Cannot mount HFS partition - imaged using dd

Question

Running into an interesting problem that I've been at for hours:

I imaged the data partition of a hard drive (fs type hfs) using dd. I did not image the entire drive (i.e. I am missing the MBR). I have been unable to mount this partition using Linux or on a Mac.

Actions I have tried to no avail:

• Double clicking the .img file.
• mount -t hfs -o ro /path/to/file/image_file.img /mount/point
• hdiutil attach -nomount /path/to/image_file.img - This did serve to attach the image file and showing up in diskutil list as a device block. But I was unable to mount the partition.
• Various combinations of the above.

NOTE: A friend of mine was able to mount the image file by simply double clicking it on his Mac.

The OS I am running on my Mac is version 10.11.6 which I am thinking could be part of the issue (if the drive I partitioned was APFS).

I would like to resolve this one way or the other.

EDIT:

From running dd if=imagefile.img count=3 bs=512 | hexdump -Cv the following:

3+0 records in
3+0 records out
1536 bytes transferred in 0.000031 secs (49557315 bytes/sec)
00000000  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000010  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000020  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000030  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000040  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000050  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000060  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000070  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000080  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000090  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000c0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000000f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000100  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000110  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000120  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000130  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000140  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000150  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000160  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000170  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000180  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000190  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000001a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000001b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 80 01  |................|
000001c0  01 00 ab fe ff ff 3f 00  00 00 00 40 00 00 00 fe  |......?....@....|
000001d0  ff ff af fe ff ff 3f 40  00 00 99 53 6f 57 00 00  |[email protected]..|
000001e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa  |..............U.|
00000200  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000210  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000220  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000230  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000240  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000250  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000260  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000270  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000280  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000290  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002c0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000002f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000300  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000310  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000320  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000330  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000340  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000350  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000360  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000370  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000380  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000390  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003c0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  fd 3a 52 08 00 00 00 00  |.........:R.....|
000003e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000003f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000400  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000410  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000420  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000430  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000440  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000450  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000460  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000470  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000480  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000490  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004c0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000004f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  5b 83 38 00 00 00 00 00  |........[.8.....|
00000500  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000510  be 3a 4a 05 00 00 00 00  01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |.:J.............|
00000520  01 00 04 00 08 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000530  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000540  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000550  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000560  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  c0 bd 7d 6e 37 04 05 00  |..........}n7...|
00000570  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000580  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000590  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005a0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005b0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005c0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005e0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
000005f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|
00000600

Answer 1

After much toil, I discovered that indeed it was APFS and since my system was version 10.11.6, it would not work.

On 10.13.x, I was able to double-click the image file and mount it. This is because older versions of macOS do not support APFS.

Thanks to all who assisted, or attempted to assist me in this matter.

---

Additionally, for those out there looking for an alternate answer:

On Linux:

To mount an APFS image file on Linux, use apfs-fuse:

$ losetup /dev/loopX {image_file}

$ apfs-fuse /dev/loopX {mount_point}

This will allow you to navigate the APFS file system.