# HDD "Orphaned Blocks"



## Mario8672 (Jun 7, 2012)

I've had the same issue with the stock 320GB hd that came with my MacBook Pro. The computer took longer to boot, longer to shut down, apps took longer to launch as well. 

Then I bought the Seagate Momentus XT drive to replace it. For the first 3 months, it was lightning fast. However, I've noticed it become slightly sluggish. When I opened disk utility to 'verify disk', I found the same problem. Something about "orphaned blocks". I've repaired it once (successfully-it said) from the repair disk, now I've seen the issue come back again within 2-3 weeks.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Jun 7, 2012)

Disk Utility's "Repair Disk" or "Check Disk" function should only be done while NOT booted from the drive you want to check -- in other words, you should boot from your OS X Install/Restore CD/DVD and run Disk Utility's "Check Disk" and/or "Repair Disk" on your internal hard drive.

Running a "Verify" or "Repair Disk" from Disk Utility _while you're booted from the drive you wish to check_ will produce some errors that can be safely ignored, and you also won't be able to repair certain types of errors unless you boot from an alternate boot disk.

Are you running the repair while booted from the disk you're checking, or are you, in fact, repairing the disk while booted from another disk?


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## Mario8672 (Jun 7, 2012)

I ran this check while booted from my main HD (the one I'm checking), but I ran the repair from the repair disk (restarting the computer with Cmd+R held, then choosing disk utility). The errors still appear while checking the disk from the repair disk.

This 'orphaned blocks' issue has been consistent with the stock drive AND now my new seagate drive and constantly keeps reappearing hmm.... I'm fairly confident that if I verify the disk in another 1-2 months, I'll have the same error.


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## DeltaMac (Jun 7, 2012)

The "orphaned blocks" is a relatively minor issue in your directory, and doesn't, by itself, indicate a potential hardware problem of some kind. It's just a software issue in the directory structure, and is also showing a minor error in free block count, which also makes sense because of the orphaned blocks report. The time to get concerned is if Disk Utility does not repair the issue - so, repair the drive (booted to your Recovery partition.) It does little good to run a Verify Disk at that point, as the Repair Disk simply runs the verify procedure anyway, and you already know that error will be reported during a verify.

I expect that the orphaned blocks are more related to some action that you continue with the replacement drive (that is, the nature of how you typically use your software, and your MacBook Pro), and not particularly pointing to the future demise of your hard drive. This is not to say that it's your fault! But, simply a side effect of your normal use, and a file system that is not perfect (and none are!). As a service tech, I nearly always do an fsck at first boot when troubleshooting a variety of problems. Sometimes you see 'orphaned blocks', and there's no way to predict that. You mount the disk, and that clears the orphaned blocks. If that's your only issue, then you just clear it, and move on...

I would also check at Seagate occasionally for firmware updates for your hybrid drive.


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## Mario8672 (Jun 7, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. So you're saying the issue on it's own is harmless and to routinely verify/repair the drive when necessary?


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## DeltaMac (Jun 7, 2012)

I did not (and would not) say the issue is "harmless", but I did say it's a "relatively minor" issue that you can easily manage.


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## Satcomer (Jun 10, 2012)

Mario maybe you could do a fsck -fy on that drive. 

Plus are you running any major third system modifier that modify the Finder or something? Some old or bad programming might be messing up, just a thought.


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