Mac won't boot after restored from time machine

[Sturnella_neglecta]

I just had a faulty logic board replaced in my 2011 Macbook Pro. Though my files all seemed to be in order, many of my preferences were gone, so I perhaps unwisely decided to restore the data that I had backed up on time machine just before the computer was repaired. Once the restore was complete, my computer began to restart, but it was still stuck after an hour or so with the progress bar at about halfway.

I started it in recovery mode and ran the disk utility to repair the disk.
I tried repairing it in single user mode, and after one or two passes, I got the "volume appears to be OK" message and rebooted. It was still stuck about halfway in the reboot.
I tried booting it in Safe Verbose mode and got the following messages:

dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/LanguageModeling.framework/Versions/R/LanguageModeling
Referenced from: /usr/lib/libmecabra.dylib
Reason: image not found
Sat May 16 13:00:57 2015 localhost com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] <Error>: bootroot: signaled: Trace/BPT trap: 5
/dev/disk0s2 on / (hfs, local, journaled)
kern.maxfiles: 12288 -> 50000
kern.maxfilesperproc: 10240 -> 50000
dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/LanguageModeling.framework/Versions/R/LanguageModeling
Referenced from: /usr/lib/libmecabra.dylib
Reason: image not found
Sat May 16 13:00:57 2015 localhost com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] <Error>: cache-start: signaled: Trace/BPT trap: 5
bash: /etc/rc.server: No such file or directory
bash: /etc/rc.installer_cleanup: No such file or directory
dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/LanguageModeling.framework/Versions/R/LanguageModeling
Referenced from: /usr/lib/libmecabra.dylib
Reason: image not found
Sat May 16 13:00:58 2015 localhost com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] <Error>: cache-tag: signaled: Trace/BPT trap: 5

It seems to me that it can't locate some system files, but honestly, I don't know how to interpret it. I have almost no experience using the (unix?) command line. My programming knowledge is limited to creating mathematical models in R, so it should be obvious that I have no idea what I'm doing. Is this fixable without restoring from an earlier backup? Are these the relevant error messages?

I've never asked for technical help online in my life, so please let me know if I've left any important specifications or information out.

 

[honestone]

I am certainly no expert, but it seems you could have directory damage. Not sure why Disk Utility is not detecting that, but it looks like you need a more robust disk maintenance/repair program. In your case, Disk Warrior could be the one. But, since the issues are with your startup disk, Disk Warrior would need to run externally.

I see where your machine has a Firewire 800 port. If either you have another Mac with a Firewire 800 port, or have a friend that has a Mac with a Firewire 800 port, you could boot your machine in Target Disk Mode after connecting the machines with a Firewire 800 cable. Of course, the other Mac needs to have Disk Warrior on it. And, I suspect you could use the prior version, V4.4, of Disk Warrior. I actually have it, along with the latest version of TechTool Pro (another good disk maintenance/repair program).

One other thing: when you ran Disk Utility, did you Verify and Repair permissions for your primary boot partition? Not sure if that will resolve the issue, but it can't hurt.

 

[Sturnella_neglecta]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I don't have another mac or a friend, so I won't be able to do that until I go back to an Apple store or visit unpleasant family members who have macs. I'll figure out a way to try that either way. And I didn't verify or repair disk permissions, but I may as well try in the meantime. If I had had the foresight, could I have created a bootable USB drive with Disk Warrior on it?

 

[honestone]

Yes, you could have. In fact, I have Disk Warrior (and TechTool Pro) on my internal SSD for both of my machines, and I use SuperDuper! to create a bootable backup/clone of both machines on two external devices. One of them has only USB ports, while the other has both Firewire 800 and USB ports. And yes, Disk Warrior is each backup.

A few days ago, I was having some issues with my MacBook Air, so I booted it via my most recent SuperDuper! backup, and ran Disk Warrior from that backup to analyze the internal SSD inside the Air.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Since you have a Time Machine backup, you could do a reinstall (not erase & install) over the top of the current install using the Recovery Partition. Also, you could try repairing permissions and verifying/repairing the disk when booted from the Recovery Partition.

