Barncore
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: Boot camp: "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition"

Hey guys,

Would really appreciate some help on this!

I used to successfully use bootcamp and have an extra partition so i could use Windows aswell, until my HD crashed and i had to take it to the Apple Hospital. When i got the computer back and restored my old backup Time Machine clone, i couldn't create a new partition for Windows. It doesn't let me get passed the first screen.

 

What happens is: I load up Boot Camp as usual, push Continue passed the Introduction screen, then i get a msg pop up that says:


The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.

The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.


Then i push Ok and it goes back to the BootCamp introduction screen. I.e. i can't get passed this msg.

I looked in Disk Utility and of course my internal HD already is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) so i have no idea why it isn't being recognised as one partition.

 

What do i have to do to be able to install windows on this computer without having to format my entire Mac and installing everything again? I really need the exact clone of what i have right now. I do have an external HD for making backup clones using Time Machine though.

 

Some specs:

- Boot Camp Assistant version is 3.0.1

- Mac OSX 10.6.2 (yeah i guess i'm old school now)

- 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM

- I have no other partitions currently, just my current mac one

 

Any questions just ask. I would love to resolve this tonight.


iMac (27-inch Late 2009), iOS 6.1.2

Posted on Oct 8, 2014 4:05 AM

by Loner T,Solvedanswer
Loner T Loner T
Level 7 (23,908 points)
Safari
A:

1. It is not necessary. Leave it at 10.6.2. If there are any other issues, they can be tackled, if necessary. There may be driver issues if you choose a Windows7/Windows8+ OS and try it on SL 10.6.

2. Apple Hospital may be the answer.

3. You can use diskutil mergePartitions disk0s2 disk0s3. Please be aware that order is very important. Please ensure you have a full backup of OSX.

4. Recovery HD is used for recovering OSX, if necessary, when there are issues with your OSX partition. The explanation here is a bit incomplete but you can look at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848 .

 

Here is the help (man page) for diskutil mergerPartitions. Please see the highlighted Example section.

 

diskutil mergePartitions

Usage:  diskutil mergePartitions [force] format name

        DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

 

Merge two or more pre-existing partitions into one.  The first disk parameter

is the starting partition; the second disk parameter is the ending partition;

this given range of two or more partitions will be merged into one.

 

All partitions in the range, except for the first one, must be unmountable.

 

All data on merged partitions other than the first will be lost; data on the

first partition will be lost as well if the "force" argument is given.

 

If "force" is not given, and the first partition has a resizable file system

(e.g. JHFS+), it will be grown in a data-preserving manner, even if a different

file system is specified (in fact, your file system and volume name parameters

are both ignored in this case). If "force" is not given, and the first

partition is not resizable, you will be prompted if you want to erase.

 

If "force" is given, the first partition is always formatted. You should

do this if you wish to reformat to a new file system type.

 

Merged partitions are required to be ordered sequentially on disk.

See diskutil list for the actual on-disk ordering; BSD slice identifiers

may in certain circumstances not always be in numerical order but the

top-to-bottom order given by diskutil list is always the on-disk order.

 

Ownership of the affected disk is required.

 

Example: diskutil mergePartitions JHFS+ NewName disk3s4 disk3s7

         This example will merge all partitions *BETWEEN* disk3s4 and disk3s7,

         preserving data on disk3s4 but destroying data on disk3s5, disk3s6,

         disk3s7 and any invisible free space partitions between those disks;

         disk3s4 will be grown to cover the full space if possible.

Posted on Oct 8, 2014 7:36 AM

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Barncore

Q: Boot camp: "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition"

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  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 5:50 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 5:50 AM in response to Loner T

    I am not seeing any option for formatting the partition as NTFS there, just the usual add a partition for a Windows installation, as it has been for some time. Can you show me the NTFS option?

     

    I do agree that users take many and varied routes, Unfortunately most of the routes take the long way around, some never get there at all. I still recommend doing it by the book, and if you started on some other path go back to the beginning and stat agin, correctly this time.

