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I have a disk that won't mount

machenryr

machenryr

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I had to pull out my trusty Disk Warrior and update it to the latest - 5.3.2. I was sure that would fix it but no. It says "Directory cannot be rebuilt because it uses an unsupported version of APFS." OK. Is there another solution. It's a 4TB almost full disk. A lot has been backed up but my backup system I allowed to fall out. This is my second warning. This is an external disk. Any ideas and help would be very much appreciated!
 
What Mac do you have?
What year was it made?
What version of the OS is running?

What is the format of the problem drive?
Has it been partitioned, or anything along that line?
Have you tried mounting it on a DIFFERENT Mac?

If it was used for backups, what backup utility did you use?
 
Fishrrman said:
What Mac do you have?
What year was it made?
What version of the OS is running?

What is the format of the problem drive?
Has it been partitioned, or anything along that line?
Have you tried mounting it on a DIFFERENT Mac?

If it was used for backups, what backup utility did you use?
Click to expand...
Thank you. It's all in my signature. 2025 Mac Studio M4 Max. Sequoia 15.7.7. APFS. Nothing has been partitioned. I have not tried on a different Mac. Thanks
 
The other thing is this SSD, Toshiba 4TB, was purchased last year in January 2025. It's not that old. Everything is new. Although too old for a warranty.
 
Disk Warrior is unable to work with any version of an APFS drive. Have you tried repairing the disk while you are booted into recovery mode?
 
"In lieu of that is there any other recovery app that I can try?"

I could be wrong, but since Apple keeps "the inner workings" of APFS under wraps, I don't think there is ANY 3rd-party software that can actually "repair" APFS drives.

Again, I could be wrong, and I welcome correction from others.

This Toshiba drive...
Did you buy it as a "bare" drive, and then put it into an enclosure?
If possible, have you tried the drive in a DIFFERENT enclosure, or perhaps in a USB3/SATA docking station?
 
Fishrrman said:
"In lieu of that is there any other recovery app that I can try?"

I could be wrong, but since Apple keeps "the inner workings" of APFS under wraps, I don't think there is ANY 3rd-party software that can actually "repair" APFS drives.

Again, I could be wrong, and I welcome correction from others.

This Toshiba drive...
Did you buy it as a "bare" drive, and then put it into an enclosure?
If possible, have you tried the drive in a DIFFERENT enclosure, or perhaps in a USB3/SATA docking station?
Click to expand...
I wish I knew this about APFS. I always take a minute to decide which format to use. I used to get OWC enclosures but this is a 4TB external, no enclosure.
 
The good news is that APFS has much less directory or other structural issues to fix.

The bad news is...there are no good tools outside of Disk Utiliy (that I am aware of) to help should the need arise.

If DU can't fix a drive, I would assume a hardware problem, and would want to immediaetly work on data recovery if needed, and then format the drive and test test test before using to store anything import.
 
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machenryr said:
I wish I knew this about APFS. I always take a minute to decide which format to use. I used to get OWC enclosures but this is a 4TB external, no enclosure.
Click to expand...
It is involved...but interesting info here to know the difference. Note the links to lots more APFS details towards the bottom of the page. Lot's of deeper dive comments on these pages too.
 
Fishrrman said:
OP wrote:
"this is a 4TB external, no enclosure."

No enclosure?
Then... how is it connected to the Mac?
Click to expand...
Duh. Meaning I used to buy enclosures from OWC and install the drives myself. These are ready made. Just a little small box with USB connection.
 
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