NAME

       fsck.hfs — HFS file system consistency check

SYNOPSIS

       fsck.hfs -q [-df] special ...
       fsck.hfs -p [-df] special ...
       fsck.hfs [-n | -y | -r] [-dfgl] [-m mode] [-c size] special ...

DESCRIPTION

       The fsck.hfs utility verifies and repairs standard HFS and HFS+ file systems.

       The  first  form  of  fsck.hfs  quickly  checks the specified file systems to determine whether they were
       cleanly unmounted.

       The second form of fsck.hfs preens the specified file systems.  It is normally started by fsck(8)  during
       systen  boot,  when  a HFS file system is detected.  When preening file systems, fsck.hfs will fix common
       inconsistencies for file systems that were not unmounted cleanly.  If more serious  problems  are  found,
       fsck.hfs does not try to fix them, indicates that it was not successful, and exits.

       The  third  form  of  fsck.hfs  checks  the  specified  file  systems  and  tries  to repair all detected
       inconsistencies.

       If no options are specified fsck.hfs will always check and attempt to fix the specified file systems.

       The options are as follows:

             -c size Specify the size of the cache used by fsck.hfs  internally.   Bigger  size  can  result  in
                     better  performance  but  can  result  in  deadlock  when used with -l option.  Size can be
                     specified as a decimal, octal, or hexadecimal number.  If the number  ends  with  a  ``k'',
                     ``m'',  or  ``g'', the number is multiplied by 1024 (1K), 1048576 (1M), or 1073741824 (1G),
                     respectively.

             -d      Display debugging information.  This option may provide useful  information  when  fsck.hfs
                     cannot repair a damaged file system.

             -f      When  used  with  the -p option, force fsck.hfs to check `clean' file systems, otherwise it
                     means force fsck.hfs to check and repair journaled HFS+ file systems.

             -g      Causes fsck.hfs to generate its output strings in GUI format.  This  option  is  used  when
                     another  application  with  a  graphical  user  interface  (like  Mac OS X Disk Utility) is
                     invoking the fsck.hfs tool.

             -l      Lock down the file system and perform a test-only check.  This makes it possible to check a
                     file system that is currently mounted, although no repairs can be made.

             -m mode Mode is an octal number that will be  used  to  set  the  permissions  for  the  lost+found
                     directory  when  it  is created.  The lost+found directory is only created when a volume is
                     repaired and orphaned files or directories are detected.  fsck.hfs  places  orphaned  files
                     and  directories  into  the  lost+found directory (located at the root of the volume).  The
                     default mode is 01777.

             -p      Preen the specified file systems.

             -q      Causes fsck.hfs to quickly check whether the volume was unmounted cleanly.  If  the  volume
                     was unmounted cleanly, then the exit status is 0.  If the volume was not unmounted cleanly,
                     then  the  exit  status will be non-zero.  In either case, a message is printed to standard
                     output describing whether the volume was clean or dirty.

             -y      Always attempt to repair any damage that is found.

             -n      Never attempt to repair any damage that is found.

             -r      Rebuild the catalog file on the specified file system.  This  option  currently  will  only
                     work  if  there  is  enough contiguous space on the specified file system for a new catalog
                     file and if there is no damage to the leaf nodes in the existing catalog file.

SEE ALSO

       fsck(8)

BUGS

       fsck.hfs is not able to fix some inconsistencies that it detects.

HISTORY

       The fsck.hfs command appeared in Mac OS X Server 1.0 .

Mac OS X                                        November 21, 2002                                    FSCK_HFS(8)