     

    I do feel that 4 days for a 1 hour procedure is excessive, and a sign of 'other routes'

  • by Barncore,

    Barncore Barncore Oct 11, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 11, 2014 6:19 AM in response to Csound1

    Good news! I finally have a Windows partition up and running. I'm posting from it right now.

     

    Thank you so much for your help, Loner T. It was really helpful to get willing and detailed help specifically for my situation. I owe you one.

     

    beer-toast-300x200.jpg

     

    Csound, not everyone is as all-knowing and omnipotent as you within the applesphere. I did tonnes of googling and reading, but could not understand the lingo. How would i have diagnosed what my problem was by reading a manual? Loner T was able to tell me how to merge some partitions by inputting some random code into Terminal. What's wrong with getting help with that? Not everything is in the manual.

     

    At any rate, Loner T's support was a positive experience. Mac forums for the win.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 6:28 AM in response to Barncore
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 6:28 AM in response to Barncore

    Barncore wrote:

     

     

     

    Csound, not everyone is as all-knowing and omnipotent as you within the applesphere. I did tonnes of googling and reading, but could not understand the lingo. How would i have diagnosed what my problem was by reading a manual?

     

    By reading and following the directions you would have not had the problem in the first place.

     

    But it's working now so you got there.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 11, 2014 7:35 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 7 (23,908 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2014 7:35 AM in response to Csound1

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    I am not seeing any option for formatting the partition as NTFS there, just the usual add a partition for a Windows installation, as it has been for some time. Can you show me the NTFS option?

     

    You are missing my point. Bootcamp Assistant should format the drive to NTFS before the control is handed to the Windows Installer. I know it does not exist .

    My feedback to Bootcamp Engineers was to format it up front, without the user having manually do it.

     

    I still recommend doing it by the book, and if you started on some other path go back to the beginning and stat agin, correctly this time.

    The so called "book" has no directions on an EFI boot for W8+ on UEFI Macs and using a pure GPT disk. A user has to figure out using the BA info.plist and looking at the highlighted part and figuring out which models will support and which do not. The entire documentation is completely "silent" about UEFI.

    The following  search (Apple - Support - Search) returns nothing.

     

    Bootcamp-UEFIModels.png

    I do feel that 4 days for a 1 hour procedure is excessive, and a sign of 'other routes'

     

    Here is an example of a 2+ month discussion where "something'" happened to corrupt Bootcamp - Cannot boot to windows 7 after canceling bootcamp backup . How do you expect a user to solve such problems without getting closer to the internals of Bootcamp?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 11, 2014 7:37 AM in response to Barncore
    Level 7 (23,908 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2014 7:37 AM in response to Barncore

    Please do not forget to install Bootcamp drivers. v4.0.4033 is the appropriate version for your setup.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 7:37 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 7:37 AM in response to Loner T

    Loner T wrote:

     

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    I am not seeing any option for formatting the partition as NTFS there, just the usual add a partition for a Windows installation, as it has been for some time. Can you show me the NTFS option?

     

    You are missing my point. Bootcamp Assistant should format the drive to NTFS before the control is handed to the Windows Installer. I know it does not exist .

     

    Of course it should, but it doesn't. Which is what I said in the first place.

     

    No wonder this took 4 days to complete.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 11, 2014 7:48 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 7 (23,908 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2014 7:48 AM in response to Csound1

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    No wonder this took 4 days to complete.

    Is this really relevant to the current discussion? Touting documentation which is silent about non-availability of contiguous space is not what I expect from a corporation that prides itself in Engineering. . Apple even claims, contrary to public experience, that disks do not require fragmentation. Who is educating the customer on such aspects?

     

    This is the closest it comes to - Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 11, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Barncore
    Level 7 (23,908 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2014 7:45 AM in response to Barncore

    Can I ask a bit more indulgence and ask you to run the version of iDefrag and post what the disk looks like now? It should help future discussions on similar subject.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 7:58 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 7:58 AM in response to Loner T

    Loner T wrote:

     

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    No wonder this took 4 days to complete.

