Can't get DiskWarrior to boot up my MBP

Duck Soup

I have DiskWarrior 4.3, which I was using with no problems to boot up and fix my MBP [2009] running Snow Leopard. Since then, I've traded up to a late 2011 MBP, running Lion.

This week, for the first time, I've tried to run an updated DW 4.4 disc on my new MBP. No dice. Tried DW 4.3 and DW 4.0 discs (which I know work) and still nothing. I've tried (a) holding down the C key to get it to boot up off the CD and (b) holding down the Alt/Option key and selecting the DW disc manually. Neither works.

My Snow Leopard disc went when I gave the old MBP away (now residing in SE Asia, with my g/f's daughter at her university), so the only OS disc I have is a Leopard one for my very old PowerBook. This won't work as a boot disc either - it's just an install disc.

So what I'm trying to figure out (a) is there a way of getting the DiskWarrior disc to boot up the MBP or (b) is there a way to boot up my Lion-based MBP without a disc (USB or external HD?).

I'm confussed.

Sad Professor

I don't know what the problem is with Disk Warrior. But you can create a bootable USB drive using Recovery Disk Assistant:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433

However, your machine should already have a built-in recovery partition which you can boot up with by holding Command-R on startup.

Duck Soup

Thanks Prof! The machine isn't in terminal danger, so I'm not looking to salvage, so much as tidy up and run some checks. I can also get the recovery disc by holding down the alt key and selecting it. I did that and was basically able to do the same things - such as permissions repair - as simply running Disk Utility.

I suppose the key here is to find a way of booting up without a disk. I have a LaCie external HD, but of course that doesn't have an operating system. I'd write directly to either Apple or Alsoft; the problem is that I don't know which one is causing the problem - the DW disk or Lion.

Sad Professor

Maybe try burning a new 4.4 disc. But it is Alsoft's problem. They say here to contact them if you have a new Mac model.

Duck Soup

Thanks Prof. I'll shoot them a line and tell you how I get on.

muggyog

Think DW v4.3 has 10.6.7 and your MBP came with Lion installed. You may be able to install DW on another Mac and connect via firewire in target mode. You can repair it that way.


or install an OS on your external drive.

Duck Soup

muggyog wrote: »

Think DW v4.3 has 10.6.7 and your MBP came with Lion installed. You may be able to install DW on another Mac and connect via firewire in target mode. You can repair it that way.


or install an OS on your external drive.

Thanks Muggyog. I have a LaCie external HD. Could I - for example - install the Leopard OS from the install CD I got with the PowerBook onto the LaCie?

My big worry there is what happens to the 800GB of stored stuff and back-ups already on the LaCie? The last thing I want is to install Leopard only to find I've deleted/overwritten all my stuff. I wouldn't have a clue how to create a partition on the external HD.

Duck Soup

Okay, I got my response from Alsoft. What it boils down to is that for the newer MBP running Lion, you need an original DiskWarrior DVD with a revision number of 1107 or later. Each DiskWarrior DVD has a serial number and - just above that a "DVD Revision Number".

My DVD revision number is much earlier - 1001 - so if you update the original app, even though you're running "4.4" it still won't work as the original disc isn't made to boot up a later model MBP (or perhaps, more correctly, won't boot up Lion).

To quote Alsoft technical support: "In most cases, older DiskWarrior 4 discs cannot start up newer machines because they do not have the necessary System files. The downloadable updater modifies the DiskWarrior application - it does not update the operating system on the disc. As your original DiskWarrior disc does not start up this computer, neither will the disc that you have created using the downloadable updater.

The DiskWarrior 4.4 (DVD revision 1109 - newer than the 1107 disc), which contains an operating system capable of starting up this MacBook Pro 8,3 is now available."

As other posters have suggested, their tech support also pointed out that you can boot up via an external HD or another Mac via target mode, but if I want to do a simple boot direct from a DW disc, I'll have to stump up for an updated DVD for around $20.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Sad Professor

That's stupid! Can you not just burn a compatible disc?

Duck Soup

Sad Professor wrote: »

That's stupid! Can you not just burn a compatible disc?

You mean a compatible start-up disc? All I have is a Leopard install disc that came with my old PowerBook. Admittedly, I'm technologically clueless, but I can't get that to boot up the MBP, it just wants to install the Leopard system.

The only other option I can figure out would be somehow clone my Lion system onto a disc and have DiscWarrior either alongside it on the disc or in a folder on the cloned system.