Macos – I’m unable to mount a DMG, getting a “no mountable filesystems” error

disk-imagedmg-imagehdiutilmacos

I downloaded a DMG of some commercial Mac software (CSSEdit) but I found that the DMG wouldn't mount. I tried another image from the same company, and then a number of images I had laying around from other software. About half of them mount and half don't. The error is always "no mountable file systems"

My google-foo reveals only some isolated incidents, and the repeated suggestion to reboot (I have, twice). The disk will not mount from Disk Utility either (nor does attempting to verify or repair it from there have any effect). I've also tried re-downloading this image several times using several different programs.

I recently updated to 10.5.8 in case that's relevant.

Here's a paste of what I get when I try to mount the DMG from the command line.

loki:Downloads peter$ hdiutil attach CSSEdit\ 2.6.dmg -Verbose
Initializing…
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score      100, CBSDBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CBundleBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CRAMBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  3, score      100, CCarbonBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  4, score    -1000, CDevBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  5, score    -1000, CCURLBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  6, score    -1000, CVectoredBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: selecting CBSDBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score      100, CBSDBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CBundleBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CRAMBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  3, score      100, CCarbonBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  4, score    -1000, CDevBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  5, score    -1000, CCURLBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  6, score    -1000, CVectoredBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: selecting CBSDBackingStore
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score    -1000, CMacBinaryEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CAppleSingleEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CEncryptedEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: nothing to select.
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score      900, CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: selecting CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: instantiator returned 0
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score    -1000, CSegmentedNDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CSegmentedUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CSegmentedUDIFRawEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: nothing to select.
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score        0, CDARTDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score        0, CDiskCopy42DiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CNDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  3, score     1000, CUDIFDiskImage
CRawDiskImage: data fork length 0x000000000022EE83 (2289283) not a multiple of 512.
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  5, score     -100, CRawDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  6, score     -100, CShadowedDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  7, score        0, CSparseDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  8, score        0, CSparseBundleDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  9, score    -1000, CCFPlugInDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface 10, score     -100, CWrappedDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: selecting CUDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageNewWithBackingStore: CUDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageNewWithBackingStore: instantiator returned 0
Verifying…
Verification completed…
Error 0 (Unknown error: 0).
expected   CRC32 $DA5349F2
Attaching…
DI_kextWaitQuiet: about to call IOServiceWaitQuiet...
DI_kextWaitQuiet: IOServiceWaitQuiet took 0.000008 seconds
2009-08-06 21:48:36.456 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] -serveImage: attaching drive
{
    autodiskmount = 1;
    "hdiagent-drive-identifier" = "921062E3-5965-477A-85C8-C93979468CF9";
    "unmount-timeout" = 0;
}
2009-08-06 21:48:36.462 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] -serveImage: connecting to myDrive 0x00004707
2009-08-06 21:48:36.463 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] -serveImage: register _readBuffer 0x0x468000 with myDrive 0x0x0
2009-08-06 21:48:36.463 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] -serveImage: activating drive port 0x0x4807
2009-08-06 21:48:36.463 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] _serveImage: set cache enabled=TRUE returned SUCCESS.
2009-08-06 21:48:36.464 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] _serveImage: set on IO thread=TRUE returned SUCCESS.
2009-08-06 21:48:36.464 diskimages-helper[1607:381b] -serveImage: starting server loop - myPort is 0x0x4807
Volume check completed…
Mounting…
^[[Adiskimages-helper: DI_kextDriveGetRequest returned 0x00000025 (37) ((os/kern) object terminated).
Attaching…
Error 109 (no mountable file systems).
Finishing…
DIHLDiskImageAttach() returned 109
hdiutil: attach failed - no mountable file systems


loki:Downloads peter$ hdiutil imageinfo CSSEdit\ 2.6.dmg -Verbose
hdiutil: imageinfo: processing "CSSEdit 2.6.dmg"
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score      100, CBSDBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CBundleBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CRAMBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  3, score      100, CCarbonBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  4, score    -1000, CDevBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  5, score    -1000, CCURLBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: interface  6, score    -1000, CVectoredBackingStore
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: selecting CBSDBackingStore
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score    -1000, CMacBinaryEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CAppleSingleEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CEncryptedEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: nothing to select.
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score      900, CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: selecting CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: CUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: instantiator returned 0
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score    -1000, CSegmentedNDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score    -1000, CSegmentedUDIFEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CSegmentedUDIFRawEncoding
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: nothing to select.
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  0, score        0, CDARTDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  1, score        0, CDiskCopy42DiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  2, score    -1000, CNDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  3, score     1000, CUDIFDiskImage
CRawDiskImage: data fork length 0x000000000022EE83 (2289283) not a multiple of 512.
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  5, score     -100, CRawDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  6, score     -100, CShadowedDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  7, score        0, CSparseDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  8, score        0, CSparseBundleDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface  9, score    -1000, CCFPlugInDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: interface 10, score     -100, CWrappedDiskImage
DIDiskImageInstantiatorProbe: selecting CUDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageNewWithBackingStore: CUDIFDiskImage
DIDiskImageNewWithBackingStore: instantiator returned 0
Format: UDZO
Backing Store Information:
    Class Name: CUDIFEncoding
    Backing Store Information:
        Name: CSSEdit 2.6.dmg
        URL: file://localhost/Users/peter/Downloads/CSSEdit%202.6.dmg
        Class Name: CBSDBackingStore
    URL: file://localhost/Users/peter/Downloads/CSSEdit%202.6.dmg
    Name: CSSEdit 2.6.dmg
Partition Information:
    0:
        Checksum Value: $675BE18B
        Partition Number: 0
        Checksum Type: CRC32
        Name: gehele schijf (Apple_HFS : 0)
Checksum Type: CRC32
partitions:
    appendable: true
    partition-scheme: none
    block-size: 512
    burnable: true
    partitions:
        0:
            partition-length: 18432
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-hint: Apple_HFS
            partition-name: whole disk
            partition-filesystems:
                HFS+: 
            partition-start: 0
Properties:
    Partitioned: false
    Software License Agreement: false
    Compressed: true
    Kernel Compatible: true
    Encrypted: false
    Checksummed: true
Checksum Value: $DA5349F2
Size Information:
    Total Bytes: 9437184
    Compressed Bytes: 2289283
    Compressed Ratio: 0.26906180417644582
    CUDIFEncoding-bytes-wasted: 0
    Sector Count: 18432
    Total Non-Empty Bytes: 8507904
    Total Empty Bytes: 929280
    CUDIFEncoding-bytes-in-use: 2289283
    CUDIFEncoding-bytes-total: 2289283
Class Name: CUDIFDiskImage
Format Description: UDIF read-only compressed (zlib)
udif-ordered-chunks: true
Segments:
    0: /Users/peter/Downloads/CSSEdit 2.6.dmg
Resize limits (per hdiutil resize -limits):
    16624   18432   18432
hdiutil: imageinfo: result: 0

