Fix for “HFS+ partition error” in Mac OS X

HFS Plus or HFS+ file system is developed to replace the primary file system i.e. the HFS (hierarchical file system) used in Mac computer. HFS+ is also referred to as Mac OS extended and sometimes as HFS extended.

An HFS+ file system volume has enhanced functionality, supports larger files and uses Unicode for naming the file & folder items. These volumes are made up of metadata structure –catalog file, volume header, allocation file, extents overflow files, attributes file, startup file and alternate volume header. Each of the data structures are defined on different sectors.

The volume header is used as a replacement with the MDB (master directory block) of HFS file system and the metadata structures are contained in it. Any sort of inconsistency or corruption in the metadata structure ultimately damages the volume in turn making it stored data inaccessible. This causes loss of vital data stored in the volume and data recovery mac is essentially required for retrieving lost data if backup is not available.

For instance, attempt to boot your Mac OS X computer or data access from HFS+ file system volume fails with “HFS+ partition error”. This problem is mostly encountered in dual boot system, using GRUB which provides the facility to have more than OS installed on their PC and choosing the one to be used at the time of startup.

To fix “HFS+ partition error” and access data, following can be done- Hard drive error is detected and repaired with disk utility or fsck command Also check the GRUB installation.

In case the problem persists, there is certainly something wrong with the partitioning scheme used. As HFS+ partition uses apple partition map (APM) as their partitioning scheme and so selecting incorrect starting number of partition is causing such a problem.

In such instances repartitioning the mac hard drive for changing the partitioning scheme is necessary. Later the data can be restored from backup. On the other hand you could use data recovery mac software for getting your data back, if updated backup is not with you.

It provides graphically rich interface for extensive drive scan with its sophisticated algorithm and recover mac drive data lost due to repartitioning.