait for the backup operation to complete.
  7. Now, to avoid the hazard of you backed up data in the external USB disk becoming a non-bootable system upon restore because of some unintended writing operation to it (e.g., changing the volume name of the volume holding your backup in the external USB disk), use Disk Utility (or some other program?) to make an image file (*.dmg) of the volume holding your backup in the external USB disk.
  8. Most important of all: boot from the Tiger install DVD and test and verify that restoring the system volume from the *.dmg image file results in a bootable system containing all the backed up data.
  9. End of procedure.

I have fun days ahead!
 
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I've jotted down the procedure to make a full backup of the system volume of an OSX 10.4 installation, saving said backup inside a DMG image file. Which is good, because that protects the backup from accidental modifications (which can happen if you just clone the OSX system volume to a volume in an external USB or Firewire disk) that can eventually result in an unbootable system volume after restore -- that problem is what prompted me to open this thread in the first place.

To have it documented for myself, so I can refer back to it in the future, and to share it with others who may find it helpful, this is the procedure to make a full backup of the system volume of an OSX 10.4 (Tiger) installation, and save it in a DMG image file:

  1. Boot with the install DVD of OSX Tiger. Do not proceed with the install wizard, stop when it presents you with the license agreement screen.
  2. Plug in the external USB/Firewire disk where you want to store the DMG file with the backup.
  3. Run the Disk Utility program, then go to the File menu -> New blank image, and fill in this information:
    • Save As: write the file name for the DMG file which will contain the backup, "2013-01-27_OSX10.4_vol1" in my example.
    • Where: select a volume in the external USB/Firewire disk, where the DMG file will be created, the destination volume was named "Images" in my example (Make sure there is enough free space in that volume to hold the DMG file.)
    • Size: write the size in GB of the used space in the OSX 10.4 system volume you want to backup, plus 2 GB (just to be safe).
    • Encryption: None
    • Format: read/write disk image
    • And then click on the Create button. The DMG file will be created, it will take some minutes.
  4. When the DMG file creation finishes, Disk Utility will automatically mount the volume which is inside the DMG file.
  5. In Disk Utility, now go to the Restore tab, and select:
    • In the Source: field, drag and drop the OSX system volume.
    • In the Destination: field, drag and drop the volume inside the DMG file (Make sure the volume inside the DMG file has the same filesystem format as your OSX system volume, usually HFS+ with journaling).
    • Activate the "Erase destination" option.
    • click on the Restore button.
  6. After several minutes (aprox. one minute for each gigabyte to backup), the backup process will finish, and the DMG file will hold a full backup of your OSX system volume.
  7. End of procedure.

Then you can optionally compress with ZIP or ARJ or 7zip the DMG file to save space and upload it to an off-site FTP server.

---


And this is the procedure to restore the full backup of the system volume of an OSX 10.4 (Tiger) installation, from the DMG image file:

  1. Boot with the install DVD of OSX Tiger. Do not proceed with the install wizard, stop when it presents you with the license agreement screen.
  2. Plug in the external USB/Firewire disk where you have stored the DMG file with the backup.
  3. Open the Terminal app, and run:
    • diskutil list --> to find out the volume name in your external USB/Firewire disk where the DMG file is stored.
    • mount --> to find out where has the system mounted the volume where the DMG file is stored.
    • hdiutil attach /Volumes/Images/2013-01-27_OSX10.4_vol1.dmg --> to mount the volume inside the DMG file with your full system backup.
    • exit --> to exit the Terminal app.
  4. Run Disk Utility, go to the Restore tab, and select:
    • Source: here drag and drop the volume inside the DMG file, which you manually mounted in the previous step.
    • Destination: here drag and drop the OSX system volume in the internal hard disk.
    • Activate the "Erase destination" option.
    • click on the Restore button.
  5. The restore process will begin, it will take several minutes to finish. When it ends, you will have a restored and bootable system volume with OSX in your internal hard disk, and no need to run the "bless" command.
  6. Reboot the system, it should boot with the restored OSX system.


Ah!, that care-free feeling you have when you have a safety-net and you KNOW you can make crazy experiments with you vintage machine... :)
 
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