C

 

[honestone]

What Cory states is accurate, although you already indicated that "I started it in recovery mode and ran the disk utility to repair the disk". Maybe try it again, insuring that you boot from the Recovery Partition by pressing the Command and R keys. Then, when you use Disk Utility, first do a Verify and Repair the disk at the Volume (top) level of your drive, and then 1)Verify and Repair Permissions at the partition level, and 2) Verify and Repair the disk at that same partition level. Hopefully, Disk Utility will be able to detect and repair what I suspect is directory damage.

If that is successful, re-boot your machine first and see if that makes it better. If not, I'd be somewhat leery about "writing over" the top of the (possibly) still damaged disk (from a software perspective). But, the reinstall from the Time Machine backup (assuming it is "clean") could work. If it doesn't, then you know that using Disk Warrior would be the next step.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Ooops...guess I misread part of that.

DiskWarrior can usually fix issues that Disk Utility cannot. As honestone pointed out, it may be a good idea to perform a surface scan of the drive before attempting a reinstall, to ensure the drive itself isn't failing. Drive Genius and TechTool Pro have the best surface scan functions.

A full Time Machine restore could be a good idea. However, personally I would do an erase and install of OS X and then do a migration from the Time Machine backup. That way, you eliminate any corruption in the OS of the backup.

C

 

[Sturnella_neglecta]

Thank you both the suggestions. It was the restoration from the time machine backups that got me into this mess in the first place, which makes me wonder what went wrong. I had tried Disk Utility several times (verifying and repairing both permissions disks) each time I restored from a backup. I actually tried restoring from two recent backups on Time Machine, and both gave me the same issues. I still haven't gotten to another mac to try scanning for more disk issues, but I went ahead and tried reinstalling the OS on top of the most recent backup that I had just restored on my computer. Now it's working beautifully. But I don't like living in ignorance--does this mean my backups weren't complete, and missed some essential system files, or could it be something else? You both mentioned that it may be an early symptom of a hard drive failure, so I guess my next step will be to look into that.
Once again, thank you for helping me out.

 

[honestone]

Glad to hear that your machine is working fine. But yeah, maybe some of those prior Time Machine Backups are somewhat "bad". I would suggest you take some steps to get your system as clean as possible. Here are some things you can do to get started.

First, download the following two programs:

SuperDuper! You can get it from here: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/13803/superduper

Onyx: You can get it from here: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx

Make sure you get the correct version of Onyx (you never stated what OS you are using).

SuperDuper! is an excellent backup/cloning program that can make a bootable backup of your system. So, prior to doing any of what I am suggesting below, first make that backup with SuperDuper!. Don't worry about the $27.95. You can use in "free" mode form as long as you want. That is what I did for about 1 1/2 years, and then I purchased it about 3 months ago. The paid version runs faster, and it has some additional features.

Next, boot to the Recovery Partition and run Disk Utility again. Do the same tasks you did before (Verifying and Repairing the Disk, and Verifying and Repairing Permissions). I suspect all that will work fine. Also, Disk Utility should tell you if there are hardware issues with your hard drive. Given that your machine is 4 years old, the hard drive should be OK, but it would be best, going forward, that you get into the habit of 1) cleaning off stuff you don't need as soon as possible, 2) performing disk maintenance (and if necessary repairs), and 3) making backups with SuperDuper!.

Once that is done, run Onyx. It has quite a few useful features. It would be best if you run all the Maintenance and Cleaning tasks in the program. One of the maintenance tasks is Repair Permissions. But, Onyx repairs permissions for all software. Disk Utility does it just for Apple software.

Finally, what is your goal when you make backups? Time Machine is good for making backups on the spot, but it cannot make a bootable backup. SuperDuper!, as I stated above, makes a bootable backup, but it does not run automatically like Time Machine can (the paid version of SuperDuper! has that feature, but I don't use it, nor need it form my processing).

And, you might want to consider investing in a more robust disk maintenance/repair program, like Disk Warrior or TechTool Pro. I have both of them, and I use TechTool pro every week as part of my disk maintenance/repair/backup processing. I have been doing that for a number of years, and I rarely (extremely rare) have issues.