Best Answer

I have just had the same problem, with a disk image created by Disk Utility itself. In my case, the disk image is whole disk image, i.e. it contains a bare filesystem, no partition map whatsoever. Neither Disk Utility nor hdiutil attach disk.dmg would work, both complaining about the dreaded "no mountable file systems" issue.

What helped was to mount it from the command line, in two easy steps:

hdiutil attach -noverify -nomount disk.dmg

This only creates the device node. Now run

diskutil list

and note the diskN part of your image, where N is a positive integer.

Finally, to mount the device, do

diskutil mountDisk /dev/diskN

where diskN is the device identifier you determined before.

Note that you are mounting the entire disk, whereas normally you would mount a slice, such as disk0s2.

Be aware that this helps if your problem is with a disk image similar to mine. Nonetheless, it should still work with partitioned disk images, see man diskutil.

Related Solutions

Macos – How do software .dmg files mount or work in OS X

DMG stands for Apple Disk Image. These are treated like a Volume of their own, but one that's contained in that file. Volumes on a Mac are basically any physical or virtual disk that can be mounted permanently or temporarily. The hard drive icon you see on your desktop (probably Macintosh HD unless you renamed it) is a volume. You can clone one volume to another easily, whether it be physical or virtual. This is one of the features that makes a Mac so powerful.

These volumes are "mounted" or "unmounted" on the Mac OS. This is similar to Windows in that when a removable drive is plugged it, it's automatically assigned a drive letter (E:)... in other words, it's mounted. When you "safely remove" it, you're unmounting it. You must always unmount a drive on the Mac OS before removing it, whether it be physical or virtual.

A DMG is similar to any other compressed file, like ZIP in Windows, but more powerful on the Mac OS. The DMG is a self contained volume formated HFS+ that retains file system attributes that are important. These are called resource forks and are usually invisible to Mac users. If you've ever copied a file from your Mac HD onto a FAT32 thumb drive, then plugged that drive into a Windows box and seen those pesky "._name" files, those are resource forks. They're important to a Mac as they contain metadata pertaining to the file itself.

When you download a disk image containing an Application, the app should be copied to your Applications folder before running it. This is because most disk images are read-only, and running it from inside the disk image can produce undesirable results.

Some Applications come in a package which are handled by the Macintosh Installer. These usually need to write system setting files that require administrative access and will prompt you for your password. Make sure you know where a package came from before giving it your administrative password.

The application, when launched, will create a few files that it needs in your Library folder in your Users directory (your username... looks like a Home icon in Finder). Settings you change while using the application are stored into these files, so if you "uninstall" the application by moving it into the trash, then re-install it later, those settings are retained. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you want. If you want to completely remove an application along with all of it's settings pertaining to you and/or the system, first see if the Application came with an uninstaller. This might be in the application folder itself or in Utilities (Adobe is notorious for having it's own uninstallers). Usually, if an application was installed via Macintosh Installer, it will have it's own uninstaller or you can visit the company website for instructions on how to remove it. If it was a standalone application and you want to completely remove everything related to it, you can use a great free program such as AppCleaner to do this.

Hope that helps some. Enjoy Mac!

Macos – Can’t mount dmg image as read/write

Disk images are just containers that emulate a disk. The DMG's contents are distinct from the DMG container. So you've probably only converted the container to read/write.

For example:

We can convert a DMG that contains an ISO to be read/write, but the ISO itself can only be read-only:

 ___________________        ___________________
|                   |      |                   |
|  Disk Image (r/o) |      |  Disk Image (r/w) |
|  _______________  |      |  _______________  |
| |               | |  ==> | |               | |
| | ISO9660 (r/o) | |      | | ISO9660 (r/o) | |
| |_______________| |      | |_______________| |
|___________________|      |___________________|

You run into a similar problem with the hybrid filesystem images that many OS distributions are shipping these days.

Here's an excerpt from the hdiutil(1) man page section on Hybrid images:

The generated image can later be burned using burn, or converted to another read-only format with convert.

The generated filesystem is not intended for conversion to read-write, but can safely have its files copied to a read/write filesystem by ditto(8) or asr(8) (in file-copy mode).

So there's the work-around: Copy the files off and make another DMG.

Which, unfortunately, is probably what you were hoping to avoid.

By the way, you might find this command helpful to peek into the DMG's partitions:

hdiutil pmap your_file.dmg

Best Answer

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Macos – How do software .dmg files mount or work in OS X

Macos – Can’t mount dmg image as read/write

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