How to Verify/Repair a RAID Volume

2012-07-10 • SEND FEEDBACK •
Related: Apple macOS, backup, How-To, RAID, storage

Mac OS X Lion introduced an ugly little bug: Disk Utility will not verify or repair a RAID volume (mirror or stripe). Mac OS X Lion originally could not even display RAID properly (since fixed). The superficial issue is fixed, the important one is not fixed (as of Mac OS X 10.7.4).

Here’s the workaround (works on any volume). My RAID-0 stripe volume Master is verified by the command-line version of Disk Utility ('diskutil').

diglloyd:MPG lloyd$ diskutil verifyVolume Master
Started file system verification on disk7 Master
Checking file system
Performing live verification
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume
Checking extents overflow file
Checking catalog file
Checking multi-linked files
Checking catalog hierarchy
Checking extended attributes file
Checking volume bitmap
Checking volume information
The volume Master appears to be OK
Finished file system verification on disk7 Master

Disk Utility will do nothing for a RAID volume when Verify Disk or Repair Disk buttons are used

Grem M writes:

I have a software RAID (striped) created by Disk Utility. Running 10.7.4,

Yes, the Repair/Verify buttons don't work in Disk Utility.

However, I use Onyx and it works for both verify and repair.

DIGLLOYD: I’m also told that Drive Genius works as well.