    Is this really relevant to the current discussion? Touting documentation which is silent about non-availability of contiguous space is not what I expect from a corporation that prides itself in Engineering. . Apple even claims, contrary to public experience, that disks do not require fragmentation. Who is educating the customer on such aspects?

     

    This is the closest it comes to - Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

    Yes it is very relevant. Boot Camps directions cover this well, the erase and restore method is the recommendation. I am opposed to unsupported procedures, and having been reminded (once more) how long 'alternate' methods take to complete I will remain opposed.

     

    Almost all issues of this nature stem from a reluctance to read the manual.

  • by Barncore,

    Barncore Barncore Oct 11, 2014 8:22 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 11, 2014 8:22 AM in response to Loner T
    Please do not forget to install Bootcamp drivers. v4.0.4033 is the appropriate version for your setup.

    Don't worry i did every step you mentioned, i'm confident of that. Everything went smoothly, I'm all set.


    Can I ask a bit more indulgence and ask you to run the version of iDefrag and post what the disk looks like now? It should help future discussions on similar subject.

    Sure, i'll get that done when i'm on my Mac partition next. My windows partition is currently occupying my computer while i download something large overnight.

  • by Barncore,

    Barncore Barncore Oct 11, 2014 8:28 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 11, 2014 8:28 AM in response to Csound1
    Almost all issues of this nature stem from a reluctance to read the manual.

    That's really not an important issue. I mean, big deal..

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 8:31 AM in response to Barncore
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 8:31 AM in response to Barncore

    4 days versus 4 hours would matter a great deal to me, I am envious that it does not to you.

  • by Barncore,

    Barncore Barncore Oct 11, 2014 8:40 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 11, 2014 8:40 AM in response to Csound1

    Some people need assistance from an actual human being rather than a piece of written text. For me personally, reading manuals doesn't give me enough confidence to know that my flimsy decision-making & lack of experience on the task wont lead me to making terrible & heart-breaking mistakes. My personal data means too much to me to not have somebody walk me through it step by step. I am envious that you are so perfect that reading manuals is all you need.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 11, 2014 8:44 AM in response to Barncore
    Level 9 (50,439 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 11, 2014 8:44 AM in response to Barncore

    The manual would have told you how to format the partition as NTFS, something that the 'actual human being' advice signally failed to do. Not a very positive affirmation of the 'actual human being' approach really.

     

    And now I'm done, your installation works and although I totally disagree with the 'roll your own' approach it did, eventually, work.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 11, 2014 8:48 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 7 (23,908 points)
    Safari
    Oct 11, 2014 8:48 AM in response to Csound1

    Csound1 wrote:

     

    Yes it is very relevant. Boot Camps directions cover this well, the erase and restore method is the recommendation. I am opposed to unsupported procedures, and having been reminded (once more) how long 'alternate' methods take to complete I will remain opposed.

    From http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf

    • If a dialog appears saying “The disk cannot be partitioned because verification failed,” try repairing the disk using Disk Utility and opening Boot Camp Assistant again. If that doesn’t work, back up all the information on your Mac, then reinstall OS X. For more information, click the Finder icon in the Dock, choose Help > Help Center, and search for “reinstall OS X.”


    Where is the documentation for this specific error message?


    The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.

    The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.


    I am opposed to unsupported procedures, and having been reminded (once more) how long 'alternate' methods take to complete I will remain opposed.

     

    OP did the re-installation using Time Machine, which took overnight, so the directions and Apple recommendations were followed. In fact, cloning of disks is unsupported by Apple, but disk image backup/restore is. Bootcamp backup is unsupported by Apple. If you can restore your data in 4+ hours, you have less data to restore.


    Unsupported? By whom? By Apple? You are not following the thread, then. The diskutil mergeVolume is documented by Apple including its use. Please see man diskutil.








     

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